Image Surfer Pro Toolbar

File Button ISP Form Button Process Page Button View Button Tools Button Info Button Auto Range Override Direct URL Entry File Button ISP Form Button Process Page Button View Button Tools Button Info Button File Button ISP Form Button Process Page Button View Button Tools Button Info Button Auto Range Override Visualize Auto Range Modify Optimize Organize Split Merge Insert & Delete Insert & Delete

Blow up of the File button on the Image Surfer Pro toolbar File Operations
The File Button

Drop down menu that appears when the File button is clicked


The File Button provides options for managing fusker collection files. Standard fusker collection files created with Image Surfer Pro will have the .ispc file extension.













New:

The first time the Image Surfer Pro Toolbar is opened in an Internet Explorer tab, a new fusker collection is created. The New menu option can be used to discard the current fusker collection tree and start fresh at any time. If the current fusker collection has been changed since it was last saved, you may be asked if you would like to save the current fusker collection before continuing.

A new fusker collection will only have the root level node in the tree and will have the default name of “New Collection”.


Open:

To switch from the current fusker collection to a different one, choose the open option from the File menu. The standard windows file selection dialog will allow you to choose the fusker collection you wish to open. If the current fusker collection has been modified in any way since it was last saved, you may be asked if you wish to save the current fusker collection before continuing.

If the {Visualize Collection upon Load} configuration is active, a set of integrated fusker collection view webpages will be generated when a new fusker collection is opened. The type of webpages generated will be determined by the setting of the {Collection/URL} visualization configuration.

Merge:

This option merges a fusker collection you select to the current fusker collection. When merging, entries which are in both fusker collections will be unchanged. The information in the new fusker collection is used to expand the current fusker collection tree – providing references to all of the images in both the current fusker collection and the selected fusker collection.

The merger process can be complex but at the same time usually creates the intuitively best result. In order to combine the data in two segments, the entire set of tree branches under the segments must match exactly. For this reason Directory and Split Directory segments will not grow a numerical or list fusk. At the file level there are no tree branches to match up and so new fusked segments can easily be created based on the {Auto combine individual files into fusked files} configuration.

Merging files is also directional. The organization of fusker tree branches will most closely resemble that of the existing fusker tree rather than the merging fusker tree. This allows you to structure the tree and then mold existing data from a fusker collection file to your structure.

Screen capture of the Merger Options dialog which pops up when you merge two collection files

Whey you merge two fusker collection files you have an option on how to treat the file and collection name information in the newly combined fusker collection. There are four possible options:

  • Use the information from the currently loaded collection
  • Use the information from the file you chose to merge
  • Clear both the file and collection name information
  • Cancel the file merge
The choices are presented in a popup window. Clicking any of the options takes the associated action. If you decide to use the information from the current collection, the collection file name will be unchanged and the collection will be associated with the current file. If you choose to use the information from the merging file, the collection name will become that within the file you chose and the resulting collection will be associated with the file you chose as well. Clearing the name information completes the merge but sets the collection name to "NewCollection" and removes any existing file association. You may also decide to cancel the merge - in which case the current collection is unchanged.

For a better understanding of the merger process read How Segments Merge in the Additional Topics of this manual.


Save:

The Save option allows you to save the collection to the file associated with the collection without having to locate the file. Depending upon the state of the collection the menu will have one of three appearances:

The save submenu shows the file name which will be used when saving the file and whether or not the file needs to be saved
If the collection is not associated with a file, the submenu will tell you no file is associated and the option will be disabled. You will need to use "Save As" to save the collection and associated it with a file. A new collection is created without a file association. If you choose the "Clear name and file information" option when merging files the file association is removed.

The save submenu shows the file name which will be used when saving the file and whether or not the file needs to be saved
If the collection is associated with the file but has not changed since the last time the file was saved, the save submenu will show the file name along with a check mark to indicate the file does not need to be saved. The option will be disabled and gray.

The save submenu shows the file name which will be used when saving the file and whether or not the file needs to be saved
If the collection is associated with the file and has changed since the file was last saved, the save submenu will show the associated file name but no check mark. You can click on the file name to save the changes you have made to the collection.

Save As:

The Save As option allows you to change the file association of a fusker collection. The fusker collection information will be written to the file location you choose from the standard windows file browser. You may use Save As to save the fusker collection information whether or not the collection is already associated with a file. If the collection was previously associated with a different file, that file will be unchanged.


Recent File List:

Image Surfer Pro maintains a list of the five most recently accessed fusker collection files. This list is specific to the user of Image Surfer Pro but not to the Internet Explorer window. If you access a file in a different browser window the list will be updated for all browser windows. Each entry in the list shows an abbreviated version of the full path and file name for the fusker collection. This keeps the size of the menu smaller while providing some context for similarly named files.

Each entry in the recent files list is in fact a submenu that allows you to choose how you wish to access the specific file:

Entries in the recent file list are submenues which allow you to choose how you will access the file, open or merge

Each option (Open or Merge) performs the same function as the corresponding option on the file menu then navigating to where the file is located and selecting the file within the standard file browser window. These short cut menu items allow you to quickly access files or merge files which you have been reviewing.

The recent file list will be empty until the first time you open or save a fusker collection. The list is constantly sorted such that the top most entry is the most recent file you have accessed with one of the File Menu options: Save, Save As, Merge, or Open.


Choosing A File

Screen capture of standard windows file browser interface

Image Surfer Pro utilizes the standard Windows interface to choose the fusker file to open, merge or save. Shown to the left is the familiar dialog open in the "Computer" directory browsing for Image Surfer Pro Fusker Collection files designated with the .ispc file extension.

Related User Preferences:

Image of User Preferences Dialog with the General tab selected - Default Fusker Collection Directory input highlighted Image of User Preferences Dialog with the Processing tab selected - Auto Optimize Configuration highlighted Image of User Preferences Dialog with the Processing tab selected - nothing highlighted Image of User Preferences Dialog with the Views tab selected - Open Collection input highlighted


General Tab: File Handling
The windows file browser will always start in the {Default Collection Directory} specified in your preferences when opening or merging a fusker collection file. The Save As operation will begin in the directory where the current file is stored, or in the {Default Collection Directory} if no file is associated with the collection.

If you don't want to be asked about saving modified files, you can unselect the {Prompt to save fusker collection on new, open, or merge} checkbox in the File Handling portion of the general tab.

Processing Tab: Auto Optimize
File segments within the same directory structure will be combined into an optimized fusked file segment during the merger process if the {Auto combine individual files into fusked files} configuration is enabled. NOTE: this will only combine file segments from the merging collection. If your existing collection already has individual file segments separated in directories those will not be combined.

Views Tab: Open Collection
When {Visualize collection upon load} is enabled, opening a file will create a {Collection/URL} level Visualization of the images in the fusker collection. In most cases this is exactly what you would want to happen, but if you access images which require logon access to a website in order to view them it is important to remember to log in to the website before opening the fusker collection. If you do not, the visualization will attempt to access several image files simultaneously and the unauthorized attempts to download the images may result in your IP Address being temporarily or even permanently blocked.

Differences in Free and Full Versions

Screen capture of free version limitation dialog Merge:
The Free Version of Image Surfer Pro does not support the merging of fusker collections.