[4.16] Auto-Reimport not working with absolute filepath

Development Platform & Builds
, , , , ,
1

Hello.

Since UE 4.16, the auto-reimport of content when using an absolute filepath(Like D:/Dev/Textures/) does not work anymore. It works fine when placed in the project’s content folder. I tested this with a new blank project and using a different harddrive. But still no luck, it only works when using the project folder. So i thought i’d report this as a bug.

Best Regards
Michael

2

Hello HEGI,

I was unable to reproduce the issue you are experiencing. I have a couple of questions to help narrow down the issue you are experiencing.

  1. You mention that you had this issue in a blank project. Could you provide a detailed list of steps so that I can reproduce this issue on our end?
  2. Does this issue occur with one asset type or multiple asset types?
  3. Is this issue only occurring in 4.16. for you?

Thanks!

3

Thanks for the quick reply.

1 . This is how i tested it:

  • Create a blank project
  • Create a external content folder, not inside the project dir.
  • Add the folder to the directories-to-monitor list in the editor preferences.
  • Add a mesh or texture file to the content folder.
  • The editor should now show a prompt that there is a new file, but this does not happen in 4.16.

2 . I have tested it with textures(PSD format) and Meshes(FBX).

3 . It works fine in 4.15. In 4.16 it is like this: If i put a a file called temp.fbx inside my D:/Dev/Meshes folder, that is listed under the content directories to monitor for changes, nothing happens. As soon as i put the file inside the project content folder, i get prompted inside UE4 if i want to import the new mesh.

4

Thank you for these steps! I have reproduced this issue and logged a report for it here

You can track the report’s status as the issue is reviewed by our development staff. Please be aware that this issue may not be prioritized or fixed soon.

5

I was having this issue until I set the ‘Map Directory To’ parameter to one of my content folders.

‘Map Directory To’ only appears after you change one of the paths under ‘Directories to Monitor’

Perhaps that is the real issue here…

[Edit->Editor Preferences->General->Loading & Saving->Auto Reimport->Directories to monitor->{0…1…2…etc}->Map Directory To->Browse].

6

it says this issue is “resolved : cannot reproduce”? is that true? i’ve been using auto reimport for years and it also broke the second i got 4.16. My source dir is not in the game folder as well, and I was under the impression no one saved source files into the actual game path…!?

7

i don’t get how this cannot be replicated? it’s broken in 4.16 and 4.17 on my machine (in completely different projects). and it’s broken on my friend’s machine as well…

here’s my project path :
E:\Games\UT\testFirstPerson\testFirstPerson.uproject

here’s my dir that i told unreal to auto reimport:
E:\Games\UT\Source\

here’s a test asset that i loaded, modified, and it’d fail to auto reimport :
E:\Games\UT\Source\Meshes\Mapobjects\Test\earth.tga

8

I was able to get this feature to work as intended using the following steps, there can be an issue that occurs when you do not use the “Map directory to” option.

Repro steps:

  1. Create a new folder that is going to be monitored outside of the engine
  2. Create a new project in the engine
  3. In the new project create a new folder inside of the content folder
  4. Open the Editor preferences > navigate to loading and saving > open advanced options for Auto Reimport
  5. Add a new element to the “Directories to Monitor” array
  6. For the array element, > click the browse button > choose the external folder to monitor
  7. For the element “Map Directory To” choose the folder you would like to import the contents of the external folder to (in this case I used the subfolder of the content folder)
  8. To test add a new item to the external folder (in this case I used a PNG image file) and click back into the editor

Expected Result: There should be a message indicating a change to the external folder and will ask to import the changes

9

ThomasG : Can you give me an example of how you’d get these dirs to auto import? What used to work is i’d just tell it to watch this ONE root source dir and i’m done. (E:\testProject\source\contentSource)

but that no longer works. i even tried using the “Map Directory To” option to map the “root source” dir to it’s matching root game dir (which is this : E:\testProject\source\contentSource = \Game) But that didn’t work either.

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Mapobjects\Map1

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Mapobjects\Map2

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Mapobjects\Map3

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Mapobjects\Map4

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Characters\Character1

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Characters\Character2

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Characters\Character3

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Characters\Character4

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Weapons\Weapon1

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Weapons\Weapon2

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Weapons\Weapon3

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Meshes\Weapons\Weapon4

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Textures\Common

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Textures\Cubemaps

E:\testProject\source\contentSource\Post