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M3 Manager
FAQ
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The Help file says to select
the XYZ item in the File menu, but I can't see the menu, what can I do?
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How many files can be stored in the M3 database?
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After installing M3
Manager I can no longer open my images in my favorite image viewer by double-clicking
on them, why?
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I cannot get some multimedia formats
to play, what should I do?
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I want to play some multimedia (*.MP3 and *.MOV) formats with a different player. How can I do this?
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I have added new images to
my system and done an update but they haven't been inserted into the database,
why?
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How can I use M3 with
multiple users on a network?
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Why is there an keyword group
in View mode called 'Other'? I haven't created this group!
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Your documentation says that
you support PDF files, but when I try to view a PDF file I get an Internet
Explorer message saying 'Do you want to Load or Open this file?'
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I have some images on a CD-ROM that are JPEG's but have the extension of .THM. How can I make M3 Manager support them?
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After installing M3
Manager all my image icons have changed to M3 icons and now when
I click on an image in Explorer, I no longer see an example image displayed.
Can I fix this?
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Windows crashed while Smart
Pix was processing and now I get a database error when starting up Smart
Pix. What can I do?
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There are some files with
a tilde (~) in their name in my image directories, can I delete them?
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Whenever I click on a Word
file for display I am asked whether I want to download the file?
Why is this happening?
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Can your software display
ART Files?
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How do I use wildcards so
that my CD-ROM database can be shared with other people who may have a
different letter for their CD-ROM drive?
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I want to access my M3 Database with another application. Is that possible?
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M3 always defaults to my last opened database, how can I specify the database that it should start up with?
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I have set up M3 so that it can be accessed by users across our network, however while I everybody can access it I only want a few to have permission to add and amend the DB. Can this be done?
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How can I remove particular folders from my Favorite Folders List?
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I would like to be able to set the order in which my images display during a slideshow. I know that I can change the viewing order by name, file size, etc., but is it possible to set my own order for displaying the files during a slideshow?
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What is the best way to move M3 to another hard drive or computer?
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How can I change the video types that are supported by M3 Manager?
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I have around 1300 images and 200 keywords in my database. When I add a new keyword, there is a long wait before it is added. Is it possible to speed this up?
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I received an error when trying to uninstall M3 Manager. What should I do?
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I want to export a list of files and descriptions to use in Diji Album. How do I do this?
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I would like to be able to view the thumbnails of images that I have archived to CD without loading the CD. Is this possible?
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I want to change the order of my images (not by filename or date, but my own order) so they show in that order when I create my HTML index.
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We are using M3 on a network where users access a database that they do not have write permissions for. However M3 is raising an error when loading, how do I fix that?
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How can I remove folders from my Favorite Folders list without having to "Clear All"?
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I can't seem to get M3 to crop the images where I have positioned the selection box. Why is that?
1. The Help file says to select
the XYZ item in the File menu, but I can't see the menu, what can I do?
You have probably hidden
the Menu, press Ctrl+M to redisplay it or 'Esc' to reset all your view
settings.
2. How many files can be stored in the M3 database?
Generally this will depend on the specifications of your system, because if it gets too large then M3 will become sluggish. We have done performance tests on databases with over 100,000 file references without any major performance problems.
Note that if you have more than 20,000 entries you need to change the database performance options. To do this:
1. Go into File|Options, Other
2. Click the Advanced button and select the Miscellaneous tab
3. Set caching of display records to 1000
4. Check the option to use dialog for right click menu addition
3. After installing M3
Manager I can no longer open my images in my favorite image viewer by double-clicking
on them, why?
You have set the option
to make M3 Manager your default viewer. To restore your previous
viewer, select File|Supported Formats.
If you are using the 'Simplified User Interface options, click OK to the first dialog displayed and then in the next dialog (headed select formats) uncheck all the formats that are checked.
If you are not using the simplified interface, select the 'Associations' tab, then click on the Associations button beside Images and uncheck all the formats that are checked.
4. I cannot get some multimedia formats
to play, what should I do?
M3 Manager will generally
be able to play all files that have a valid MCI driver. Windows should provide MCI drivers for all common formats which you want
to play.
Exceptions:
Some AVI formats (.avi):
AVI is not a single format, rather it has many different 'flavours'. Windows supports all the common formats already, so M3 can play them. However you will need to download the requisite codecs for some of the custom formats.
One of the most common AVI formats downloaded from the Internet is DivX. To add support for this format, download the free codec from: http://www.doom9.org/software.htm#codecs
RealNetworks formats (ra, .ram, .rm, .rmm):
Microsoft no longer includes support for RealNetworks in newer versions of Windows media player. Users wanting to play RealAudio or RealVideo need to obtain the RealPlayer. You can still access them via M3, see FAQ #5
QuickTime Formats (.mov, .qt):
Newer versions of Windows do not support files that are created with QuickTime version 2.0 and later. Users wanting to play such files need to obtain the QuickTime viewer from Apple. You can still access them via M3, see FAQ #5
If you have a format which you cannot
play in M3 Manager but can play in other software on your system,
then it is possible that another MCI driver is being used, which is causing
problems.
Please download the MCI
Tester, run it and let us know
what results you get.
If all else fails, you can set M3 to use an external application to play the format. Please see FAQ #5.
5. I want to play some multimedia (*.MP3 and *.MOV) formats with a different player. How can I do this?
To have M3 use an external player when you click on a file format you will have to specify that it is not a supported sound file, but rather
it is a 'custom' file. The process for this is:
i) Select File|Supported Formats
(you will need to have the Simplified Interface option switched off when
you do this - you can find this on the first tab).
ii) Click on 'Select..' beside
the Sound Files list
iii) Uncheck the MP3 Option and
click OK
iv) Check the 'Custom Formats option'
v) Click 'Add and Select..'
vi) Click 'Add..', enter *.MP3 and
click OK
vii) Click on the Single Click
tab and the custom formats option is set to 'Display with the Windows default
program.'
viii) Click OK to exit
6. I have added new images to
my system and done an update but they haven't been inserted into the database,
why?
You probably haven't added
the images to one of your source directories. M3 will only
check for new image files in directories that are contained in Source Directories
list. You can see your list of source directories by selecting Database|Settings and Source Directories,
source directories tab. You can add new source directories by clicking
the 'Add' button.
7. How can I use M3 with
multiple users on a network?
There is no problem with
providing group access to a single M3 database, but you will need
to specify the database setting, 'Allow databases to be shared,' on all
copies of M3 Manager which are accessing the shared database. The quickest way to set this is click Ctrl+Shift+D which will pop up a dialog offering the best network settings (also see 'Sharing a M3 Database on a Network' in the M3 Help file and FAQ #19.
8. Why is there an keyword group
in View mode called 'Other'? I haven't created this group!
If you have any keywords
that you have failed to assign to an keyword group, M3 will list
them in the group 'Other'.
9. Your documentation says that
you support PDF files, but when I try to view a PDF file I get an Internet
Explorer message saying 'Do you want to Load or Open this file?'
To support PDF files you
need to install the free Adobe Acrobat Viewer which installs a browser
plug-in. You can download this from the Adobe
Web Site
10. I have some images on a CD-ROM that are JPEG's but have the extension of .THM. How can I make M3 Manager support them?
Open the file, C:\Program Files\M3 Manager\formats.xdl, and add *.thm to the end of the line, False_Extensions=...
11. After installing M3
Manager all my image icons have changed to M3 icons and now when
I click on an image in Explorer, I no longer see an example image displayed.
Can I fix this?
You have associated your
images with M3 Manager, you need to revert this association. To do this, select File|Supported Formats.
If you are using the 'Simplified User Interface options, click OK to the first dialog displayed and then in the next dialog (headed select formats) uncheck all the formats that are checked.
If you are not using the simplified interface, select the 'Associations' tab, then click on the Associations button beside Images and uncheck all the formats that are checked.
12. Windows crashed while Smart
Pix was processing and now I get a database error when starting up Smart
Pix. What can I do?
One of your database tables
has probably been corrupted. Run the database utility to repair your
tables:
i) Download the Database
Utility
ii) Install and Run it.
iii) Select Utilities|Repair
iv) Browse to your database directory
(usually C:\Program Files\M3 Manager\DB\) and select one of your
database tables (*.dat files, such as spm_file.dat).
v) Repeat Steps iii and iv for each
of your tables (*.dat files)
13. There are some files with
a tilde (~) in their name in my image directories, can I delete them?
These may temporary files created by M3 Manager. There are two kinds:
Files that have been moved into the
database for secure storage (database image storage option only).
These files have a tilde in the extension, e.g. xyz.~jp. By default,
M3 does not actually delete the images after inserting them into
the database, merely renames them to a temporary name so that you can back
them up before removal from your system. After back up they can safely
be deleted.
Temporary files, if you are using the
Changed Extension or Database Storage method, M3 sometimes needs
to create temporary files, for example if you want to launch an image in
an external viewer. These files will have a tilde at the beginning
of their name, e.g. ~xyz.bmp. Generally M3 will clean up these
files automatically, but sometimes it is unable, i.e. if you have launched
a file into Paint and leave it open when you close M3, Windows will
not allow M3 to delete the file. These can be deleted.
There are sometimes files where the
name ends in ~ and then a number, such as myfile~1.jpg These are
NOT temporary files, they are long files names that have been renamed by
Windows!
14. Whenever I click on a Word
file for display I am asked whether I want to download the file?
Why is this happening?
The problem is likely to
be that Word is either not installed on your system or is not set-up correctly.
If you have tried reinstalling Word
and still have problems, then it is recommended that you specify that Word
is not a supported format so that Word is loaded when you want to display
the file (rather than M3 trying to display it). The process
for this is:
i) Select File|Supported Formats
(you will need to have the Simplified Interface option switched off when
you do this - you can find this on the first tab).
ii) Click on 'Select..' beside
the Common Formats list
iii) Uncheck the Word Option and
click OK
iv) Check the 'Custom Formats option'
v) Click 'Add and Select..'
vi) Click 'Add..', enter *.DOC and
click OK
vii) Click on the Single Click
tab and the custom formats option is set to 'Display with the Windows default
program.'
viii) Click OK to exit
15. Can your software display ART Files?
If you have Internet Explorer v5.5 or greater installed you can set M3 to display ART files:
i) Select File|Supported Formats (you will need to have the setting, 'Simplified Interface' turned off under File|Options)
ii) Beside the 'Common' formats, click 'Select'
iii) Find the "*.Art" item and ensure it is checked
iv) Click OK
However you will not be able to perform normal image functions or conversions on ART images so it is recommended that you save them to Bitmap while downloading them. I.e. when you want to keep an image displayed in the AOL browser, right-click it and select save, then select .BMP from the 'Save as' types and click OK. Our software can
display a BMP file, though you might want to convert it to JPEG to make it smaller.
16. How do I use wildcards so
that my CD-ROM database can be shared with other people who may have a
different letter for their CD-ROM drive?
In the M3 Manager
(v5.12 or greater) Help File there is a complete example. You can find it by reading
the 'Using Relative Paths' section of the Help File (or searching the help
file for the text 'Example of using Relative Paths').
17. I want to access my M3 Database with another application. Is that possible?
An ODBC driver is available for accessing the database from other applications which support ODBC. Please download ODBC.zip and read the included instructions.
18. M3 always defaults to my last opened database, how can I specify the database that it should start up with?
You need to call it with the /db: parameter specifying the directory of the database to open. For example (include the quotes!):
"C:\Program Files\M3 Manager\SmartPix.exe" /DB:"C:\My_DB_Directory"
19. I have set up M3 so that it can be accessed by users across our network, however while I everybody can access it I only want a few to have permission to add and amend the DB. Can this be done?
There are two ways you can control read/write access to a shared database:
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Using NT permissions set the user-rights of the folder containing the database so that general users only have read access and power users have read/write access
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Set the Read-Only option on all copies of M3 Manager that do not have write access (under Database|Settings and Source Directories)
20. How can I remove particular folders from my Favorite Folders List?
Select a file and display the Move Dialog using File|Move… Click on the Quick Links tab and select the folder you want to remove. Right-click it and select 'Remove Folder from List'. You can also do this using the Quick Move/Copy Flyover Tool
21. I would like to be able to set the order in which my images display during a slideshow. I know that I can change the viewing order by name, file size, etc., but is it possible to set my own order for displaying the files during a slideshow?
Yes. To do this you need to add all of the files of the slideshow to your favorites (File|Add to Favorites) and then go to favorites mode and reorder then using the up/down buttons (or drag and drop).
22. What is the best way to move M3 to another hard drive or computer?
This is the best way:
i) Copy the entire M3 Manager directory (C:\Program Files\M3 Manager\) to the new drive
ii) Uninstall the OLD copy of M3 Manager
iii) Install M3 Manager again to the new directory (over the copied files)
iv) If you are moving any of your image source directories go to Database|Settings and Source Directories and use the 'Relocate' function to fix your file links.
23. How can I change the video types that are supported by M3 Manager?
To edit them:
i) Select File|Supported Formats (you will need to have the Simplified Interface setting switched off when you do this - you can find this on the first tab of File|Options).
ii) Click on 'Select..' beside the Video Files list
iii) Check the video formats that you want to support and uncheck those that you do not want
iv) Click OK to exit
24. I have around 1300 images and 200 keywords in my database. When I add a new keyword, there is a long wait before it is added. Is it possible to speed this up?
Go into File|options, Other, Advanced and check the setting, 'Use dialog for keyword addition in right-click'
25. I received an error when trying to uninstall M3 Manager. What should I do?
You can uninstall it manually. Here are the steps:
&nsbp;
i) Delete the folder, C:\Program Files\M3 Manager\
ii) Click on the Start Menu button with the right mouse button and select 'Open'
iii) Open the folder, 'Programs'
iv) Delete the folder, 'M3 Manager'
26. I want to export a list of files and descriptions to use in Diji Album. How do I do this?
You will need M3, v5.3 or greater and Diji Album v3.1 or greater. These are the steps:
i) Select the files that you want to add to your album (hold the Ctrl key down to select multiple files)
ii) Select Thumbnails|Export Files to Diji Album Editor... (if this item is not listed then reinstall Diji Album Editor)
Your list will be exported. To import this into Diji Album:
i) Run Diji Album Editor
ii) Create a new album file or open an existing one
iii) Select Page|Import Page Wizard...
27. I would like to be able to view the thumbnails of images that I have archived to CD without loading the CD. Is this possible?
If you want the thumbnails for images on CD's, even when they are not inserted, please do this:
1. Go into File|Options, Database 2
2. Set the Database Thumbnail Storage setting to 'Save Thumbnails in database for images on removable devices
3. Click 'Edit Thumbnails of the Current Database' and build your thumbnails
28. I want to change the order of my images (not by filename or date, but my own order) so they show in that order when I create my HTML index.
You can modify the displayed order of a set of files like this:
i) Select the files and add them to favorites (File|Add to Favorites)
ii) Change to Favorites mode by clicking the Favorites tab
iii) To change the order of the files, click on them, then use the Up/Down buttons to promote/demote files
29. We are using M3 on a network where users access a database that they do not have write permissions for. However M3 is raising an error when loading, how do I fix that?
On some network systems (particularly Windows networks) files that a user cannot read (due to permissions) may still not appear as Read-Only. To address this you will need to mark all the files as Read-Only using File|Properties
30. How can I remove folders from my Favorite Folders list without having to "Clear All"?
To remove items from your Favorites List:
i. Display either the Quick Move toolbar (View|Flyover Tools|Quick Move, not available if you are using the simplified interface) or the 'Quick Links' tab of the Move/Copy dialog (File|Move...)
ii. Select the folder you want to remove
iii. Right-click it and select 'Remove from the list'
You can also edit the file FavDir.txt in your M3 folder.
31. I can't seem to get M3 to crop the images where I have positioned the selection box. Why is that?
M3 uses Lossless cropping, meaning that there is no reduction in the quality of your JPEG images when you perform a crop (unlike in most other image editing software). The one limitation with cropping or rotating images losslessly, is that you are bound by certain data blocks within the image, this means that lossless crops will often be a few pixels out from your selection and when rotating a few pixels may be lost from the edge of an image.
If you would prefer more exact cropping then you can disable the lossless rotation and cropping under File|Options, Advanced...
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