Change the default save location?

[DJ Gwystyl]

Hi there, the program so far is working fantastically for the most part. I just created my first 3 scenes in about 2minutes with the generator, having previously used DMXControl 2 and that took me about 2 or 3 hours! I'm super stoked to move forward with ShowXpress! However, one major issue for me is that I never use the "User" or "My Documents" folder. I use both external hard drives and an online syncing, which means everything is always (and yes, I do actually mean always here...) stored on a separate hard drive. However, this means that every time I want to save a scene, generator, timeline, etc or load one, assign a button to one, etc... I have to manually navigate to that folder. This actually results in a lot of wasted time when I need to save/open/assign/etc

Simply using the "My Documents" folder is not an option, because I need to be able to program on 1 computer, and use/run another computer for the shows and events. So being able to sync my files is crucial, and it's very inefficient and tedious to have to manually copy the folder after I save everything.. After all, that's the whole point of online syncing

I tried searching the forums and hoping the all-knowing-Gmachine would have something here, but so far to no avail.

My first idea to work around this was to simply create a shortcut to the correct folder, which works kind of well until you realize that it's only saving that specific effect, and I don't know that the program saves itself there, so I'm not sure this is a viable solution. The next idea was the old school copying, but as mentioned that's just laborious and tedious, again wasting time...

So what I need is to be able to assign the save location, from the default of "C:\Users\{USERNAME}\TheLightingController" to the for instance a correct location of "F:\Files\Dropbox\TheLightingController"

Is this at all possible, and if not how do I put in a request to the programmers to add it?

[JohnRichards]

I support this. I have asked for it before and all that has changed is that the software allows "open from external".
Effective it requires a small change in the software, and 1 line in one of the .ini files.
Please SUPPORT, it is a required feature.

John

[Luc Henrion]

My vote here. +1

[Robin_D]

+2.

[Niffo]

@DJ Gwystyl : You can move/copy your LightShow directory from "C:\Users\{USERNAME}\TheLightingController" to where you want. Then open it in the software using "External LightShow" in the "Open a lightshow" window.

[Luc Henrion]

That's the way I use it until now but it's not very convenient, you'll agree...

[JohnRichards]

Very inconvenient
John

[SeekLighting]

+1 for this option

[DJ Gwystyl]

@DJ Gwystyl : You can move/copy your LightShow directory from "C:\Users\{USERNAME}\TheLightingController" to where you want. Then open it in the software using "External LightShow" in the "Open a lightshow" window.

Hi there, thanks for sharing this and for the fast responses! This is almost exactly what I was needing and works sufficiently, so hopefully that helps everybody else too! It's admittedly a little ambiguous since there's not actually a reason to open a new show.

I think it would still be better to actually have an option to change the default directory, or perhaps have an option for the first time you save a scene/generator/etc file, for it to ask something like "This show is currently saved here: "C:\Users\{USERNAME}\TheLightingController"; would you like to change this location? "Yes/No" and if we hit no, then it just saves inside that location for those who don't have a unique or advanced file system on their computers. If we hit Yes, for those of us who do, then it simple opens a typical/standard Save As window, and marks that for future reference in the program so everything is opened/saved to and from that location by default.

If that were too much programming, even something on that first save stating your instructions would be perfect so we would know we're not stuck with the username folder or manually copying everything for access/backup.

Of course, the best option would be to simply ask during the program setup procedure.. Choosing it then would be the most efficient and fastest method, because then it would simply be a step everybody can click next to, or we can change it right from the start and it's just always set properly.

Update: 2/7/2018 So, it's been a few days and I've continued to experiment and play around with the program. I'm loving it so far, but have come back to that I need to be able to change the default save location. Opening a lightshow in a separate location will save the created files, like pixel scenes, scenes, timelines, etc... It doesn't however change any of the system locations, like the pixel_gifs folder for instance. Creating animated GIFS for the Pixels, they have to be stored in this folder, as there doesn't seem to be any way to save them or open them somewhere else. So I find I'm still stuck trying to navigate between different locations. My solution for now has been to actually uninstall the program, and instead of installing it in the program folder like normal, I've actually installed it into the Dropbox folder. I'm not really keen on having an entire program in there, but thankfully it's not a bloated program, so it's actually fairly small... This has solved the problem, but is admittedly a pretty harsh work around..

[Stilli]

+1 Support for this feature, file handling is a real pain trying to keep data off my system drive. I don't actually remember having an option to install the program in a different location but will now try uninstalling and re-installiing the program in a new location which will save me lots of time searching for my saved scenes and trolling through explorer to get there.