INFO: Location of Configuration Files in FotoStation 6.0 for Windows
This document describes the changes that have been made in the location of configuration files and other files used by FotoStation when you upgrade from version 5.x to 6.0. All folder names refer to the English version of Windows XP. A document on file locations in FotoStation 6.0 for Mac OS X can be found here: http://www.fotoware.com/kb/article.aspx?id=10233
To simplify the document, we replace the following base folders with some abbreviated names:
ALLUSERS_FOLDER =
In Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\FotoWare
In Windows Vista: C:\ProgramData\FotoWare
PRIVATE_FOLDER =
In Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\FotoWare
In Windows Vista: C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Roaming\FotoWare
COMMONFILES_FOLDER =
C:\Program Files\Common Files\FotoWare
Configuration files
One of the most important changes is that with FotoStation 6.0, NOTHING is stored in the COMMONFILES_FOLDER. All the configuration will now either reside in ALLUSERS_FOLDER or PRIVATE_FOLDER, depending on the options set in the configuration dialog, File | Configuration (see the ‘FotoStation Configuration’ node in the program configuration tree).
The base folders for the different configuration options are now:
- ‘Use a common configuration for all users of the computer’
ALLUSERS_FOLDER\FotoStation\Configuration
- ‘Use a separate configuration for each user’
PRIVATE_FOLDER\FotoStation\Configuration
- ‘Log on and load configuration from a server’
PRIVATE_FOLDER\FotoStation\Server Configuration[1]
For a more detailed comparison of the all the configuration folders in version 5.x vs 6.0, see the attached PDF document, FotoStation ConfigLocation 5 vs 6 Win.pdf.
Localized configuration
Parts of the configuration (like web export and print templates, metadata editors/macros and templates, etc..) that are localized will now reside in the subfolder
…\localized\<your language>.[2] When you change the program language, FotoStation will access these folders directly in the language folder. This behavior is differs from that of version 5.x, which copied localized files to a common location when selecting a new language.
In version 6.0 we have also decided to put more of the configuration in the localized folder. A side effect of this is that when you change language, changes made in the localized configuration will not be visible in other languages. For example, if you change the layout or add new metadata editors, these will not be available after changing the language. In this case you should first export the components that have been changed and then import them after changing the language.
Metadata configuration
The Metadata Configuration (MDC), which is new in FotoStation 6.0, is stored in a folder where it is accessed by all FotoWare applications, ALLUSERS_FOLDER\Metadata
This location is not influenced by the options selected in the configuration dialog discussed above.
Local file cache
The local file cache is now always stored per user, in Windows XP typically in the folder C:\Documents and Settings\<Username>\Local Settings\Application Data\FotoWare\FotoStation\Cache
In Windows Vista, the cache is stored in a folder not affected by roaming profiles, typically C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\FotoWare\FotoStation\Cache
For security reasons it is not possible to set the cache folder location in the configuration dialog (as it used to be in FotoStation 5.x).
Projects and jobs
Projects and Jobs will have a similar location beneath the respective base folder when you install FotoStation 6.0 on a ‘clean’ machine. However, when you upgrade from 5.x to 6.0, these files will remain in the old base folder, typically
ALLUSERS_FOLDER\FotoStation Pro. FotoStation 6.0 will find the files in this location.
When using the option ‘Log on and load configuration from a server’, the previous 5.x configuration can not be downloaded directly. The changes in the folder hierarchy in FotoStation 6.0 are reflected in the way that the configuration is stored on the server. Hence you should create a new server configuration for version 6.0.
When starting FotoStation 6.0 the first time, it will not try to download a server configuration from previous versions. This is our intention to avoid the confusion that would follow by downloading an invalid configuration.
Follow these steps to ‘convert’ your old configuration to a 6.0 compliant server configuration:
- Install FotoStation 6.0 on a machine that has the latest copy of the server configuration locally. (The installation process will take care of copying local files to new location)
- Upload configuration to server. Select a different server location than used with version 5.x
- Select the option, ‘Log on and load configuration from a server’ and select the new logon folder. Click Save changes, then OK to close the configuration dialog. The next time you start FotoStation it will download the new server configuration.
After logging on, the server configuration will be copied to the local folder, PRIVATE_FOLDER\FotoStation\Server Configuration. This configuration will be independent of language selection and will not contain the subfolder ‘Localized\<your language>.
The file that contains the “logon path”, locationData.xml, is always stored in ALLUSERS_FOLDER\FotoStation\Configuration. The consequence of this is that all users on the same machine will always use the same “logon path”. It is possible however to copy locationData.xml to PRIVATE_FOLDER\FotoStation\Configuration in order to personalize the “logon path”. This is can be useful when running FotoStation on a Citrix server.
For detailed information about the location of configuration files when using a server-based configuration, please download the attached file.