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All forums => ThumbsPlus v7-v9 Questions => Topic started by: miltk on 2012-09-13 16:23:09

Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-13 16:23:09
i have an old tp 5 version. for the longest time, the path to my source images has been within another program, ie paint shop pro5.

i'm starting to think this is not a good idea in case things should change in the future. i guess i could simply replicate the folder structure program files\paint shop pro\xxx without the need of installing the psp program. am i right? then the tp4 file would still be valid?

however also my question is can i access and alter the default folder path itself as another option?,,,from "program files\paint shop pro\xxx " to "desktop\tpimages" or something similar. i think ultimately it might be wise to keep the folder path simple and universally adaptable

thx

ps. one more thing. i've been trying to change the default thumbnail sort to "date - descending" in option\preferences but it doesn't save as default to all my thumbnail viewing. i want it to be the default sort for everything.
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-13 16:39:11
> i guess i could simply replicate the folder structure program files\paint shop pro\xxx without the need of installing the psp program. am i right? then the tp4 file would still be valid?

Only if you make those changes from within ThumbsPlus, so that it can update your thumbnail records as it moves the corresponding image files to their new location.

> however also my question is can i access and alter the default folder path itself as another option?,,,from "program files\paint shop pro\xxx " to "desktop\tpimages" or something similar.

If you want TP to show that new location when it starts up, I think you can configure it to do so at Options | Preferences | Startup (but your v5 is very old and I don't recall much about it).

> ps. one more thing. i've been trying to change the default thumbnail sort to "date - descending" in option\preferences but it doesn't save as default to all my thumbnail viewing.

I don't know if that particular setting is stored in thumbs.ini or .tdo, but if it's the latter, and you use multiple databases, you would have to set that option for each database separately (by loading that database and changing the setting). Or, the settings file in question might be read-only. I can't think of anothr reason why your preference would be ignored.
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-13 16:57:45
thx, but i'm not quite sure i'm following you here...
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i guess i could simply replicate the folder structure program files\paint shop pro\xxx without the need of installing the psp program. am i right? then the tp4 file would still be valid?

Only if you make those changes from within ThumbsPlus, so that it can update your thumbnail records as it moves the corresponding image files to their new location.
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if the tp database understands the folder path to be "program files\paint shop pro\images", if i created such a path on another computer without actually installing the psp program, wouldn't the tp database recognize that path anyway? the location might be "new" in a sense that it is on a new computer, but the path is still the same. so just create the "program files\paint  shop pro\images" and copy the old tp4 file to the new computer.

another question. if i want to get a newer version of tp, can i just copy the tp4 file from my version5 into the new version?
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-13 19:05:53
> if the tp database understands the folder path to be "program files\paint shop pro\images", if i created such a path on another computer without actually installing the psp program, wouldn't the tp database recognize that path anyway?

The PSP program is irrelevant - don't worry about it.

As for TP, it will only be able to match its thumbnail records to the corresponding image files if A) the volume label of the drive on which the images reside is identical to that of the previous drive and B) the path in which they reside is also identical.

> the location might be "new" in a sense that it is on a new computer, but the path is still the same. so just create the "program files\paint  shop pro\images" and copy the old tp4 file to the new computer.

Yes, that would work but only if you give that drive the same name (volume label) that the drive on the old computer had. Do not run ThumbsPlus before that time (that might lead to complications).

> another question. if i want to get a newer version of tp, can i just copy the tp4 file from my version5 into the new version?

Versions 6 and 7 can read the tp4 database, but v8 and v9 can't.

With those (v8/9) you can either convert the .td4 database to the new format, or you can just create a new database and re-scan all your image files (but if you have painstakenly entered thousands of keywords or annotations in your current database, that wouldn't be a good idea).
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-14 04:40:07
if the new(2nd) computer to which i want to transfer the files has a different label, do i just rename it?

that doesn't sound like the right thing to do. i went to settings\control panel\admin tools\computer management\disk management,,,and under the column "volume" i saw "DRIVE_C (C)", and i'm going yikes, i don't think i should screw with this!

to be fair, the two computers that currently share all the tp information are both sony computers and both show DRIVE_C (C) as the volume, if i am looking at the correct volume.
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-14 09:00:04
Yes, I think that's the correct label, and it appears that they're both the same already (Drive_C). So, in that case you only have to make sure that the folder path to the image files will be the same too.
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-15 03:53:45
however also my question is can i access and alter the default folder path itself as another option?,,,from "program files\paint shop pro\xxx " to "desktop\tpimages" or something similar.

If you want TP to show that new location when it starts up, I think you can configure it to do so at Options | Preferences | Startup (but your v5 is very old and I don't recall much about it).
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yes,,,i can change what folder tp opens at startup BUT that is not my question. my question is if in the future i want to move that source folder out of the psp program and put it elsewhere, like desktop\images, how would i or COULD i change td4 so that it reads the new source destination instead of the old, thereby alleviating the necessity of recataloging all my images.....or am i stuck with always using the paint shop pro\images path

thx for your time...:):):)
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-15 10:00:10
> however also my question is can i access and alter the default folder path itself as another option?,,,from "program files\paint shop pro\xxx " to "desktop\tpimages" or something similar.

You're not stuck - in ThumbsPlus, in the tree panel, you can look-up or create the Desktop\TPImages folder, and then use drag-and-drop to move your current photo folders into that. So long as you use ThumbsPlus itself to do the moving, it will be able to keep track of your photos.
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-15 14:24:11
there's a "create" but delete, rename, copy, and move are greyed out. my first reaction was "rats, i cannot move",,,but you're saying create a new folder and just move everything to that folder, all within tp?

i will test
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-15 14:39:47
If those commands are grayed out, go to Options | Preferences | General and turn on 'allow folder operations'. It's a safety precaution that Cerious built in to protect users against themselves (and to protect Cerious from thousands of panicky support calls I assume :-)
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-15 14:50:58
yes...i was coming back to edit my post. it wasn't until i started doodling around and tried to drag the test folder that i got the message about general prefs.

i "allowed folder operations". moved the folder and everything was newly recataloged into the new test folder under my "galleries"

THANKS !!!!!

i'm going to do more fiddling which means i'll end up with a lot of rubbish in tp. so if i want to "reset" everything that i've tested and start from scratch with a clean tp/td4,,, is there a reset button or something?

thanks you're the man. way better than getting a support ticket!! :):)
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-15 14:56:48
> i'm going to do more fiddling which means i'll end up with a lot of rubbish in tp. so if i want to "reset" everything that i've tested and start from scratch with a clean tp/td4,,, is there a reset button or something?

No, there's no Undo for folder operations! When you move folders around in TP, it's the actual folders (and their contents, i.e. your image files) that get moved on your harddisk.

The reason why you have to do it in TP is that if you had used Explorer, or another file manager, ThumbsPlus would not know what you have done and it would be unable to match-up its thumbnail records to your image files.

So, sure, you can practice safely on some test folders, but keep in mind that whatever you are doing is 'real'!
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-15 21:36:36
absolutely...i'm creating a mock folder to test. of course it makes perfect sense that the best way for tp to follow anything is to let it handle everything.

i don't have later versions so i was wondering, do they allow me to default  sort thumbnails (date descending) for all my galleries, because as i may have mentioned, none of my sort preferences are remembered whether per gallery or in general prefs. the default sort in "name" even though i've made general pref changes
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: Daan van Rooijen on 2012-09-15 22:06:00
> because as i may have mentioned, none of my sort preferences are remembered

Yes, see my first reply, last paragraph. The sort order really should be remembered and be used for all folders.. It works fine in my v7 (btw, I often use the keyboard shortcuts Alt-1 through Alt-5 to change the sort order, which works faster than using the mouse)

Galleries have their own sort order. When you go into the Tree panel, Galleries section, you can right-click on the name of a gallery and choose Properties to change the order. Uniquely, galleries can also have a manual sort order (just set it to manual and drag the thumbnails in the desired order). That right-click menu also has an option to save the sort order, btw.
Title: tp5 and a query about changing file path
Post by: miltk on 2012-09-16 02:22:00
okay, then my sort changes are not working. i've tried everything,,,from within the galleries to general prefs.

if i delete the td4 file in explorer and close out tp, will td4 regenerate when i open tp again?

thx