I've noticed quite a few times that Decks have had the "Number of Cards" updated by Orphalese incorrectly. I've obvously needed to correct this manually, when I've noticed it. I've had to do this at least half a dozen times, perhaps closer to ten times?
I think it happens when there has been "an issue". I don't know if these "issues" are to do with Bad Power, or the oldish Laptop I'm using at the moment (some parts of which are about eight years old...)
However clearly Orphalese should not update the number of cards incorrectly. Would it be possible to "Set" a Deck so that the Deck Info, Card Notes etc became "Read Only". I think that would be a desirable option!
Indeed I think it would be an option I'd prefer to have as a Default. That Orphalese only "Writes a New File" when the Deck is new and doesn't already have a PackInfo.xml That it NEVER "Overwrites" changes I've made.
- - - - -
Another similar issue I've noticed, which isn't exactly a fault. Just something that you need to get used to.
When working on a Deck, changing the Card Back, or the Background Image that is called "bkg.xxx" or if one is manually editing the Card Notes File (because TextPAD is more fully featured for Search and Replace! Or because the Cards were out of order and the Notes need changing too.), one has to be very carefull that one doesn't have the Deck open in Orphalese. If it is open then the File Operation may simply not be allowed, or with the Card Notes File, I've noticed that Orphalese simply overwrites what you've changed, with what it had in memory... (Drat!)
In fact I've noticed a few times that if one simply goes to the last Deck that you used, that this is not enough. Quite often (but not always?) the File Operation is blocked. So the wisdom seems to be to start a "New Line of Decks", which seems to wipe Orphalese's memory of what Card Back and Backgrounds were used for that Deck.
Hope these comments are useful.
Regards Greg the Yeti
Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
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Greg the Yeti
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Greg the Yeti
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Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
Another place that this same fault appears (for me surprisingly often both in the old version and has already occured a few times with the new version 9.4.1.3)
The size of the Deck I have set up as my default Deck. This changes on loading up the program so frequently that I'd almost forgotten about it. Sometimes it's tiny. Sometimes it's huge.
Obviously I change the size of the Deck to what I like. Usually the size that the relevant Spread Deals out at. But I quite frequently go into Deck Options and select "Unfix" for the size, followed by "Fix", to make sure that it SHOULD stay put. It doesn't!
I reckon this must also be to do with the Program overwriting the PackInfo file, or is it the Personal Pack Info file?
Regards
Greg the Yeti
The size of the Deck I have set up as my default Deck. This changes on loading up the program so frequently that I'd almost forgotten about it. Sometimes it's tiny. Sometimes it's huge.
Obviously I change the size of the Deck to what I like. Usually the size that the relevant Spread Deals out at. But I quite frequently go into Deck Options and select "Unfix" for the size, followed by "Fix", to make sure that it SHOULD stay put. It doesn't!
I reckon this must also be to do with the Program overwriting the PackInfo file, or is it the Personal Pack Info file?
Regards
Greg the Yeti
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Programmer
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Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
I can't see where the program could be changing the number of cards in the pack info file, at least at first glance it seems to me that it only sets that information on two conditions: when the deck is first used if there is no pack info file, and in the Options form if the user changes the setting. I will have to double check how the card re-sizing is handled and get back to you on that one.
Your suggestion for fixing all these settings gives me the following idea: if you make the pack info file read-only in Windows (by right-click it in Windows Explorer and changing its properties) this will give rise to an error if the program tries to overwrite the setting. I will play around with this later and upload a version which handles the error silently - so by using Windows you can lock the file and the program will respect that without making a fuss. Should an error occur unexpectedly when the file is write-protected then we would have tracked down where the program is making unwanted changes.
Regarding the program overwriting the card notes file I don't really see a way around that except to not have the program open when you are editing the notes in a different program. A situation like that is bound to cause conflicts, it is like if you have the same document open in two different word processor documents at the same time. It is best just to avoid that scenario.
Your suggestion for fixing all these settings gives me the following idea: if you make the pack info file read-only in Windows (by right-click it in Windows Explorer and changing its properties) this will give rise to an error if the program tries to overwrite the setting. I will play around with this later and upload a version which handles the error silently - so by using Windows you can lock the file and the program will respect that without making a fuss. Should an error occur unexpectedly when the file is write-protected then we would have tracked down where the program is making unwanted changes.
Regarding the program overwriting the card notes file I don't really see a way around that except to not have the program open when you are editing the notes in a different program. A situation like that is bound to cause conflicts, it is like if you have the same document open in two different word processor documents at the same time. It is best just to avoid that scenario.
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Programmer
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Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
Hi Again,
OK, I have made some progress with the deck size (i.e. height and width). First of all here is how it should work:
Normally when you make the cards bigger and smaller the program updates a general setting in the registry. This is the default size and it is shared between all decks. When you click on "Fix" in the Options forms it saves the current size as the specific size for that deck, in the pack info file. You can still override that and make the deck bigger and smaller while you are using it, the idea is that whenever you load the deck the size you fixed is the size it starts off at. That is how it SHOULD work, but I found there was a problem with the last part. The fixed size was applied correctly if you changed to that deck from another one, but was NOT applied correctly if that deck was loaded on start-up.
I have now fixed this bug in the version I just uploaded, 9.4.1.5. Remember you have the one-click upgrade here: http://www.orphalese.net/downloads/clic ... pgrade.exe.
OK, I have made some progress with the deck size (i.e. height and width). First of all here is how it should work:
Normally when you make the cards bigger and smaller the program updates a general setting in the registry. This is the default size and it is shared between all decks. When you click on "Fix" in the Options forms it saves the current size as the specific size for that deck, in the pack info file. You can still override that and make the deck bigger and smaller while you are using it, the idea is that whenever you load the deck the size you fixed is the size it starts off at. That is how it SHOULD work, but I found there was a problem with the last part. The fixed size was applied correctly if you changed to that deck from another one, but was NOT applied correctly if that deck was loaded on start-up.
I have now fixed this bug in the version I just uploaded, 9.4.1.5. Remember you have the one-click upgrade here: http://www.orphalese.net/downloads/clic ... pgrade.exe.
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Greg the Yeti
- Major Contributor
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Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
I was playing with "Gather to a New Deck" and noticed the following fault which has direct connection with this issue about Orhphalese changing Pack Info and not getting it right.
Using "Euro Millions Chiller Parchment Edition" as a suitable Guinea Pig, I removed four of the cards and created the New Deck. All that now works perfectly - however...
On finishing that experiment I closed the extra Deck but before closing the Main Deck I just happened to check out how many cards there were there. There should have been 50 but it showed 45, five less than there should be.
This says that there could be two errors happening here.
1) I only drew out four cards for the extra Deck, so another card had gone missing!
2) It's possible that they all dissappeared together in a previous error?
3) It's possible that four of them were lost because of the "Gather to a New Deck"?
- - - - -
I tried to get the Deck back to normal by
a) using history to go back to the previous Deck and then back up. (a trick i often use and usually works). It didn't work here.
b) re-selecting the Deck from the Decks Menu. This didn't work either.
c) Closing and re-opening Orphalese. This didn't work either.
d) manually editing the card numbers back to the correct 50. This obviously worked, but I shouldn't have to do this!
- - - - -
If this is how "Gather to a New Deck" is working I can see it seriously affecting your proposed solution to this problem of Orphalese fairly repeatedly overwriting Deck information with incorrect information.
If you simply allow the user to set the file as Read Only and adjust Orphalese not to complain, then I don't see how "Gather to a New Deck" would work with such a "Read Only" Deck .xml ???
My suggestion would be more radical.
1) To make the Deck Info in "PackInfo.xml" sacrosanct and unchanged and UNCHANGEABLE from the moment of the creation of the Deck. This must always correspond with the number of actual physical Card Files in the Folder. If it isn't, to declare the Deck "Sick" and not display it as a working Deck, as Orphalese does in other situations.
2) To work with another file - perhaps "PackChanges.xml"? for all other eventualities.
a) In the creation of "Gather to a New Deck" Decks.
b) If the user wants to temporarilly exclude certain cards at the end of the sequence, rather than deleting them. For example experimenting with using only the Major Arcana etc...
3) To have a Menu Item - "Check and Restore Pack Details" - which should restore anything such as Card Numbers to that stored in the (Read Only) PackInfo.xml. Or to check physically the number of Displayable Cards in the Folder.
4) Until this existing problem, with Orphalese making unwarranted and incorrect changes, is resolved we need perhaps the option to "Always perform the check in No.3 before using a Deck".
- - - - -
If not then a user may be faced (as I am) with the possibility of having made a reading with an incomplete Pack, or having bought a LOTTO ticket (for tonight) with a Lotto Pack which almost certainly had one card missing and possibly had five cards missing!!
Now I was happy with the numbers and I'm not planning to sue (even if it were possible - probably not?) - I'll trust to Lady Fortuna on this one... But this really does need sorting. It needs sorting in a way other than simply disabling Orphalese's warning about a Read Only File! That should only be regarded as a stop-gap, until a proper fix is found.
Regards
Greg the Yeti
I'm wondering about this issue. If this is happening for other users as much as it is for me then it is a serious problem. People may be routinely doing readings with incomplete Decks - and not knowing about it and therefore not complaining to you about it!!!
Is it only me?
I have been one of those who were taken in by sales talk about SSDs. So my Desktop had an SSD and this Laptop is now on it's second. Yes I've had two SSD failures. They are catastrophic and you suddenly loose ALL data. You get precious little "Warning Signs". Perhaps a few days at most, if you know what to look for... The disk can often be used again - if you Re-Format it with the Check All Errors option. the old one is working fine as a music only store...
I "evacuated" my MegaFast Desktop in time, because I knew a crash was imminent, having suffered the one on this Laptop! It's now awaiting money for HDD replacement and rebuild.
This Laptop did crash - and it lost ALL data - on ALL partitions (more or less exactly a month after the SSD's warrantly ran out!), but is now in it's fourth incarnation with an SSD which is currently showing no sign... I hope.
Yes I could be suffering Data Loss preceeding a crash. SSDs WILL all crash. I will never buy another!
But I don't think this problem with orphalese is SSD data loss, primarilly because this is the only program I have noticed with such problems. Also the problems with Orphalese's Memory Problems have been going on for longer. I've noticed it over many many months. SSDs crash within days.
The only other thing I can think of which might cause little bits of Data Loss would be the Main Memory. Yes I've MAXed the Memory with Matching Modules. Yes in a Lptop memory runs a little hot. But I have improved the ventilation and I live in a cool Cave, so it's only 22C in here not the 40C of outside! Before it was recognized as a security problem I was running CoreTemp and it showed no problem. Nothing above 50C
That memory is six years old and I have done a Memory check a month or so ago (because of this issue). But it turned up fine...
The important thing is that other users may have this happening to them and they don't know about it so you don't hear them complaining...
Trying to be helpful
Regards
Greg the Yeti
Using "Euro Millions Chiller Parchment Edition" as a suitable Guinea Pig, I removed four of the cards and created the New Deck. All that now works perfectly - however...
On finishing that experiment I closed the extra Deck but before closing the Main Deck I just happened to check out how many cards there were there. There should have been 50 but it showed 45, five less than there should be.
This says that there could be two errors happening here.
1) I only drew out four cards for the extra Deck, so another card had gone missing!
2) It's possible that they all dissappeared together in a previous error?
3) It's possible that four of them were lost because of the "Gather to a New Deck"?
- - - - -
I tried to get the Deck back to normal by
a) using history to go back to the previous Deck and then back up. (a trick i often use and usually works). It didn't work here.
b) re-selecting the Deck from the Decks Menu. This didn't work either.
c) Closing and re-opening Orphalese. This didn't work either.
d) manually editing the card numbers back to the correct 50. This obviously worked, but I shouldn't have to do this!
- - - - -
If this is how "Gather to a New Deck" is working I can see it seriously affecting your proposed solution to this problem of Orphalese fairly repeatedly overwriting Deck information with incorrect information.
If you simply allow the user to set the file as Read Only and adjust Orphalese not to complain, then I don't see how "Gather to a New Deck" would work with such a "Read Only" Deck .xml ???
My suggestion would be more radical.
1) To make the Deck Info in "PackInfo.xml" sacrosanct and unchanged and UNCHANGEABLE from the moment of the creation of the Deck. This must always correspond with the number of actual physical Card Files in the Folder. If it isn't, to declare the Deck "Sick" and not display it as a working Deck, as Orphalese does in other situations.
2) To work with another file - perhaps "PackChanges.xml"? for all other eventualities.
a) In the creation of "Gather to a New Deck" Decks.
b) If the user wants to temporarilly exclude certain cards at the end of the sequence, rather than deleting them. For example experimenting with using only the Major Arcana etc...
3) To have a Menu Item - "Check and Restore Pack Details" - which should restore anything such as Card Numbers to that stored in the (Read Only) PackInfo.xml. Or to check physically the number of Displayable Cards in the Folder.
4) Until this existing problem, with Orphalese making unwarranted and incorrect changes, is resolved we need perhaps the option to "Always perform the check in No.3 before using a Deck".
- - - - -
If not then a user may be faced (as I am) with the possibility of having made a reading with an incomplete Pack, or having bought a LOTTO ticket (for tonight) with a Lotto Pack which almost certainly had one card missing and possibly had five cards missing!!
Now I was happy with the numbers and I'm not planning to sue (even if it were possible - probably not?) - I'll trust to Lady Fortuna on this one... But this really does need sorting. It needs sorting in a way other than simply disabling Orphalese's warning about a Read Only File! That should only be regarded as a stop-gap, until a proper fix is found.
Regards
Greg the Yeti
I'm wondering about this issue. If this is happening for other users as much as it is for me then it is a serious problem. People may be routinely doing readings with incomplete Decks - and not knowing about it and therefore not complaining to you about it!!!
Is it only me?
I have been one of those who were taken in by sales talk about SSDs. So my Desktop had an SSD and this Laptop is now on it's second. Yes I've had two SSD failures. They are catastrophic and you suddenly loose ALL data. You get precious little "Warning Signs". Perhaps a few days at most, if you know what to look for... The disk can often be used again - if you Re-Format it with the Check All Errors option. the old one is working fine as a music only store...
I "evacuated" my MegaFast Desktop in time, because I knew a crash was imminent, having suffered the one on this Laptop! It's now awaiting money for HDD replacement and rebuild.
This Laptop did crash - and it lost ALL data - on ALL partitions (more or less exactly a month after the SSD's warrantly ran out!), but is now in it's fourth incarnation with an SSD which is currently showing no sign... I hope.
Yes I could be suffering Data Loss preceeding a crash. SSDs WILL all crash. I will never buy another!
But I don't think this problem with orphalese is SSD data loss, primarilly because this is the only program I have noticed with such problems. Also the problems with Orphalese's Memory Problems have been going on for longer. I've noticed it over many many months. SSDs crash within days.
The only other thing I can think of which might cause little bits of Data Loss would be the Main Memory. Yes I've MAXed the Memory with Matching Modules. Yes in a Lptop memory runs a little hot. But I have improved the ventilation and I live in a cool Cave, so it's only 22C in here not the 40C of outside! Before it was recognized as a security problem I was running CoreTemp and it showed no problem. Nothing above 50C
That memory is six years old and I have done a Memory check a month or so ago (because of this issue). But it turned up fine...
The important thing is that other users may have this happening to them and they don't know about it so you don't hear them complaining...
Trying to be helpful
Regards
Greg the Yeti
-
Greg the Yeti
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 196
- Joined: Tue 01 May, 2007 3:11 pm
Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
With regard to the last post:-
It might be very interesting (if it were possible) to do a survey of "Regular Readers" to see when was the last time they got the King of Pentacles in a reading? And if those times satisfy normal random odds or not.
That should come out at (1 / 78) x 10 = 0.1282051282051282 or 12.8% for a 10 card Celtic Spread, if I'm not mistaken?
The King of Pentacles of course being the only card which would always be affected if there is a problem with the Deck being "Short".
I don't use regular Tarot half as often as I use other Oracles, but my experience would have to go down as seriously away from "normal random odds"!
Regards
Greg the Yeti
It might be very interesting (if it were possible) to do a survey of "Regular Readers" to see when was the last time they got the King of Pentacles in a reading? And if those times satisfy normal random odds or not.
That should come out at (1 / 78) x 10 = 0.1282051282051282 or 12.8% for a 10 card Celtic Spread, if I'm not mistaken?
The King of Pentacles of course being the only card which would always be affected if there is a problem with the Deck being "Short".
I don't use regular Tarot half as often as I use other Oracles, but my experience would have to go down as seriously away from "normal random odds"!
Regards
Greg the Yeti
-
Greg the Yeti
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Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
Trying to provide you with as much info as I can, to help you find this one.
This seems to happen when I'm using Decks of Different sizes.
For example a EuroMillions Deck (50 cards) with a EuroMillions Stars Deck (11 Cards).
The most common example is for the EuroMillions Main Deck to be given only 11 cards, which is fairly obvious when you do the Spread!
I think it has happened the other way too, for the 11 Card Stars Deck to be designated with 50 Cards.
That becomes even more obvious when doing a shuffle or spread, since the program sends up a complaint form for each card it cannot find!
However other examples have occured, and continue to occur.
The ones which are difficult to spot are the less extreme ones, where you could only know if you "went under the hood".
Most recently this "Gather to a New Deck" issue, where the main Deck refused to go back to it's normal 50 and stuck at 45 - until manually edited in the Deck Options.
I DO use more Decks which don't have 78 Cards, than the "average" user! That shouldn't make a difference, but who knows?
I just wonder if it might be connected to having more than one card Back or Background in the Folder?
One correctly named "back", but others named perhaps "back 02", "back 03" etc.
One correctly named "bkg", but others named perhaps "bkg 02", "bkg 03" etc.
I'm using a lot of Decks now that use GIF files rather than the more ubiquitous JPGs. Could that be an issue?
I havn't as yet set any of the xml files to "Read Only".
My best ideas 4 possible connections so far...
Until this is resolved I will continue to try to think if there is any common connection and let you know...
Regards
Greg the Yeti
This seems to happen when I'm using Decks of Different sizes.
For example a EuroMillions Deck (50 cards) with a EuroMillions Stars Deck (11 Cards).
The most common example is for the EuroMillions Main Deck to be given only 11 cards, which is fairly obvious when you do the Spread!
I think it has happened the other way too, for the 11 Card Stars Deck to be designated with 50 Cards.
That becomes even more obvious when doing a shuffle or spread, since the program sends up a complaint form for each card it cannot find!
However other examples have occured, and continue to occur.
The ones which are difficult to spot are the less extreme ones, where you could only know if you "went under the hood".
Most recently this "Gather to a New Deck" issue, where the main Deck refused to go back to it's normal 50 and stuck at 45 - until manually edited in the Deck Options.
I DO use more Decks which don't have 78 Cards, than the "average" user! That shouldn't make a difference, but who knows?
I just wonder if it might be connected to having more than one card Back or Background in the Folder?
One correctly named "back", but others named perhaps "back 02", "back 03" etc.
One correctly named "bkg", but others named perhaps "bkg 02", "bkg 03" etc.
I'm using a lot of Decks now that use GIF files rather than the more ubiquitous JPGs. Could that be an issue?
I havn't as yet set any of the xml files to "Read Only".
My best ideas 4 possible connections so far...
Until this is resolved I will continue to try to think if there is any common connection and let you know...
Regards
Greg the Yeti
-
Greg the Yeti
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 196
- Joined: Tue 01 May, 2007 3:11 pm
Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
Hi,
my most recent "Suspect" thought, on this issue:-
Am I running too many Decks?
I've got Orhpalese set to allow 700, which it doesn't complain about.
I did a manual check on the Folders using Windows Explorer and Excel to add up the numbers, just to be sure I don't make a mistake! That came to just 623.
Although on the face of it I'm working within what "Should Work", I will go through and delete a whole load of the Tarot Folders, that I don't use regularly, or have no Card Notes. Just to See! I will report back...
Regards
Greg the yeti
Although Orphalese allows me to set 700 Decks, am I stretching the Windows Registry to breaking point? It used to be quite an issue on previous versions of Windows...
I am running Windows 7 - 32 bit on this Laptop (64 bit on the Desktop that's currently "sick"), that perhaps gives the Registry less space to stretch it's arms in??
The system I'm running has a very limited set of software, only that which I use and want. It's not loaded with ANY "Dross".
my most recent "Suspect" thought, on this issue:-
Am I running too many Decks?
I've got Orhpalese set to allow 700, which it doesn't complain about.
I did a manual check on the Folders using Windows Explorer and Excel to add up the numbers, just to be sure I don't make a mistake! That came to just 623.
Although on the face of it I'm working within what "Should Work", I will go through and delete a whole load of the Tarot Folders, that I don't use regularly, or have no Card Notes. Just to See! I will report back...
Regards
Greg the yeti
Although Orphalese allows me to set 700 Decks, am I stretching the Windows Registry to breaking point? It used to be quite an issue on previous versions of Windows...
I am running Windows 7 - 32 bit on this Laptop (64 bit on the Desktop that's currently "sick"), that perhaps gives the Registry less space to stretch it's arms in??
The system I'm running has a very limited set of software, only that which I use and want. It's not loaded with ANY "Dross".
-
Greg the Yeti
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 196
- Joined: Tue 01 May, 2007 3:11 pm
Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
Hi,
done a fair bit of that. I've cut Decks back to 463 and may be able to cut out some more too..
A further point as a possible "Suspect" is that I run with all the Decks, Spreads, Collections, Wallpapers etc on a different partition. I don't like having "Work" and Personal Files on the Active Partition, so that manual backups are more easy, and to save stressing that Partition with more reads and writes than necessary. (Necessary to think this way with an SSD!)
Too early to say if this works yet. I will report back...
Regards
Greg the Yeti
done a fair bit of that. I've cut Decks back to 463 and may be able to cut out some more too..
A further point as a possible "Suspect" is that I run with all the Decks, Spreads, Collections, Wallpapers etc on a different partition. I don't like having "Work" and Personal Files on the Active Partition, so that manual backups are more easy, and to save stressing that Partition with more reads and writes than necessary. (Necessary to think this way with an SSD!)
Too early to say if this works yet. I will report back...
Regards
Greg the Yeti
-
Greg the Yeti
- Major Contributor
- Posts: 196
- Joined: Tue 01 May, 2007 3:11 pm
Re: Program updates the Pack Info incorrectly
I'm still testing out the idea of it being simply the number of Decks.
Since it is an erratic fault, I wont know for certain till perhaps a week has gone by... I havn't noticed any errors so far since I reduced to just over 400.
I had got "sloppy" and with the 64 bit Win 7 on my Desktop I'd got used to the freedom of a larger Registry!
When I had to move back to this 32 bit Win 7 I'd forgotten this issue... Sorry! It is very likely to be this.
In testing, and keeping an eye open in my regular use it occured to me a "De-Bugging Tool" that would be very helpful. If it were possible for the Program to display somewhere on the Deck Back the number of cards from the PackInfo.xml. Perhaps half-way inbetween the "Right" and "Left" Arrows. This could be an option, purely for Debugging, so as not to clutter the screen or annoy anybody!
T'would be Useful methinks!
Having to open up the Deck Options each time is inconvenient enough for it not to be done for every Deck I use!
I vaguely remember coming across this problem before, but couldn't find it on the Forum.
If this IS the sole cause of my "Deck-Cancer" problem then could the Program check for 32bit Windows and only allow a reduced number of Decks on those machines? Perhaps not to be ALLOWED to go above the default 300?
I'm currently using duplicate folders for Decks I share (to allow me to have different settings for what I use and what I share, and even some differences in Deck Names) removing that duplication would get me in under the 300.
I think my other previous idea of a "Check-the-Deck" or "Whack-that-Pack" option on the Deck Menu, would be a very useful tool to have available as well.
Clearly any checks done by Orphalese at Start Up weren't catching this problem. A re-start of the Program didn't catch the Deck that had got stuck with a reduced number after a "Gather to a New Deck". A more intensive check at start up would slow down the loading of the program for all users, so perhaps to be able to Check individual Decks, or for a user to initiate a Complete Check on all Decks, or to be able to set the program to check each Deck as it is used (or all three of those) would probably be the way to go?
My suggestion to move all "Deck Changes" to a separate PackChanges.xml file, remains I think a counsel of perfection?
Regards
Greg the Yeti
Since it is an erratic fault, I wont know for certain till perhaps a week has gone by... I havn't noticed any errors so far since I reduced to just over 400.
I had got "sloppy" and with the 64 bit Win 7 on my Desktop I'd got used to the freedom of a larger Registry!
When I had to move back to this 32 bit Win 7 I'd forgotten this issue... Sorry! It is very likely to be this.
In testing, and keeping an eye open in my regular use it occured to me a "De-Bugging Tool" that would be very helpful. If it were possible for the Program to display somewhere on the Deck Back the number of cards from the PackInfo.xml. Perhaps half-way inbetween the "Right" and "Left" Arrows. This could be an option, purely for Debugging, so as not to clutter the screen or annoy anybody!
T'would be Useful methinks!
Having to open up the Deck Options each time is inconvenient enough for it not to be done for every Deck I use!
I vaguely remember coming across this problem before, but couldn't find it on the Forum.
If this IS the sole cause of my "Deck-Cancer" problem then could the Program check for 32bit Windows and only allow a reduced number of Decks on those machines? Perhaps not to be ALLOWED to go above the default 300?
I'm currently using duplicate folders for Decks I share (to allow me to have different settings for what I use and what I share, and even some differences in Deck Names) removing that duplication would get me in under the 300.
I think my other previous idea of a "Check-the-Deck" or "Whack-that-Pack" option on the Deck Menu, would be a very useful tool to have available as well.
Clearly any checks done by Orphalese at Start Up weren't catching this problem. A re-start of the Program didn't catch the Deck that had got stuck with a reduced number after a "Gather to a New Deck". A more intensive check at start up would slow down the loading of the program for all users, so perhaps to be able to Check individual Decks, or for a user to initiate a Complete Check on all Decks, or to be able to set the program to check each Deck as it is used (or all three of those) would probably be the way to go?
My suggestion to move all "Deck Changes" to a separate PackChanges.xml file, remains I think a counsel of perfection?
Regards
Greg the Yeti