Add parent folder option missing on external drive

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Mike49

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Hi

I have a macbook pro and am using lightroom 2. The majority of my images are kept on a lacie 5''GB external drive. I also use a portable drive which I daisychain. Lightroom 2, and indeed lightroom 1 are installed on my macbook pro.

When in lightroom, I go into any of the folders situate on my lacie5'' and right click the add parent folder button is missing. I can however create new folders underneath. The same occurs on my portable drive. If I go to a folder on my macbook pro, however, the add parent folder button is there.

Should it be possible to be able to use the add parent folder command when using folders in an external drive? If so, how do I get the command to appear when I right click

Any help would be appreciated.

Mike
 
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Mike, welcome to the forums.

I'm not having any problems with that situation on WinXP3. So, I assume you should be able to on a Mac as well, but, we'll have to wait for a Mac equipped guru to stop by.
They usually ask if your 'disk permissions' are all set correctly.
 
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Hi Mike, welcome aboard.

Screenshots would probably make this a lot quicker to investigate - do you know how?... LR folders panel, and the external drive in Finder would be perfect.
 
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Hi Victoria

I have worked it out and attach the screenshots. I appreciate the folders arent pretty but Im moving over from aperture and am a lightroom beginner!

Incidentally Im on OSX 1'.4.11

Mike
 
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Mike49;34'86 said:
Hi Victoria

I have worked it out and attach the screenshots. I appreciate the folders arent pretty but Im moving over from aperture and am a lightroom beginner!

Incidentally Im on OSX 1'.4.11

Mike
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Welcome Mike!

The screenshots really help here as I was about to ask if the folder you want to add a parent to was the root. Either Mac or Windows, I never understood the add parent folder as being able to create one. It is normally used to put in your hierarchy an existing top level folder...

That said, I very well understand your need to modify the structure within Lightroom and suggest you that you put a feature request (Link at top of the forums). We do have a tip from Mark Sirota that may help you being more successful with your request.
 
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Forgot to explain how to do it for now...
  1. Close Lightroom
  2. In your file system, manually add the requested parent
  3. Back in Lightroom, right click the now missing folder you wanted to add a parent to and locate it by browsing.
It should now be relinked properly showing the wanted parent folder.

:D
 
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Denis

Thanks for this which works as a way of doing it. I am still confused why I can never get up the add parent folder option when I right click on any folder at any level on my external drive. And related to this, when I delete an empty parent folder which is on my external drive I do not get the dialogue box that allows me the choice to delete the lot or promote subfolders. The decision I have to make is either to delete the lot or none, and if I delete the bottom folder the folders above are deleted as well. It works differently on my laptop and I get both the add parent folder option on a right click - I take your point about existing folders-, and when I delete folders I can promote subfolders.

Mike
 
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Nice job Mike, it makes it so much quicker to explain!

The Add Parent Folder will only show up when the parent folder isn't already showing in the folders panel. So, for example, if you right-click on 'Ella September 2''8', it won't show in the menu, because the 'Main Portrait Catalog' parent folder is already showing. Add isn't really a good word for it... I remember debating this at the time... it's more like 'Show the Parent Folder' only there are more technicalities behind the scenes.

If 'Ella September 2''8' was not already part of a hierarchy, or if Main Lacie had another folder level above it, then you would see it in the menu.

With regard to deleting... if you right click on 'Main Lacie' folder (not the line with the green splash), do you get Promote Subfolders in the menu?
 
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Victoria


Yes I do get promote subfolders if I click on the very top folder ie Main Lacie. I hadnt realised that before. Also if I click on that button so that i lose sight of the folder in lightroom and I then click on the top folder that I can see then I do have the add parent option. So on my system these buttons only appear on the very top folder that I can see in the folders box, whether that be the top folder on the hard drive or the top folder on the external drive. Anything underneath i dont seem to have the options.

Yes I think add parent folder is misleading in the context - the context being that you can actually add folders via the lightroom folders panel, whereas what this means is show the existing parent folder.

My frustration is vanishing. Thank you

Mike
 
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Any folders underneath wouldn't have the options, because the folders are sandwiched and you'd be removing the middle part of the path.

What it's doing behind the scenes is changing the path in the database from 'Ella September 2''8/Picture.jpg' to 'Main Portrait Catalog/Ella September 2''8/Picture.jpg' and keeps adding to the path each time you use Add Parent Folder, or removing the front bit of the path when you use Promote Subfolders.

That's why it uses the word Add rather than Show - although I agree it's not entirely clear.

I'm glad it's making more sense now!
 
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