In Windows 7, I currently run two different 'stand-alone' versions of POV-Ray
(although not at the same time): v3.7.0, and v3.7.1 beta 9. I like to switch
between these versions at will-- to experiment, to compare renders, etc.  (I
also run various 3.8 alpha versions, but they run from 'within' v3.7.0. )

I originally installed the two main versions the 'standard' way-- which placed
two main folders in 'Documents', one named '3.7' and one named '3.7-beta' (plus
their two associated and separate folders in C:\Program Files\POV-ray\ , of
course.)

EACH of these stand-alone versions has its own exclusive(?) set of the four
necessary sub-folders in its repective 'Documents' folder, each with its own set
of files--
include
ini
Insert Menu
scenes

But if I want to edit one of those files in, say, v3.7.0, I then have to
duplicate the changes in the 3.7-beta folder to retain consistency across
versions...which seems redundant. For editing purposes and ease of use, it would
be nice to have ONE 'master' set of at least the following files:
povray.inc
quickres.ini
include
Insert Menu

Is there any way to place a SINGLE set of these files somewhere, that can be
used by *multiple* versions of POV-ray? I've tried various ways of doing it,
with no success.

For example, I moved only the 'Insert Menu' folder out of '3.7' and into an
outer folder within 'Documents\POV-Ray' called 'common_files_experiment'. I
then edited 3.7.0's 'povray.ini' file with a new library path...

Library_Path=C:\Users\Computer\Documents\POV-Ray\common_files_experiment\

I thought this would be the appropriate way to do the trick-- but launching
v3.7.0 results in no 'Insert Menu' contents showing up. I tried re-writing the
path in different ways, but still no luck...

Library_Path=C:\Users\Computer\Documents\POV-Ray\common_files_experiment\"Insert
Menu"\
and...
Library_Path="C:\Users\Computer\Documents\POV-Ray\common_files_experiment\Insert
menu\"

It seems obvious that I'm going about this the wrong way. I suspect that POV-ray
tries to load these special(?) kinds of files/folders *before* looking in
povray.ini for any further library paths-- and consequently does not find what
it is looking for. (BTW, the standard Windows installation procedure produces
povray.ini files that do not have any library paths listed *at all*, except what
I choose to add later; the default 'automatic' paths are probably written
*somewhere*, but I haven't been able to find them. I also looked in the Windows
registry, in the various 'POV-ray' folders there. )

Post a reply to this message

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> It seems obvious that I'm going about this the wrong way. I suspect that POV-ray
> tries to load these special(?) kinds of files/folders *before* looking in
> povray.ini for any further library paths-- and consequently does not find what
> it is looking for.

I don't mess with these (much), but I will speculate, and see if I'm correct.

The locations of those "special" folders are hard-coded somewhere, or in some
..ini file that you haven't found yet.
The library paths have nothing to do with those.
What I think you want to do is create a central folder, and then in the place
where those folders are normally found, add a symbolic link that points to the
central folder.
In windows that might be a "shortcut" or something similar.

Post a reply to this message

"Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:

hey!
Thanks for the insights and for thinking about this.

> The locations of those "special" folders are hard-coded somewhere, or in some
> ..ini file that you haven't found yet.

I've looked in all(?) the various .ini files and other 'human-readable' files,
in both 'Documents' and in C:\Program Files\POV-Ray... but no luck. Perhaps the
'hidden' library paths are coded somewhere in the DLLs? Not that I know
*anything* about DLLs!

> What I think you want to do is create a central folder, and then in the place
> where those folders are normally found, add a symbolic link that points to the
> central folder.
> In windows that might be a "shortcut" or something similar.

I actually did try that (in one form), for another of my 'Insert Menu' tests:
After moving that folder outside of its standard location, I tried placing a
Windows shortcut to it inside the original 'v3.7' folder-- but again, no luck.
No Insert Menu contents appear in POV-ray's menu.  :-(

I've tried to think of a way to combine BOTH the 'v3.7 and 'v3.7-beta' main
folders (in 'Documents') into a single folder, then simply eliminate the
redundant sets of files/folders... but I think it would royally screw things up,
if only because C:\Program Files... has them as separate entities, with some
'exclusive' files there for the various versions. It could end up being being a
bad experiment, with possibly unforseen problems.

Post a reply to this message

BTW, I do have my own separate 'scenes' folder, plus some others; their
locations (library_paths) were easily written into each of my TWO povray.ini
files. But again, having TWO of those seperate files seems redundant.

Post a reply to this message

hi,

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> "Bald Eagle" <cre### [at] netscapenet> wrote:
> ...
> I've looked in all(?) the various .ini files and other 'human-readable' files,
> in both 'Documents' and in C:\Program Files\POV-Ray... but no luck. ...

never used a POV-Ray Windows version, but wonder whether there's information
kept in the (in)famous Windows Registry?


regards, jr.

Post a reply to this message

"jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

>
> never used a POV-Ray Windows version, but wonder whether there's information
> kept in the (in)famous Windows Registry?
>
Alas, I've tried looking there-- but all I see are dynamically-changing entries
for library paths... like 'last scene rendered', etc etc. I don't see any
entries (so far) that look like they are 'set' to an unchanging library path
(i.e., something that *I* could then change and that would retain the changes.)
But I'm *certainly* no genius when it comes to understanding the Windows
registry!

Post a reply to this message

Le 2020-09-13 à 16:41, Kenneth a écrit :
> "jr" <cre### [at] gmailcom> wrote:
> 
>>
>> never used a POV-Ray Windows version, but wonder whether there's information
>> kept in the (in)famous Windows Registry?
>>
> Alas, I've tried looking there-- but all I see are dynamically-changing entries
> for library paths... like 'last scene rendered', etc etc. I don't see any
> entries (so far) that look like they are 'set' to an unchanging library path
> (i.e., something that *I* could then change and that would retain the changes.)
> But I'm *certainly* no genius when it comes to understanding the Windows
> registry!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

Try this location in the registry :
\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\POV-Ray\v3.7\Windows

There should be a \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\POV-Ray\v3.7-beta\Windows 
entry, or something similar, if version 3.7 beta is installed.

And a \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\POV-Ray\v3.6\Windows
if version 3.6 is also installed.

The key entry could be the «Home» value.

Try setting the «Home» value with the same path for both installs.
To be safe, start by renaming the «home» value to something like 
«Home-back» before you change anything else. Then, right click and 
select «New string value» from the contextual menu and type «Home». That 
way, if it don't work, you just delete the edited key and rename the 
backed up one to it's original name.

The worst that can happen here is that the version with the altered 
entry won't start properly and throw some errors.


==============================================================================

NOT all edition of the registry are benign. DO NOT EVER edit anything 
that you are not sure about.

==============================================================================

Never edit anything within \HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT unless you have clear 
instructions. (may screw your associations or make some application 
unstable)
Same for \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE (may disable some component of the 
computer, even prevent it from booting) and \HKEY_USERS (may corrupt a 
user's account).

Keys with names similar to «{0ce4991b-e6b3-4b16-b23c-5e0d9250e5d9}» can 
render some functionalities or feature unusable if altered. DO NOT touch !

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A regular shortcut will not work in this case. You must create a 
directory junction or soft link via the mklink command with the "/j" option.

Post a reply to this message

Anthony D'Agostino wrote:
> A regular shortcut will not work in this case. You must create a
> directory junction or soft link via the mklink command with the "/j" option.

and Alain wrote:
> Try this location in the registry :
>  \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\POV-Ray\v3.7\Windows
>
> There should be a \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\POV-Ray\v3.7-beta\Windows
> entry, or something similar, if version 3.7 beta is installed.
>
> And a \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\POV-Ray\v3.6\Windows
> if version 3.6 is also installed.
>
> The key entry could be the «Home» value.
> [snip]

Thanks, Anthony and Alain. I get what you're both suggesting. It looks like
creating 'symbolic links' will be the solution to my idea. The concept is
completely new to me, as are the the Windows 'tools' of  mklink  and the "j\"
option etc.-- but I've already started researching at least the basics of it
all. From what I've read so far, creating a 'hard link' seems to be more
appropriate for my idea than a 'soft link'-- but I'm not yet smart enough to
decide!

For others who are interested, this page looks like a good place to begin...

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/

(BTW, being a newbie at this, I even had to look up the meaning of 'directory',
to find out how it might differ from the typical 'folder' concept. They're
*essentially* the same-- with some caveats-- but used in different contexts.)

I hope to get this idea to work; if I succeed, I'll post my method here later.

Post a reply to this message

"Kenneth" <kdw### [at] gmailcom> wrote:

> ...
> For others who are interested, this page looks like a good place to begin...
>
>
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/
>

Sorry, for some unknown reason that link doesn't *reliably* connect to its page,
from here in the newsgroups' web portal-- even though the URL is correct. Try
cutting-and-pasting the link into your browser; that worked for me.

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