I saved my measurements file, or I thought I did. It's in a txt file and when I try to load it, DS can't see it. How can I get it loaded?

quote:

I saved my measurements file, or I thought I did. It's in a txt file and when I try to load it, DS can't see it. How can I get it loaded?

There are two types of measurement files used by Dress Shop. Only one of those is a TXT file. Called MyDSMeasurements.txt, this is the default chart that loads when you first run Dress Shop. You do not need to load it as that is automatic.

All other charts should have the extension "MEA" for measurements. By default, those should save inside a folder called "My Measurements". When you select "File - Load Measurements", the file selection dialog box should open in that folder and only measurement files with the MEA extension should show up.

Again, if you have only the one chart, it loads automatically when you run Dress Shop, so you do not need to use the "File - Load Measurements" feature unless and until you have multiple charts, perhaps for different family members.

Hope that makes sense...

I had to replace my hard drive. Nothing was saved in the folder. I emailed a copy of my measurements file to myself. Now I see it's a .txt file, it's not a .mea file. Is there any way to load it?

quote:

I had to replace my hard drive. Nothing was saved in the folder. I emailed a copy of my measurements file to myself. Now I see it's a .txt file, it's not a .mea file. Is there any way to load it?

Two options should both work:

1. When you use "File - Load Measurements", navigate to where that file is. Then, in the entry box where you could type a file name (instead of just clicking on it), type *.* and press Enter. That will cause all files to be listed, rather than just measurement files. Click on your .TXT file and it will load and be usable. You can then use "File - Complete Chart" to get at the option to "Save As". That will let you save it and rename it and it will then get the normal "MEA" extension.

2. Use Windows Explorer to get to where the file is. Right click on it and select "Rename". Change the extension to ".MEA". Windows will warn you that may be a bad thing, but just click OK and do it anyway. Should work fine.

Either of those will work. It really is just a text file (TXT extension). The articifical MEA extension is just so Dress Shop can find them easily and so you know which names are charts and which must be something else.

Hope that helps...

DS 9.04. I tried loading old measurements .txt didn't work. Changed the extension to .mea and still didn't work. Error message - DS8 has stopped working. Now what?

quote:

DS 9.04. I tried loading old measurements .txt didn't work. Changed the extension to .mea and still didn't work. Error message - DS8 has stopped working. Now what?

The old .TXT format measurement charts are not compatible with the current version of Dress Shop. There is a function in the size menu to convert those charts - "File - Import Measurements". If you use that, it should convert any older .TXT style chart to the new .MEA type files.

Renaming the older chart type to .MEA and loading that - that does not sound good. Not sure what it would do, but if Dress Shop loaded that data, you would most likely end up with a totally trashed default measurement chart. Any time you run Dress Shop, that default chart is loaded and used.

If you can run Dress Shop at all and get to the main menu, just load or select any other chart to get rid of that. Standard size. Wizard size. Or, use the "File - Import Measurements" function to get at those old charts and convert them properly.

However, if you cannot run Dress Shop at all now because you have a really bad default chart now, you will need to delete that. Using any means you know of to look at folders and files, navigate your way to:

c:/Documents and Settings/Users/<your name>/My Documents/Dress Shop/MyMeasurements.txt

Delete that file. When you next run Dress Shop, it should use some default chart and you can then import your old charts normally. You will need to rename them to the .TXT extension again before you try, though.

I hope that all makes sense and you can untangle things...