Folder location change

[Old John]

I would appreciate some help with a problem.

In an attempt to clear up my folders I have moved them to new locations. Now when I want to do more work on a slide show it cannot find the files.

How can I simply tell the slide show how to find and load images from the relevant files?

Old John

[davegee]

There are differing views on this so stand by.....

If you go into O&A / Common Tab you will see where PTE is looking for the folder.

Replace the folder from where you have put it to where PTE is looking for it and do that for all of the folders.

When you have done this for all folders and you are back to square one - create a TEMPLATE of the show at your desired location and you can then resume the organisation of your folders. A template gathers all of the necessary images, music files etc into one folder for you.

NEXT TIME - put/copy all of the images into ONE folder per PTE Project as you go along - this is the CORRECT way to do it.

DaveG

[Ken Cox]

There are differing views on this so stand by.....

If you go into O&A / Common Tab you will see where PTE is looking for the folder.

Replace the folder from where you have put it to where PTE is looking for it and do that for all of the folders.

When you have done this for all folders and you are back to square one - create a TEMPLATE of the show at your desired location and you can then resume the organisation of your folders. A template gathers all of the necessary images, music files etc into one folder for you.

NEXT TIME - put/copy all of the images into ONE folder per PTE Project as you go along - this is the CORRECT way to do it.

DaveG

also John

what version of pte are you using?

ken

[Lin Evans]

Hi John,

Unfortunately, it's easier to tell you how to prevent this in the future than how to fix it now.

The program creates a PTE file which contains pointers to the folders and individual files used to create your show. When you move the files, the pointers inside the PTE file are then incorrect and the program has no way of knowing where they have been relocated.

How to proceed with a "fix" depends upon how you have created your show. If there are no Objects in layers, it's straightforward.

Open PTE and on the Main screen click on your first slide to select it. At the top of the screen next to the left of the "sound" icon is a box which says "Change Image File." Click on this and navigate to where that individual slide is now located and choose it. Repeat this for each slide.

If you have slides in the Objects list in layers then also do the following:

Open PTE then go to the Objects and Animations screen, click on one of your image names in the Objects to select it and then click on the Properties tab and you will see at the far right a little folder icon. Click on this icon and navigate to the new location of the file and click on it to reset the pointer.

Once you have completed the above for all images and have assured that everything is working correctly, then save your pte file.

In the future, the very easy way to avoid this is to create a zip file of each of your shows. You do this by clicking on "File" then "Create Backup in Zip."

Doing the above gathers all images, sound files, etc., into a single zip archive which can then be moved to any drive or folder and unzipped and "everything" will be located there so PTE will be able to immediately find and run your shows.

Unfortunately, there is no "easy" way to undo what you have done unless you want to use the "restore" facility on Windows to go back before you reorganized and make zip archives.

Best regards,

Lin

[Ronniebootwest]

This problem keeps on popping up and people do not seem to be listening.

Make a 'Template' and also a 'Backup in Zip' of all of your project files and you can then move your images where you like.

I did a tutorial on this subject some time ago called, 'Making your first slide show' It can be found on my web site.

Ron

[davegee]

Ron,

The OP is a new member - he came here because he has a problem.

It is possible that he has not been here long enough to know of the pitfalls of what he has done.

Now that he has received an explanation he probably will never do it again. And we will not have to assist until the next new member falls into the same trap.

Maybe you could design a PDF "Introductory Pack" which could be sent to all new members when they join advising them of this and other pitfalls?

Seriously.

DaveG

[Guest Yachtsman1]

This problem keeps on popping up and people do not seem to be listening.

Make a 'Template' and also a 'Backup in Zip' of all of your project files and you can then move your images where you like.

I did a tutorial on this subject some time ago called, 'Making your first slide show' It can be found on my web site.

Ron

Ron

This is over the top & is what puts newcomers off the forum. I think it warrants an apology!!!

Yachtsman1

[Ken Cox]

Ron

This is over the top & is what puts newcomers off the forum. I think it warrants an apology!!!

Yachtsman1

old john has been a member since 2006

from the history file

PicturesToExe v4.40 (March 28, 2005)

------------------------------------

+ Improved file transference of a project into another disk or PC.

(Copy the main folder of your project (which may contain embedded

folders with pictures or music) and PicturesToExe will find new file paths.)

also see

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3170&pid=20488&mode=threaded&show=&st=entry20488

ken

[Ronniebootwest]

Ron

This is over the top & is what puts newcomers off the forum. I think it warrants an apology!!!

Yachtsman1

You are right! Maybe I could have used my words a little better, I really didn't mean to offend I just wanted to help.

Back in the days when I was sending out pdf's to members, I did one that explained the benefits of 'Templates' and 'Backup in Zips'

Unfortunately I seem to have lost it but perhaps someone still has a copy?

Ron

[Old John]

I am most grateful for the good advice I have received, it is most helpful.

It was not my intention or wish to be the cause of any friction, I am sorry about that. This is a great forum and I try to respect that.

My usual procedure with a completed slide show is to create a back-up in zip and keep it in folder with any other relevant files. The problem this tine was that I was working on several slide shows )some of which shared the same images) trying to improve them, when, like an idiot, I reorganised my directories.

At this point my very ancient memory let me down. I thought that in P2X all I had to do was to tell it where the first missing slide was to be found and it would then search in that folder for the rest of the missing slides. I now realise that I was confusing P2X with Producer which can work that way (I need hardly say that P2X is my preferred program!)

I did a search of the manuals and the Forum without success because, as I now realise) iwas trying to find something that wasn't

there!

I now think my best chance is to try to reconstruct the path for the images etc. that P2X expects, complete the slide shows and then create back=ups in zip.

I have made a note to myself,' must try harder in future'.

Thanks for all the help

Old John

[davegee]

Friction?

What friction?

That's just Ron being his usual self!

You are more likely to learn from your own "mistakes" than the mistakes of others - put it down to experience.

Ken pointed out that you have, indeed, been around the forum for a few years wheras your membership status has you listed as a new member. That was my mistake - I have learned from it.

Regarding the problem itself, I have recently been "cherry picking" images from various folders into a new folder for a new project. At first I was just dragging and dropping images from one folder to another (on the same drive). Before long I realised that I was creating a problem for myself because the images being dragged and dropped would no longer be in their original folders and therefore would produce the same problem that you encountered. My solution is that I have to COPY and PASTE instead of dragging and dropping.

Previously I had been dragging and dropping files from TEMPLATES on a different drive and under these circumstances "dragging and dropping" and "copying and pasting" are the same thing.

Lesson learned!

DaveG

[Ken Cox]

Friction?

What friction?

That's just Ron being his usual self!

You are more likely to learn from your own "mistakes" than the mistakes of others - put it down to experience.

Ken pointed out that you have, indeed, been around the forum for a few years wheras your membership status has you listed as a new member. That was my mistake - I have learned from it.

DaveG

Dave

I dont know how it works but i think membership status depends on how many times you post

we have quite a few members that rarely if ever have posted

ken

[davegee]

That's what I learned Ken!

DaveG

[wideangle]

As mentioned, the use of a 'backup in zip' cures all of these problems, and is therefore a good habit to get into as a matter of routine with all slideshow production.

However, one point worth noting is this.

Much of the time when you create a slideshow you gather your files into one folder during its production.

If that folder is then subsequently moved, you create the difficulty we are discussing here of 'files not found' in PTE.

If all the files still exist elsewhere in a single folder, it should be(?) a straightforward programming exercise to have an option in PTE to ask for the new location and then regenerate the correct pathnames.

I appreciate that there is no quick solution if the files are all over the place in different folders.

Maybe an inclusion in a future version??

Regards

wideangle

[nobeefstu]

wideangle,

If all the files still exist elsewhere in a single folder, it should be(?) a straightforward programming exercise to have an option in PTE to ask for the new location and then regenerate the correct pathnames.

Actually this action somewhat already exists ... however not as an option as you have described. If all your slideshow resource files are in a single folder and the folder is moved ... all you have to do is move the .pte project file into that new folder location and then open it in PTE.

PTE will always look for its resource files (for sometime now) relative to the the .pte file. This is also how the backup zip principle works ... it looks relative for its files if any are missing in the original path location.

[Ken Cox]

As mentioned, the use of a 'backup in zip' cures all of these problems, and is therefore a good habit to get into as a matter of routine with all slideshow production.

However, one point worth noting is this.

Much of the time when you create a slideshow you gather your files into one folder during its production.

If that folder is then subsequently moved, you create the difficulty we are discussing here of 'files not found' in PTE.

If all the files still exist elsewhere in a single folder, it should be(?) a straightforward programming exercise to have an option in PTE to ask for the new location and then regenerate the correct pathnames.

I appreciate that there is no quick solution if the files are all over the place in different folders.

Maybe an inclusion in a future version??

Regards

wideangle

wideangle

from the history file

PicturesToExe v4.40 (March 28, 2005)

------------------------------------

+ Improved file transference of a project into another disk or PC.

(Copy the main folder of your project (which may contain embedded

folders with pictures or music) and PicturesToExe will find new file paths.)

ken

[Conflow]

John,

Here is a 'technique' which should find your missing Zip-Files.

We have used this method for the past few years with good success.

See the 'Attachment' in this Posting for the method & instructions used.

Best of Luck...

Brian.(Conflow)

[wideangle]

To Nobeefstu and Ken,

Yes, good observations to solve the problem that way.

I just thought that maybe an option built into PTE to let it do the job instantly, would help those people who are not too familiar with the component parts of PTE and/or folder manipulation.

Regards,

wideangle

[pedro.silva]

greetings!

when all image files are in one single folder, i just copy the pte file to a new file with a different filename (just in case), and have a go with my favorite text editor, exercising search-and-replace. simple and works...

cheers,

pedro

As mentioned, the use of a 'backup in zip' cures all of these problems, and is therefore a good habit to get into as a matter of routine with all slideshow production.

However, one point worth noting is this.

Much of the time when you create a slideshow you gather your files into one folder during its production.

If that folder is then subsequently moved, you create the difficulty we are discussing here of 'files not found' in PTE.

...

[Old John]

After facing the gloomy prospect of having to change the location of each slide I am happy to report that the method suggested by 'Nobeefstu' works beautifully. My thanks to 'Nobeefstu' and to Brian (Conflow) for an excellent method for finding missing ZIP files

Old John

[fh1805]

Old John,

I've written a new FAQ on this subject of missing files. As you have the most recent scar tissue, would you please take a look at it and let me have your comments.

regards,

Peter