Zip File backups - 'two or more files with the same names'

[photoflora]

?Spurious Error Message:

Project contains two or more files with the same names, but located in different folders. Please use unique file names for every file if you want to create template or backup.

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Projects\..\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Above is a typical error message of the kind I get quite often. The problem is that there aren't two files with the same name as far as I can ascertain - somehow my system thinks there are two paths to two different files. What am I doing to confuse it (and me)? And of course how can I prevent it? Mostly I'm fairly well-disciplined about organising my picture files!

I've looked at as many previous exchanges on this subject in the forum as I can find, but found no mention of this particular problem...

Help!

Thanks in anticipation,

PhotoFlora

[fh1805]

Hi PhotoFlora,

You can be certain that there are, indeed, two copies of this file if PTE has reported this. You can confirm for yourself that there are two identically named files on your system by using Windows Search or Find feature. Try doing a search for "Rajah*Birdwing.png" (without the quotes). This will show you whether or not the same file does exist in two or more places.

You can prevent PTE reporting this situation by meticulous application of three simple rules:

- Every sequence has its own folder

- Everything for that sequence exists in that folder

- Everything used in that sequence is used only from that folder.

This means that if you want to use an image, you first copy it into the proper folder. If you want to use a sound file (e.g. music) you first copy it into the sequence's folder. And then you use the copy that is in that folder.

regards,

Peter

[photoflora]

Hi PhotoFlora,

You can be certain that there are, indeed, two copies of this file if PTE has reported this. You can confirm for yourself that there are two identically named files on your system by using Windows Search or Find feature. Try doing a search for "Rajah*Birdwing.png" (without the quotes). This will show you whether or not the same file does exist in two or more places.

You can prevent PTE reporting this situation by meticulous application of three simple rules:

- Every sequence has its own folder

- Everything for that sequence exists in that folder

- Everything used in that sequence is used only from that folder.

This means that if you want to use an image, you first copy it into the proper folder. If you want to use a sound file (e.g. music) you first copy it into the sequence's folder. And then you use the copy that is in that folder.

regards,

Peter

Peter, thanks - what you say is absolutely right of course - as I said, I try to be disciplined about the proper folders and all that - I have learned the hard way! But - there's something really funny going on - before I posted my query, I did exactly what you just suggested - search the whole of my drive 'E' for the 'birdwing' picture file. Only one version came up!

Is there summat wrong with my system... (or maybe my brain...?)

Best wishes and thanks again - don't give up on me...

PF

[fh1805]

I'm clutching at straws myself now! But...

Open your project in PTE and step through your images until you get to the ones of the Birdwing. Then, keeping a careful eye on the Information bar at the bottom of the PTE window, observe which image has come from which folder. Try replacing the "suspect" image with that which you believe to be the correct one. If image replacement doesn't solve the problem, then delete the offending image, save the project and then re-open and add the correct one back in.

The file is a png file. If this means that you are using O&A then you will have to check objects as well as the main images. Again, do an image file replace first and then a delete/add if that hasn't resolved the problem.

I'm mystified as to why PTE thinks there are two copies when Windows says there is just the one.

Hope the above helps.

regards,

Peter

[photoflora]

I'm clutching at straws myself now! But...

Open your project in PTE and step through your images until you get to the ones of the Birdwing. Then, keeping a careful eye on the Information bar at the bottom of the PTE window, observe which image has come from which folder. Try replacing the "suspect" image with that which you believe to be the correct one. If image replacement doesn't solve the problem, then delete the offending image, save the project and then re-open and add the correct one back in.

The file is a png file. If this means that you are using O&A then you will have to check objects as well as the main images. Again, do an image file replace first and then a delete/add if that hasn't resolved the problem.

I'm mystified as to why PTE thinks there are two copies when Windows says there is just the one.

Hope the above helps.

regards,

Peter

Thanks Peter - I'll explore your suggestion carefully - it'll take a while I expect - "watch this space"!

It will be a pity to start again, as I'd done some quite fiddly stuff with a fluttering butterfly (the Birdwing). I'd like to find out the root cause too, 'cos it happens quite often (occasionally quite legitimately if I make a slip) but it can be a bit of a setback, as in the current instance.

Best...

PF

[JEB]

Hi,

For what it’s worth I too have had the same problem on two occasions recently. On each occasion PTE turned out to be correct and I wrong. However, I found that after deleting the offending image (file) I found that I had to save and CLOSE PTE before reopening it and selecting the correct image. As I have stated elsewhere it is odd that PTE tells you the path but NOT the SLIDE NUMBER. Very annoying!

Hope you get is sorted out soon.

John

P.S. No substitute for following the rules as stated by Peter but........./

[photoflora]

Hi,

For what it’s worth I too have had the same problem on two occasions recently. On each occasion PTE turned out to be correct and I wrong. However, I found that after deleting the offending image (file) I found that I had to save and CLOSE PTE before reopening it and selecting the correct image. As I have stated elsewhere it is odd that PTE tells you the path but NOT the SLIDE NUMBER. Very annoying!

Hope you get is sorted out soon.

John

P.S. No substitute for following the rules as stated by Peter but........./

Right John! The thing I find irritating is that the path is shown incomplete at times, making it difficult to track down the errant files - e.g. the red bit in the following pair of paths:

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Projects\..\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Thanks for your thoughts...

PF

[photoflora]

Thanks Peter - I'll explore your suggestion carefully - it'll take a while I expect - "watch this space"!

It will be a pity to start again, as I'd done some quite fiddly stuff with a fluttering butterfly (the Birdwing). I'd like to find out the root cause too, 'cos it happens quite often (occasionally quite legitimately if I make a slip) but it can be a bit of a setback, as in the current instance.

Best...

PF

Project contains two or more files with the same names, but located in different folders. Please use unique file names for every file if you want to create template or backup.

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Projects\..\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

John, I think you have helped put a finger on this – there was indeed (embarrassing this – sorry Peter) a second instance of my ‘birdwing’ file, in the end title sequence – I used it a while back and forgot it was there!

So if we could ask Igor if it’s possible to show the slide numbers as part of the error message. It undoubtedly would help in some circumstances – I’d certainly have spotted my howler sooner!

I’m still puzzled as to how there can be two paths, as in my original example (above). The first one still does not make sense to me, as I don’t know how it could have ever existed. So again, could we ask Igor if it’s possible to show the paths in the error message in full, not abbreviated (as in the red bit above)? It would make it much easier to track down mistakes such as the one I made.

Thanks and apologies to Peter and John that it took so long for the ‘penny to drop’!

PF

[davegee]

Alternatively PF,

If you follow what is becoming standard procedure for PTE and having ONE FOLDER PER PROJECT and no sub-folders this problem would never occur.

You cannot save two files in the same folder with the same name.

Another variation on the same theme is - keep the folder near to the root of your drive until finished and then save as a template to wherever you want.

Merry Xmas,

DaveG

[photoflora]

Alternatively PF,

If you follow what is becoming standard procedure for PTE and having ONE FOLDER PER PROJECT and no sub-folders this problem would never occur.

You cannot save two files in the same folder with the same name.

Another variation on the same theme is - keep the folder near to the root of your drive until finished and then save as a template to wherever you want.

Merry Xmas,

DaveG

Dave, thanks - I can see that a single folder would prevent the problem of course. You will guess from the paths I gave as an example that I have set up all my projects using what I'll call the 'Beckham' structure - i.e. four subfolders for 'Sound'; 'Project'; 'Pictures for Show' (images resized and ready for use) and 'Image holding' ('raw' pictures). With a project with lots of pictures in it 'raw' and 'resized' (likely to run into many hundreds sometimes) there's going to be quite a lot of different kinds of files in one single folder - maybe not easy to keep 'em in good order... Would you like to give me a model of what you are suggesting, or is it just as simple as it sounds...?

Having the project folder high up in the root directory is good too, but I tend to work on lots of different things at once - it could get quite busy up there!

I still can't understand why those two paths come up in the error message - the one with the (red) bit missing is not a legitmate path - it should not go via 'Malaysia Projects'. The bottom one is correct. If there was a duplicate file it should have the path:

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Image Holding\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Not:

E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Projects\..\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

That's why I'd like the paths to be shown complete in an error message - should I interpolate the \..\ as \Malaysia Image Holding\, or what...?

If you or any of the other kind people who have helped can solve this one for me I'll have a really Happy Christmas... Thanks everybody and have a Merry One!

PhotoFlora

[nobeefstu]

photoflora,

That's why I'd like the paths to be shown complete in an error message - should I interpolate the \..\ as \Malaysia Image Holding\, or what...?

Windows system API accepts \..\ . The two dots ("..") are used for moving up in the hierarchy, to indicate the parent directory; one dot (".") represents the directory itself.

So actually you are seeing the complete path as written in the .pte file. Open the .pte file in a text editor and you will see exactly the same file path string.

Your file string E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Projects\..\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Windows is looking for your file in : E:\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

[davegee]

PF,

The PROJECT folder need only contain the JPEG images for the PTE PROJECT.

My RAW images are in my D300 Folder and that is where they stay. I might have sub-folders there to differentiate between different shoots, but when processing the RAW files I send the processed file from NX2 to CS3 and, depending on whether I am going to print or convert to JPEG for a PTE project, I will save to the appropriate folder. I prefer to use CS3 for final cropping and resizing.

In the case of the PTE Projects folder it will be something like z:\PTE Projects in progress\Austria 2008 or similar.

This folder will contain ONLY JPEG and MP3 files and perhaps some PNG files etc but certainly NO RAW files. If I want different versions of a RAW file it is simple, within NX2, to save to the same NEF file as many versions as I require (even a B&W version) - all in the same NEF file. In CS3 etc this can done with a PSD file saved to the same folder as the TIFF files. When saving PSD files it is advisable to save a small JPEG with the same name for quick easy identification. I like to work with NX2, CS3 and PTE open at the same time and will always go back to the original NEF file if a different version or CS3 if a tweak is required. I will never re-edit a JPEG file.

The RAW files are in one place, the PSDs and TIFF files for printing are in another place and the JPEG files for PTE are in the PTE Project folder.

When the PTE Project is finished and requires no further work I save a TEMPLATE in my Z:\PTE Templates folder and (if confident that I will not need it again) I will delete the PTE Project from the PTE Projects in Progress folder.

DaveG

[photoflora]

PF,

The PROJECT folder need only contain the JPEG images for the PTE PROJECT.

My RAW images are in my D300 Folder and that is where they stay. I might have sub-folders there to differentiate between different shoots, but when processing the RAW files I send the processed file from NX2 to CS3 and, depending on whether I am going to print or convert to JPEG for a PTE project, I will save to the appropriate folder. I prefer to use CS3 for final cropping and resizing.

In the case of the PTE Projects folder it will be something like z:\PTE Projects in progress\Austria 2008 or similar.

This folder will contain ONLY JPEG and MP3 files and perhaps some PNG files etc but certainly NO RAW files. If I want different versions of a RAW file it is simple, within NX2, to save to the same NEF file as many versions as I require (even a B&W version) - all in the same NEF file. In CS3 etc this can done with a PSD file saved to the same folder as the TIFF files. When saving PSD files it is advisable to save a small JPEG with the same name for quick easy identification. I like to work with NX2, CS3 and PTE open at the same time and will always go back to the original NEF file if a different version or CS3 if a tweak is required. I will never re-edit a JPEG file.

The RAW files are in one place, the PSDs and TIFF files for printing are in another place and the JPEG files for PTE are in the PTE Project folder.

When the PTE Project is finished and requires no further work I save a TEMPLATE in my Z:\PTE Templates folder and (if confident that I will not need it again) I will delete the PTE Project from the PTE Projects in Progress folder.

DaveG

Okay Dave - your model's radically different from the setup I've been using for my whole system for a while now, but worth considering - the essential thing though is to keep the JPEG files 'isolated' to avoid the problems, as you first described. Still haven't found out what's at the bottom of the 'dual path' error message though - see my reply to 'nobeefstu' below (or above)

It'll all sort itself eventually I suppopse...

Thanks, and Best...

PF

[photoflora]

photoflora,

Windows system API accepts \..\ . The two dots ("..") are used for moving up in the hierarchy, to indicate the parent directory; one dot (".") represents the directory itself.

So actually you are seeing the complete path as written in the .pte file. Open the .pte file in a text editor and you will see exactly the same file path string.

Your file string E:\PTE & PowerPoint\Malaysia\Malaysia Projects\..\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Windows is looking for your file in : E:\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Nobeefstu, hello, and thanks for the translation of the dots - we learn something new every day (or we should!)

Good piece of information, but it still doesn't explain the 'two paths' thing, and there's certainly no such legitimate path in my system as:

E:\Malaysia Pictures for Show\Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing.png

Heigh Ho!

All the best...

PF