search path for movies

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
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G

Guest

is it possible to move all MOVIES used in a PPT file in one folder and all
PPTfiles in another and have PPT look for MOVIES in a given folder or a
number of folders.
 
No, that sort of thing is not possible without very extensive VBA
programming.

The VBA program would need to look through the presentation for linked
materials, find the media files, copy them to a new folder. It would also
have to remain active in a presentation and constantly check media locations
prior to the presentation accessing them, and change the links. Nasty,
nasty program.

PowerPoint will automatically look in the folder where the PPT file is by
default in a relative link. The only other type of link is absolute, and
that maps the exact path to a file.

The only other possible work around would be to use the package for CD
function in PowerPoint 2003 which will gather all the referenced materials
from a presentation into a single new folder. This might get you 90% of
where you want to be.

--
Bill Dilworth
Microsoft PPT MVP Team
===============
Please spend a few minutes checking vestprog2@
out www.pptfaq.com This link will yahoo.
answer most of our questions, before com
you think to ask them.

Change org to com to defuse anti-spam,
ant-virus, anti-nuisance misdirection.
..
..
 
The VBA program would need to look through the presentation for linked
materials, find the media files, copy them to a new folder. It would also
have to remain active in a presentation and constantly check media locations
prior to the presentation accessing them, and change the links. Nasty,
nasty program.
Click to expand...

To the first part, yes. To the second, I don't think so.

If the first pass through, which can be done at any time prior to distribution,
copies linked movies to a \movies folder relative to the folder the PPT is in (
ie, \PPTFolder\Movies or ..\Movies) then sets the link to e.g.
\Movies\Myflick.mpg or ..\Movies\Myflick.mpg, the link will be good, or at
least as good as any link *can* be in PPT.

Our Fixlinks addin does this and allows for alternate paths for different types
of links, though frankly I think it's probably better all around just to put
the PPT file and linked files in the same folder. If this triggers an
"Unbearable Messiness of Being" attack, pop a pill and sleep it off. <g>

Once it's set that way, there shouldn't be any need for further code, other
than the problem that can arise if you use the MRU list to start the PPT from
within PPT or do something else that sets the current directory to something
other than the one the PPT's in. And if you do that, relative links won't work
at all. None of 'em.
 
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