Content of 'Content Library' disappeared!

pjpeeters

Hi, dear forum members! I'm new here, and I'm told this is the place to be in case of problems (in regard to Daz Studio issues). So here I go:

 

My CONTENT LIBRARY got empty, all at once. I didn't delete anything in it myself, but I can't find any content anymore. I have closed, and restarted Daz Studio, but it remains to be totally empty.

(I have attached a screenprint of the empty Content Library.)

Can anyone tell me what will or might have happened, and more importantly: where will that (previous) content be saved now, and how can I get it back in the CONTENT LIBRARY?

(I use Daz Studio 4.10 (64-bit), and Windows 10.)

Thanks!

Richard Haseltine

That's a Word file - please try attaching an actual image.

Most likely you have collapsed the folder list - if it was originally above the asset view (the one with files) there will be a dark block (probably two) in the divider bar, if it was to the left of the asset view there will be a darker block half-way down - that's the collapse/expand toggle, click it to bring the list back.

pjpeeters

Thanks a lot for your prompt reply, but I'm afraid I do not understand your explanation/instruction.

I herewith send you the screenprint again, but this time as .pdf file. (I know it actually should be a .jpg file, but for mysterious reasons my Microsoft Word programme doesn't provide that option.)

Richard Haseltine

If you are using a recent version of Windows just use the Snip and Sketch app (10) or Snipping tool (7 or 8) to grab a section of the screen.

Look on the left edge of your Content Library pane, opposite the tab labelled Draw Settings - click on that little rectangle and it will expand the folder list.

pjpeeters

Thanks, again. But I'm afraid I'm a real PC nitwit. I have no idea how/where to find that Snip and Sketch app. (I looked for it in the 'search' display, but my PC couldn't find it.) Sorry.

pjpeeters

Meanwhile I've found the rectangle you're referring to, and it indeed opens the folder lists of the Content Library, but it doesn't change - meaning: bring back - the default setting of the Content Library. (That still is empty, when I close the rectangle.)

Richard Haseltine

I'm not sure what you mean - to see anything in the asset section, where the files show, you need to havea contained (a folder, a category, or a product) selected in the container view (the collapsible bit that i was calling folder view earlier). Or are you saying you no longer have any containers with files available in the list?

pjpeeters

I mean now everything seems to be back in the Content Library again, or actually it's visible again, but the layout is different now. It's not the layout that I got by default. When I close the rectangles, there are no folders visible in the default Content Library. It's empty, or at least it looks like empty.

melanie

I have the same problem. I keep all my DAZ files on my D drive, an external hard drive. I've kept them on the D drive for a long time. I discovered this afternoon that all my DAZ files are gone. The entire folders are completely missing. I had a Windows update when I shut down last night. I had a lot of custom characters that I've been saving and using regularly for some stories I have. They're all gone. Install Manager shows they're installed and the path I've been installing them to on D drive are showing correctly, but when I go to the D drive, the folders are all missing It's like they've been deleted. I never deleted them. Everything else on that D drive are there as usual, it's only my DAZ files that are gone. This is heartbreaking because I've worked hard to customize these characters. Could the Windows update have done this? And why does the Install Manager show over 3,000 items are installed on those folders? This is totally weird.

melanie

I've found my files. I tried to restore my system files to an earlier date, but that failed, so I started poking into other folders. I had somehoe accidentally moved them into another folder. I remember thinking I had bumped a folder, but didn't think about it at the time. So mine is not the same issue. It is not resolved.

pjpeeters, I hope you find your files.

pjpeeters

melanie said:

I've found my files. I tried to restore my system files to an earlier date, but that failed, so I started poking into other folders. I had somehoe accidentally moved them into another folder. I remember thinking I had bumped a folder, but didn't think about it at the time. So mine is not the same issue. It is not resolved.

pjpeeters, I hope you find your files.

Dear Melanie,

Thanks, but I think it is, and was a totally different problem anyway. I still have all those folders, and files available, even in the Content Library, but only the layout of the Content Library had changed (by itself), so yet no files are visible in the default setting of Content Library. (But when I open the rectangles, as Richard Haseltine had suggested, they all are visible again.)

pjpeeters

Richard Haseltine said:

I'm not sure what you mean - to see anything in the asset section, where the files show, you need to havea contained (a folder, a category, or a product) selected in the container view (the collapsible bit that i was calling folder view earlier). Or are you saying you no longer have any containers with files available in the list?

Now everything in the Content Library has disappeared again, even with the rectangles opened. I can't find the folders, or files. I guess they still will be there, but not visible. I think I need to get the default setting of the Content Library again. How can I get that? 

Richard Haseltine

What happens if you drag the slider at the bottom of the empty container list (above wheer it shows <= 1 => ) all the way to the right? or open the option menu for the pane - the lined button in the top corner, or right-click the tab - and select View As Tree isntead of View As List.

pjpeeters

Richard Haseltine said:

What happens if you drag the slider at the bottom of the empty container list (above wheer it shows <= 1 => ) all the way to the right? or open the option menu for the pane - the lined button in the top corner, or right-click the tab - and select View As Tree isntead of View As List.

When I drag the slider all the way to the right nothing changes (still no visible content), but when I select View As Tree instead of View As List (or View Side by Side) the folders instead show up again. So they only are invisible when View As List is selected (which was the case, originally). I guess View As List is/was the default setting of my Content Library, and that seems not to function anymore. But now at least I have access to the folders again.

Thanks a lot for your great help on solving the problem, Richard!!!

Mage 13X13

All of this is not actually addressing just what the real problem is. My Content Library has completely disappeared, both the DAZ Studio Formats, and the Poser Formats, plus the Product List and the other folder I cannot recall the name of.

Had this problem once before, and had to restart my Content Management Service (CMS). Thing is, I cannot recall how to do that. I know all of my content is still in the folders I kept them in, but gaining access to them in DAZ Studios Content Library is at the moment impossible. I know I have my Smart Content, but it does not access all of my content, especially the Poser Formats Content. If it does not have Metadata, it will not show in Smart Content.

Please Help!

Richard Haseltine

The daz Studio Formats/Poser Formats/Other Import Formats are not dependent on the Content Managment System - they are views of files on disc. Please post a screen shot of what you are seeing.

Ryuu@AMcCF

Hi Richard,

 

I think I'm having a similar problem--only it's not just one problem.

Recently, any purchases after Mid-September stopped appearing in my Smart Content tab.

In addition, all the catagories listed beneath "All Products" have disappeared ("Lost and Found", "Accessories", "Anatomy", "Animals", etc).

And when I go into any of the products that do show up in Smart Content, there's NOTHING to select for loading into the scene.

FYI, I'm using DAZ Install for all my installations.

 

This is what DAZ used to look like--please note the list of categories going down the left-hand panel 

 

This is what it looks like now--all those categories are gone now:

 

And this is what's displaying when I try to open one of the items--there's NOTHING other than the mocking words "Where Are My Product Files?":

 

Interestingly, all the stuff I've bought are showing up in the Content Library tab, but given DAZ's shitty folder organization structure along with the icon pictures so miniscule, it's impossible to see WHAT I'm trying to load--to do anything, I'm needing to remember the products by "NAMEONLY" if I want to load something into a scene.

 

I do recall there was a recent "update" that was done to DAZ a little while ago. I wonder if this is one of the "newly installed features"??? My current build it 4.15.0.30

 

Ryuu@AMcCF

pjpeeters said:

Hi, dear forum members! I'm new here, and I'm told this is the place to be in case of problems (in regard to Daz Studio issues). So here I go:

 

My CONTENT LIBRARY got empty, all at once. I didn't delete anything in it myself, but I can't find any content anymore. I have closed, and restarted Daz Studio, but it remains to be totally empty.

(I have attached a screenprint of the empty Content Library.)

Can anyone tell me what will or might have happened, and more importantly: where will that (previous) content be saved now, and how can I get it back in the CONTENT LIBRARY?

(I use Daz Studio 4.10 (64-bit), and Windows 10.)

Thanks!

Oh, and evidently my issue is different from the Original Poster's--this is the image PJPEETERS was trying to display here:

 

Richard Haseltine

You don't seem to have any metadata, so I don't understand why the products ar showing at all (a product won't show in Smart Content unless it has files in the current category - these products have not files in any category). It may be that the database is corrupt, but before doing anything as drastic as resetting it let's see if anyone else has ideas.

Ryuu@AMcCF

Richard Haseltine said:

You don't seem to have any metadata, so I don't understand why the products ar showing at all (a product won't show in Smart Content unless it has files in the current category - these products have not files in any category). It may be that the database is corrupt, but before doing anything as drastic as resetting it let's see if anyone else has ideas.

Sorry Richard, but was this directed to me or PJPEETERS?

If it was to me, then this is weird. A few weeks ago, you gave me instructions on how to properly update all my metadata and I followed the instructions, and the second picture I posted showed how it ended up (it hasn't changed since I reimported the Metadata using the DB Maintenance function, even though I had bought tons of stuff since then).

Richard Haseltine

Ryuu@AMcCF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

You don't seem to have any metadata, so I don't understand why the products ar showing at all (a product won't show in Smart Content unless it has files in the current category - these products have not files in any category). It may be that the database is corrupt, but before doing anything as drastic as resetting it let's see if anyone else has ideas.

Sorry Richard, but was this directed to me or PJPEETERS?

If it was to me, then this is weird. A few weeks ago, you gave me instructions on how to properly update all my metadata and I followed the instructions, and the second picture I posted showed how it ended up (it hasn't changed since I reimported the Metadata using the DB Maintenance function, even though I had bought tons of stuff since then).

It was to you - you don't have any categories, obviously, and you also don't have any content-type tags (Actor, Wearable, Material etc.) at top-right of the file thumbnails. On the other hand you do have products and groups (the "New" flash) so the CMS is clearly working.

Are the categories listed in the Content Library pane?

Richard Haseltine

pjpeeters having seen the image in Ryuu's post, try opening the option menu (the lined button at top-right of the Content Library pane) and change the View type from its Preferences sub-menu.

Ryuu@AMcCF

Richard Haseltine said:

Ryuu@AMcCF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

You don't seem to have any metadata, so I don't understand why the products ar showing at all (a product won't show in Smart Content unless it has files in the current category - these products have not files in any category). It may be that the database is corrupt, but before doing anything as drastic as resetting it let's see if anyone else has ideas.

Sorry Richard, but was this directed to me or PJPEETERS?

If it was to me, then this is weird. A few weeks ago, you gave me instructions on how to properly update all my metadata and I followed the instructions, and the second picture I posted showed how it ended up (it hasn't changed since I reimported the Metadata using the DB Maintenance function, even though I had bought tons of stuff since then).

It was to you - you don't have any categories, obviously, and you also don't have any content-type tags (Actor, Wearable, Material etc.) at top-right of the file thumbnails. On the other hand you do have products and groups (the "New" flash) so the CMS is clearly working.

Are the categories listed in the Content Library pane?

Thanks Richard,

Yes, I'm seeing the missing catagories DB in the "Default" folder, but nothing is populated (Product Icons) in any of the subfolders for it. There are Product icons populating all the other highlevel DBs and folders listed above the Content DB, though (DAZ Studio Format, Poser Format, Product DB, etc)

 

Blando Calrissian

pjpeeters said:

Thanks, again. But I'm afraid I'm a real PC nitwit. I have no idea how/where to find that Snip and Sketch app. (I looked for it in the 'search' display, but my PC couldn't find it.) Sorry.

For future reference, in Windows 10, "Snip & Sketch" lives under the Start menu (bottom left of your screen, click on the four squares, scroll down to the list to "S." You can also bring it up automatically by pressing the Windows Key + Shift + S. Microsoft seems to be abandoning the old Snip tool. It should come up when you click on the Start menu and then type "Snip" into the search box at the bottom.

Ryuu@AMcCF

Blando Calrissian said:

pjpeeters said:

Thanks, again. But I'm afraid I'm a real PC nitwit. I have no idea how/where to find that Snip and Sketch app. (I looked for it in the 'search' display, but my PC couldn't find it.) Sorry.

For future reference, in Windows 10, "Snip & Sketch" lives under the Start menu (bottom left of your screen, click on the four squares, scroll down to the list to "S." You can also bring it up automatically by pressing the Windows Key + Shift + S. Microsoft seems to be abandoning the old Snip tool. It

should come up when you click on the Start menu and then type "Snip" into the search box at the bottom.

 

 

The "Snip & Sketch" icon is a small tilted white oval with a thin red border with a blue pair of  siscors. It essentially does the same job as what you could get with the old <Shift><PrtScr> keyboard function--it takes a temporary picture of what's displaying on your screen.  But you still need to paste the image into an imaage-editing application, like "Paint" in order to trim off anything you don't wish to show and to be able to save the image you want into a .jpg or .png file. The "Snip & Sketch" is considered better in that it lets you set the initial size of the area of your screen that you want to record without getting the ENTIRE screen that may reveal things you don't want to show other people, but again, you have to use an image-editing application to save as a picture file that can be loaded here.

I"m posting a screenshot to show you. The "Snip & Sketch" app has the label showing above the toolbar, and an icon for the old Windows "Paint" app is on the far right of the applications showing in the image. Both of these can be found in the Windows Accessory folder in your Startup Menu selection.

In your original post, you had tried to save the image in a MSWord.doc. I had to download your file and open it in Word in order to see it, but I was able to repost it in a screenshot to show Richard up above.

 

Richard Haseltine

Ryuu@AMcCF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

Ryuu@AMcCF said:

Richard Haseltine said:

You don't seem to have any metadata, so I don't understand why the products ar showing at all (a product won't show in Smart Content unless it has files in the current category - these products have not files in any category). It may be that the database is corrupt, but before doing anything as drastic as resetting it let's see if anyone else has ideas.

Sorry Richard, but was this directed to me or PJPEETERS?

If it was to me, then this is weird. A few weeks ago, you gave me instructions on how to properly update all my metadata and I followed the instructions, and the second picture I posted showed how it ended up (it hasn't changed since I reimported the Metadata using the DB Maintenance function, even though I had bought tons of stuff since then).

It was to you - you don't have any categories, obviously, and you also don't have any content-type tags (Actor, Wearable, Material etc.) at top-right of the file thumbnails. On the other hand you do have products and groups (the "New" flash) so the CMS is clearly working.

Are the categories listed in the Content Library pane?

Thanks Richard,

Yes, I'm seeing the missing catagories DB in the "Default" folder, but nothing is populated (Product Icons) in any of the subfolders for it. There are Product icons populating all the other highlevel DBs and folders listed above the Content DB, though (DAZ Studio Format, Poser Format, Product DB, etc)

Hmm, that is even odder. I thought maybe the "vendor" categories (those thata re set by the product metadata) had been removed, without setting up replacements, but in that case they would still show normally in the Content Library (so that they were available for further editing). My suspicion iss till some kind of database corruption, but I'm really not sure what to make of it and would suggest you open a support ticket.