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As we have explained, if you don't log in then nothing will be added to the list of items that are available to install through Connect, and if you clear their metadata anything that was listed will be forgotten.
Because DS doesn't call DAZ servers to check what you have bought and which products are not installed by DAZ Connect inside DS.
Quick question Richard, what else uses the meta data?
I'd be interested in an example, if possible, as i neither install the "support folder" nor have i ever "updated the data base" in any way, in 8 or so years, so there's nothing for it to draw on, and i've never see a related error, AFAIK.
DAZ has TOO many install issues. Installation should not have competing installations within its own programs. Don't you agree? So, what I will try is to install through DIM while DS is open but not connected. Then, after my installations, I will reconnect and update the Metadata so DAZ won't "forget" my DS installs.
My "WONDERS" post told me that, apparently, I can't have my cake and eat it. Is there a way to install through DIM so that DS also installs right after DIM and does not display a white box (without a dual install)? Speaking of white boxes, I'm seeing little blue boxes in the lower right corner as well. What are those?
If you install your content with DIM, there is no reason to ever let DS connect to DAZ servers - That is when DAZ Connect sees that there is stuff available which has not been installed with DAZ Connect, logging in/signing in to DS and letting DS to connect with DAZ servers is ALL ABOUT DAZ Connect.
DIM is fully capable of updating your metadata, no need to do anything else.
The problem with doing what you say is that there won't be Metadata to remember what I installed. If I lose my installation I'll have to go through everything all over again. My user data backups will be useless. Also, I want to update the products if there IS an update.
I just went into my little white boxes and deleted the product, then went back to DIM and "Re-installed" those products using the files I downloaded and saved when I first downloaded them. The boxes went away. Why does THAT happen?
HEY, DAZ! Why does installation have to be so DISASTEROUSLY complicated?!
I do have fewer issues with Lost & Found items. So, whatever you're doing there is helping.
DIM adds metadata, and it leaves a file copy of it in /Runtime/Support/ in the Content Directory you isntall to so you can reimport it if you need to reset the database or move to a new machine. This is more robust than Connect - if you install through Connect and lose the database then the installation won't be seen at all, the only way to get it back is to "reinstall" - which should just be verifying that the files it finds from last time are in fact current, but it still takes a while and in the past has redownloaded the files anyway on some occasions.
Because you deleted the metadata, that is what the delete function does, so the Content Managment System doesn't know anything about it until DIM installs it (and therefore it doesn't know that it is available for download through Connect).
Oh my God. What a fiasco. So, the best scenario is to install through DIM with DS open to preserve the Metadata? Or with DS unconnected? Which install scenario makes sure the Data Export works? I guess DIM people just have to ignore the white box?
The white boxes are going to drive me mad. How do I turn those off?
No. The best practice is to install with DIM only with DS CLOSED for it to install the metadata without interference and completely FORGET about the option to login inside DS. People who don't constantly mess things up by using DAZ Connect don't have any white box to be bothered by or ignore.
You can install with DS closed or open - the thing to avoid is closing DS and starting the installer as that can lead to PostgreSQL (the database engine) not being available, and so the products don't get added to the database (though you could then import the metadata).
Connect is a viable option, though it's true that many script products are not written in a way that works with it (and, to be fair to the authors, they can't test Connect installs during development which is very limiting). Still, for some people it may be the preferred option with DIM or Daz Central a fallback when necessary.
Will an install with DAZ Central actually work without all of these complications? I gave up on it a long time ago.
If I keep DAZ close to work and never connect what are the disadvantages?
Also, since I cannot find the thread where you gave information about how to uninstall items installed by Connect, to be reinstalled only through DIM, can you repeat that here?
Central is a dumbed down version of DIM and has its own set of default install locations so it would just make things worst. Use DIM then stop letting DS go online is your best options.
To uninstall a Connect install right-click on its container (the folder in the products list in the Content Library pane, or the icon in the products tab of Smart Content).
The only reason to have Daz Studio go online is to use Connect, so if you don't do that it's fien to work offline.
If I remember correctly from that lost thread, I can right-click the first item in the Smart Content folder, hold the shift key down, scroll all the way to the bottom, right-click the last item, and choose Uninstall. Then delete everything except the User_Data file from the "Support" folder by deleting them. But first, before doing that I have to select something from a DIM drop-down and uninstall those select folders. If I do that and then re-install everything that was selected and deleted while DS is not open it will get rid of the Connect installs. I wish I knew what thread that was that covered all of this. There is one HUGE issue with all of this; what about saving the Export Data file for probable need later? Did all of this eliminate my ability to save and load the Metadata?
Left click on the first product, shift-click on the last to select all (this is a standard thing - you can do the same with files in a browser, or even with a block of text in an editor), then right-click to get the menu with uninstall.
If the DIM path had to be chnaged, select all in DIM (using the master check-box) and right-click>Reinstall using Current Paths>All Selected.
After that, will everything have a white box? Also, will I be able to export and save the meta-data from the "Content DB Maintenance" drop-down?
Will I be able to use the Metadata Exported Data after everything is done?
Also, which folder can I delete everything from after I've uninstalled everything, the "Support" folder [minus the User_Data file of course]?
The support folder is the metadata from DIM/Daz central installs, and your own exported user metadata, so you don't want to delete that. the /Content/cloud/meta/ folder is the metadata from Daz Connect, that causes the downloadable in Connect icon to appear.
How much of the /Content/cloud/meta/ folder should I delete after going through the steps you prescribed? Also, I have not received an answer to whether saving Exported data will be the same after your described procedure.
Nothing in the /data/cloud/ folder is needed if you uninstall all the connect installs.
I'm not entirely sure what you are asking about the exported data, but nothing we can do as users puts data in the cloud folder - exported user data and newly created products go to the /Runtime/Suport/ folder, not anywhere in the data folder.
I have followed your instructions and am currently re-installing from the saved packages I accumulated during the last install. The only difference this time is that I am resigned to not connecting DS to the server in the future, thus eliminating the white boxes. Please see the attachment that shows the current /Content/cloud/meta. I deleted everything in that folder after fully uninstalling, except the Meta folder. I want to know if I can, or should, "Export" my metadata from the "...DB Maintenance" menu so that I retain my product classifications, etc. I don't want to go through the hated L&F folder again.
It's always a good diea to export the user data periodically, but deleteing the meta folder won't touch it anyway.
I re-installed everything through DIM, but there are many products listed in DS after that that are Black and White and cannot be loaded. Must I install those through Connect?
All the packs should install with DIM. You shouldn't have to use Connect for anything. Try RT clicking on one of the packs in DIM and select "Show Installed Files" and see if its in that location. The black and white just means it's available to download with Connect. It doesn't mean it's not installed or that there is an error with it.
See the attached screenshots. Take the "AB..." product for instance. I have uninstalled it and re-installed it. Yet it remains black and white and NOT available to place in DAZ Studios. I followed the installed file's path and found it (see screenshot 5). I tried uninstalling it again, deleting the files from the hard drive, and then reinstalling it. Does not fix it, or any of the others that are black and white. The only thing I have not done is to delete the metafiles while it is uninstalled. There are no "Connect" files installed on my computer.
Did you reset the database? If not then the data will still be there - sorry, I assumed you had that on your plan since you were exporting the user data for reimport afterwards.
Reset after the reinstall and then Re-import? I can do that. I'm not re-connecting to the server for that right? I'm doing it that way.