How to lock a .duf file?

LD1

My setup: I have a Poser popcorn stand that I imported into DAZ, I updated the textures, and then saved it as a .duf file. I then moved the .duf file and its accompanying PNG file to a separate 3rd party content runtime. It shows up within DAZ and it works just fine when I reopen it. But if I make any changes, it changes the original along with updating its thumbnail (if I change its orientation).

I vaguely remember that In the past I was able to lock a .duf file so when I either opened it or saved it (I can’t remember which) it would flag me to save as a new file. Does anyone know how to lock a .duf file?

Richard Haseltine

If the author name doesn't match that of the file then Save will function as Save As. You could also save it as a Scene Subset, in whichc ase loading (merging) it through the content pane will not be linked to the original file and would not overwrite the original unless you explicitly told it to.

LD1

Richard thanks for replying. Yes I can do a Save As and that would solve the problem. BUT, there are times when you are distracted and the first time you want to save, you might accidentally click on the Save instead of Save As. Thus modifying the original.

I did more testing and discovered that if I went to the actual .duf file and locked it - when I went back inside DAZ, modified the Popcorn stand, and then saved, DAZ would alert me: “Failed to save a file. See the log for more details”. This is exactly what I wanted - an alert to remind me to do a Save As. — I knew there was a way.

Again thanks for your help. It helped me realize that there must be some way to do it other than from inside DAZ.

Richard Haseltine

LD1 said:

Richard thanks for replying. Yes I can do a Save As and that would solve the problem. BUT, there are times when you are distracted and the first time you want to save, you might accidentally click on the Save instead of Save As. Thus modifying the original.

If you change the Author (Edit>Preferences, Daz Studio>Preferences for a Mac) before saving the asset in the first place, then chnage it back, then even if you hit Save it will behave as Save As and open a file-requester. This is mainly to protect third-party content from being overwritten, but it would work here.

I did more testing and discovered that if I went to the actual .duf file and locked it - when I went back inside DAZ, modified the Popcorn stand, and then saved, DAZ would alert me: “Failed to save a file. See the log for more details”. This is exactly what I wanted - an alert to remind me to do a Save As. — I knew there was a way.

Again thanks for your help. It helped me realize that there must be some way to do it other than from inside DAZ.