Author Topic: Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user? [OK]  (Read 5240 times)

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aod

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This thread details a workaround, feature may be added in a later version.

Hello,

With TP v7, I could have two databases that were essentially completely separate from each other.  I could just open one DB, and it would return to the last folder I was in for that DB.  I could open the other DB, and it would return to the last folder I was in for it as well - they were separate.

Now, in TP V8x, any DB I open shares the Thumbs.ini file, and thus the "remembered" folder is always the folder I was in the last time I closed TP regardless of the DB.  

This is really annoying - I want to have multiple DBs that keep this kind of information separate.  Is there anyway I can get this functionality back?  Like specifying a different ini file?  Or a different settings directory?

Thanks.

Daan van Rooijen

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user?
« Reply #1 on: 2011-05-09 16:46:53 »
> Now, in TP V8x, any DB I open shares the Thumbs.ini file, and thus the "remembered" folder is always the folder I was in the last time I closed TP regardless of the DB.

Yes, unless you define a specific path under Opt | Pref | Startup, but that would then be used with all databases..
 
> Is there anyway I can get this functionality back?  Like specifying a different
> ini file?  Or a different settings directory?

Unfortunately the old -i command line parameter no longer seems to work..

Well, one possible solution might be to create multiple .ini files (one for each database, with the desired StartupFolder= value) and then use as many corresponding batch files that do something like this when they launch TP:

Startdogs.bat:

copy /y dogs.ini thumbs8.ini
start /wait "C:\Thumbs8\Bin\thumbs8.exe" "f:\mydatabases\dogs.tpdb8"
copy /y thumbs8.ini dogs.ini


Likewise, for a cats database you'd create a Startcats.bat like this:

copy /y cats.ini thumbs8.ini
start /wait "C:\Thumbs8\Bin\thumbs8.exe" "f:\mydatabases\cats.tpdb8"
copy /y thumbs8.ini cats.ini

 
- The first line would replace thumbs8.ini with the ini file that belongs with the database that you'll be using.
- The second line launches TP with that database, then waits until TP has exited.
- The third line would update the ini file for any changes made in settings during this session.

Finally, on your desktop, you would create a shortcut to each batchfile.

Note: I didn't test this, and you'll want to use full path names to the ini files.

I guess the biggest drawback of this approach would be that when you tweak or refine settings in ThumbsPlus, they'll only be saved for the current database/ini set. I'm sure that more elegant solutions are possible, but hopefully this can be a practical solution for some users.
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aod

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user?
« Reply #2 on: 2011-05-09 18:23:02 »
Thanks for the reply.  Pretty brute force, but if Cerious doesn't put this functionality back in, then I guess this may be the best solution.

It really seems like a limitation that is unnecessary, and in a lot of cases, unwanted!  It seems if a user wants more than one database, they'd want to go to the last folder for whatever DB they open.  


I hope they allow for this in future updates.

Daan van Rooijen

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user?
« Reply #3 on: 2011-05-09 18:54:45 »
> I hope they allow for this in future updates.

Me too. There are many more settings that one may want to adjust to the database (and the type of images/documents/media in it), so I think it would be great if we could specify the ini file on the command line too.
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Phillip Crews

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user? [OK]
« Reply #4 on: 2011-05-10 17:03:09 »
The INI settings used to be stored in two files, the Thumbs.ini file and a .tdo file with the same location and name as the database. Things had gotten so complicated with handling network files, multiple users, roaming user profiles, user permissions, client/server databases and other mess that I combined them for 8.

I had at one point during 8 betas stored the database settings directly in the database itself, but this unfortunately was noticeably slower to read without rewriting the profile code Additionally, command line processing was completely replaced and I probably simply missed the -i code.

I'll try to think and implement the best/most reasonable solution for the next build.

Daan van Rooijen

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user? [OK]
« Reply #5 on: 2011-05-10 17:48:14 »
> I'll try to think and implement the best/most reasonable solution for the next build.

That would be great!

I don't know how complicated this would be, but for even more flexibility (than only a command line option that loads a specific .ini file), maybe you could allow users to redirect sections of the ini file to a different file. The Total Commander file manager does this, mainly to allow system administrators to dictate some important common settings to users, whilst leaving them free to configure other aspects of the program.

It works like this: When a section contains a command "RedirectSection=", the program reads and writes the relevant settings from and to that other .ini file. It supports environment variables like %APPDATA% and %USERNAME% ([link=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_variable#Default_Values_on_Microsoft_Windows]full list here)[/link], in addition to a few program-specific variables that point to the program's home dir, the dir where its .ini is, et cetera.
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aod

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user? [OK]
« Reply #6 on: 2011-05-10 20:54:00 »
Fantastic.  Really all I think is necessary is to just allow pointing to a different settings directory than the default.  On initial startup of a new settings directory, just copy over the default files, and thereafter just set to/from the specified directory.

aod

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Different Thumbs.ini file for the same user? [OK]
« Reply #7 on: 2014-05-16 20:16:32 »
Is this now possible with Thumbs 9?  If so, how do I set up a separate DB with different .ini settings?  I specifically want to open one DB with the last folder for THAT DB, and open a different DB with the last folder for that one as well.

Having multiple DB share the last opened folder is annoying.  The DBs are keeping thumbs in entirely different folders/drives.