aplman

My image files in a PTE project are named according to a scheme YYYY-MMDD-XXX.jpg, for example: 2010-0908-007.jpg 2010-0908-008.jpg etc. I needed to insert an extra image file between those two, so I named it 2010-0908-0075.jpg. I seemed to be unable to find it in the File List ... until a frustrating couple of hours later, I discovered the quirk in the sort order that puts 2010-0908-0075.jpg after 2010-0908-071.jpg. That is clearly not right. File names are textual in nature, not numeric. I thank you in anticipation of the fix.

Thank you Stu, I agree with your advice about stuff we learnt back in the good old DOS days. However, I am not using batch files. I am simply using the PTE facility in Project Options / Control / Advanced / Run Slideshow on exit. PTE seems not to provide for any variations there, so I expect the called slideshow to start from the beginning. I suspect it is a bug. Any further ideas will be very welcome, especially from Wnsoft people - Thank you. Ken T.

I have a PTE show in the form of an exe file, which serves as a menu to launch other exe shows. Occasionally, an exe show (presumably one that has already been shown) will start at the last slide instead of the first. This might be embarrassing if it happens with a large audience. Is there any way to ensure that the called show starts playing from the first slide? Thank you ... Ken T.

Hearty thanks to you, Stu, for the most appropriate reply. I will progress from there. I am relieved to know that I had not overlooked an obvious way of solving my dilemma. The need for your work-around convinces me that I should ask Wnsoft for improved keyboard support, so I shall do that in the Suggestions sub-forum when I have some spare time. Thanks too to all the others who tried to help me. I thought my questions were clear enough, but apparently not. Ken T.

Thank you for the suggestions. However, I see no provision defining a shortcut key in the properties of a PTE button object Am I looking in the wrong place? Ken T.

I need to revisit this matter - please forgive! I have several reasons for wanting to use the keyboard (rather than the mouse) for control of my slideshow, so I have ticked "Permit Control by Keyboard" in Project Options.. Running the show, I can quickly and easily move to next slide or previous slide with left and right arrow keys, I can pause or resume the show with the space bar, and I can exit with the escape key. What I am unable to do is to use buttons. I have a slide with several buttons so I can choose what to show next. I really want to avoid using the mouse. I need to be able to select a button and press it, and to move between buttons, all using the keyboard. Clearly the arrow keys do not achieve that. I was hoping to use Tab and Shift-Tab to reach the next or previous button, or to assign a shortcut key to each button. Am I missing something? Or is this a functional enhancement I should suggest in the appropriate sub-forum? Thanking you all ... Ken T.

My thanks to you all, Eric, Tom, Denis. Between you, you have given me enough ideas to move forward. Ken T.

I have five similar projects under construction. One of them has stopped showing the linked audio file name in the top-right part of the task bar. The audio still plays when I preview, and Project Options/Audio shows all the audio files as linked to their appropriate slides ... but the names do not show. It is hard to work with the project in that condition. I cannot fathom what has caused just one project out of the five to behave like this. Any ideas, p-l-e-a-s-e? Thank you ... Ken T.

G'day Yachtsman! Thank you for your extremely speedy response to my distress call! In this case, "having the focus" is computer jargon meaning the currently selected button on the computer screen, the button that keyboard and mouse interact with. It's not related to projector focus. I hope this will now be clearer to all. Ken T.

I have done a lot with wonderful PTE, but never a manually controlled show with optional paths through the slides. Now I face a challenge. I have a slide with several buttons that allow me to select and launch other shows, and when I control the presentation with a mouse, everything works nicely. However, for my eventual presentation to a class of ninety people, I will need to use a hand-held presenter, so I have to specify "Control by keyboard" in PTE's Project Options. Now, may I ask please - with control by keyboard, how do I see which button has the focus? How do I select a button?, How do I press it? Perhaps buttons are not suitable in this circumstance? Is there another way, without using the mouse? I will be grateful for assistance. Can't help thinking I must be missing something elementary! Ken T.

I agree absolutely! I would use such a facility very frequently. I do hope it eventuates ... it must be relatively easy to implement. Thank you Igor and team! Ken T.

Thank you Peter. I was hoping to find a gadget that could be used with one hand, while walking around and interacting with the audience.. I should also have mentioned pause and play for video clips. I shall remain hopeful. Ken T.

I would like to ask whether anyone can recommend a hand-held wireless presenter suitable for controlling a PTE show??? I will be running exe files to show on a projector. I have found a simple one that is good for Powerpoint presentations, but for PTE, a few more functions would be nice ... e.g. volume control, click on a button, etc. Any ideas from the experts would be appreciated! Ken T.

It's my understanding that this is not a rule, it's simply a convention that some users follow. Some people find it very orderly. Others have different reasons for storing files in another way. PTE, being the brilliant software that it is, allows each user to adopt whatever convention.suits them. Ken T (aplman)

Igor, I have received your question w!ith enormous delight! Thank you for raising the question at this time. I will find it difficult to respond fully right now, as I am enjoying a brilliant tour of Iceland and am using a tablet. Let me just say that your suggested way forward would suit me perfectly. I will follow the discussion with great interest until I reach home (and my computer) on July 11. Thanks aplenty! Ken T (APLman)

I do not mean to direct this comment to the original poster, nor to any of the respondents. However, I do feel the need to make a comment for the benefit of any new PTE users who might be reading this thread. A lot of work can be involved in creating a PTE show. All that work is encapsulated in the "XXXX.PTE" file. It is vitally important to keep, backup and archive one's .PTE files. A .PTE file is like a recipe for the slideshow. You can create a beautiful dish from a recipe, but if the recipe is lost, there is no hope of recovering the recipe from the dish it produced. PTE fans, GUARD YOUR RECIPES! Ken T (aplman)

Igor, I would like to know what proportion of regular experienced PTE users actually enter AV competitions. I read all discussions on several PTE sub-forums, and I usually learn something. However, I am not interested in AV competitions. Hence my question. Are you wanting to have feedback from users such as myself? PTE is my main tool (let's say 99%) for creating the travel shows that my friends/acquaintances/contacts enjoy. In am likely to present to travel clubs and travel-keen people in other groups. I am just curious to know how much my wishes are important, when compared with the wishes of AV club competitors. Best Wishes ...Ken T (aplman)

My thanks to Lin for his very quick response, and to Dave for the reminder of that lovely new resource. However, I was already aware of the "Sort File List" facility. It's a "Sort Slide List" function I was after, and I'm guessing nothing in the help system says whether there is such a function. It might help if I explain. To try out the various Slide Style options, I wanted to use them randomly in a trial project. I could randomise the slide order, select a batch of slides, apply one style to those, randomise again and apply a different style to a different batch, and so on. But at the end, I would want to restore the slides (with their styles) to a more meaningful sequence. Sadly, I could not do it. An alternative idea would be easily implemented, I believe. In the Slide menu, perhaps below "Random Order", a new item "Random selection" would be useful. A prompt of "How many?" would follow. If multiple slides were already selected, then the specified randomising would apply to those only. Otherwise, to the entire slide list. Thank you both again ... Ken T (APLman)

I appreciate the ability to arrange the slide list in random order. However, I cannot find anywhere the facility to sort the slide list in any other way, for example by main image file name. Can someone advise please? Many thanks ... APLman (Ken T)

Thank you DG. I was not aware - will investigate. Ken T (APLman)

I do not understand why a style has to include a fixed duration parameter. I hope future development of PTE and of styles (which we are told is planned) will remove the need for a style to specify a fixed duration. Ken T (APLman)

Hello All! I am following this discussion with great interest, and I do appreciate the points put forward by each poster. However, I would like to suggest that suggestions regarding the User Guide could be left until we get the software improvements we are seeking. Obviously, once a new version comes out, we should offer suggestions where the documentation is lagging. Ken T (APLman)

Gary, thank you for highlighting this situation. I think it has become terribly messy, especially since the introduction of video clips. I would get rid of all those "durations", and have just "slide time" for each slide, and "transition time" for each transition. It would be simplest to understand if those were independent and exclusive. Consider this situation: A B C D tttttttttttttttSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSttttttttttttttttttt where the tees represent transitions and the ESSES represent the slide's clear view time. In my opinion, it would be clearest and simplest if we could call A to B TRANSITION TIME. B to C CLEAR SLIDE TIME C to D TRANSITION TIME A to D FULL SLIDE TIME A to C HISTORIC SLIDE TIME I would go further and ask Igor to allow the user to define one's preferred SLIDE TIME (for display in Slide Options, Slide List, Timeline, etc). I would choose to have SLIDE TIME to mean B to C Others might prefer SLIDE TIME to mean A to D Traditionalists might prefer SLIDE TIME to mean A to C I guess it would all depend on one's preferred workflow. Ken T (APLman)

Grateful thanks to all who replied (and so quickly!), but especially to Stu. You hit the nail right on the head!!! I removed that nasty WnSoftFolderInfo file, I the "offending" image is now in the clear. Regards ... Ken T (APLman)

I have a very strange problem. From my latest travels, I have made several PTE shows in 16 by 9 format. Each show starts with title slide consisting of text over a 1920x1080 main image which is a pale grey-scale converted from a colour original (using Irfanview). Generally they work nicely ... but one particular image shows up rotated by 90 degrees in the mini-viewer, in the slide list, and in the published show. I've regenerated the image but still get the same result. The offending image displays properly in other software. Might anyone have observed a quirk like this? Thank you ... Ken T (APLman)