Dir My Documents\Atlantis\ is unwanted

[Polarigel]

Hi
I just upgraded to Atlantis 3.1.1.
Every time I start Atlantis the sofware creates a directory in "My Documents". I don't want any new dirs there.

I tried
1. starting Atlantis by command line (awp.exe /lsi /ssi /sfn "[Program Dir]l\Atlantis.ini"
2. Using an existing dir for he option "suggest saving documents to:"

How can I stop that behaviour? I downgraded to version 1 again and will stay there until this is solved.

Polarigel

[admin]

You cannot stop that behavior. The "My documents" folder is meant for user-specific "document files" (editable files). The user's document templates, spellcheck lexicons, clips, favorites, etc are stored under "My documents\Atlantis".

[StewCam]

Atlantis 3 portable version can be set to use a directory on USB stick. If you stick with the portable version, the Atlantis folder in My Documents can be deleted and is not re-created. Works for me!

[Polarigel]

Thank you for your answer!

I would prefer a portable version to start with, but a portable Atlantis install seems to be possible only on USB-sticks (http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en ... 4aa9907f64). I have a perfectly working harddisk, and won't install standard software on an USB-stick to make it behave on my system

Is there any way to make Atlantis on a harddisk believe it's installed on a stick?

Polarigel

[admin]

Sorry, this is not possible.

[Robert]

Have a look at the following articles:
How to Move Windows 7 Personal Folders Like My Documents to Another Drive
How to Move or Change the Location of My Documents Folder
How to change the location of User Folders like Documents, Downloads, etc
How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder
HTH.

[lynneconnolly]

Install it on a different partition.

[mekineer]

I notice in the executable for Atlantis that there is a dialog that exists, but I can't find it in the application. ChangeSysFolderFrm sound familiar? It is for moving Atlantis System Folders. Would that do the trick?

[admin]

This dialog is used when you choose a new folder for the Atlantis Backup Files.

[mekineer]

Ah, too bad. I had my hopes up that it would be a way to move the Atlantis folders to where they belong, with the program.

Every program I use, that I want to keep, I try to make portable, and these program reside on the same partition as my documents.

[admin]

Currently you cannot create a portable copy of Atlantis Word Processor on a "fixed" (non-removable) drive.

[mekineer]

Thanks for your response. I hope you will consider this a feature request.

[Csiga]

The "My documents" folder is meant for user-specific "document files" (editable files). The user's document templates, spellcheck lexicons, clips, favorites, etc are stored under "My documents\Atlantis".

I think this is a misunderstanding of the Windows folder hierarchy and the User Data Deployment Guide. The My Documents / Documents folder is meant for user _created_ files, aka. documents. Application data and settings (templates, spellcheck lexicons, clips, etc.) should be stored under AppData/Local or AppData/Roaming.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previo ... 9(v=ws.10)

[mekineer]

Thanks Csiga! That would work for me too.

[Robert]

Templates and clips can hardly be called “Application data and settings”. The Atlantis default templates and clips are just suggestions: they can all be replaced with your own templates and clips which are then truly and fully user-specific.

[mekineer]

Robert wrote: "The Atlantis default templates and clips are just suggestions: they can all be replaced with your own templates and clips which are then truly and fully user-specific."

When saving your own template or clip, just like any other user created work, you could be asked where you want to save it.

I don't see the logic in the Atlantis developer's choice. I think any other location for the default templates, other than the user's documents, would be better.

[Robert]

You might end up with several main folders for templates and clips. When creating a document from template, you’d have to know where you stored the template of interest and direct Atlantis to the appropriate folder. As for clips, which folder should Atlantis be displaying on the Control Board? The folder hosting its own default clips, or your own?
This would be quite cumbersome for Atlantis and for most end-users…

[mekineer]

I start documents from the File Explorer.
Perhaps some users only know to work from within Atlantis?

As for clips, it's the same. I now where my own personal clips are. They don't have to be mixed with the ones in Atlantis.

Here's a paradigm comparing clips library to a music library:

I have my favorite songs all organized into folders. I try to keep the number of folders manageable, so I can easily navigate to the genre of music I want to listen to. But some Music Player named Atlantis, throws new folders into my hierarchy, making it harder for me to find what I want. You see, I don't really care for the atlantis music genres. I have my own.

Maybe the developer really likes his genres, but as life would have it, not everyone likes the same things.

[admin]

Most of the user-specific files of Atlantis Word Processor should not be stored under hidden folders. This is because users should have a convenient way to access them in order to modify, delete or backup them.

Storing such files under the "My documents" folder is completely acceptable and widely used by other popular applications.

[Robert]

You cannot create a document from a template if you start from File Explorer. It has to be done from within Atlantis.
You cannot use the Atlantis Clip Library if you have placed your own clips in a different folder from the default folder.
If you only work from File Explorer, you miss the practicality of the Atlantis Clip library and the “Create new document from template” command.
In any case, if your personal folders are well-organized, it should be quite easy to ignore the Atlantis folder in any folder hierarchy within File Explorer.

[admin]

By the way, future releases of Atlantis might introduce an option to create "portable" installations of Atlantis on a non-removable disk (under any folder of user's choice). All the Atlantis settings and files would be stored under that folder.

[mekineer]

Nice talking with you gentlemen

[Polarigel]

By the way, future releases of Atlantis might introduce an option to create "portable" installations of Atlantis on a non-removable disk (under any folder of user's choice). All the Atlantis settings and files would be stored under that folder.

Any news about that? Tried the newest version again. Really liked it, but I can't use software that doesn't respect the file structure on my computer.

Back to version 1 one more time...

[Polarigel]

By the way, future releases of Atlantis might introduce an option to create "portable" installations of Atlantis on a non-removable disk (under any folder of user's choice). All the Atlantis settings and files would be stored under that folder.

Anything new? I'm still using version 1- and still hoping for an update I actually can use.

[Polarigel]

Workaround:

It's actually possible to emulate a removable drive in Windows 10:

I first created a virtual disk using Windows Disk Management. I then mounted the virtual disk as a removable drive using the freeware ImDisk (Howto: see https://yoodley.com/create-a-virtual-us ... n-windows/).

I then installed Atlantis on this "removable drive". Everything is working so far (even moving the virtual disk between systems), and I didn't get any unwanted directories and files like My Documents\Atlantis\ all over the place.

Maybe someone will find that usefull

Polarigel

[Polarigel]

I used the Imdisk-workaround for a few months now and it still works fine. It just has one side-effect: Windows Update doesn't work while the Imdisk-Service is loaded.
Workaround:
-> Deactivate the services ImDskSvc (ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver Helper) and ImDisk (ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver) e.g. by using the Sysinternal tool Autoruns.
-> Restart Windows
-> Run Windows Update
-> Activate the services again
-> Restart Windows
Everything now working as before.

That I go through all this for being able to use Atlantis without messing up my file system says a lot. I really would like a truly portable version of Atlantis.

[rstroud]

This dialog is used when you choose a new folder for the Atlantis Backup Files.

When I looked over the code that is quoted there, I thought, "Wow, this looks like Delphi/Object Pascal."

If Atlantis is coded in Pascal, I say, "Cool! I loved Pascal when I was teaching myself a little about coding a few years ago."

I still use the Delphi clone called Lazarus (it is free) when I tinker with coding every once in a while.

[admin]

Version 4.1.6 allows to choose a different location for user files of Atlantis:
https://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/e ... _6_000.htm

[Polarigel]

That's progress! Thank you for that!
Is the new version fully portable if I use the program directory for user files? Or does it write into other directories and/ or the registry?