Daz Studio 4.9 Beta Now Available..

DAZ_Spooky

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

swordkensia

Design Anvil - Razor42 said:

Why do people lock their houses when they go out, when all a burglar needs is a tool as complex as a rock to gain entry?

Seems like leaving it unlocked and doors wide open would make more sense, then you would only need to replace your stolen posessions and not worry about replacing the smashed window or busted locks as well...

People lockup their houses when they go out to provide themselves with the comforting ILLUSION, that their property and its contents are secure. But the reality is, if the thief wants the contents badly enough they will get them regardless.!!

 

S.K.

DAZ_Spooky

patrickgobels said:

Is there a way to replace automatically the DIM versions with the Cloud version to always have the latest version of the meta data? I bet DIM does not download all Cloud stuff.

So far in "data" I have a cloud folder, but just with some small json-database files and some JPG thumbnails.

Presuming it hasn't changed, the plan is to have a way to do that before release, without a need to redownload your content. 

Nyghtfall3D

lx said:

As I mentioned earlier, the folder structure is still there: Daz Connect content makes a new folder called cloud in the data folder of My Library. Within that there are all the usual folders, only the daz type files now have .enc at the end. Images are completely unaffected. You can still poke around and copy backups etc.

I don't want content on my boot drive, encrypted or not!  I didn't buy a 1 TB SSD for 3D art just to have DAZ store encrypted content in the My Library folder.

The first think I do after installing a new version of DAZ - or occasionally re-install the current version for one reason or another - is delete everything associated with DAZ from the My Library folder.  I keep the program and all of my content on a seperate drive.

lx_2807502

Nyghtfall said:

lx said:

As I mentioned earlier, the folder structure is still there: Daz Connect content makes a new folder called cloud in the data folder of My Library. Within that there are all the usual folders, only the daz type files now have .enc at the end. Images are completely unaffected. You can still poke around and copy backups etc.

I don't want content on my boot drive, encrypted or not!  I didn't buy a 1 TB SSD for 3D art just to have DAZ store encrypted content in the My Library folder.

The first think I do after installing a new version of DAZ - or occasionally re-installing the current version for one reason or another - is delete everything associated with DAZ from the My Library folder.  I keep the program and all of my content on a seperate drive.

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

Nyghtfall3D

lx said:

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

I've been using Windows since v3.1, and I did not know you could that.  Thanks for that excellent tip.

It doesn't solve my principle issue with DAZ Connect and Smart Content though.

frank0314

You just move your content folder by hand and enter the location within DIM. It doesn't mess anything up so everything will still work as designed.

Jason Galterio

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

DAZ_Spooky

Nyghtfall said:

lx said:

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

I've been using Windows since v3.1, and I did not know you could that.  Thanks for that excellent tip.

It doesn't solve my principle issue with DAZ Connect and Smart Content though.

Note that "My Documents" or "Public Documents" or any of those folders do not have to be on the C Drive. (And have never been required to be there since they were first introduced by Windows.) They can be mapped to other locations. 

Nyghtfall3D

frank0314 said:

You just move your content folder by hand and enter the location within DIM. It doesn't mess anything up so everything will still work as designed.

I'm sure that works beautifully with existing content.  It won't work with DAZ Connect-exclusive content because we won't be able to see the underlying folder structure.

DAZ_Spooky

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

I was just trying to answer the other half of the question, and problem, which you brought up. Sorry for the confusion. There are times when a customer purchases a product which requires another product, and they don't realize it. (Occurs most often with texture add-ons.) Or they install some of their content for space reasons and not all of it. 

In both of those cases, because they don't have everything needed to use something, they are now prompted to fix the problem instead of just erroring out. 

Jason Galterio

DAZ_Spooky said:

Nyghtfall said:

lx said:

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

I've been using Windows since v3.1, and I did not know you could that.  Thanks for that excellent tip.

It doesn't solve my principle issue with DAZ Connect and Smart Content though.

Note that "My Documents" or "Public Documents" or any of those folders do not have to be on the C Drive. (And have never been required to be there since they were first introduced by Windows.) They can be mapped to other locations. 

Wait a minute... Does this mean that DS 4.9 requires the downloaded content to be in the My Documents directory?

And that to have it not be there I have it not on my C drive I have to move the "My Documents" directory in Windows?

lx_2807502

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Nyghtfall said:

lx said:

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

I've been using Windows since v3.1, and I did not know you could that.  Thanks for that excellent tip.

It doesn't solve my principle issue with DAZ Connect and Smart Content though.

Note that "My Documents" or "Public Documents" or any of those folders do not have to be on the C Drive. (And have never been required to be there since they were first introduced by Windows.) They can be mapped to other locations. 

Wait a minute... Does this mean that DS 4.9 requires the downloaded content to be in the My Documents directory?

And that to have it not be there I have it not on my C drive I have to move the "My Documents" directory in Windows?

No, you can put your library wherever you want (or call it whtever you want etc as long as you set Install manager to know where the content folder is.) It just happens to be in My Documents (or some variation of that) by default iirc.

The point was that Windows has never forced you to use C drive for your documents, nor has Daz Studio. They're just defaults.

Jason Galterio

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

I was just trying to answer the other half of the question, and problem, which you brought up. Sorry for the confusion. There are times when a customer purchases a product which requires another product, and they don't realize it. (Occurs most often with texture add-ons.) Or they install some of their content for space reasons and not all of it. 

In both of those cases, because they don't have everything needed to use something, they are now prompted to fix the problem instead of just erroring out. 

No. That is not the problem.

The problem is "DS" files that also require a handful of files from a Poser only install package.

I run into it at least a few times a month... Souless Empathy's Strange Cave (though it could be the Room of Books, I don't remember exactly) is a perfect example. There are model files that are only in the Poser installer. While the texture files are in the DS installer. And a couple of the Props (the water I believe) is in the DS 4.5 installer.

Jason Galterio

lx said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Nyghtfall said:

lx said:

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

I've been using Windows since v3.1, and I did not know you could that.  Thanks for that excellent tip.

It doesn't solve my principle issue with DAZ Connect and Smart Content though.

Note that "My Documents" or "Public Documents" or any of those folders do not have to be on the C Drive. (And have never been required to be there since they were first introduced by Windows.) They can be mapped to other locations. 

Wait a minute... Does this mean that DS 4.9 requires the downloaded content to be in the My Documents directory?

And that to have it not be there I have it not on my C drive I have to move the "My Documents" directory in Windows?

No, you can put your library wherever you want (or call it whtever you want etc as long as you set Install manager to know where the content folder is.) It just happens to be in My Documents (or some variation of that) by default iirc.

The point was that Windows has never forced you to use C drive for your documents, nor has Daz Studio. They're just defaults.

I am not referring to DIM. I am referring to DS 4.9.

I decided to install the beta and look. I never had the chance to tell it a directory to go to. I didn't think I needed to.

After reading the previous post, I went looking and found that now I have this directory:
C:\Users\Jason\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library\data\cloud

So now my question is...  What do I do to make sure 4.9 does not download all of these cloud files into my C drive. Without have to muck with my OS and move my "My Documents" directory.

lx_2807502

My bad, it's not in DIM, it's in Daz itself.

Open Daz Studio, go to Edit>Preferences, then Content Library tab, and click the Content Directory button.

You should see a window showing current directories, which you can expand to show Daz Studio content folders, which should expand to show your My Library folder and the DIM folder. You can change and add as many folders as you like in this section to tell Daz where your content is. I believe the cloud data is currently going into the topmost one, or it may go to My Library always (I'm not sure) but I know for a fact that my My Library has been set to another drive for a long time and 4.9 was perfectly happy to start storing content there automatically.

Jason Galterio

lx said:

My bad, it's not in DIM, it's in Daz itself.

Open Daz Studio, go to Edit>Preferences, then Content Library tab, and click the Content Directory button.

You should see a window showing current directories, which you can expand to show Daz Studio content folders, which should expand to show your My Library folder and the DIM folder. You can change and add as many folders as you like in this section to tell Daz where your content is. I believe the cloud data is currently going into the topmost one, or it may go to My Library always (I'm not sure) but I know for a fact that my My Library has been set to another drive for a long time and 4.9 was perfectly happy to start storing content there automatically.

I believe that we are talking Apples and Oranges.

The directory I referenced: C:\Users\Jason\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library\data\cloud

Is, I presume, the directory where 4.9 will put the files that it downloads through DAZ Connect. I do not see an option to change that.

DAZ_Spooky

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

I was just trying to answer the other half of the question, and problem, which you brought up. Sorry for the confusion. There are times when a customer purchases a product which requires another product, and they don't realize it. (Occurs most often with texture add-ons.) Or they install some of their content for space reasons and not all of it. 

In both of those cases, because they don't have everything needed to use something, they are now prompted to fix the problem instead of just erroring out. 

No. That is not the problem.

The problem is "DS" files that also require a handful of files from a Poser only install package.

I run into it at least a few times a month... Souless Empathy's Strange Cave (though it could be the Room of Books, I don't remember exactly) is a perfect example. There are model files that are only in the Poser installer. While the texture files are in the DS installer. And a couple of the Props (the water I believe) is in the DS 4.5 installer.

And that is handled by Daz Connect. (As I previously stated.) I was simply expanding on the answer, with the other, unasked, half of the question. As that problem also occurs and is related. 

lx_2807502

Jason Galterio said:

lx said:

My bad, it's not in DIM, it's in Daz itself.

Open Daz Studio, go to Edit>Preferences, then Content Library tab, and click the Content Directory button.

You should see a window showing current directories, which you can expand to show Daz Studio content folders, which should expand to show your My Library folder and the DIM folder. You can change and add as many folders as you like in this section to tell Daz where your content is. I believe the cloud data is currently going into the topmost one, or it may go to My Library always (I'm not sure) but I know for a fact that my My Library has been set to another drive for a long time and 4.9 was perfectly happy to start storing content there automatically.

I believe that we are talking Apples and Oranges.

The directory I referenced: C:\Users\Jason\Documents\DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library\data\cloud

Is, I presume, the directory where 4.9 will put the files that it downloads through DAZ Connect. I do not see an option to change that.

the data/cloud folder is automatically created in either My Library or your topmost folder in the directory manager I mentioned. It's not hard coded to that C drive location. Move that My Library folder and tell daz where you moved it to in the content directory manager, and the cloud folder will move with it. 

Jason Galterio

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

I was just trying to answer the other half of the question, and problem, which you brought up. Sorry for the confusion. There are times when a customer purchases a product which requires another product, and they don't realize it. (Occurs most often with texture add-ons.) Or they install some of their content for space reasons and not all of it. 

In both of those cases, because they don't have everything needed to use something, they are now prompted to fix the problem instead of just erroring out. 

No. That is not the problem.

The problem is "DS" files that also require a handful of files from a Poser only install package.

I run into it at least a few times a month... Souless Empathy's Strange Cave (though it could be the Room of Books, I don't remember exactly) is a perfect example. There are model files that are only in the Poser installer. While the texture files are in the DS installer. And a couple of the Props (the water I believe) is in the DS 4.5 installer.

And that is handled by Daz Connect. (As I previously stated.) I was simply expanding on the answer, with the other, unasked, half of the question. As that problem also occurs and is related. 

I give up. I am not going to argue with you anymore. The problem is not fixed with DAZ Connect. It's worse. All I was asking was that all these inconsistent file types and abandoned formats be cleaned up during this exercise. That's not going to happen, fine. I will continue with my home grown solution.

DAZ_Spooky

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Nyghtfall said:

lx said:

My 'My Library' folder is on D drive. You move it via the program or the install manager - I forget which exactly, but it's easy to do.

I've been using Windows since v3.1, and I did not know you could that.  Thanks for that excellent tip.

It doesn't solve my principle issue with DAZ Connect and Smart Content though.

Note that "My Documents" or "Public Documents" or any of those folders do not have to be on the C Drive. (And have never been required to be there since they were first introduced by Windows.) They can be mapped to other locations. 

Wait a minute... Does this mean that DS 4.9 requires the downloaded content to be in the My Documents directory?

And that to have it not be there I have it not on my C drive I have to move the "My Documents" directory in Windows?

No, that is not what I said, or what I meant to imply. Sorry if I confused you. If you want to handle the transfer within Windows you can. There is no requirement to do so. 

The download location is specified (DIM) as is the install location (DIM and Daz Connect) by the customer if they do not wish to use  the default locations. 

Eustace Scrubb

That issue's actually more common in older packages.  The reason is that the DS package was effectively an add-on (usualy a texture/materials optimization) for the Poser package.  In D|S 0.n (the original betas in '05, when I started with it) all the way through DS3 I'd say, the user was limited to about two basic formats:  the scene .DAZ file, the only way DS saved anything with mesh data aside from an OBJ export, or the various iterations of DAZ|Studio script files (.DS, .DSA, .DSB, .DSE).  The primary content format for the first few years and iterations of Daz Studio (or, if you will, DAZ|Studio) was the Poser format, which didn't displace the previous scene by default like adding a new .DAZ scene did.  Check the creation date of your product.

DAZ_Spooky

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

I was just trying to answer the other half of the question, and problem, which you brought up. Sorry for the confusion. There are times when a customer purchases a product which requires another product, and they don't realize it. (Occurs most often with texture add-ons.) Or they install some of their content for space reasons and not all of it. 

In both of those cases, because they don't have everything needed to use something, they are now prompted to fix the problem instead of just erroring out. 

No. That is not the problem.

The problem is "DS" files that also require a handful of files from a Poser only install package.

I run into it at least a few times a month... Souless Empathy's Strange Cave (though it could be the Room of Books, I don't remember exactly) is a perfect example. There are model files that are only in the Poser installer. While the texture files are in the DS installer. And a couple of the Props (the water I believe) is in the DS 4.5 installer.

And that is handled by Daz Connect. (As I previously stated.) I was simply expanding on the answer, with the other, unasked, half of the question. As that problem also occurs and is related. 

I give up. I am not going to argue with you anymore. The problem is not fixed with DAZ Connect. It's worse. All I was asking was that all these inconsistent file types and abandoned formats be cleaned up during this exercise. That's not going to happen, fine. I will continue with my home grown solution.

It is happening with Daz Connect. You are only going to get the files you need for Daz Studio. If that means Poser files and Daz Studio Companion files, that is what you get. If it means Daz Studio content only, because Daz Studio and Poser each have standalone installs then you get the Daz Studio files only. If that means a choice between the DS 4.0 and earlier "Legacy" files and the DS 4.5 or later files, you get the DS 4.5 files. No guess work, for each product you get what you need to use the product. 

 

 

Jason Galterio

Eustace Scrubb said:

That issue's actually more common in older packages.  The reason is that the DS package was effectively an add-on (usualy a texture/materials optimization) for the Poser package.  In D|S 0.n (the original betas in '05, when I started with it) all the way through DS3 I'd say, the user was limited to about two basic formats:  the scene .DAZ file, the only way DS saved anything with mesh data aside from an OBJ export, or the various iterations of DAZ|Studio script files (.DS, .DSA, .DSB, .DSE).  The primary content format for the first few years and iterations of Daz Studio (or, if you will, DAZ|Studio) was the Poser format, which didn't displace the previous scene by default like adding a new .DAZ scene did.  Check the creation date of your product.

Precisely. Which was why I was asking if this could be looked at and standardized as a part of this exercise. I am just asking for the loop to be closed so that we can build from a stable foundation. Instead of compounding the problem with another layer of confusion.

SassyWench

Thanks again Rawb :) I knew it wasn't implimented yet. I was just basically asking if, when the connect screen comes up, I should say "not now" or "never ever" lol So I'll stick with not now and see where we go from here when we get there.

DAZ_Rawb said:

SassyWench said:

Rawb if you're still here I have a question? I downloaded and installed 4.9 beta but haven't opened it up yet. Will I still need to use Connect with your "1995 workaround"? Or will it be done another way?

And thank you again for hearing us!

I know that this is pages and pages old, but I wanted to reply to it specifically.

 

"1995 mode" is not currently implemented in Daz Connect. Currently any product downloaded through Daz Connect needs to have it's files left in their default locations in order to not mess up operations on those files. We have figured out some solutions we could implement on top of Daz Connect in order to let people sort their content in the filesystem as many of them are used to currently.

 

To let you know how serious we are about this today is normally my day off but I am heading in to the office right now in order to talk with the team about how we want to handle this.

Jason Galterio

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

 

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

The underlying mess of the folder structure is a hold over from Poser thinking and can not be reasonably fixed. Further adjusting that folder structure can and does cause products to get broken.

The most efficeint way to organize large amounts of data, so that it has and maintains relationships is through the use of a database. This works regardless of the actual physical structure of the files and is exactly the design purpose of a database. It improves and speeds searches, allows searches to be transparent to the customer. (I want a shirt that fit Victoria 7, I don't have to build a search, there already is one.) I have pants that fit both Michael 6 and Victoria 6, I don't have to have two copies of the pants, I have one copy, and when looking at pants for either Victoria 6 or Michael 6 it shows up. 

It is easy to talk about, but without a common frame of reference and a practical example it isn't going to make much sense. So we are in the process of making a video to show how it works (in my mind something that I should have done to answer questions long before now, since nobody had done it. Mea culpa.) so people can see it before judging it.  

Nyghtfall said:

The problem with using DS to organize content is that, while everything may look nice and tidy in the program, the underlying folder structure remains a bloated mess of files.  If something does go wrong internally, and we find ourselves at our wits end trying to fix it, the first thing someone like me is going to want to do is open the file system and examine the folder structure as a backup option.  My understanding is that will not be possible with DAZ Connect-exclusive content.

 

This goes back to something that I have been asking for for over a year now...

IM00004165-02_AQuietStreetStudioCF
IM00004341-01_LisasBotanicalsBlackEyedSusanDS
IM00004194-02_Sector15StudioCF
IM00004709-01_DystopiaCityBlocks011020Poser
IM00005859-01_TimelessPs
​That's six different naming conventions (counting the ones with no extra characters at the end).

Just tell me which ones I need to install for my particular installation.

I don't want to hear "You only have to install the no extra character ones and the DS ones, except in the case of some items pre XXXXXX. For those items you also have to install the StudioCF files..." etc. etc.

Make it straight forward. Let the program tell me which to install. So that I don't have to find out (at the worst possible time) that I am missing xxxx geometry file or xxxx textures.

One of the things Daz Connect addresses. 

That's good to hear... As long as that doesn't mean when there is a missing file (geometry, texture, etc.) I need to find an internet connection.

There is a reason why I install everything that DIM says I need for a DS 4.5+ installation...  Then download everything else that I supposedly don't need, which I squirrel away into a sub-directory.

If you have a file, that you own, and is required for something else to work, and you haven't downloaded it, then you will be offered the choice to connect and download it. 

 

That is what I figured. Which means its the exact same issue I currently have and has not been fixed.

With DAZ Connect I will need to go onto the internet. Then download the missing peice.

Currently I flip over to DIM. Locate the installer and install.

One works right now in any circumstance. The other requires an internet connection.

Same problem, not resolved, just more crippling than my current solution.

What I am asking for is the new system to already know that "geometry file xxxxx" isn't included with xxxx installer. Then to automatically download it at the get go. That doesn't seem like too much to ask.

The current solution that you describe doesn't remedy the problem. It ignores it, compounds it and then hides it.

I was just trying to answer the other half of the question, and problem, which you brought up. Sorry for the confusion. There are times when a customer purchases a product which requires another product, and they don't realize it. (Occurs most often with texture add-ons.) Or they install some of their content for space reasons and not all of it. 

In both of those cases, because they don't have everything needed to use something, they are now prompted to fix the problem instead of just erroring out. 

No. That is not the problem.

The problem is "DS" files that also require a handful of files from a Poser only install package.

I run into it at least a few times a month... Souless Empathy's Strange Cave (though it could be the Room of Books, I don't remember exactly) is a perfect example. There are model files that are only in the Poser installer. While the texture files are in the DS installer. And a couple of the Props (the water I believe) is in the DS 4.5 installer.

And that is handled by Daz Connect. (As I previously stated.) I was simply expanding on the answer, with the other, unasked, half of the question. As that problem also occurs and is related. 

I give up. I am not going to argue with you anymore. The problem is not fixed with DAZ Connect. It's worse. All I was asking was that all these inconsistent file types and abandoned formats be cleaned up during this exercise. That's not going to happen, fine. I will continue with my home grown solution.

It is happening with Daz Connect. You are only going to get the files you need for Daz Studio. If that means Poser files and Daz Studio Companion files, that is what you get. If it means Daz Studio content only, because Daz Studio and Poser each have standalone installs then you get the Daz Studio files only. If that means a choice between the DS 4.0 and earlier "Legacy" files and the DS 4.5 or later files, you get the DS 4.5 files. No guess work, for each product you get what you need to use the product. 

 

 

Full disclosure. I am going to test this when I get home.

I am going to use it just like I would if I was on the road and without a internet connection.

I am going to start from a clean empty library. Have DAZ Connect install some of the known problem packages.

Then I am going to disconnect my internet and empty to use those items.

If I receive the errors that I expect to receive (i.e. texture xxx is missing, geometry xxx is missing, etc.) I swear I am going to come unhinged.

Likely suspects: anything related to the Millenium Environment props, any of Souless Empathy's props, DAZ Horse 1, etc.

Nester751

DAZ_Jon said:

nicstt said:

The killer for me, is logging onto a server to proved what I own is mine.

There seems to be a little bit of a misconception about this. You log into the server to get your key essentially that can decrypt data. You can install (getting a relationship file that is encrypted by your key) for every product you can save and use offline, or connect and get it online, essentially. This is almost exactly how DIM works except DIM is online only and it will work for any IM zip file even those someone may not legally own. But in order to download and install your content, be it through the store, through DIM, or now directly in Studio, it always checks if you own it. What the encryption does is make it harder than literally copying up the zip file they downloaded without any modifications for people to get copies that will work out to distribute. 

People can still edit files if they really want to, although it is more laborious to get to it. We identified a way to do that which we'll go into when we get things a bit more polished so for those that really want to tweak the source, you can. The only thing which is harder now is manually categorizing your content in a file structure. Its been highly recommended not to move files around for a long time now, but we're going to have some discussions this week and early next week on some quality of life things we might be able do to accomidate those even though every developer of studio thinks it is silly to do it that way compared to categories or smart content.

The harder issue is this one, and one not a lot have asked but has been part of our internal discussions since day 1...

pearbear said:

My main concern (based on various troubles I've had with anti-piracy measures in other software) is that content/software I buy from anywhere (not just DAZ) that is encrypted and requires a key for every legal installation introduces the possiblity that at some point I will migrate to new hardware, and for whatever reason (such as the company changing hands, changing policies, or shuttering their doors) I can't get a new decryption key.

What happens if a Godzilla attacks Salt Lake and our entire system collapses and is unrecoverable and it is impossible to get your customer key again? That part is a lot harder and requires a degree of trust because we can't say anything about it that we can actually show you "hey, here is the solution right here" and isn't an applicable thing until you guys can start buying content which is Daz Connect only. The rough plan up to this point is a poison pill. We don't know if it is going to be in a policy form or technology form or both. It is still in the planning stages on exactly how we implement it. The basic idea is if Daz goes away completely, which we have no plans to go away and it isn't looking like that will be the case anytime soon, everything will be unlocked or released without the encryption. 

Now I'll go to sleep and wait for the comments on how that doesn't mean anything unless you can show it, which we can't other than saying "yeah, we have something for that" and won't be able to realistically show or distribute it unless that sort of event happens. For those that are a little trusting and not prone to chase logical fallacies down the slippery slope to figure out our "true intentions" and how evil we are (seriously, some of the conspiracy-like theories that some have come up with on this literally made us laugh out loud), this sort of thing has been part of the discussion internally since day 1 and something we will either have in place or the policy in place before public release, depending if it is a technical solution or policy solution.. even though the techincal solution would still require part of a policy solution to be distributed in that instance.

Not so much Gozilla as either a network that's down for an extended period of time due to (insert issue here) or worse a prolonged DDOS attack.

Jason Galterio

Why I don't use Smart Content example:

After updating my meta data (a 350 MB download) I have a folder called "Lost and Found."

In Lost and Found there are 580 items at the top level. There are also about 100+ subdirectories.

Please tell me that this is something that you are working on.

(And Eustace you were correct. When I redirected the Content Library in 4.9, the cloud directory was created in my normal library.)

djigneo

If I receive the errors that I expect to receive (i.e. texture xxx is missing, geometry xxx is missing, etc.) I swear I am going to come unhinged.

That would be indicative of missing files in the packaged content, not of a core issue with the concept of DAZ Connect.

 

Jason Galterio

djigneo said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

Jason Galterio said:

DAZ_Spooky said:

If I receive the errors that I expect to receive (i.e. texture xxx is missing, geometry xxx is missing, etc.) I swear I am going to come unhinged. 

That would be indicative of an issue with the packaged (product) content, not of DAZ Connect.

Yes. Being packaged incorrectly.

And I was able to test it here. No errors. Because none of those items appear in DAZ Connect. Apparently Poser items are not listed?