FGU Asset Search Function in Subfolders?

[ndjester]

I was expecting to be able to search for tokens at any subfolder by searching in the "root" folder in the assets window. As an example, i added some zombie tokens in "tokens" as well as under "host" and "shared" under the tokens folder and I am finding that I cannot find anything through a "zombie" search unless I actually dig down into the host or shared folder and then the subfolder I made, which makes search functionality quite restricted. I feel like I might be missing something here, but just like I would expect to search for something in a high-level folder and find something a few folders down, I would expect to be able to do this in FGU as well - might I indeed be missing something?

[LordEntrails]

I do asset searches all the time and it find stuff in modules. Are you using sub-folders within the tokens, host, shared folders at the operating system level? I don't remember if those are supported or not. Can you browse to the o/s level sub-folders?

[Laerun]

I was expecting to be able to search for tokens at any subfolder by searching in the "root" folder in the assets window. As an example, i added some zombie tokens in "tokens" as well as under "host" and "shared" under the tokens folder and I am finding that I cannot find anything through a "zombie" search unless I actually dig down into the host or shared folder and then the subfolder I made, which makes search functionality quite restricted. I feel like I might be missing something here, but just like I would expect to search for something in a high-level folder and find something a few folders down, I would expect to be able to do this in FGU as well - might I indeed be missing something?

When you added the new assets, did you actually click the refresh button in the assets window? Whenever you add, move, rename, or delete assets, when you are in Fantasy Grounds, refresh is a must.

The other thing to know or understand is that the Fantasy Grounds assets search requires three characters, including spaces at a minimum to search. Sometimes a botched search will lag FG a bit. Try refreshing the assets and type Zomb and start there. The other helpfull thing one can do to help sort through assets is to add a prefix. It's a lot of extra work, but something like TKN_Zombie_01 does wonders, especially when we potentially have hundreds of similarly named assets that can share the same names or titles, like Goblin, Skeleton, etc. , thee worst!

Once I took control of my own naming conventions and started creating more organized subfolders, searching really did get a lot easier and more refined.
Anything that's art, art_ or handouts hds_, maps map_ etc. Sort of like a tag system. Dumping a bunch of tokens and assets does not cut it anymore these days, especially as our libraries grow and build. You also don't want or need to duplicate assets, as that can cause problems down the road too. Tokens go in that folder period, no matter what. Everything else is an image essentially.

Best of Luck,

Laerun.

[ndjester]

Hi all,

First wanted to thank you for such prompt feedback!

FGU has a tokens folder and I made a bunch of tokens so wanted to put them "in the right place". I note that there is a "tokens" folder in the Fantasy Grounds main folder and underneath that I have "host" and "shared". Without a clear indication of which of these three folders to put them in, I simply chose "host" because I am the host and I dont know any better.

A few things to add here - (1) I am very mindful of the three-character search constraint. (2) I hit that refresh button like a zealot. (3) I am mindful of the naming conventions (Zombie Head Green, Zombie Head Blue, Zombie Body Orange, etc).

After I put 10 tokens in the host folder, I hit refresh and simply entered "zombie" as my search string with the "assets" button highlighted in the top left. No hits. Well, ok .... I made copies of the tokens and also placed them in the "shared" folder. Refreshed. Search. No hits. Ok, well I'll fix this I told myself. I also placed copies in the "tokens" folder. Refreshed. No hits. Well, ok .... now what. I do see tons of bags because I have a lot of content from official material. I also see that I have the "Data" bag, so I click on it. I see the zombies there - there they are. I perform a search while in that "bag" on the word "zombie". No hits. I find that particularly odd since I am in the actual bag (well one of them) that holds these tokens. This just cant be "working as intended".

I also clicked on the "folder" button on the bottom right and it sends me to the "tokens" folder in my campaign folder, which is empty of tokens. I dont want to drop tokens in my campaign folder because I actually have about 4 or 5 campaigns going and just want to manage images and tokens from one folder that all campaigns can access.

Last, I went ahead and made a folder called "Undead" under "tokens/host" (which holds a lot of other folders from token packs stuff I have purchased .... folders such as "Halflings", "Humans Male:, etc). I put my zombie tokens in that undead folder and did another search. No hits. Then I clicked on "All" in the top right corner to pick up any hits for zombies across the "portraits/tokens/images" spectrum. No hits. Oddly, when I only click on images, the hits DO show up. This also cant e working as intended.

*** Last second update *** I shouldnt have said "no hits". There was always *1* hit. A blank tan rectangle (where you would expect to find an image). When I hover over it I see a pop-up that says what it is .... "Data Host __MACOS TP11BasicUndead._zombie_female_green.png". This to me was "no hits". Then I noticed on the right side of the panel there is an arrow that "may" imply more hits. Well, yes, there they all are ... in full force. Much joy. However, why is the first hit page just this one useless rectangle? Why cant my hits just come up in the first panel?

[ndjester]

OK, now its really operating like a crazy person. Removed all my new zombie tokens from everywhere except FG/tokens/host/undead. Refreshed data in FGU. Selected "Tokens" in the top right. Performed a "zombie" search. Same silly "first page hit" of a blank image. Went to the second panel. Zombie tokens there but not the ones I had in the undead folder. Hrm. Went and copied one of my zombie tokens into the FG/tokens/host folder to see if I could force the hit at a higher level. This is where it got REALLY strange. Since my search window was still active, I just went and hit the refresh button. Bingo, ANOTHER zombie token was included in the "hit list". But wait, its not my new zombie token. Its a zombie owlbear token that was not there 30 seconds ago but now gets "caught up" in the search. This means that it ONLY became visible when I randomly happened to add one of my zombie tokens into the host folder. I did it again, copying yet another of my new zombie tokens from "undead" up one level to "host". Refreshed in Fantasy Grounds. Clear that another hit happened. Normally would be good news and "what youd expect". No, now there is a zombie minotaur that wasnt previously a hit. Its like there are hits "in queue" or something.

I am running the latest FGU, just updated last night.

[BaneTBC]

Might want to include some screenshots of what you're looking at, one from Windows File Explorer showing the folders, and another from FGU showing what is there before you do a search, and then after. It might help for people to see what is going on and try to narrow things down.

[ndjester]

Here's yet another oddity. I am in grid view in the first attachment and you can see about 24 tokens.

60450

The next image shows what I see when I choose the "list" format ...

60451

(I hope these images attach as I dont see them in here)

In any event, I can only see 11 of the 24 and the mouse wheel does not allow me to scroll down and I see no navigation buttons that let me page through multiple pages. Is this how this is supposed to work?

[BaneTBC]

Might also want to try unloading the Theme and checking it again in case you are having an interaction there.

[LordEntrails]

So the Host and Shared folders are the old way of doing tokens. I dont know if they still work. I can not find reference to them in any of the current documentation. Did you create them or?

Current process is here: Using the Assets Window for Tokens, Portraits and Images - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Confluence (atlassian.net) (https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/996640638/Using+the+Assets+Window+for+Tokens+Portraits+and+I mages#Adding-Custom-Tokens)

You can also do Token modules since they can be shared more easily (but don't allow sub-folders); Module - Token Pack Creation - Fantasy Grounds Customer Portal - Confluence (atlassian.net) (https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGCP/pages/996644379/Module+-+Token+Pack+Creation)

There are 3 places I'm aware of for tokens:


<FG Data>/tokens And these show up in Assets > Data

<FG Data>/campaigns/<campaign>/tokens And these show up in Assets > Campaign

<FG Data>/rulesets/<reulset>/tokens And I don't remember where these show up.

edit: there are also module tokens, with the same format as above but they are in a renamed zip file.

[ndjester]

Might want to include some screenshots of what you're looking at, one from Windows File Explorer showing the folders, and another from FGU showing what is there before you do a search, and then after. It might help for people to see what is going on and try to narrow things down.

I am absolutely more than happy to do that .... there are a lot of images that I can attach but lets go with the basics ....

Basic shot of what I see when I simply click on "tokens":
60452

Me searching for "zombie". Note the single hit that is blank (but note the pop-up when I hover) and the arrow to the right implying more hits I guess?
60453

This next image shows what happens when I click the arrow ... I guess I consider these the actual hits .... note there are none of my tokens that I have added myself. Also note the owlbear zombie and minotaur zombie that seem to only show up when added my own zombie tokens at the host level (see other issue in this thread)
60454

If I simply go back into the first image with all the bags, and click down through the "Data" bag and the "Host" bag and the "Undead" bag (because I made an Undead folder at the appropriate folder structure level), my tokens are clearly there - this implies the search function is having some serious issues.
60455

[ndjester]

Ill take a look at the article ... Ive never created "host" or "shared" folders ... I worked with FGC for years and then of course moved to FGU. I followed all the instructions and it SEEMS that these artifacts remain. I would presume the same is true for others? I'll see if any of this latest documentation shakes anything loose, but I would wonder what the user experience would be for everyone else that didnt know to go to that article ...

*Edited as update*
Read through and #8 says "This opens a File Explorer window on your Operating System that points you to the Fantasy Grounds Unity Data Folder. From there, you can navigate to the tokens folder or over to your campaign image folder." The words "Data Folder" are in bold. I clicked on that Folder button and it opened up the "Fantasy Grounds" folder. There is no "Data Folder" that I can see. If the intent is to send someone to the "Fantasy Grounds" folder, perhaps that is which should be referenced on the help page, otherwise this only serves to confuse.

*Further update*
The help section states:
Adding Custom Tokens
You can add custom tokens from the Assets window.

Open the Assets window

Click on Folder to open your Data Folder

Your operating system should open the tokens folder

Place any PNG or JPG images here.
As stated, when I click on the Folder button it brings me to the Fantasy Grounds folder. The operating system does not somehow open my tokens folder although I see a "tokens" folder within the Fantasy Grounds folder. This also seems misleading to me.

*Last Edit*
Read through the article. Honestly, its not that distinct from the philosophy for FGC, and none of this sheds light on any of these search challenges.

Any other thoughts? Ill try to unload the theme I suppose, but is the one that cae with the BGDiA module from the store, so I highly doubt that is the culprit.

[Trenloe]

*** Last second update *** I shouldnt have said "no hits". There was always *1* hit. A blank tan rectangle (where you would expect to find an image). When I hover over it I see a pop-up that says what it is .... "Data Host __MACOS TP11BasicUndead._zombie_female_green.png".
This filename is due to additional files added to a ZIP file when compressed on a Mac. These aren't valid image files, but have a filename that ends in .png so FG thinks it's an image file - but can't display it.

I've done a quick search and can't locate a "Basic Undead" (TP11) token module. Do you know what module this might be?

[Trenloe]

As stated, when I click on the Folder button it brings me to the Fantasy Grounds folder. The operating system does not somehow open my tokens folder although I see a "tokens" folder within the Fantasy Grounds folder. This also seems misleading to me.
It all depends on what you have selected at the top of the Assets window. If you have "All" selected, then FG takes you to the base FG data folder as it doesn't know if you're using a token, portrait or image. If you select "Tokens" and then click the Folder button, you will be taken to the campaign tokens folder, same for "Images" - you'll be taken to the campaign images folder - both of these folders are specific to the campaign. If you select "Portraits" and then click folder, you'll be taken to global portraits folder (valid for all campaigns).

[ndjester]

This filename is due to additional files added to a ZIP file when compressed on a Mac. These aren't valid image files, but have a filename that ends in .png so FG thinks it's an image file - but can't display it.

I've done a quick search and can't locate a "Basic Undead" (TP11) token module. Do you know what module this might be?

For the Mac file, that is informative, but what can I do to resolve it? Try to find the file and delete it from somwehere?

As for that token module, I looked at one of the images within and it was something from 2013, so no memory of where that or the other packs came from.

[Trenloe]

For the Mac file, that is informative, but what can I do to resolve it? Try to find the file and delete it from somwehere?
It will depend on where you got the token file from - ideally the author should update it to remove these non-valid image files.


As for that token module, I looked at one of the images within and it was something from 2013, so no memory of where that or the other packs came from.
What is the module file name? That might help us track it down.

Otherwise, if you have the .mod file in your <FG app data>\modules directory, temporarily remove it (make a copy of it first and backup that copy outside of the <FG app data>\modules directory) and then reload FG and test your zombie search.

[ndjester]

It all depends on what you have selected at the top of the Assets window. If you have "All" selected, then FG takes you to the base FG data folder as it doesn't know if you're using a token, portrait or image. If you select "Tokens" and then click the Folder button, you will be taken to the campaign tokens folder, same for "Images" - you'll be taken to the campaign images folder - both of these folders are specific to the campaign. If you select "Portraits" and then click folder, you'll be taken to global portraits folder (valid for all campaigns).

Got it - thats exactly what happens when I click one of the context buttons such as "portraits".

More importantly, perhaps, what is the use of going to the folder itself? You can (and probably should for sake of efficiency) just work within Windows Explorer to move assets into the various asset folders. I this "Folder" button intended for fairly new GMs that maybe doesnt know where these key folders are?

Thanks.

[Trenloe]

I this "Folder" button intended for fairly new GMs that maybe doesnt know where these key folders are?
Yes, and it's also a quick way to get you to where you need to start.

[Trenloe]

If there's not a TP11BasicUndead module file in <FG app data>\modules. Then go to <FG app data>\tokens\host and look for a directory named __MACOS and delete that.

[ndjester]

It will depend on where you got the token file from - ideally the author should update it to remove these non-valid image files.


What is the module file name? That might help us track it down.

Otherwise, if you have the .mod file in your <FG app data>\modules directory, temporarily remove it (make a copy of it first and backup that copy outside of the <FG app data>\modules directory) and then reload FG and test your zombie search.

I have about 60 mods in the modules folder, most of which I presume came with FGU. The only others ones I would have are for adventure content Ive purchased. I have one called Monsterpogs.mod and Monsters.mod and those look like the only things that might house the folder-of-interest ... Ill do a little more digging ...

[Trenloe]

Doing a bit of research, it looks like TP11BasicUndead is one of Devin Nights token packs available for free download here: https://dungeonchannel.com/portfolio/devin-nights-token-packs/

Looking at the downloaded ZIP file, there don't appear to be any MACOS artefacts - but I'm on a Windows computer and I don't know when these artefacts are created.

I'm guessing that you downloaded this token pack, or another version of the token pack, and unzipped it to your <FG app data>\tokens\host directory. As part of this process (either within the base ZIP file or while unzipping) the invalid image files were created. You can delete the invalid files. In future, look for these types of invalid image files when unzipping/copying files to the FG tokens, portraits or images directories - and remove them.

[ndjester]

Yes, and it's also a quick way to get you to where you need to start.

Got it ... by the way this TP means token pack and this was all found quite some time ago through the FG forums ...

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-6198.html

[ndjester]

If there's not a TP11BasicUndead module file in <FG app data>\modules. Then go to <FG app data>\tokens\host and look for a directory named __MACOS and delete that.

This EXACTLY did it ... I think that mod developer included the MAC bits as well and when you have that folder it seems to interfere with the search functionality .... no idea how or why but everything seems to be working as I would expect :) happy days!

[LordEntrails]

This EXACTLY did it ... I think that mod developer included the MAC bits as well and when you have that folder it seems to interfere with the search functionality .... no idea how or why but everything seems to be working as I would expect :) happy days!
Yea! This was a strange one alright :) Nice job to you and Trenloe for figuring this one out :)

[Trenloe]

I think that mod developer included the MAC bits as well and when you have that folder it seems to interfere with the search functionality
Doing some research and it, apparently, is standard on Mac computers and the __ in front of the name hides it, so Mac users don't even see it. But Windows users do and also, it appears, the Unity platform that FG is built on.


This EXACTLY did it ... .... no idea how or why but everything seems to be working as I would expect :) happy days!
Happy days indeed! :)

[ndjester]

Thanks so much guys!