Lost Map Border Layer

Mayhawk2020

I am new to CC3+ and using Cosmographer 3. I have lost my map border layer. I don't know how it happened, but I realized that I made my drawing area way too large (5000 x 5000) when I needed only a tenth of the area I programmed. I clicked File > Resize Drawing Area, and I got the following error: "Unable to find map border."

How do I restore my map border so I can resize my drawing area to something smaller?

I am attaching my file for anyone who might be able to analyze my error and explain how to fix it.

Thank you.

Loopysue

Hi Mayhawk!

I have looked at both files and can only find 14 entities in either which comprises background, grid map border, screen and links panel to other levels. Both these maps (this and the one in your other thread) are identical.

Had you drawn anything on either of these maps?

Mayhawk2020

I attached the wrong file. That was a separate attempt that I abandoned.

Loopysue

The only problem I can see with any of these 3 files is that you haven't drawn anything in any of them yet. They are simply blank map files.

They are rather large. The distance in map units across the map is 40,000 map units. I'm not terribly familiar with Cosmographer, but that does seem a little bit on the large side of things. At this scale you can hardly see that the black background is one of the starfield fills, but it is. You have to zoom in a very long way to notice it.

Had you drawn anything that wasn't saved, or something?

Mayhawk2020

That is weird because I have been editing this very file all day, and I have everything except a map border. How is it that I have been editing a hull, a deckplan, and bulkheads, placed furniture, and added effects to a file to which I have not drawn anything? When I open the .fcw file, I have all this but no map border. So, something has happened that gives you a possible reverse view of the application. Maybe I have been editing on a canvas other than the one you see.

Mayhawk2020

If it helps, I am using a self-defined "template", not one of the templates that came with the application. When I open the same file, I get my saucer on a white background. When I click the file I attached here (which is the same file but renamed here), I see a background sheet with nothing on it as you describe.

Loopysue

I don't understand either.

But this is what I see when I open the map. It's very huge, and very empty. The total size is 11KB, which tallies with the fact that all that's there is the basic blank map - background, grid, screen, and yes... the border is there too. I'm not sure why you think you have deleted the border. It's right there.

I am showing the sheets and effects dialog to prove that nothing is hidden. None of the layers are hidden either. And none of either sheets or layers seems to be missing at all.

By the way - you keep going on about layers. It's not the layers that things are drawn on, but the sheets. Layers are just a way of grouping similar things and not actually all that important at all. The sheets are the thing you need to worry about, and I can't see a problem there.

If you are seeing something entirely different to this image, then you might need to take this issue to Tech Support, using the Support tab at the right hand end of the row on your PF account page when you log in.

Check first, however, that you are actually saving your work. You have to use the Save option in the File menu. Autosave only keeps a very temporary copy that is overwritten every time the next autosave happens.

Mayhawk2020

Yep. That is what I see when I open the file I attached. But when I open the file I have been working on, which is the same file before I attach it, the attached screen shot will show what I see.

Strangely, the file I am working on is called Anunnaki Scout Ship Deck_1.fcw, not Anunnaki Scouot Ship Deck_13.fcw.

Loopysue

Or use the disc icon in the top button bar to save.

Or CTRL+S

Loopysue

Those are different files.

The same file cannot have different names. So the file you uploaded here is a different file, that happens to be blank.

Mayhawk2020

And now looking at the screenshot here, most of the furniture and features I have been adding don't show up. But on my screen, it is there. I know I am not imagining a week's worth of work.

Mayhawk2020

I know. But it renames itself when I attach. This is very bizarre.

Loopysue

What is the filename at the top of the screen as you are looking at your fully furnished deckplan?

Mayhawk2020

Anunnaki Scout Ship_Deck 1.fcw. Something else weird is that I have edited this file this morning, 20 August, but the edit date is 16 August.

I think I am going to have to try to start over. I have a terrible feeling that this drawing is hosed. It is acting really strange. I sent a note to tech support but could not attach my file. This is a very unusual conundrum.

Loopysue

I think you are working with too many different versions - too many files. I always end up in a confused mess if I do that.

Find the one that you are working on and save it as some completely new name, then keep working on that one and ignore the others until it is finished. Then, when that first one is finished save it and then use save as... to make a new identical file for the next level, and leave that first file very much alone. Carry on this way until you have done all the deck levels, one at a time, instead of all together here and there in odd fits and starts.

This will break the links in the links box, but to be perfectly honest those are best left totally untouched until everything is finished. Do not use them to move between maps, or you will just end up in the wrong map again.

Mayhawk2020

I renamed it and moved it to a separate file folder. 15 KB, shows everything except my background, which was originally starfield06. I am going to have to start over and make sure I pay attention to what is happening as I add elements to the ship. It's hosed, I'm afraid.

Loopysue

Not hosed

Loopysue

You can very easily add back any missing elements.

If the background is missing just draw another rectangle of starfield fill on the BACKGROUND sheet and layer, making sure you are drawing it the same size as the MAP FRAME... unless you also deleted that?

Make sure you have SNAP turned on so the placement is accurate.

DaltonSpence

Are you sure you are saving all the maps in the same place? Check your directory listings to see if the files exist where you think they do. One of the quirks with my copy of CC3+ (which no one else seems to get) is that whenever I try to save a brand new map the first directory opened is the installation directory which I have to navigate from to put the map(s) where I want.

Monsen

One important note. I saw from your program titlebar that your file was saved inside c:\Program files(x86)\ProFantasy\CC3Plus.
NEVER EVER save your files inside the Program Files directories. Those locations are for the programs themselves, not data. When you save anything in there, Windows UAC secretly moves it to another directory, which is why you get a different result when you upload the file here compared to what you see in the program. That is simply because they aren't the same file, it's just that Windows hides that fact from you. (It does this to prevent weird error messages from legacy programs instead of just blocking it outright)

Either save files in your my documents directory, or in the CC3+ data directory (c:\programdata\ProFantasy\CC3Plus), NEVER in the either of the program files ones.

Loopysue

I completely missed it. Yes, Remy is right.

Sorry Mayhawk!

DaltonSpence

So Windows actually moves files you try to put into a program directory without telling you? That's not very nice. Good thing I've always been very careful about where I save my maps. I have always avoided the "My Documents" folder like the plague though because that's where people expect you to put stuff. (I try to save everything I can on removable media so if my computer dies I can start up again more easily.)

Monsen

Posted By: DaltonSpenceSo Windows actuallymovesfiles you try to put into a program directory without telling you?

Not exactly. What happens is that Windows have a virtual file system that is applied, so when you try to save a file there, it doesn't actually save it there at all, but it put it in a virtualized location from the start (which is somewhere in your own profile folder). This virtualized location is configured such that the program that put the file there sees it as there, but no other programs do. The reason behind this is that this prevents one program from messing up another program's files, which is not very desirable, end thus help prevent malware from messing with your computer (unless you actually let it run with admin privs)
The reason it doesn't tell you is that it needs to work with legacy programs that put stuff there. They wouldn't be able to handle any kind of message from Windows, they just expect the write to work. So Windows basically has to do this silently to maintain compatibility. I think this is probably the best compromise MS could do to both ensure security and legacy compatibility at the same time.

Mayhawk2020

Given that, how do I recover the work I've done? It appears not to be lost but misplaced. I am running a search on my system now, and it has found multiple instances of the file, but two instances are shortcuts. Three appear to be the 10.1 KB file that probably has nothing in it. One is a 15.3 KB file that I think has the hull, deckplan, bulkheads, and a single table. I have no idea how large the file that is nearly finished is. Search is still working.

Mayhawk2020

I gave up. I blew all the files away and attempted to start over. Now, none of my tools behave the way they did the first time. Trying to use the circle to draw a circular hull 400 ft diameter. I can't see the guides that show me where the ends of my circle are.

Mayhawk2020

New hull and deckplan. That is fine. Now, a new set of problems arise when I attempt to create circular bulkhead extending from the radial point of the circle. The radius does not place where I place my cursor. And the size of the circle is way beyond the bounds of the hull. Is there a math problem involved here? Some setting I missed somewhere along the line?

Shessar

The fact that it isn't placing where you have your cursor hints that you may have snap turned on (button on bottom right).

JimP

As for saving files to where I expect them, I have a set of folders under C:\Profantasy\CC3Plus\

When I first create a map, I save as to there by browsing. So later saves for that map, always saves to there. That way I can always find them.

Monsen

Posted By: Mayhawk2020Given that, how do I recover the work I've done? It appears not to be lost but misplaced.

If you can still open them from inside CC3+, then it is just a matter of doing Save As and save them to a more proper location.

You can also find them in your VirtualStore folder, just type in %LOCAL­APP­DATA%\Virtual­Store in your windows file explorer address bar, then browse to the appropriate directory, the folders here mirror the "real" folders.

Mayhawk2020

<blockquote><cite>Posted By: Monsen</cite><blockquote style="border-radius: 10px;"><cite>Posted By: Mayhawk2020</cite>Given that, how do I recover the work I've done? It appears not to be lost but misplaced.</blockquote>If you can still open them from inside CC3+, then it is just a matter of doing Save As and save them to a more proper location.

You can also find them in your VirtualStore folder, just type in %LOCAL­APP­DATA%\Virtual­Store in your windows file explorer address bar, then browse to the appropriate directory, the folders here mirror the "real" folders.</blockquote>

Remy, thanks. That is where I found it. It still looked hosed, so I started over, and I actually produced a much better-looking drawing. It is still amateurish compared to the output you guys produce, but it will get me through tomorrow night's game. When I am ready to publish, I will probably turn over these files to an expert who truly spruce them up. I now have a lower deck and an upper deck, and all the tools are working as they should. Lessons learned are: 1) Don't save your work in the Program Files folder; and 2) Pay attention to what your program is doing and be careful with your clicks. I appreciate everyone's help on this.

JimP

My early maps were terrible. I improved over time. Practice. Practice.