Giant Red X and Lost Maps
I've asked this question before and I've received answers, the only problem is people talk way over my head and I can't resolve it because they speak way to technical and assume I know more about the CC3 program than I do.
The question is: Why do my maps disappear only to be filled with a giant red X. Virtually all of my CC3 maps just went poof gone because of this. I can't recover them and I don't know what to do to prevent this. The maps I am speaking of are ones that I imported a bit map file, through this has happened to maps I have made personally as well.
Please make it simple when you respond.
The question is: Why do my maps disappear only to be filled with a giant red X. Virtually all of my CC3 maps just went poof gone because of this. I can't recover them and I don't know what to do to prevent this. The maps I am speaking of are ones that I imported a bit map file, through this has happened to maps I have made personally as well.
Please make it simple when you respond.
Comments
That's all I can tell you ... but I hope it's some help.
CC3 saves/embeds the location of the original image you import into CC3 directly in the image object that appears in the software. The image object is simply a "window" to that original image. If you get a Red X across an image it means CC3 cannot find the image at the location that it saved originally to the image object.
To see what location the image object is pointing to you'll have to somehow isolate the image object so it is something you can easily select by itself without selecting other objects (hide sheets and other layers if necessary).
The following will be the steps to take to fix the issue:
1. Type LIST on the command line at the bottom left of the CC3 screen.
2. Select the Red X image object - make sure you have only selected one object.
3. Right Click the mouse, hover over "Do It" and left click that command. Alternatively, you can just press the letter D and hit enter after you have selected the Red X object.
4. A blue text box will appear that has all the information about that object. You will see an attribute called FileName. That location is the location and filename that CC3 is expecting for your object.
5. EASY FIX - Find the original image and place it back in that location. You are done.
If you don't want to place the original image in the embedded location then you'll have to do the following. I have done this with CC3+ but I'm unsure if it works with CC3
Follow steps 1-4 as above.
5. Complex Fix - Find the current location of the original image and make sure to note it.
6. Close the blue text box.
7. Type EDIT on the command line at the bottom left of the CC3 screen. (This is called numeric edit if you want to use the buttons instead of the command line)
8. Select the Rex X image object.
9. In the file name area browse to the location of the file (use the ... ellipsis button). You will have to type the location and filename as CC3+ does not seem to do the selection properly. Then click OK. You're done.
Hope that explains it in a simple manner. I know that as I was learning CC3 there were a lot of things like this that confused me, so i feel your pain.
Addendum: I just tried the numeric edit on CC3 and it does not allow me to select bitmap objects. So in CC3 you will be limited to using the EASY FIX. In CC3+ you can do either.
The red X usually means that you placed an object on your map - that object being a symbol or a fill style - and that afterwards you changed the location on your hard drive where the symbol was located. As a result CC3+ or CC3 no longer can find that symbol and/or fill style.
However, from the descriptions that you've given us so far (here and your CG posting), I think that you're telling us that:
1) You've installed CC3 (probably not CC3+), and you haven't done anything to the files that were installed.
2) You open CC3.
3) You make a map.
4) You save and close the map.
5) You open the map again and the red Xs appear.
Because we still have somewhat thin information from you, I have to ask you to consider all of these points carefully and ask if all of them are 100% correct. If they aren't, tell us what step or steps I've described wrong. That will help us find the point where something is going wrong. On the other hand if all of the points I listed above are 100% correct, there's a problem with your CC3 installation. In that case, there are two things that you can do:
1) Start a reinstallation of CC3 without uninstalling.
2) When the installation menu gives you the option, pick Repair.
Try making a simple map again and see if the problem has been resolved. If it hasn't, then
1) Go to:
http://www.profantasy.com
2) Log in.
3) Click the tab "Support."
4) Scroll down until you get to the section "Ask for help."
5) Fill out the trouble report information.
6) Click the button "Send."
ProFantasy is very, very good at working with customers on such problems and getting them resolved.
Last suggestion: Instead of shotgunning this issue over various forums, keep it here on the CC3 forum where you started. You were on a good path there, at least until Dkarr's "solution" yesterday, which doubtless blew your mind a bit. His/her advice probably was too complex for someone who is not a CC3 expert and I would argue that it misstated a thing or two. If, not knowing exactly what you were doing to begin with, you tried to follow those instructions, you might have landed in Neverneverland. However, there are many helpful people on this forum who haven't had a chance to chime in yet. Remember that it was a weekend, and a lot of people don't spend the weekend on Internet forums.
I am creating maps for the World of Greyhawk and go to the following website and download these maps....[url]http://ghmaps.net/greyhawk-maps/[/url]. I then change the file from JPEG to bit in order to make it compatible with CC3 and save it on my computer either on C drive or a flash drive (NOTE AT THIS POINT I HAVE NOT EVEN OPENED UP CC3 PROGRAM, I HAVE ONLY DOWNLOADED A MAP FROM ANOTHER WEBSITE AND SAVED IT ON MY COMPUTER). I have I download many maps, one after the other and save them as bit files. For some reason, CC3 doesn't seem to support JPEG files.
The next thing I do is select a map to work with. I open up CC3 and start a new map. I then go to Draw and click on Insert File and find one of the Greyhawk maps and begin making my own alterations, such as adding towns, roads, etc. The program does not allow me to change anything that Anna's maps already have on them except for things I have added using CC3 such as towns, roads etc. . Once I am done with my work I click Save. I do not attempt to save it anywhere else on the computer. I use the route provided by CC3.
Later I return to do more work on the map, it opens just fine, allows me to make more changes (again adding features such as towns, roads, etc.) I save it, return a few days later and this continues for several days, perhaps even a few weeks without any issues.
Then one day I come back to it only to find that a red X appears on nearly all of the files I started using. This has happened with both Anna's Greyhawk maps and when I make my own CC3 map starting from scratch which does not include inserting anyone's file.
This is all I have ever done, I don't save it anywhere else on the computer other than the original destination that CC3 gives me when I installed it. I have tried using the Repair several times, I have tried uninstalling it then reinstalling it, I have had this problem with different computers over the years that I have owned. None of these seem to affect the situation.
CC3 only references external artwork, which means that if you insert a file (such as the Greyhawk maps you are mentioned) into the drawing, you can never move or delete the original file bitmap file anymore, as your map will always need it, and it needs to be in the original location on your computer that it was in when you originally inserted it into your map. The red X symbol is used by CC3 as a placeholder when it cannot fin the original file.
It would help a lot at this point if you could say exactly what you are putting on your map:
Official CC3 symbols?
Symbols other than official CC3 symbols?
Official CC3 fill styles?
Fill styles other than official CC3 fill styles?
And then, tell us what turns into a red x:
Fill Styles?
Symbols?
All of the objects on the map?
Hate to say it, but once you answer these, some more questions probably will follow.
Stick with us!
"So what seems to be happening is, that while you do not change or move the CC3 maps (the FCW files), you do move or delete the bitmap images you originally used. If you always keep them around with your CC3 files, this should not happen. "
"Note that CC3 prefers PNG bitmap files, that's the better format to use than BMP, as it is much smaller."
"Relative to Drawing - this might be the best option for you, as CC3 stores the reference in relation to the FCW file. For example $Greyhawk.PNG will always find the bitmap, if it is in the same folder as the FCW file. That way you can move the two files around, transfer them to a different computer, etc, as long as you keep them together the map will not break."
My response:
The bit map I downloaded from url]http://ghmaps.net/greyhawk-maps/[/url] are kept on my flashdrive, which is separate from where the CC3 program is stored (which should be C Drive. Are you saying that the bit map that I download and insert into my CC3 map should be saved on C drive right next to the CC3 map? I will also attempt to re-down load her Greyhawk maps and save them as PNG instead of bit map.
- The flashdrive must be plugged in each time you wish to see/edit the map
- Windows does not always assign the same drive letter to the flashdrive, which would cause the problem even if it is plugged in.
- You must be very careful and not rearrange the relevant files on the flashdrive in any way once you have embedded them in the map, because the map will always need them to be in the EXACT same location as it was when you first inserted it. That is the better option. If the image file is in the same directory as the map, you can use the 'relative to current drawing' reference when you insert the file, meaning as long as you keep it in the same directory as the map, you can move them both around.