Adding custom content to Smart Content through Content DB not working
holden_attradies
Posts: 121
I use a lot of 3rd part content and have always used the Content DB Editor through the Content Library tab to add stuff so it shows up in smart content. But suddenly it's not working, I'm doing all the things I normally do but it doesn't seem to actually add/save what I'm doing. I suspect there's some setting somewhere I need to toggle on off, any ideas where to start?
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In order to show in Smart Conten the file needs both a category and a compatibility (edit: and a Content Type).
I have been doing that. I'm doing exactly what I've always done, it just doesn't seem to do anything anymore.
Is "Synch Product and Local Database" checked?
Yes. Should it not be?
It should be, so that's not it.
My "My Library" is not in the default place (it's on the D drive). I now I had to change like 10,000 settings to get that to work, is there a chance I missed one and that's why it's not working? I've added the meta data since re-installing on this new computer, so I don't think that's it, but I thought I'd just throw it out there.
When you reopen the ContentDB Editor, does it still show the changes you made in a previous session?
No, it's like I didn't do anything.
Are you adding metadata to a 3rd party item that has none, rather than trying to modify existing product metadata values? I ask, because Daz Studio no longer allows users to modify "vendor" metadata values. Even though ContentDB Editor lets you enter changes for vendor data, they are not saved.
It's third party stuff. But I DID just get it to work, although I'm not 100% how. I had accidently clicked on "Start CMS" when going to open the Content DB Editor and after that my next try worked. Could that have been the problem or would that not have mattered?
I don't know, but I would guess that if your CMS wasn't running, no Smart Content would have worked at all.
What exactly is the CMS? I have a very practical understand of Daz, I can pose and light scenes and pull renders for all my projects, but I don't really understand what half the stuff I use actually does behind the scenes.
CMS is the Content Management Service. Do you remember installing PostgreSQL and see all those PostgreSQL threads that run on your computer? I think it interacts with the Daz Studio database. In your preferences (F2 key) there is a tab for CMS settings. I think it is what enables Smart Content to work. Richard Haseltine could give you a more precise and accurate explanation, I'm sure.
That isn't, or at least should not be, correct.
It is true for me. 4.9.2.70 was the last time I could change categories that Daz assigned to a product asset. Try deleting a category that Daz assigned, and assign a different category. The Content DB Editor will act like it is deleting the category. When you accept the change and open the editor again, or look in Smart Content, I believe you will see that the deleted category is still there. You can add a new user data category; you can't remove the vendor data category. You will end up with the asset in both categories. This makes correcting incorrect metadata categorization impossible for a user. We cannot remove the wrong category.
If you edit the metadata .dsx file, you can change it, or, better said, start over with the correct data. If you know what you are doing (valid root categories, keywords and syntax, etc.), you can manually add or change the entries in question. If you use the full Content DB Editor (the one with the two tabs, Product and Assets, from the Product view, either in Content Library or Smart Content), you can export a new .dsx file with all the proper new entries, plus the exising bad ones. Then you just have to delete the lines with the bad data from the new .dsx file. Just don't include any Custom Categories (User Data) or else that path will get marked Read-Only (from root to tip).
Save a copy somewhere safe, or you will lose the .dsx file if you uninstall or re-install. I put it back in the package archive so that it will be there the next time. Delete the Product from the alphanumeric list, then re-import the corrected metadata file (from DIM or Content DB Maintenance). It will also delete any of the Product's references in custom categories, so those would have to be redone.