How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

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gumshoe
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How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gumshoe »

I've been using Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free for several years now, so I have gained some experience using it. I have the impression that some images return quite frequently, while others seem to be ignored completely. Does anybody know if Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free has a built-in maximum number limit as to how many image files it can handle? At the moment I have 219 images in Wallpaper Slideshow's Images container.
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gpb
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gpb »

Wallpaper Slideshow has very high limits on image number, it can handle thousands images without problems.
To avoid repeating images make sure the setting "Save displayed image list to disk" in Options window is ticked.
Gianpaolo Bottin
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gumshoe
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gumshoe »

Thank you for your answer, Gianpaolo. Yes, I have always had the "Save displayed image list to disk" option ticked. When ticked it also ensures to "Never repeat images until all have been displayed", which is obviously not true in my experience. Is it possible that this discrepancy may be caused by the fact that I've also checked the "Choose image randomly" option? Should I untick that option to prevent the repetition of images before the images list has been completed?
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gpb
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gpb »

Random or sequential display doesn't make any difference. In any case a files list should be saved before the system is closed. If the system is closed in a way WallpaperSS has no time to save its files list then it happens what you noticed, images could be repeated.
Gianpaolo Bottin
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gumshoe
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gumshoe »

"If the system is closed in a way WallpaperSS has no time to save its files list" would only happen in a system crash, I guess. Anyway, how would WallpaperSS know which files to display if the files list hasn't been saved? There wouldn't be a list to choose from if the list hasn't been saved. The list would be empty. When I open the Settings window I can see the entire list of 219 images that I added during the last several years, so it is not empty. It includes the latest additions that I made. So the list appears to have been preserved over many shutdowns of the system. I would deduce then that the list has been saved properly many times over, yet the same set of images is repeated over and over again before all the images in the list have been displayed. It seems to me that somehow WallpaperSS loses track of which images in the list have already been displayed, or perhaps for some reason it ignores some part of the list.
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gpb
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gpb »

WallpaperSS saves its settings and files list in C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Roaming\WallpaperSS\wallpaperss.wgs
This is a simple text file, it contains program settings and all files the program found in configured folders + all files you added to the list.
When a file is displayed is also removed from the list. This settings file is saved when you change a settings, when program is closed or computer is shutdown. So only reason images are repeated is the file is not saved between sessions. Unfortunately I can't guess what happens there. Maybe the program is forced to be closed before is can save the file.
Gianpaolo Bottin
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gumshoe
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gumshoe »

I did a check on the wallpaperss.wgs file in Windows Explorer and the last Date Modified detail was set at just three hours ago, on computer shutdown. I guess that would mean that the file was last modified and saved three hours ago and that WallpaperSS doesn't have any trouble saving the file. Is it possible that wallpaperss.wgs can get corrupted, so that WallpaperSS cannot interpret it correctly? If possible should I upload the wallpaperss.wgs file to you for inspection?
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gpb
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gpb »

wallpaperss.wgs is a text file, you can open it with notepad and see files list. If the file has been saved I don't think it can be corrupted.
Gianpaolo Bottin
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gumshoe
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gumshoe »

I'm trying to understand the contents of the wallpaperss.wgs file, but it's not easy. All the 219 image files that I've added to Wallpaper SS in the settings page are still there, with each image file appearing on two separate lines. Each image file is identified by its path on the hard disk, preceded by a counter-like code. The counter is either like 'sf185=' or like 'wf185=' (the code 'sf=' or 'wf=', plus a number). The active (current) wallpaper appears on 6 separate lines, 4 more than non-active wallpapers. Besides the lines for the wallpapers there are many more lines containing only a counter-like code plus a number (like 'sc75=0' or 'sp75=3' or 'wc75=0' or 'wp75=3'). The purpose of these lines remains unclear to me. And there are a few lines that are obviously for program settings. In total there are 1353 lines, which is more than six times the number of image files. I can positively attest that no image files have been deleted from the list after having been displayed by WallpaperSS, so what you said in post 6 ("When a file is displayed is also removed from the list") doesn't happen. So for some reason WallpaperSS doesn't remove the image files that have already been displayed from the list, even if WallpaperSS saves the wallpaperss.wgs file every time the computer is shut down at the end of the day.
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gpb
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Re: How many images can Wallpaper Slideshow LT Free handle?

Post by gpb »

Now I understand. You added 219 files to the images list. The free version of WallpaperSS uses a very simple algorithm, files added directly to images list are always in its list, they are never removed because the program have a single files list.
You should remove them and just add a folder containing those images.
In this way it will work as expected, WallpaperSS will scan the folder and remove images as soon as they have been displayed.
Gianpaolo Bottin
gPhotoShow.com
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