I can't render any file with the current beta.
Previously, I ran the beta versions in a beta subfolder under the bin folder. It 
no longer works.
I did the following after failing to render with my previous settings:
Created a copy of the regular installation in a new folder.
Copyed the original content of the regular installation into the new folder.
Extracted the beta into the bin folder as the instruction seems to indicate.
Can't render.
Exit the beta. Purged the registry from the previous entries. Restart. A message 
tels me that the migration was successfull. Still can't render any scene.
I first get this message when starting POV-Ray: WARNING : Cannot find COLORS.INC 
in expected location.
If I try to render a scene, I get the following message:
Failed to set render options (I/O restriction settings prohibit access to file)

OS is Windows XP
Beta 25 was working flawlessly.

-- 
Alain
-------------------------------------------------
For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead.
Thomas Jefferson

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I'll have a WIP release out shortly that ought to assist in these issues.

-- Chris

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Chris Cason <del### [at] deletethistoopovrayorg> wrote:
> I'll have a WIP release out shortly that ought to assist in these issues.
>
> -- Chris

Chris, why did you choose to move the Windows version away from the INI format
(i.e., in favor of one of Microsoft's worst ideas ever: the Windows Registry)?

Maybe I'm just old-school, but I personally find it much better to have
everything packaged up in config files local to an app, rather than stuffed
into a clusterf_ck of hive keys...

-Rob

"There is no spoon."

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Robert McGregor wrote:
> Chris Cason <del### [at] deletethistoopovrayorg> wrote:
>> I'll have a WIP release out shortly that ought to assist in these issues.
>>
>> -- Chris
> 
> Chris, why did you choose to move the Windows version away from the INI format
> (i.e., in favor of one of Microsoft's worst ideas ever: the Windows Registry)?

Because that is the way M$ wants it to be in Vista, and for apps to work 
well with Vista :-(

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Thorsten Froehlich wrote:

> Because that is the way M$ wants it to be in Vista, and for apps to work 
> well with Vista :-(

Actually, didn't they just want that configuration files
should be stored under %APPDATA% in user-writable space,
also allowing each user to configure separate options?

You could even implement the famous "Your system is now
configuring POV-Ray for first time use" splash when a user
starts it for the first time ;)

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Christian Froeschlin <chr### [at] chrfrde> wrote:
> Actually, didn't they just want that configuration files
> should be stored under %APPDATA% in user-writable space,
> also allowing each user to configure separate options?

  That's my impression too. (Currently I develop Windows games, and this
is indeed something I have to take into account.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Robert McGregor wrote:
> Chris Cason <del### [at] deletethistoopovrayorg> wrote:
>> I'll have a WIP release out shortly that ought to assist in these issues.
>>
>> -- Chris
> 
> Chris, why did you choose to move the Windows version away from the INI format
> (i.e., in favor of one of Microsoft's worst ideas ever: the Windows Registry)?

Note that the rendering engine still uses INI files, it's just the
windows-specific settings that moved to the registry.

I have implemented the change in such a way as to make it easy to move back
and forth. I may put an option into the next release to use the old system
of INI files if people prefer it.

-- Chris

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Christian Froeschlin wrote:
> Actually, didn't they just want that configuration files
> should be stored under %APPDATA% in user-writable space,
> also allowing each user to configure separate options?

Well we never know what Microsoft really want;/

We do use 'Application Data' already; as of beta 26, it will look for the
tools INI file there (well, it's a start ...). Beta 27 however implements a
more significant split; ini, scenes, and insert menu end up in a POV-Ray
subdir of appdata.

> You could even implement the famous "Your system is now
> configuring POV-Ray for first time use" splash when a user
> starts it for the first time ;)

We probably have no choice - with support files needed on a per-user basis,
we have to hook into the Windows Installer system to advise it that a
particular advertised installer component is required (this would have been
provided when POV-Ray was initially installed). Windows Installer will then
install the user-specific files and registry settings.

NB this isn't implemented in the 3.7 beta 27 installed. It's planned for
the next one though.

-- Chris

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Chris Cason wrote:

> We probably have no choice - with support files needed on a per-user basis,
> we have to hook into the Windows Installer system to advise it that a
> particular advertised installer component is required

Can't you just check the existence of the INI file in POV-Ray
and create one with default settings when missing on startup?

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Christian Froeschlin wrote:
> Chris Cason wrote:
> 
>> We probably have no choice - with support files needed on a per-user basis,
>> we have to hook into the Windows Installer system to advise it that a
>> particular advertised installer component is required
> 
> Can't you just check the existence of the INI file in POV-Ray
> and create one with default settings when missing on startup?

of course. in fact if you get beta 27 and erase the POV-Ray app data
directory then re-run the EXE you will see that this is precisely what it
does (in fact, the installer doesn't even have a pvengine.ini within it).

however that will not cause the ini, insert menu, and scene files to
materialise in the appdata dir ... all of these are categorised as being
items which the end-user could reasonably be expected to want to alter;
thus, they must be in their profile somewhere.

-- Chris

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