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I just downloaded Pic_Index and can't find how to access the manual without opening up the application and finding it manually.

You are unfamiliar with RISC OS and are unaware of the standard method of accessing Help files and manuals.

This is to press the Menu button on the mouse when the pointer is over the application's icon in a filer window. The resulting menu has an item "Help" which will load the manual.

The Pic_Index manual is written as a HTML file, so will need your browser to have been 'seen' by the filer to make this work properly

I have upgraded to Select 2, and now I have to press Space for each image to get it processed. What's going on?

There is a problem with the CompressJPEG module supplied with Select 2/Risc OS 4.32/4.33. Please read the notes on the Compatibility page which describe how to unplug this module.

I just downloaded Pic_Index 1.11g and tried to run it but it stops with the error "Handle is either illegal or closed at line 17" and the program stops leaving files open.

You have possibly used SparkPlug or Spark to de-archive and this has changed the name of some of the files so that Pic_Index can't find them. De-archive using ZipEE from the link on the links page. The files in question are in tools and logolinks, and a / has been replaced by a _.

I just downloaded Pic_Index and tried to run it but it stops with the error "Sorry, a file called <Pic_IndexRes$Dir>.Text/Menus cannot be found.".

You have possibly used SparkPlug or Spark to de-archive and this has changed the name of one of the files so that Pic_Index can't find it. De-archive using ZipEE from the link on the links page or use SparkFS. The file in question is in Resources.<country>, and a "/" has been replaced by a "_". You could change it back by hand.

I just downloaded Pic_Index and dragged a directory containing JPEGs to it but got "<pathname> does not contain a 'gallery' directory or it is empty". I don't know what a 'gallery' directory is.

You need to read the manual. This may be accessed through the Filer menu Application submenu Help option. You will need to have your browser 'seen' by the filer first, as the manual is written in HTML.

The first part deals with the gallery directory, and this is probably the least intuitive bit of using Pic_Index!

I just downloaded Pic_Index and dragged an album containing JPEGs in a gallery directory to it and tried to use it, but got an error  "ChangeFSI has failed to create <Wimp$ScrapDir>. Pic_Index.ThumbsTemp.  Album aborted."

This may be because one of your JPEGs is non-standard and cannot be understood by ChangeFSI. Pass it through JClean or another of the programs on the links page - see next item

OR, could you be trying to use JPEGs without a file extension of /jpg or /jpeg on their name? In which case you really should read the manual!

Pic_Index stops with an error message of "Incomplete Data or corrupt JPEG Data at line ..." at a particular JPEG image file.

As Pic_Index uses ChangeFSI which in turn uses the JPEGroup software, some more modern, and some would say mangled, JPEG images will not work. An example of this is the progressive image.

Software exists to 'clean-up' such images back to 'standard' or 'optimised' format, and examples appear in the links page

This facility could be built-in to Pic_Index, but some people, myself included, use comments within JPEGs to record additional information such as the date and time they were taken.

Despite setting the appropriate options, my file names are not shown on the index page nor below the image.

If your filename contains a top-bit-set character, then the HTML references will be incorrect. Drag your directory to the application window again and choose to Remake HTML from the menu. Your references will be checked and any illegal top-bit-set characters will be replaced by the corresponding glyph. This may occur under RISC OS 4 particularly where hard spaces are used to replace soft spaces in long filenames.

Pic_Index won't work and gives the error: "Error at line 7xxx - buffer overflow ", "BufferOverflow: Buffer overflow at line 7xxx", or the error: "Sorry - image path too long" or something similar.

Your album is too far down the directory structure, resulting in a ChangeFSI command line which is too long for BASIC to handle. The solution is to work on your album in a location closer to the root directory where the path to the images should be less than about 80 characters in length.

The precise maximum will depend on your specific machine - whether, for instance, it has a network card, which will increase the pathlength of the scrap file, the length of the name of the filing system, the location of ChangeFSI.

Also, the problem will be aggravated if you use ridiculously long filenames for your images.

See a posting to csah by David Holden Message-ID: <4itmj2F5b4rnU1@individual.net> for further explanation.

I'm using RISC OS 3.6 and if I rotate any images they appear with horizontal barring or venetian blind effect.

The SpriteExtend module supplied to add JPEG rendering to 3.5 and which was incorporated into 3.6 had a one-byte error in it. You need a patched version to put into Boot:Tasks to replace the old one in ROM under 3.6, or just substitute into System in 3.5.
A composite patch is available for RISC OS 4.02 which incorporates this.

Why can't Pic_Index do that tedious business of creating a 'gallery' directory and putting the JPEGs in it for me?

Well it could, but wouldn't you really rather programs didn't move your files around without telling you - I would! You'll get used to it!

In fact, MakeAlbum (available from this site) does simplify the creation of an appropriate directory structure for Pic_Index as a separate utility. It also has other useful features, and may eventually be incorporated as part of Pic_Index.

Why can't Pic_Index add the necessary file extensions to JPEGs to save me having to do it?

Again, it could, but most cameras produce images with the extension already in place. All images you find on the WWW will have them, and they are necessary for PC use as well. So most images will already have them.

Also, have you considered users without long filenames? To do this renaming effectively to cover their needs, the program would need to truncate their filenames, and find a way of coping with consequent duplicates.

On reflection, wouldn't you rather be in control of what your files are called?

And remember, Rename or another utility can help if you already have loads of images without extensions - see links page!

a random user-quote:

"May I also say how useful I'm finding your application. Its a brilliant way in which I can organise and present my life's work!!" Philip Tonkyn

page accessed: Saturday, July 5, 2008