Sub-Folders in Fantasy Ground II Folder

[tfelts]

Hi,

I haven't used FGII in a long time...I am interested now that 4e is out. However, when trying to install the 4e ruleset I notice there are no subfolders in my Fantasy Grounds II folder (no ruleset, no campaigns, etc...). I tried copying the folders from my Fantasy Grounds folder, but it doesn't seem to work?!

If anyone has suggestions on what I need to do, please help me out.

Thanks,
Tim

[EugeneZ]

I also was surprised! Smiteworks is one of the few companies correctly using the Application Data folder.

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Fantasy Grounds II

EDIT: I just wanted to add some advice that has made my life easier. There is an amazing program called Junction, located here:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896768.aspx

1) If you download this, unzip it in: C:\Documents and Settings\<username\

2) click Start > Run, type 'cmd', hit enter, a prompt should open

3) Type: junction.exe "My Documents\Fantasy Grounds User Dir" "Application Data\Fantasy Grounds II"

You now have a "junctioned" folder in your My Documents called Fantasy Grounds User Dir that goes directly to your FG2 dir. This isn't a shortcut! It can be used by any software (I'm looking at you, graphics manipulation software) like a regular directory, so that you don't have to hunt down that application data folder every time. I put mine in the My Documents folder because most software begin their "Browse" there but you can make it anywhere, just modify the path above.

[tfelts]

Thank you!!

Tim

[Oberoten]

THAT was a very very useful trick.
I'll add it to the wiki.

- Obe

[unerwünscht]

Obe,
I agree with you it is a very useful application. However, I urge you to not put it on the wiki until you have a very detailed step by step guide on how to use it. There is a LOT of damage that one can cause using that application, to the point that one could have to reinstall windows all together.

[Griogre]

I would definately put in to find the right folder Press the Start Button -> All Programs -> Fantansy Grounds II -> Application Data to open correct folder first. That works in any version of windows and is pretty easy to do. ;)

[Oberoten]

Either way, fixing the article on the Wiki will have to wait. I need to replace a HD, just glad I have a backup of the wiki on memorystick.

- Obe

[EugeneZ]

Obe,
I agree with you it is a very useful application. However, I urge you to not put it on the wiki until you have a very detailed step by step guide on how to use it. There is a LOT of damage that one can cause using that application, to the point that one could have to reinstall windows all together.
Unerw&#252;nscht is somewhat right -- on one hand, yes, you can theoretically do a lot of damage to your system if you do something very stupid with Junction. But you can do something stupid (whether accidentally or through ignorance) without Junction, too.

My instructions were very safe and Junction itself is written in a way that it will throw an error if you are not passing the correct args or try to do something silly like junction a mapped drive, etc. HOWEVER I agree that if this is to be put somewhere in the wiki, it should have a warning notice, at the very least. I wanted to add one to my post but the edit time had passed.

[unerwünscht]

Oh.. yes your instructions are safe. I was more concerned about people attempting a self elaboration on those instructions, and doing something like linking a media storage device to said folder, and then moving said media storage device to another system. The results of such can be catastrophic.

[Oberoten]

I'll add that to the Wiki. Which now runs on my poor gaming-rig.
.... on the plus side there should be a performance boost.

- Obe

[EugeneZ]

Let's not do any unneccessary fear-mongering, please. Junction cannot create a link between two nodes on different partitions because of the way the underlying technology works. Junctioning is built into the NTFS filesystem and literally links the two nodes so they point to the same location on disk. If the folders are not on the same partition, this cannot possibly work, and junction will not even attempt it.

It's a perfectly safe software as long as you don't do stupid things with it, which is largely true for a Windows machine as a whole. The worst-case-scenario I can envision is junctioning a directory and then accidentally deleting it, which will delete all the contents of the directory. It needs to be made clear that you are NOT MAKING A SHORTCUT to the directory. You just have two directories that lead to the same exact place. When you delete a folder, you delete all the contents inside, which is true here too, the only difference is you have two folders instead of one.

A warning is appropriate, spreading misinformation is not.

[unerwünscht]

I'm guessing you have a pre-existing issue with me that I do not remember and that is fine. However, you can do the research yourself through google and see that it is in fact possible to data link folders from one drive to another, and in fact even across a network.

However, if the original file is removed (for whatever reason) you will get an error "network location can not be reached".

A little more searching and digging and you will also find that if one manages to do this inside a "required" folder, you will fatal error "blue screen" windows.

Talk about misinformation Mr. Completely safe. The software in question, may have safe guards in place to help prevent such a thing from happening, but they do not make code that is idiot proof, and you in time you will find an idiot that manages to create this exact issue.

And as stated a million times before, if a flame war is what you are looking for either do it in PM, or on my site, otherwise I will make you regret ever saying a word to me on this forum.

[Sigurd]

I simply put two shortcuts in the root of my drive c:

One points to the FG data directory where the icons are.
The other goes right to my campaign directory.

As my campaigns change I just add or remove shortcuts.

Its just simple - goto root, double click shortcut. Considering everything I do to manage FG is in explorer anyway, I don't see much percentage in making it more complicated.


Sigurd

[Cearlan]

I simply dragged a shortct to the data folder onto the desktop - works fine for me.

[EugeneZ]

What's your problem, man? I was correcting your false information. Try not looking at everything as a personal attack. Just like any other software on your computer, Junction can cause problems, yes. I'm leaving it at that.

Sigurd/Cearlan, Junction is better than a shortcut because shortcuts are limited in a couple ways. They are treated as files by most software, for example if you are saving a file in a graphics manipulation software and want to access the FG2 directory, it will isntead try to save over the shortcut. Also, if you use scripts that require a directory name (like the 4E parsers by Tenian), programs like WinRar cannot follow a shortcut.

The only useful factor of shortcuts are if you want to open a windows explorer window into that folder. If that's all you want, then shortcuts are safer than Junction and easier. If you need some of the functionality I mentioned above, Junction is the only way I know to accomplish that.

[unerwünscht]

What is my problem? You call me a fear monger, and expect me to not take it as a direct insult (which it was, and is against the rules here, to bad they only enforce the rules on me). But setting the direct insults aside, you then go on to imply, good sir, that I am a halfwit as well. To the end result of you agreeing that I am correct, and a warning should be issued with the use of datalinking that one should only use it in the way described unless one has advanced knowledge of what they are doing.

Good day to you.

[Sigurd]

I know the uses for junction but I just can't see them as being very compelling.

If you are writing software to open and use FG files of any kind you are better to call them through the system with the full directory name.

If you are managing FG, use a shortcut to the directory. Junction is not a core piece of Windows Software. It adds complexity without merit. I'm sure it can be used safely but symbolic links are messy - that's why they're not core windows.

Sigurd.

[ErsatzPyre]

I find myself agreeing with Sigurd.
But I suppose that the general "you" will have to find whether or not your spidey-senses are flared by an extra piece of complexity by using Junction. I find it a very useful idea myself, but can't weigh out the potential for messiness with any kind of greenhorn mind at play.

Some of the best ideas come with good merit but potential for trouble. No offensive criticism intended, of course.

[EugeneZ]

Actually, yes, Junction is built into NTFS. For a variety of reasons, Microsoft is the kind of company that fears "scaring" users, primarily due to the "accidentally deleting content" thing I mentioned.

But it's technology completely developed and supported by Microsoft, which is where you'll find the download. Sigurd, you say that if you use software to access the FG files you're better accessing them through the system -- a junctioned folder is very much part of the system. Indeed, that's the exact advantage of Junction: It creates a link that is truly and fully a real folder, not like a shortcut, so it's fully accessible by anything any other folder is accessible by. The very purpose of Junction is that you can and should treat a junctioned folder exactly the same way as you would any other folder. In fact, to treat it differently is a mistake -- exactly the reason people get confused sometimes, delete the junctioned directory, and then are angry when all the files inside are gone.

I personally find it incredibly useful in many situations, not just FG. But in FG's case it's primary usefulness is because I like to save my image files directly in the image directory instead of moving them via Explorer... and Save File dialogs don't follow shortcuts (although I think this is something that can be set by the developer).

I also use it in Tenian's parsers to avoid dealing with typos and other problems in a long pathname. Anyway, I'm not forcing anyone to use it, I just think if it's useful for me, it may be for others.

[ErsatzPyre]

I'd like to pretend that I speak for the FG crowd in entirety, but speaking for myself... I much appreciate the insight EugeneZ. It was a thoughtful piece of information that may be quite useful.

[unerwünscht]

Now who is spreading misinformation!?!?!?!

Junctions points are a type of NTFS reparse point; they were introduced with NTFS 3.0, the default file system for Windows 2000. The Windows 2000 and Windows XP Resource Kits include a program called linkd to create junction points; Mark Russinovich of Winternals released a tool called junction which provided more complete functionality. Windows NT 6.0 and later operating systems include an mklink command-line utility for creating junction points.

The Junctions program is NOT made by Microsoft, and should not be promoted as such!

[EugeneZ]

I meant the technology behind Junction, which Junction leverages, was developed by Microsoft. Furthermore, though Junction.exe was not developed by Microsoft, the company that made it is now a Microsoft subsidiary, and Microsoft distributes Junction on their site.

However, I do apologize for any misinformation my simplification of the facts may have caused. *rolls eyes*