User Data Checkboxes?
KickAir 8P
Posts: 1,865
DS4.5.0.114 Pro, in the Import Content Metadata window there are two new (well, I don't remember them) checkboxes: User Data and User Data Overrides Product Data. Anybody know what they're doing?
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Post edited by KickAir 8P on
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DS4.5 allows you to export your user-defined categories. That way you have a backup (in plain-text .xml format, like the DAZ-supplied metadata) and can re-import it if your CMS database gets messed up. The second check-box ensures that if you have changed metadata (for example, if you move the files to a different location and update the metadata with your new locations), then your version takes precedence if you re-import yours along with the original versions.
To export your categories/metadata, click on the Content Library options menu and choose "Content DB Maintenance > Export User Data".
Thing is, I don't have any user-defined categories yet. And both those options were checked by default. So . . . just what's doing the overriding here? ::cue the Exorcist Theme:: :bug:
Good question -- I would guess it does nothing, but I haven't tried.
After using the "Export User Data" feature in DB Maintenance, where is the backup file created?
In Runtime>Support, a .dsx file like the rest of the metadata files (possibly more than one, depending how much there is).
Thank you all a lot for this information.
I could have used the feature to export metadata in June when I completely reinstalled my pc.
I lost some changes I made to the metadata because I wrongly assumed that making a backup of the files in Runtime>Support was enough.
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It seems that there are at least two metadata save locations:
Product and Local Database
When I followed the tutorials from cridgit and created metadata from scratch I was able to save them in
Runtime>Support
After reinstalling my pc all this metadata I created for myself from scratch loaded fine.
But before properly creating metadata from scratch I often had the habbit to tweak the existing metadata.
For example I would create new subcategories for clothing or poses.
In the "select categories" window those changes are marked with an "U" symbol in front of the category name.
What happend after reimporting the metadata was that all this information was lost.
I assumed that all the information I changed in the existing offical metadata provided by DAZ would be saved to the files in
Runtime>Support
But that was NOT the case. It seems to be saved somewhere else.
In the content DB editor there is a checkbox called "synch product and local database".
I suppose the reason why changes added to the official metadata was not saved in Runtime>Support was because that checkbox to synch the databases was not checked.
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I hope that this makes at least sense to those who are familiar with metadata. Here my questions:
1) Is checking the checkbox" synch product and local database" all that is needed to make sure that the official DAZ metadata in Runtime>Support gets updated when I make changes in the Content DB Editor?
2) Which one is the local database and which one the product database?
I assume that the product database is indeed Runtime>Support and the local database must refer to the CMS. Is this guess right?
3) Where exactly were the changes saved that I made to the officially provided DAZ metadata if I did not have checked the checkbox to synch? To put it different where is the information in the "local" database saved if the guess that the "product database" is Runtime>support is right?
4) Is the "user data" that overrides the product data the same data as the information saved in the "local database"?
5) Will all "user data" that now can be exported also be properly saved if the checkbox to "synch product and local database" is NOT checked?
6) If I made changes to the official metadata provided by DAZ and reinstall an updated version of the product is checking "user Data overrides Product Data" all I have to do to make sure that the newly installed metadata does not override my personal changes I made to the metadata of the earlier version?
I very much welcome that now metadata is included in the official installers. Before it was very time consuming to have to run two installers for every product. But before I was just able to choose to not install the updated metadata to keep my changes. So does checking "user Data overrides Product Data" also do that? My changes made to the metadata are kept when new content is installed? Or should I just make a backup before installing new content to be sure?
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I understand that those are questions that propably only concern very few DAZ studio users. For me is the possibility to be able working with metadata one of the most important features of DAZ studio. I spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on products. What good is that money if I cannot find all that content fast? Adding categories and rearanching existing one is a great way to sort all products without actually messing up the original installation path.
From that point of view I would be very glad if some "metadata" specialist from the DAZ team could help me with those questions.
I really would not want to loose all my categories again, because I missed one checkbox.
I second linvanchene's questions and another one:
What is the advantage of using the "Export user data" feature against the old method of copying the databases folder of the CMS?
One of the advantages of exporting user data is that you don't have to worry about stopping and restarting the CMS to avoid database corruption. For example, I have an automatic backup program the backs up all my content folders, the databases, my installers, etc. overnight. Previously I had to stop the CMS before the backup and restart it afterwards -- not a big deal but easy to forget. Now I know that the exported user data can always be backed up with no worries.
Another advantage is that the exported .dsx file is plain text, so I can easily look things up while DS is busy, or even edit them.
Thanks for the explanations of the checkboxes and exporting user data. I exported my user data. If I ever need to restore it, does that happen when I re-import metadata or do I have to take some other specific action?
When you import or re-import metadata, User Data is one of the checkboxes you can select to be imported.
Thanks. The check boxes are all kind of making sense now.
I would still be very much interested in getting specific answers to those questions.
Can someone of the DAZ forum team contact someone that officially works in the DAZ metadata and / or DEV team that is in the position to answer the questions to have a look at them?