Hero Designer (HD) on Apple Mac Desktop or Laptop

[Watchdog]

Appreciate your help, but I can’t figure this out. I have an export template stored in several different places. Example: I have one in Dropbox. I can navigate to Dropbox.app, which shows a file labeled contents, which has 6 files: _codesignature, frameworks, macOS, plug-ins, resources, XPCSerices. Some of these are blank, some have additional files. I can’t find any trace of the template. I even tried copying the template into desktop, but the desktop option in the select export template doesn’t have it. 
 

it’s been years since I downloaded any templates but I don’t remember it being this difficult. 

[Simon]

Why would you navigate to Dropbox.app?  

This is basic computer usage -- navigate to the directory on your system where you've stored the files.  If the files are only stored in Dropbox, then you're going to need a local directory on your system which contains (mirrors) the contents of Dropbox (this is the default behavior of Dropbox).

 

If you've placed a .hde file on your Desktop, then you would point the file dialog to the directory that your system is using for your Desktop (typically /Users/[username]/Desktop). If no files are showing when you navigate to that directory, then there are no files in that directory with a .HDE extension.

[Watchdog]

First photo: image of the .HDE file in my desktop. Second photo: this is what I see in HD when I try to select export template with “Look in (my name).” Third photo is what I see after clicking on the desktop option in the second photo. 

 

Edit: sorry, second & third photos should be switched.

Edited June 15, 2023 by Watchdog

[Simon]

Your third image is close, but you still haven't selected the Desktop directory.

 

"Look in" specifies the top-level directory to show folders under.  You want /Users/davidwulatin/ for that.  The dialog shows all the folders it can see in that directory on the left -- select the one you want (in this case, Desktop) and any matching files (anything with a .hde extension) will be shown on the right.

[Watchdog]

Sorry, second and third pics were out of order. The other pic shows the lack of matching files on the right after desktop is selected:

 

 

[Simon]

Please re-read my last post.

 

You want to Look In /Users/davidwulatin/ -- that's going to show all sub-directories that are readable by Java, including Desktop.  Select Desktop in the left panel to see all export formats in that directory (all files with a .hde extension), along with details about the individual export formats (when selected).

[Watchdog]

I don’t know what else to tell you. That photo shows I did select desktop after choosing users/DavidWulatin. Here’s another shot that shows the dialog tree. The file saved in desktop does not appear. 

[Simon]

You're not listening/reading.

 

1. Under "Look In" select "davidwulatin" - just that.  DO NOT SELECT DESKTOP UNDER "Look In" -- you don't have any directories beneath your Desktop directory to look in so selecting that isn't helping you.

 

2. Once you've selected "davidwulatin" under the "Look In" drop down, the left pane will show all sub-directories beneath there, including your Desktop directory. Click on "Desktop" in the left pane.  

 

3. That's it.

[Watchdog]

Okay, this is as far as I can get after clicking on desktop. I can see the time stamp on when I added the file to the desktop, after selecting desktop/view/details. But the available section is still blank. I don’t know why the .HDE file doesn’t show. 
 

[Simon]

You appear to be intentionally making this difficult.

 

Click on "Desktop" in the left pane.  Don't right-click on it for the popup menu that you're showing, just click on it.  That's all.

[Watchdog]

The file still doesn’t show when I do that. 
 

You’re getting frustrated so I’m going to stop now. Thank you for trying. 

[Simon]

All files with a .hde extension will show when you click on the directory that contains them.

 

One of two options:

1. You're still not clear on how to click on/select a directory. Based on your recent posts, this is a surprisingly strong candidate for the issue.

 

2. You don't have any files in your Desktop directory with a .hde extension.  Note that your system may be set to hide file extensions, so "ExportTemplate.hde.xml" would be showing as "ExportTemplate.hde" -- HD doesn't care about that, all it cares about is the actual file extension which in that case is .XML (which would prevent the file from being shown).

 

Those are the only two options.

[unclevlad]

Watchdog, what I'd suggest is to double check which export template files you've got, and where...in Finder, first, NOT in HD.  Finder has a search bar;  I presume the options exist to search that start folder and all subfolders, so navigate to the root itself, and search for *.hde.*...or whatever the Mac uses as a wild card.  As Simon pointed out, there are times when both Windows and Mac have renamed files on us, tacking on a second extension, so you might have MyTemplate.hde.xml, or MyTemplate.hde.txt...and HD will ONLY find files that have the .hde extension.

 

It could also be that the files aren't where you expect them to be.  Done that too.

 

In Windows, it's also plausible it'd be the file permissions, which can be a serious PITA.  The file might be there but the program doesn't have permission to read it.  In that case, it won't show up at all.  This is another reason to use Finder to see if/where your templates are located.

[gizmoprime]

I suspect Watchdog that you are using iCloud.  Your files should all be located on your local HD (you will need to move them in Finder).  I had this same issue.  HD can't "see" iCloud folders.

Edited July 21, 2023 by gizmoprime

[Simon]

Technically, it can, but it's dependent on system-level permissions -- if the system (MacOS in this case) places the iCloud folders under restricted permissions (viewable only by the user, for example), HD/Java will not be able to see them.  If Java has been granted read/write access to iCloud-synced folders, HD will be able to read them without issue (this is the setup I have on my own system).