I'm a newbie and I'm not sure why I'm not finding a more recent/current discussion of this problem, but...
I just had a number of confusing problems with installation paths on Win 10. (not my choice of OS, so don't even go there)
It took me a while to find this particular thread, and I finally got it sorted out, but ...
I understand everything said above about folder structures and permissions and I can tell you that, if you are installing on multi-user, networked machines with Windows user profiles (as in most schools), the current MS/Windows prescription to separate out user-writable directories/libraries is an absolute must. Our school IT support dept would have a fit (or at least drag their feet) if they had to customize the install directories and/or make the C: drive write-able by users in order to install this.
(It's OK if we just stick to LDD for lower grades, but I'd like to see high-school students trying LDraw.)
Just installing on a laptop where I have admin rights, I've found out (the hard way) the many ways one can go wrong with directory paths, especially if you try to separately install components such as the parts library.
(To spare you a long story, something failed in the AIOI or else I didn't understand what the correct choice was supposed to be when prompted to identify where the parts library was the first time; it certainly wasn't in the default LDraw folder that appeared in the dialog).
I know that installers and install options are a pain to develop, but it might at least help if there were clearer instructions/documentation on the default vs. possible vs. preferred options are for installing which components in which directories in which OS/environments. Is everything supposed to be in one "base" LDraw folder or not?
To sum up, is it fair to say that the parts library could be installed to any chosen location as long as:
And is this only/mainly true of the parts library? (because that is the main folder that has to be updated &/or written to regularly?)
Again, sorry, I am a newbie!
I just had a number of confusing problems with installation paths on Win 10. (not my choice of OS, so don't even go there)
It took me a while to find this particular thread, and I finally got it sorted out, but ...
I understand everything said above about folder structures and permissions and I can tell you that, if you are installing on multi-user, networked machines with Windows user profiles (as in most schools), the current MS/Windows prescription to separate out user-writable directories/libraries is an absolute must. Our school IT support dept would have a fit (or at least drag their feet) if they had to customize the install directories and/or make the C: drive write-able by users in order to install this.
(It's OK if we just stick to LDD for lower grades, but I'd like to see high-school students trying LDraw.)
Just installing on a laptop where I have admin rights, I've found out (the hard way) the many ways one can go wrong with directory paths, especially if you try to separately install components such as the parts library.
(To spare you a long story, something failed in the AIOI or else I didn't understand what the correct choice was supposed to be when prompted to identify where the parts library was the first time; it certainly wasn't in the default LDraw folder that appeared in the dialog).
I know that installers and install options are a pain to develop, but it might at least help if there were clearer instructions/documentation on the default vs. possible vs. preferred options are for installing which components in which directories in which OS/environments. Is everything supposed to be in one "base" LDraw folder or not?
To sum up, is it fair to say that the parts library could be installed to any chosen location as long as:
- the location of the parts library files must be within a folder named LDraw
- the user(s) must have write-permission to this folder
- the user(s) must know/identify the location of this folder when launching any particular app (MLCad or LDView etc)
And is this only/mainly true of the parts library? (because that is the main folder that has to be updated &/or written to regularly?)
Again, sorry, I am a newbie!