Wrangling with File Locations

[in...@lookwithinindexing.com]

Hi, Everyone.

I am trying to get SKY8 to save generated indexes where I don't have to open several nested folders to get at them. I am leaving the default settings for the Backups and Templates directories. Hopefully I won't have to access them, so it's OK if they are inside several nested folders. But I want my Indexes directory path to send generated indexes (using Shift F11) closer to the surface in my Windows 11 file manager.

Looking at User's Guide pages 163-164, I did this:

In Options> Preferences> File Locations> Indexes, I set the following path:

C:\Data\Indexing\My indexes holding pen\ 

This is where I want the files I generate to go, so I can then drag them to the folder of the index I am working on (which is nearby).

However, they are being stashed in undesignated (by me) places. For example, in a folder in C:\Data\Indexing\SKY.

Does anyone know how to accomplish what I am trying to accomplish?

Does anyone have a simple way of accessing your generated indexes?

Thank you,

Mary

[tone...@comcast.net]

When I press Shift F11 or generate the index, it always shows up in the folder my index is in as an RTF with the same name as the index. Once your index is in the folder you want it, then all of the generated indexes (for that index only) should show up in the same location. I think that if you want the generated indexes to show up in the “My indexes holding pen”, then you will have to move the index into that location and then generate the index (or move the generated index after you create it).

 

The Options>Preferences>File Location>Indexes is for when you are creating a new index. That is the file location that will open up whenever you create a new index. Then from there you can continue to open the folders you’ve created until you get to the one you want for that specific index (or you can house them all in the same place and then move them, but that is an extra step). Once the index is in whatever folder you want, then all generated indexes for that specific index should open up in that specific folder, so they would always be together.

I hope that makes sense!

 

Tony

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[Deborah Patton]

This is a great explanation. When I started out I created a file folder on the C:\ drive -- this was before Windows -- and named it 'indexing files.' Someone had suggested I make a new folder for each client. That still makes sense to me! Of course I've adapted to Windows and now the Windows 11 parameters.

It sounds to me like you're putting lots of these files on your desktop or somewhere where you can drag them easily.

It was just about 5 years ago I learned from Kamm (who wrote the program) that my method was not good because it bypassed the built-in safeguards of the program. Much as I dislike it, I understand it's safer in the long run to have this nesting. To work against it is to work against the logic of the program. 

My main next now is Documents>SKY Index>indexing files>then each client has a folder here.

I've just discovered this keyboard combination: Start key, then arrow up once, then arrow to the right once and press Enter. That opens the Documents file structure. From there it's easy to either arrow to or click on SKY Index where my 'indexing files' now are. I played with other key combinations and learned some I didn't know about. 

Bottom line -- I guess I'm saying 'use your keyboard more.' :-) And that sometimes working against the logic of the program is more trouble than it's worth.

Deborah

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[in...@lookwithinindexing.com]

Thanks Tony and Deborah. And Rudy (whose message I'm seeing after composing this one)!

Rudy, thank you for your very kind offer. At the moment, I can't do heavy internet. But I might take you up on your offer if I can't figure this out via this group.

Tony, which file are you referring to when you say "my/your/the index"—as in "the folder my index is in," "Once your index is in the folder you want it," and "you will have to move the index"? The SI8AutoBackup file? The .sk8 file?

In file manager, it says that the SI8AutoBackup file is in C:\Users\solan\Documents\SKY Index. 

But it is really in C:\Users\solan\Documents\SKY Index\Backups

It says that the .sk8 files are in Recent (C:\Users\solan) and Recent Items (C:\Users\solan\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows). But really, I can't find them in the first one, and I can't find even the AppData folder in the second one.

As for my new index, when I click on the "open an existing folder" icon in SKY, my "holding pen" folder opens and the index is in there as a .sk8 file. 

And the generated index appears in file manager in my "holding pen" folder, so that's good.

But I'm really confused!

Deborah, it sounds like I did a similar file path to yours, which hopefully means I'm on the right track! Where do you do this keystroke sequence? Anywhere I did it from opened the Lock, Sleep, Shutdown, Restart menu.

Thank you,

Mary

[tone...@comcast.net]

Let’s go back a step. In your file manager, which is just the window that has a list of all your files (I use details view) in the main section and on the left (by default) is a list of locations such as Home and Gallery, then a little horizontal line and below that is a list of pins and recently accessed locations (for example, mine says Desktop, Downloads, Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos (all with a pin next to them) followed by Sky Manual Group, AF Indexing Business, Receipts (which are all folders I recently accessed/changed/saved in). Then another little line followed by This PC, and that expands to Windows-SSD (C:) (yours may be slightly different), and that expands into all the main file folders. Now, I don’t know what all of those other folders are for and don’t mess with them in general, but the main one I use is Users (I think you’ve changed this part of the path to Data, but more on that below). That expands (for me) into a folder labeled Public and one labeled Tony Fazio (in your case it would be solan). If you open that up (or expand it), then you will see Desktop (and several others). The Desktop folder holds everything that is on your desktop (all the icons on the desktop). There is also the folder labeled Documents. That is the folder that (I think) Windows will automatically save things in. I am going to suggest you move everything to your desktop for ease of access, but that is up to you (just create an Indexing folder on the desktop and you are set to move everything into it). In any event, what I’ve just described is the pathway for all of your main stuff. This is the pathway that you define in Sky Options>Preferences>File Locations>Directories.

Here is what mine looks like (hopefully the formatting holds):

• C:\
• Users
• Tony Fazio
• Desktop
• Indexing (ß this is where mine opens to, and then I navigate to the folder I created earlier before starting a new index)
• Clients and Projects
• Utah University Press
• Red Rock Rawhide (ß like this folder where I have all my stuff for this index)
• Southwestern National Monuments
• Practice Indexes
• 001 Moneyless Society (ß or this folder for my first practice index)
• 002 Jesus the Magician
• 003 ABC Anarchism
• …etc…

 

 

So, from your explanation below, you want/have your stuff set to C:\Data\Indexing\My indexes holding pen\, right? My first question is did you type this in or did you press the “Change…” button and create the path through that dialog popup? I would suggest using the button if you didn’t. In any case, you have created a file labeled Data in the C: drive (as opposed to Users which I think is automatic), then an Indexing folder in that, and then the My indexes holding pen folder in the Indexing folder. And since, when you create a new index it opens to this Holding Pen, then you have it correct in the Directories section in the Sky Preferences. I’m guessing that within the Holding Pen folder there exists all of your individual folders for your different indexes. If this is correct, then you can easily save any new index into the individual folder quickly and easily and you won’t have to drag and drop anything (if you’re not doing it this way, I highly suggest that you do just to make it easier on yourself). And it also might be helpful to have that specific folder open somewhere on your desktop so you can see it save there (I mean a file manager/explorer window in this case where you can see all the contents of the specific index’s folder).

Yours should look like this

• C:\
• Data
• Indexing
• My indexes holding pen
• Individual folders (this is where you should have all the individual folders for each new project)
• Introverts
• Slavic Horror
• Poetry
• …etc…

 

Now, from there, you have your index saved in the file you want it to be in, yes? You then make the index and it saves automatically to that spot and everything is all good. Then when you are finished or when you want to generate the index, it will automatically generate in that same folder. You should be able to see it pop up in the folder as a new .rtf file. It will always generate in the same folder that the .sk8 index is in. I don’t think it is a good idea to have a separate folder to house all the generated indexes as opposed to having the generated indexes stay with their index. You want all of the materials for one index in the same file folder (i.e. all the individual folders for the individual indexes). (So, what I meant by “you have to move the index” is that if you want the generated index to open in a different folder, then you have to move the index to that folder in order for that to happen. This is not something I recommend you do as it is extra steps and can get confusing. I was just trying to explain further that the generated indexes open up or are created in the file folder that contains the .sk8 index.)

 

As for backups, you can leave those with the default if you want or you can create your own Sky Backups folder and direct the path there. The thing is that you cannot move that folder without changing the pathway in Preferences. I think this is one of the reasons he doesn’t want people messing with that pathway because it is easy to get lost. However, I changed it to go into the Indexing file I created so I wouldn’t have to go looking for them (in case I ever needed to, which I haven’t so far). And there are lots for each index and I don’t even mess with those. I know the most recent index I saved in each file (using save as) and that is good enough for me. But they have a path and a place to live now that is right in my Indexing folder. In any event, the Backups and even the Templates pathways in the directories in the Preferences are the same instructions as for the Indexes.

 

And I wouldn’t go looking for where Windows stashes things. Did you do a search for .sk8 files? Those files in weird random places are not important. The ones you want are the ones you are in control of which are the ones you save in your own file folders you create. Goodness I hope this all makes sense lol! Please let me know if you have any further questions or questions on what I’ve said here. If you’re still having issues, maybe we can have you do a screen share on the next Sky Manual Group Meeting (and I’m sure others might benefit from seeing how it’s done) and get it fixed to your liking. 😊

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[in...@lookwithinindexing.com]

Wow, Tony! Thank you for this very detailed explanation. 

I will read through again and crawl my way through setting it up.

Great idea to do a screen share at the meeting on Tues. if others would like it too.

All the best,

Mary