PSE6 Catalog conversion warning

[tjodork]

I have not started offline cataloging yet..so if you haven't started offline yet will offline cataloging work on V6 ? Even if it did, I assume I'd have to worry whether they'll break it on the next release.

What bothers me is that I can't believe that they can't fix this in very little time......probably less than 20 lines of code. This is not some ASIC chip they have to redesign. And then they just have to put it out out their website....not like they have to release new CD's or anything.
It doesn't seem like they have any criteria for whether to fix something..... the criteria SHOULD be if our literate promises a feature and it DOESN"T WORK, we should fix it.
Steve and Chuck don't you just have to lift the bat phone and speak to Adobe ? If not, how does a group of users get their attention ?

[Chuck Engels]

The users at muvipix do have an ear at Adobe, as do the users of their own forum.
I don't know what the process is for determining what constitutes a patch and what can wait till the next version, they make that determination.

We do contact them, sometimes more than we should, about problems and issues.
You can rest assured that the word is getting out and it is getting to people that make decisions.
However, we don't have anything to do with the final process, we can only hope that they at least address the issues in the next version (which they don't always do either).

If they stay true to their past they will not come out with a patch, they will make changes for the next version.
Anyone that has been involved with this product since version 1 will tell you that. So they aren't doing anything different than they have before.
You can't get mad at someone that only fixes something once a year if that is all they ever promised to do. By their words, and more so their actions, they have never promised to do any more than come out with a new version every year, that is their history with their customers.

They have made us aware that if they consider the issue bad enough they will come out with a patch, as in the v3 Vista issue.

[Bob D]

For anyone who even cares anymore, here is Adobe's response after me asking twice where they are with this.

===================================================================================
Notes to Customer
Thursday, February 7, 2008 11:19:52 AM PST
Hello Bob,

Thank you for contacting Adobe® Web Support for assistance with Adobe
Photoshop® Elements 6.0

I understand that you are looking for a status update on our research of
the catalog conversion issue you encountered.

I apologize that we missed your first question in the case on January
29th. This issue is still being researched at this time. We have to
examine the database structure in detail to determine what happened, and
it will likely take quite a bit of time to determine what is going on
internally and what options we may have to correct it. We do not have an
estimate for when this research will be finished at this time. We will
respond to the case again as soon as we can.

Kind regards,


Leland B.
Adobe Web Support
=================================================================================

I responded with:

=================================================================================
Notes from Customer
Thursday, February 7, 2008 11:51:43 AM PST
OK... I'll check in every once in a while, but I'm thinking at this rate it won't be solved until the next release of Photoshop Elem
ent. In which case, Adobe will be looking for me to shell out dollars to get the functionality I paid for in this release. Sorry if
I am starting to sound like I'm losing patience, but this has been going on for over 3 months now. I spent considerable effort to do
cument clearly the issue, and I know I am not the only one experiencing it.
==========================================================================================

I have esssentially thrown in the towel. I'm dissappointed in that I will need to look at ways to salvage PSE5 cataloging and put in to something that will stay with me for years. A lot of effort was put in to cataloging decades of video and I hate to imagine the amount of effort it will be to move to something more viable.

Bob D

[Rockdoc]

I care, and I am extremely frustrated by this! It's enough to make me regret upgrading!

Arrrggghhh!

[Steve Grisetti]

I, too, am very disappointed with the response you got, Bob.

There used to be a theory with Star Trek movies: The even-numbered ones are good (2, 4, 6 and 8) and the odd-numbered ones, not so much.

So maybe, with software on this annual upgrade cycle, the smart thing to do is to just upgrade every other time. (Sort of like a Windows 98, XP, Windows 7 thing.)

[Rockdoc]

Sadly (for me), this was a two-version upgrade. And I am really not willing to wait until version 8 to complete my catalog. I am also not willing to buy version 5 to get a catalog that works.

I realize I am beating the proverbial horse here, but this isn't just a promised feature, it's something that WORKS in previous versions. It's simply unacceptable to not fix it.

I hate being the little guy.

[Bob D]

It is frustrating. And I like everything else about PSE6, but probably don't use all the new features it provided over v5. The issue I have now is I have already accumulated many more still picures in v6, so now I have an up to date catalog in v6 for stills and I have not added any video since I bought PSE6/PE4 bundle. So essentially I can continue to use v5 for my videos and v6 for pictures. But the whole thing makes me a little wary about hanging all my functionality needs on Adobe. Especially as it pertains to the consumer market.

Bob D

[Bob D]

This is the latest response from Adobe. I will commend them on staying on top of this issue. It still isn't encouraging on when it will be, or if it will be, fixed.
============================================================
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 3:50:38 PM PST
Hello Bob,

Thank you for contacting Adobe® Web Support for assistance with Adobe
Photoshop® Elements 6.0

I understand the frustration that this case is taking so long to
address. This issue is not an easy one to troubleshoot, and we are still
working on it. The disks you provided are very helpful for doing so, but
it is still painstaking work. We are putting the effort into it because
we understand the amount of effort you put into the catalog. Although
moving large numbers of files offline is a less common way to use
Photoshop Elements, you are not the only one doing so and we have seen
at least one other report of this issue.

We do not know how long it will take to determine exactly what is
happening in the catalog or what options we will have for addressing the
cause of the issue once we determine it. We are working with our
Engineering department to isolate the issue and examine possible
solutions. It is possible it will require an update to Photoshop
Elements to resolve the issue. We will let you know what we find as soon
as we can.