i would have thought this would have stopped by now, but just a little note to those zipping up files.

DO NOT make a folder with your own name and then put the runtime inside of it anjd then zip the named folder.

This DOES NOT install correctly.

If you want to dod this on your own system, do so, but........

Go inside of your named folder, you will now see the runtime folder and any other folders.

Use Select all option, move your mouse over the highlighted files, right mouse button and then use the Zip option.

Once you have zipped the file, it will still have the name of the named folder, but at least it will install correctly.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

When you want the whole thing as a separate external runtime, they do install correctly.

I understand what you're saying, but in my opinion, one is a fool if one merges a zip file with existing content. Given that I always want to unzip in a test folder first before deciding to merge, the named parent of "runtime" is a big help to me.

If, instead, it just starts with "runtime", then before I can unzip to a test folder, I have to make the test folder. When people include the parent folder for me, I find that a great convenience. Again, I would never ever blindly pollute my carefully curated runtimes with content from a zip. So this kind of zip is a pleasure to me.

For those that do want to go ahead and merge - nothing stopping you from drilling down to the runtime folder and drag that out. (At least on a PC - on Mac you have bigger problems.)

And if you're having trouble with a runtime unzipping installer, such as the install-from-zip option built into Poser, the correction should lie with that bit of software. How hard is it to poke around inside and see whether the "runtime" is top level or one below?

Renderosity has very specific directions on how to pack the zip files for Poser products, and I try to follow that, even if it is a freebie. The most current example is my free Renithra figure, which has a zip named "Renithra" in which is packed the Runtime folder and Documentation folder. From a functional standpoint, this is the same as a zip named after the content creator, in which the Runtime is located. You simply click on the zip and pull out the Runtime folder. Is this a problem?

The problem with doing it that way is that people first need to unzip the file, go into the folder and then either copy the folders across manually or zip up the contents again and then install.

So much easier to zip up the files correctly in the first place.

By the way, if you go inside of the folder and then zip up as I mentioned, it takes on the name of the named folder and is not called Runtime.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

Hi Paloth, just a note, I downloaded your files:-

Zip Part 1:- 52,456k

Zip Part 2:- 37,674k

Unzipped both, went into the folders they created and then zipped up the files in those folders with 7Zip.

Zip Part 1:- 39,693k

Zip Part 2:- 28,922k

The used my own versions to install.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

I'm with the OP in that I find naming top level folders after the author a pita. However, I also tend to agree with bagginsbill... unzipping to an active runtime is not a great idea because everything sort of "gets lost" in the larger mass of files.

I prefer to unzip to a holding area, then go in and move everything out of the "ego folders" so I can decide what to actually do with it.

I'm one of those people who puts all the mats, props, and PZ3's that go with a character inside of the figures folder for quick access. Once I've done that, THEN I move the runtime to whichever runtime I want it to live in. Makes all the housekeeping easier.

Renderosity has very specific directions on how to pack the zip files for Poser products, and I try to follow that, even if it is a freebie.

If this had been done as a product for the store it would have failed for being in a named folder.

99.9% of all the products in stores with zips are done the same way as I mentioned.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

I unzip all zip files in one go into a temp folder.

Then I move the files from the temp folder to the final location. Having a folder with the runtime in it breaks that. So I would prefer the main runtime into the root of the zip.

If I want it to a different runtime I would use the unzip into folder option which puts everything in a folder with the same name as the zip

How a file unzips with an Ego folder:-

Poser folder

...................Ego Folder

.........................Ego Runtime

...................Real Runtime

As you can see, the above would not work. Poser would not find the files.

It's not hard to go inside of the Ego folder, select the first file, hold down the Shift key and click on the last folder, Right mouse button, use the zip option.

This way, you still get the name of the Ego folder, but.... The files unzip to the correct runtime.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

Just jumping on the bandwagon - I never unzip straight to my runtime. Everything I have gets zipped to a dummy directory (Usually its own) so I can look at its structure without a lot of clutter. I want to see what they did, there. :D

Too many people can't spell...

WinRAR allows you to double click the Zipped file and see the structure if you want to you can then drag and drop the Runtime folder to wherever you like.  I do this a lot of the time as I file templates and documentation on a drive spereate to the runtime.  The only thing I want in my runtime folder is what Poser needs to make it work.

"WinRAR allows you to double click the Zipped file and see the structure …"

Indeed and I'm pretty sure most archivers have something similar. Another advantage of named folders, is that I can unzip two or three items to my temp folder and have them separate while I inspect them. Given the number of people who have seen an advantage in not direct installing, I think the bulk of any frustration and extra time spent may fall on the smaller number in this case. Either way, the burden hardly seems debilitating enough to justify mandates and declarations for or against. I'd just scream into my pillow and get on with life.

I'm no fan of the ego folder either but I do wonder why it's such an issue for you now that external runtimes are kind of the norm. Why not just point to that runtime?  You circumvent the issue without having to do any real legwork.

Until recently I haven't had Poser.  But even though I now do, I still prefer to look at things.  I can't count how many times I've had something below the Runtime folder in a zip that was not correct, like an extra Runtime, or an extra Content folder.  Or sometimes everything is in the main zip with no folders at all.  I use IZArc, which is totally free, and I can look at anything in there without unzipping the files onto my hard drive.  Lately, I've gotten into the habit of drilling down to the sub folders of importance, like Libraries/Pose and drag the folder under that to the Libraries/Pose in my Runtime.  Drag and drop is an easy feature to use.  Most archivers have it, I think.  I've had too much crap that I couldn't find when I unzipped it blindly, so I take extra caution now.  I always look at it.  Some sources are trusted and I'll just unzip it, pointing it to the Runtime that I want it in.  I have one for DAZ content, one for Freebies not from DAZ, and one for Paid items not from DAZ.

Unfortunately for newbies, they don't have this knowledge, so they blindly unzip and trust that it worked right.  Then often find out that it didn't.

Dana

OK I have always packed my stuff in a runtime/libraries/whatever library/TrekkieGrrrl folder. So is that wrong?

Just making sure.. I don't want to piss people off by giving them free stuff (even if it's been ages...)

ETA

Of course the example with TrekkieGrrrl/runtime is daft. That way people will never get your stuff installed properly if they - like me - just drop the zip into the runtime.. But who'd do that? It makes no sense...

I disagree with paganeagle.  I unzip my file and drop the folder witht he person's name and a runtime inside it, into my poserall folder which contains all my external runtimes.  then I simply point poser to it from within poser.  ie instantly installed.  I do actually change the name of the enclosing folder but I usually keep part of the original name which saves typing.

I do not keep giant runtimes anymore - how would you find your mat files for hair when you have hundreds of hair models if you did that.  It would be so much work to install things.

Actually, I prefer it that way.  I think the problem is when they are like this:

TrekkieGrrrl/Runtime/Libraries/whatever library/

Your way, it unzips just fine.

Dana

Quote - OK I have always packed my stuff in a runtime/libraries/whatever library/TrekkieGrrrl folder. So is that wrong?

Just making sure.. I don't want to piss people off by giving them free stuff (even if it's been ages...)

 

ETA

Of course the example with TrekkieGrrrl/runtime is daft. That way people will never get your stuff installed properly if they - like me - just drop the zip into the runtime.. But who'd do that? It makes no sense...

I always extract to a folder on my desktop so I can look at the files and name them the way I want or just see what they are called. Also I can see what files the product contains and will remember them before they join the rest in the main runtime. EG for the pose files (textures) I always remove the word mat infront so the pose files product folder is named exactly like the character or prop files folder. So alphabetically they will be the same and is easier to find. So If I load car1, I know the pose folder is called car1 and not mat_car1. Just makes my life easier.

I totally agree with BB's approach and the rationale behind it.  It's what I do for installing runtimes.

I use 7zip. It's free and I can install from every level of the zipped hirachie I want.

Those of you that want to do the Ego folder first, do so for your freebies, but you will never get commercial items into a main store that way.

As soon as they see that, you will get a failed message.

Also you are teaching newbies bad practices. They will think it's the right way to do things.

Check all the zip files you have got from the Rendo store. Do you see an Ego folder as the first folder? Nope.

Just do it the right way in the first place, not too hard.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

You're calling it an ego folder, but I don't see it that way. I see it as an external runtime, ready to go.

The store's injunction against it does not recognize that we're using Poser 9 not 4.

We have external runtimes. We teach everybody to use them. Most of us teach people not to merge content into your main runtime, or any runtime, until you verify that it works and you're actually going to want to keep it, since removing it after merging is beyond tedious.

Stores also suggested (and may still demand) mat poses.

I also don't see what the problem is. I can drag runtime out of a nested folder in a zip just as easily as if it was top-level.

And I don't see what doing it right in the first place is.

Check any read me file in the store here, at RDNA etc.

No ego folder with the runtime inside of it.

Anyone supplying one like that to a store will get a messgae saying to take the ego folder off and resend.

All the best.

Great Uncle LROG

I beleive this thread has run its course. We are at the point where opinions are being restated. 

Content creators are aware of the varying opinions.

Locking thread.