v6 to v7 - Deletion of v6 Folders!

[SteveECrane]

Folks,

After the installation of v7 and some local testing, I removed the v6 implementation in order to recover space and retain a 'safe' copy of our site installed on a second, office-based desk-top machine ... in case my laptop is stolen!).

As the site appeared to be OK locally, I moved all the supporting image files from the v6 folder structure (prior to it being deleted!).

These image files were subsequently placed within a subfolder (having the company's name, as before), within the standard Actinic "Sites" folder in v7.

However, the following is the resultant error message:

"Warnings
This site includes files that are outside the Actinic installation directory.
On importing the site these files will be delivered to a temporary location within the Actinic installation directory.
Manual intervention will be required to restore the site after import."

The following is an example of one of the error messages (one exists for each 'missing' image):

"C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Jardin d'Eden Site\El Casco\El Casco Product Images (Massive)\Vertical_Desk_Pencil_Sharpener-Weight_Base_x2-M475.jpg

(I understand that this is obviously a problem with the Access database recording all the entries with the previous, 'incorrect', v6 path details).

My question: how can this be amended without undue risk (I frequently back-up the .MDB file just in case, but I'd still rather not tamper directly with it in case it produces problems which only become apparent much later on ... after many more edits!)?

Cheers guys ...

[Nadeem]

Hi Steve

You could use the Export function in Actinic. Simply go to "File | Export", select "Catalog", then export the .csv file onto your desktop.

Find where the pictures are and take out the path. Save it, and import ("File | Import | Hierarchical Import") it back into Actinic. This would be a safe option.

Kind Regards

[SteveECrane]

Nadeem,

That was quick!

However, how can I be sure - if I use an arbitrary <Find & Replace> command within Excel to search for all the requisite entries - that I am only capturing the image location paths and not any other 'supporting' files which have not moved?

In all likelihood, this is not presently that much of an issue (but I cannot be entirely sure!); however, as I aim to be utilising the new digital download option shortly - and these files could be anywhere - do you have any suggestions to make sure I do not inadvertantly replace a valid path with an invalid one?

Cheers ...

[Nadeem]

Hi Steve

For the "Find" search terms, i would give the location path eg ("C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Site1")

and the replace command would be blank.

So as an example, let have an image name called pixel.gif.

The Path of this image in the import file is:

"C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Site1\Pixel.gif".

If i use the find and replace, with the replace blank, then the results would be

"Pixel.gif", which would be referring the pixel.gif in the v7 site1 folder rather than v6

Kind Regards

[SteveECrane]

Nadeem,

OK, now I'm confused (not difficult, I know!).

Why would I want to replace the incorrect path:

"C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Jardin d'Eden Site\"

with no path at all, when what I actually require is this:

"C:\Program Files\Actinic v7\Sites\Jardin d'Eden Site\" ?


I'm presuming you did not notice the subfolder under Actinic's standard folder "Sites", namely the folder "Jardin d'Eden Site"?

Or are you telling me that Actinic is 'clever' enough to not require this!!!?

Cheers ...

[SteveECrane]

Nadeem,

OK, I tried what you suggested a moment ago on the 'phone - that is removing all the 'unnecessary' path information up to and including the "Sites" folder and simply leaving:

"Jardin d'Eden Site\"

which is the sub-folder where I place folders containing my images.

So, for example, the path for this image:

"C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Jardin d'Eden Site\El Casco\El Casco Images (Massive)\El_Casco_Products.jpg"

is now simply this:

"Jardin d'Eden Site\".

Once again, I'm not too sure how Actinic will 'know' that there are further sub-folders to traverse under the "Jardin d'Eden Site\" folder; that is, this part of the path (that has been removed as a result of your suggestion):

"\El Casco\El Casco Images (Massive)\"

which may go some way to explain the error messages I receieved when trying to import the resultant file!


On importing this ammended file, I receieved plenty of error messages, such as the following:

"There was a problem with the database

Operation: Opening the table

Syntax error (missing operator) in query expression '`sFragmentTitle` = 'There's something about the sensation of ink''.

Action: Contact your Actinic reseller or Actinic Support as appropriate"


(Where the actual fragment data above, namely "There's something about the sensation of ink", could be any user-created text string at all).


Furthermore, enclosed is a text file of the other errors found, such as:

"Line 228: Text field may not be empty for the selected layout!"

or

"Line 625: The fragment title entered is already used by another fragment. Please change it."

or

"Line 710: An invalid Section could not be imported. All child items will be skipped as well."

or

"Line 713: Wrong number of fields. Expected 58 but got 57."

and

"Line 2017: Wrong number of fields. Expected 25 but got 24."


As a consequence, I've gone back to the original Site Snapshot and I will await a more comprehensive response which provides a suitable solution to the original requirement (I actually think that you may be overlooking some of the 'detail' in this question, such as the folder and sub-folder information I keep on stating!).

[cdicken]

This is all getting rather complicated, but I think Nadeem and I now understand what is happening. I'm going to take it right back to the beginning so if you can restore your sute to how it was before the attempted import, that would be useful.

OK, first I need to clarify a few things.

First, did you get this error message...

"Warnings
This site includes files that are outside the Actinic installation directory.
On importing the site these files will be delivered to a temporary location within the Actinic installation directory.
Manual intervention will be required to restore the site after import."

... when transferring a v6 snapshot into v7? I will assume you did as it looks like a snapshot warning, but I would appreciate clarification.

Secondly, this directory:

C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Jardin d'Eden Site\

Is 'Jardin d'Eden Site' the name of the Actinic site in v6 i.e. the name that appeared in the Actinic title bar when editing the site? And does/did the 'Jardin d'Eden Site' folder contain the HTML templates and the 'ActinicCatalog.mdb' file for the Actinic site? Please confirm this becasue I suspect that it didn't - and that 'Jardin d'Eden Site' was, in fact, a custom folder you created within the 'Sites' folder for storing your images. This would be consistent with the errors you are getting, but I need you to confirm this before going any further.

[SteveECrane]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for getting involved.

"Is 'Jardin d'Eden Site' the name of the Actinic site in v6 i.e. the name that appeared in the Actinic title bar when editing the site?"

I'm not sure whether it appeared in the title bar when editing; however, it is the sub-folder under the Actinic-provided "Sites" folder, and exists solely for the purposes of housing folders containing the images which make up my web-site.

There are no other locations for user-defined images used within Actinic.

Also, there is and never has been any HTML located in this folder whatsoever - this resides wherever Actinic places it.

(For completeness sake:
The images in the "Jardin d'Eden Site" folder are then organised into sub-folders according to their usage, e.g. brands, logos, general, miscellaneous, etc., which are then further subdivided into folders which include "Small", "Medium", "Large" and "Massive" image types. This has been done purely for organisational reasons.

This "Jardin d'Eden Site" folder sits alongside the Actinic-provided "Site1" folder, in the "Sites" folder as, quite frankly, there was so much other 'stuff' in "Site1" that when I first installed Actinic v6, I decided not to risk inadvertently deleting Actinic-provided files by mistake or duplicating / overwriting any filenames!

Furthermore, I did not want to further 'complicate' matters by not being able to readily find and access these user-defined images on a regular basis, which I reasoned I would do, given I was designing a site from scratch and there'd be much image 'tweaking').


So ...

As to this error message:

"Warnings
This site includes files that are outside the Actinic installation directory.
On importing the site these files will be delivered to a temporary location within the Actinic installation directory.
Manual intervention will be required to restore the site after import."

I honestly don't recall getting it on the initial Site Snapshot import; however, I did get it a moment ago when I re-imported the last working version I had created (subsequent to re-creating the requisite v6 path I'd previously 'deleted', in order to ensure the images were present and properly available to Actinic).


The 'ActinicCatalog.mdb' file remains where Actinic has always put it - in the "Site1" folder. This I have never moved.

Please let me know if you require anything further.

Cheers ...

[cdicken]

Also, there is and never has been any HTML located in this folder whatsoever - this resides wherever Actinic places it.

Actinic places all this within the 'Site1' folder, together with the 'ActinicCatalog.mdb' database. This is the Actinic working directory.

I'm guessing that your directory structure within your 'Sites' folder looked something like:

Sites
|
|-- Jardin d'Eden Site
|-- Site1

What this would mean is that all your image filename fields within Actinic v6 all had paths that looked like this:

C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6\Sites\Jardin d'Eden Site\...

What we normally recommend is that people place all images within a subfolder WITHIN Site1 (called something like 'images') and so the image filename fields will then look something like...

images\El Casco\El Casco Product Images (Massive)\Vertical_Desk_Pencil_Sharpener-Weight_Base_x2-M475.jpg

But no matter - that is just something to remember for the future.

With regards to your immediate issue. Could you please let me know whether your 'Site1' folder in v7 has a folder within it called 'NOT_CATALOG'? When exporting a snapshot, this is where Actinic puts any images that are not within the 'Site1' folder. You should find all your product images within that.

If there is, then I suggest you rename 'NOT_CATALOG' to 'images' and then we'll go about updating all the field references within your Actinic site.

[SteveECrane]

Chris,

Your observations are correct.

As to "NOT_CATALOG": I had the option of updating the file locations during my second Site Snapshot import but chose not to (I really didn't grasp what this option would do!); however, as I have not amended ANYTHING since, nor downloaded any new orders, I can always re-import my last working Snapshot and take this option now, if it makes life any easier(?).

As I said, the reason for keeping any 'image store' outside of the "Site1" folder is that it's pretty busy / confusing in there already! Obvoiusly I did not understand the consequence of my actions when it comes to upgrading!

What I'm keen to avoid - which is why I sought expert advice in the first place - is experiencing the same problem at some point in the future when applying patches or upgrading again. This is why I avoided the following:

Opening "ActinicCatalog.mdb", opening the 'Product' table, clicking on the 'Image Filename' column header (to select the entire column) and then selecting 'Edit | Replace' and entering the following:

C:\Program Files\Actinic Ecommerce v6

in the 'Find What' field and:

C:\Program Files\Actinic v7

in the 'Replace With' field.

Even though it would've 'worked', it was (perhaps) not 'best practice'.

Cheers ...

[cdicken]

What I'm keen to avoid - which is why I sought expert advice in the first place - is experiencing the same problem at some point in the future when applying patches or upgrading again.

The way you avoid upgrade troubles is to keep all images and extra files within sub-folders within your 'Site1' folder. That way, they will be included with a snapshot, and just be copied across into the new version of Actinic with all the paths working still.

I think the 'Update File Paths' option will change all the references to your images within your database to point to the new image locations within the 'NOT_CATALOG' folder within your 'Site1' folder. This will actually solve both problems - i.e. your images will appear and further upgrades will not experience the same problem.

[PAULNEEDHAM]

I have read this enormous thread with some interest. We also keep all our images in a seperate folder, for similar reasons to those stated already. In fact, the images directory is on a completely different drive letter too. (E

Is it REALLY necessary to have all the images in the site 1 folder ? Should we be adding this to our 'to do' list ?

We have had no problems with this method of image storage moving from V4 to V6 or from V6 - V7. I'd rather leave this alone if possible.

Oh, and can we delete these V6 Folders ?

With thanks,

Paul

[cdicken]

Is it REALLY necessary to have all the images in the site 1 folder ?

If you keep all images within sub-folders in 'Site1' then when you decide to transfer your site from one PC to another, and use a snapshot to do this, all the image paths are held within the database as 'images\picture.gif' (or something). When when you import the snapshot onto the new PC, all the image paths will work straightaway and you will not have to make any adjustments before uploading.

If the target PC has not got, for example, an 'E' drive, then none of the image paths within the software will work any more.

And you can delete the v6 installation once v7 is up and running. You may want to archive the 'SIte1' folder though for reference.