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Thread: Again a problem with FT3 (Waldronate ?)

  1. #1
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    Default Again a problem with FT3 (Waldronate ?)

    I wanted to rework on an old map where I had saved FT3 files (format .ftw).
    But when I do open, FT3 loads a uniformly blue surface. The map is set at "Show altitudes" but non are shown (the mouse tip displays altitude = 0 everywhere).
    The saved file has 286 MO yet apparently only a uniform blue rectangle is loaded.
    What can cause that ?

  2. #2
    Administrator waldronate's Avatar
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    The most likely cause is a world based on a binary file and the binary file has moved from its original path. FT stores an absolute path to the binary data, so moving the binary file will results in a silent failure like this. It should probably give a message or something. FT3 does behave better in this regard than previous versions, though, which often simply crashed if the file wasn't present.

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    Ah you mean that if I do Wilbur file ->FT3 then work and save in FT3, native format .ftw , and move or delete the original Wilbur file that I have long forgotten (what I might have done) then the .ftw is unusable ?
    That would be bad because then I would have probably lost a whole directory of .FTW saves which were all cases of a chain like above. I know that there is the burn in thing but FT3 should sound red alarm every time somebody saves a work in progress and used for it some external file.
    Yet with the size of the .ftw save file (286 MO), all information should still be Inside, shouldn't it ?

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    Administrator waldronate's Avatar
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    When creating new document in FT from an external binary data file, the FT document stores any specified editing data, while the binary data remains in its original file. It's possible to have a much larger binary file as source data than FT can possible handle in memory. The Surface>>Burn Into Surface feature will sample the binary file into the internal offset channel, potentially losing fidelity along the way.

    The text around the Choose Elevation File button on the Binary Data wizard page reads "Note that this file must remain in the location specified here or the world display will be unstable." I should probably reword that statement to be more clear about what happens if the file is moved as well as offering some extra warnings during save and startup about the missing file.

    The size of the FT file isn't particularly important. The editing data in FT is independent of the basis function (a binary file is treated as a fully-defined basis function). I would hazard a guess that the .ftw file would compress down a few hundred kilobytes or so because almost all of that space is repeating 0 bytes.

    In short, when you have a binary world without the binary file, the ftw file isn't terribly helpful.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by waldronate View Post
    In short, when you have a binary world without the binary file, the ftw file isn't terribly helpful.
    Thanks that sums it up and means that my maps are lost.
    So when using an imported file one should always create a special folder for all work with this map and RELIGIOUSLY keep the imported file in the folder forever unless one wants to delete the whole folder.
    I will note it in red on my FT3 notebook

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