Copying imatch 2018 prefereneces from one PC to another PC

[Jstar333]

I am currently using Imatch 2018.11.2 x64.

I recently bought a new computer and I am retiring my old computer.  Both computers are on the same version of Imatch.

What files do I need to copy from my old system to the new system which will copy my custom preferences, without having to manually reenter the preferences?

[thrinn]

Have a look at the Pack & Go utility: https://www.photools.com/help/imatch/#packandgo.htm. It is part of the standard IMatch installation and should do exactly what you want.

[jelvers]

I just did the same thing by basically using Pack & Go, and it worked very well. But read the HELP file very carefully. You may overlook something, as I did. W.r.t. my workspace I used the export/import facility in the Layout editor. This is also very well described in the help system. It was also helpful for me to compare the running "new" IMATCH with the one the on the old one, in case you overlook sthg.

Regards, Juergen

[Mario]

Workspaces are automatically handled by Pack & Go as long as you use the same user name on both machines (workspaces are per-user).
If the user names differ, setup a User Name Alias

[Jstar333]

I spend a couple of days trying to find a way to get all my settings to move from one machine to another and I was not successful.   I keep a list of all the changes I made to the preferences settings and context menu's.  The big thing is I do not have a good sense of what settings will get copied with Pack & Go and which settings do not get copied, so I do not know what needs to be recreated when creating a new database for pictures.

The things I tried to copy the settings.
1)   Copy the imatch.pts file from old computer to new computer
2)   Copy entire config folder (which contains imatch.pts) from old computer to new computer
3)   Use Patch & Go to just copy the settings.
4)   Use Patch & Go to copy the settings and one DataBase file.


In Imatch help there is an entry labled "The Imatch Settings Database".
The help menu says I should only need to copy the imatch.pts file to copy my preferences.

After reading this entry every time I copy the imatch.pts file from one computer to another do I need to change the "Database ID"?

The two computers have the same User Name.

Every Time I copied the imatch.pts file or used Patch & Go with just the settings and I restarted Imatch, it would think Imatch was just freshly installed and ask the following two questions.

[first.png][/first.png]
[Second.png][/Second.png]

The following is a list of the preferences that would and would not copy.  It also makes sense to me that you would not want to have all these settings copied when using Patch & Go.

Imatch preferences copied by copying imatch.pts or config folder
Preferences: Medadata 2: Configure File Formats (Tab)
File extension
CR2
Xmp sidecare file   Favor XMP sidecar file


Imatch preferences not copied by copying imatch.pts or by using Patch & Go or copying the config folder

Preferences: Application: User Interface
Allow thumbnail enlargement beyond 100%   Yes

Preferences: Application: Info Popup
Font Size            From 12 to 24

Preferences: Application: Colors   
Dark Text Color          From C0C0C0 TO EAEAEA
Dark Text Color (Dimmed)      From 808080 TO C0C0C0
Dark Text Color (Read-Only)   From A4A4A4 to DDDDDD

Preferences: Application: Spell Checker
Dictionary folder         Move to D:\imatch6\Dictionary


Preferences: Cache
Folder             Move to Z:\Imatch Cache\Previews

Edit Preferences: Slide Show: Scale Mode – Scale to fill screen
Sharpness increase by one tick of slider

[Mario]

Pack and Go copies all preferences, except preferences which are machine-specific (computer-specific). If you use a user account with a different name on the other computer, all user-specific settings will not be available unless you setup an user name alias.

Pack & Go
User Name Alias

[Jstar333]

My User Accounts on my two computers are using the same User Name(I have always used the same User Name).   The computer names are different so both computers can use the same local network.  There has to be something else I am doing wrong.

One thing I am doing that is not standard, both computers do not use a password.  The password field was left blank when setting up both computers.

Every time I use Pack & Go or I manually copy the imatch.pts file do I need to change the "Database ID"?

[Mario]

The database id must only be changed if you clone a database (you are making two databases out of one).
Database settings are stored inside the database and travel with the database automatically.

If you copy the PTS file, all settings will be available, except computer-specific settings.
Thumbnail enlargement and many other settings which are related to things like monitor, graphic card, display resolution, DPI settings etc. are computer-specific. Set them once and then they are stored in the PTS. Copy the PTS back and forth between your computers.

If you always copy the PTS from computer A to B, you will lose the settings made to the PTS on computer B of course.
Consider storing your PTS in a central location accessible to both computers in that case.
And then configure the PTS file in Edit > Preferences > Applications so IMatch knows where to load it from.

[iBaloo42]

I'm trying to keep two systems in sync.
As I have different user IDs on these two systems, I've created the same alias on both iMatch applications.
However, if I'm doing a Pack&Go from system "A" to the other, iMatch is taking me through the language setting process, and it is removing the alias created on the "B" (restoring) system.

Please note on the attached picture how iMatch on the target system is taking me through an initialization sequence.

What am I doing wrong here?

[Mario]

The alias is not set so IMatch uses the Window user name (log-in / Microsoft account?) on both systems.
Do you use the same user name on both computers?

Note: The user language dialog is stored per user / per computer. So it is normal to show when you first start IMatch on a different computer.

[iBaloo42]

Hi Mario,

I thought that the name user alias is supposed to shield the Pack&Go from these kinds of things (https://www.photools.com/help/imatch/#rmh_config_appsettings.htm).
In my opinion, the problem is that when a the packaged .pts file by "'Tom' on PC 1" is placed on the target system by Pack&Go for "'Jerry' on PC 2", iMatch is triggering this reinitialization process; I think that as Jerry is Tom iMatch should just accept the .pts file on PC 2 as packaged from the PC 1, and not starting a process that rewrites the information within.

Best regards,
Iulian

[Mario]

IMatch stores many settings per user name. Very important.
Tom and Jerry are not the same user name, so they have both different sets of settings.

Either use the same user name on all computers (recommended), or use the Alias feature to make IMatch use either Tom or Jerry on both computers.

[iBaloo42]

Yes, I'm using the same alias in the iMatch settings on both systems, A and B; I understand the intent of using an alias user name. When, in spite of that, when using the Pack&Go restore operation on system B, iMatch is taking me through the initialization process. I think that this is an unintended behavior, thus, a bug.

[Mario]

Have you replicated back the settings from computer A to B after changing the Alias?
Else you are overwriting your alias settings all the time.

[iBaloo42]

Hi Mario,

This is what I'm doing to reproduce my issue:

1. Set the user alias on system A
2. Set the user alias on system B
3. Use Pack&Go on system A to pack iMatch
4. Copy the .impag file from system A to system B
5. Use Pack&Go on system B to restore iMatch
6. iMatch is triggering the settings initialization process

The same is happening when doing this process from system B to A.


Best regards,
Iulian

[Mario]

Are you sure your are copying the settings file into the correct location?

It should go to C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch6\config\imatch.pts

When you go to Edit > Preferences on B, does it show the correct Alias?
Do not just link this to the language setting. This is a per-machine setting. Are your other settings correct after the package was restored?

iMatch is triggering the settings initialization process

IMatch only does this when it cannot find a settings database, or no settings are found for the current user.
This would indicate that the database is not in the right spot or the Alias is not working on your computer.

There are no other reports about similar problems so this seems to be something specific to your configuration / workflow.

[iBaloo42]

Hi Mario,

Both alias names are the same on both systems, and both configured to C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch6\config\imatch.pts

The failure does not occur by moving or syncing files by hand, but by using the iMatch's Pack&Go Pack and Restore operations.

Is there any logging that I can enable to help you debug this one?


Best regards,
Iulian

[Mario]

1. Set the Alias on PC1 to your user name.
2. Set the Alias on PC2 to the same user name you use on PC1.
3.Verify that the alias is saved by existing and re-opening IMatch.
4. Now create the package on PC1.
5. Restore it on PC2.
6. Verify that the Alias on PC2 is still the one you have configured on PC1.
7. If not, configure the Alias again on PC2, close and re-open IMatch. IMatch then uses the Alias when loading your settings.
8. Create a package on PC2 and restore it on PC1. This way the settings database contains the Alias on PC2 also in the settings database on PC1 (but linked to PC2 of course).

There is no extra logging for this, because this usually does not fail.

[iBaloo42]

Hi Mario,

It is working! I was doing everything you instructed, but step eight.
I guess that you should alter the online help; simple fix 

Thank you very much for your support!


Best regards,
Iulian

[Mario]

I will add a paragraph explaining this.