Removing Smart Content categories (again)
gmm2
Posts: 100
I posted about this a few months ago, and figured out that I could remove Smart Content by removing from categories under the Right Click>Categorize... menu on a given item.
https://www.daz3d.com/forums/discussion/529361/removing-items-from-smart-content
Or so I thought.
After getting back to that same project, I'm now unable to repeat this process.
The Content Library is once again scattershot in terms of whether the Smart Content flags on the icons are there or not (Attachment 1). Same for the items in Content DB Editor (Attachment 2). There's no apparent rhyme or reason to why any given file is displaying the way it is or has the attributes it does, and it's very frustrating. I just want all these files to be standardized in appearance and attributes without them being Smart Content.
A lot, if not all, of the files also keep going into some category called "Lost and Found" if that means anything. I cannot remove it, and this categorization has no effect on whether the icon flag is there or not.
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You do know that Smart Content comes from the metadata support file? Errors in that file are not uncommon. User Data entry (Content DB Editor) cannot correct it all so simply, unless something has changed since 4.12. To remove the Vendor Categories (the ones specified in the metadta file), you need to either edit the metadta .dsx file or export a modified set from the Content DB Editor from the Product view in the Content Library or Smart Content.
To directly edit the file, remove all segments with <Category VALUE="path/filename"/>. Save and insert the edited file in the product archive and re-install. This should replace the metadata.
To use the Content DB editor, from the Product view, change what you want, i.e., go to the assets tab and select all assets, go to the bottom half and expand an item. (Make sure to check the "Sync Product and Local Database" if you cannot complete the operation in one pass, changes will be lost if you leave and come back to it). Select all the Categories listed under that item, right-click and select "Delete Selected Categories from Listed Files". Repeat until all categories are removed from all assets. Export the metadata (if Auto-Export is selected, it will do that when you Accept the changes), and it will replace the existing metadata file that was installed. The result will be the same as editing the file directly, but less tedious and less error-prone. Replace the metadata file in the product package with this new one, and re-install.
If the old metadata still persists, uninstall, go to the Content Library, Products. Find the product in question (it will be at the bottom of the corresponding alphanumeric listing, greyed out with no thumbnail). Right-click and select "Delete..." Confirm, then re-install to get a clean Product entry with your new metadata, or lack thereof.
I'm not seeing the option to do this in the Content DB editor.
There is a bug in the release builds of DS that prevents vndor data from being hidden (it isn't actually deleted). This is fixed in the current Public Build. Hidden or not, the categories will still appear in the Content Library as that is used to manage the categories.
You have to use the Content DB Editor from a Product view either in the Content Library - Products or from Smart Content - Products. This opens a Content DB Editor with two panes, Product and Assets. The Export button is at the bottom left.. The one you get with the Mapped Folders has a single pane called Assets, and cannot save Vendor metadata files, it can only export User Data.
Not trying to delete the Categories, just removing the categorization from the assets. I didn't think you could actually delete the Vendor Categories, that's why they are read-only, no?
I meant deleting it from the file, not in general.
I don't have a Product tab under Content Library at all. I can get to a Product tab in Smart Content, but then I can't figure out how to open Content DB Editor from there. There's no "Edit Metadata" option on anything I right click on.
Wow, we've been complainging about that bug for years. It never seemed to be acknowledged. Good to hear that someone finally gave it some attention.
Should all be there...
I can't get that two-tabbed version of Content DB when I right click on the files I'm trying to change. Other files yes, but not those files I made.
The files you made are probably not part of any product. Well, actually, they end up in the LOCAL USER product, which is a catch-all for everything that is not defined as part of a product by being included in its metadata. (Note: there could be hundreds, if not thousands, of assets in there). You could add folders or individual files to a Product of your choice, or make one for the project and include any assets you create. Pick a name and write it down for future reference. All the assets might not be in the same place in the Content Library folders, so you will need to go around gathering them and adding them to the new Product. There is no "Add to Product..." option, but if you try to create the same Product, you will be prompted to add to the existing Product, so make sure you use the same name.
Now that you have a Product to edit, you can play with the assets' categories.
I managed to make a Product out of the files as you described later and then followed these same instructions, both options, and still nothing. I deleted the metadata files outright, and that didn't work. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what "re-install" means? I've just been restarting DAZ, because how else would it be done? I'm at a loss to explain this otherwise, because it doesn't seem like there should be anything at all to be affecting these files differently.
By re-install, I mean using one of the automated methods of installing content (DIM, DAZ Central or Connect). This also enters the metadata that is supplied with the product, or a default set is generated to at least define the product and its assets for the database. I had assumed you wanted to remove the categorization of those assets in the products you had installed. Seeing as you had metadata at all, it was safe to assume that you were using one of those methods (although Connect will try to re-assert any changes you make to any file, if I understand it correctly). Other files you created require a little extra work. When you save them, some metadata is created.
In general, the metadata files are read and the data is squirreled away in the CMS database, where it lives on, but the metadata file is then ignored until some action looks for it. Uninstalling a product removes the content, but does not delete the records in the database (until told to by a Condense Database command, I believe), or if you delete the Product from the Product view in the Content Library. Re-installing the Product using, say, DIM, will put the contents back, including the metadata file it contains, and load that metadata back into the CMS database. If you do not export the metadata you modified and put it in the archive, your changes will be lost. Note that this is for Products with an installer, which does not cover your created files. (more on that later)
You can save a copy of the new exported metadata file somewhere else and copy it back into the runtime/support folder if you re-install an older version. In that case, overwrite the one in the runtime/support folder with the new one you put aside. You can re-import the metadata (again, with DIM as the example) with a right-click on the Installed product and selecting that option from the context pop-up. That will force the new data into the CMS database, hopefully replacing all of what it had for that Product. (That is where deleting the Product can help clear it out if it persists).
Since the Product you created does not have an installer that DIM can see, you can't re-import the metadata that way. You can do it from the Content DB Maintenance utility, where you can chose any number of Products when you choose "Re-import Metadata..." It scans all Products in the Runtime/Support folder and presents you with the full list (which can take a while if you have a lot). Your new Product should show up in that list. Select it and nothing else and accept. This will re-import the metadata file that is in the runtime/support folder, hopefully the way you want it...
I do want to remove the categorization. It keeps defaulting to that "Lost and Found" thing. I want that gone, and I want the yellow icon banners off. I want to open all the files in Content DB Editor and have them all have identical attributes rather than a mismash.
I tried the re-import metadata thing, and it just put a teal "New" border around all the icons. The yellow banners were still on them.
As for re-installing, the product doesn't show up in DIM or DAZ Central.
If you are using DIM or DAZ Central (or manual installation) for installing the products, make sure you are not also logging in to DS. Set your startup options in DS preferences as in the attachment.
If you install with DIM or Central, products will be processed with the metadata. If no categories are set, it goes into Lost and Found by default, and that's the way it is.
The flash (Material(s), Actor, Scene, etc.) is set by the Content Type, also part of the metadata, which must be set to <None> in the editor.
The only way for it to be completely ignored by CMS is to turn it off, then none of the database tools will be available, no metadata will be used (no content type, no compatibilities, no categories -> no Smart Content).
Or, reset the database. Clean slate.
I think I'll have to go for the database reset, however that's done. I can't re-install this product using DIM or DAZ Central because it doesn't show up. I've edited the .dsx file to remove the content types and other attributes, and nothing. It doesn't seem like there's any other solution, and I don't even know what caused this whole issue to begin with or why it continues to persist. I saved a few of the G8M presets for this project and they didn't go through this problem.
Right-click on Content Library tab, and select Content DB Maintenance from the context menu. In the dialog check Reset Database and then click Accept.
Finally! This worked, thank you so much! What a slog this process has been. Gah.
Still have no idea what the underlying logic was of the cause of this or why nothing else worked, but at least something finally did.
I appreciate everyone else who pitched in with advice, at least things were able to be ruled out.
Sorry for reviving this thread, but I just found it and I'm myself battling with the metadata right now. How would I actually turn off the CMS completely, where can I find that option? And if I did that, could I still use the content library pane, without the Product lists of course? Thanks very much!
Right-click on Content Library Tab, or the hamburger menu at the top of the pane.
I see, thanks very much!