First the title of this should probably be "Too many sub-folders?". Second, has anyone ever successfully submitted a tech support question to Curious Labs via their submission form? I've filled the thing out 4 or 5 times with all the required information, but when I hit "Submit Query" nothing happens. Nada. I've posted this problem here on 'rosity twice already, but I can't get an answer from Curious Labs about my problem. Below is the text explanation to Curious Labs: --------------------------------------------- Is there a limit to the number of subdirectories within a given category (Figures, Pose, Props, etc.). My primary problem right now is that I have some 300+ subdirectories in my Pose directory. I cannot access subdirectories beyond a certain point (for example, once I get into subdirectories that begin with "S" or "T", the subs won't open and it reverts to a sub-d higher up the list). I've been able to consolidate other directories that were giving me the same problem, so it has to be related to the number of subdirectories in each category. With other categories, the problem is not so difficult because files generally don't have the same name. In the Pose category (directory), however, it is difficult to consolidate these directories because so many files have the same name (01-fem, for example, or similar names for pose groups for different characters like "statuesque"). I tried putting subdirectories under subdirectories (like all the MAT file directories under "Victoria", but I get an error message saying the *.pz2 file cannot be opened, so I've had to go back now and move all of these "grandchildren" back to "child" status of the Pose directory). The MAT capability is wonderful, however it has now created a huge number of additional Pose directories, thus further complicating my problem. I've been through the forums at Renderosity about this and it seems to be a problem for others as well, but I have yet to see a solution (or even an explanation) for it. I also note that many people have named their subdirectories starting with a ! or a + sign. Could this be causing a problem? I read an article written at Renderosity recently by one of your staff about consolidating and reorganizing the directories, which was helpful. However, with the Pose directory it continues to be a problem. Can you verify whether the number of subdirectories is limited? Or offer any suggestions on how to address this problem? And while I'm at it, when I click on the "handle" on the right of the screen to open the categories and then click the little arrow to select a subdirectory, the width of the window that pops out is not wide enough to read all of the entries. "Victoria Clothing MATs", for example, usually comes out as just "Victoria", which can be a problem if I have five or six different subdirectories that begin with that name. I've sent a suggestion to you a while back about improving this system, but got no response. That's OK, because I absolutely love this program and I'd rather you spend your time making it better. Right now my primary problem is accessing those Pose subdirectories that are far down the list. Just one more suggestion: develop or purchase a program like the P3DO Explorer and incorporate it into Poser...with drag and drop capability! Now THAT would be something! -------------------------------------------------- end quote I'm stumped...not only about how to get my problem solved or explained, but how to get a response of any kind from Curious Labs. If anyone has a solution or suggestion, thanks in advance. Doc

I'm just a newbie here, still learning the ropes, but here's my two cents: I can't speak for CL, but an old rule of thumb is that a path length (total number of characters in all the names in a directory structure, starting with the top folder and continuing down through the subfolders to any destination file) should be less than 256 characters. Another old rule of thumb is that the total number of items in any directory level should be less than 256. To be honest, for sanity's sake, maybe it should be less than 100. These things vary from Windows to Unix to Mac to BeOS to Linux, and they may no longer be mandatory, but why not give it a try?

Hey, thanks for the info. You know I was just talking to the webmaster for my company and I was explaining this problem to him and he said the same thing. He wasn't sure, but he said he suspected the same thing you mention here. I'm becoming convinced this is Windows related and not Poser related. I'll check this out. Thanks a LOT! Now I can get to reorganizing (groan) and maybe get this thing working right. I think I'm going to create swap folders so I can move things in and out of Poser as I need them. That should not only solve the problem but resolve some speed issues I've been having. Much Mahalo, my friend! Doc

a quick test would be to make a temporary folder, move the first hundred or so pose folders into it (via windows explorer, not via poser) and then fire up poser and see if the formerly missing directories show up again. A tedious solution for the overall problem is to rename the actual pose files and rsr's if they have non-descriptive names. I do this whenever I aquire new poses to make it seem less tedious. I organize my mat files in just a few folders: "@MATS Vicky" and "@MATS Michael" etc. The @ sign doesn't seem to cause a problem but it does make that folder show up at the top of the list. Nested folder structures would be a nice thing for poser 5... Mary

Mary, You're exactly right. I jave now created a "Pose Temp" folder where I swap various pose directories back and forth, until I have time to go through and rename (heavy sigh) all those files. And you're right...nested folders would help a LOT. If I could get through to Curious Labs to make this suggestion, I would. So far, communicating with them has been difficult. I'm sure they're all quite busy. Thanks again, Mary. Doc

There's still time before the release of Poser 5.0 , so try the Poser 5 wish list and your idea will be considered, if it hasn't already been suggested.

Personally I would recommend against further nesting of folders, but would suggest instead an expanded libraries option, where Poser can internally select alternate folders in the libraries folder, i.e.

• character2
• pose3
• prop4

instead of just single character, prop, pose or face folders, e.g.

If you have enough hard disk (a few hundred megs to spare )and you don't mind playing housekeep you can try this ... 1. Copy the entire poser directory to a new folder . 2. Start deleting the geometriy and character files that you don't require . 3. Make sure you start a new poser session from the poser.exe in the new poser folder to access the data in the new poser subdirectories . 4. If you don't like the result, just delete the entire new poser directory . Remember to clear the recycle bin after that .

I have a similar question. As I have accumulated subfolders they are no longer in alphabetical order in the pulldown list. it seems that they are listed by creation date and not alphabetically. Does anyone have any suggestions on this one???

HELP!!!!! I have all the poser chactors and props I need right now. But my trouble is when I open poser the only ones I can get to work are the factory presets and I have even tried using that Pinstall program.Can anyone tell me how to access these downloaded files. As they wont even showup in the folder from the open poser program .it only shows the foldr name but the rest is blank and I know the files are in there. Because when I open the folder I can see them when opened from my C;Program filesposer path... many thanks for any elp you can give me...VLAD

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