Sunday, April 19, 2015

Talking Trash

Knickers. I love them. They are fun to make, because they are difficult to get right. When making underwear, a fraction of a pixel on the upper thigh can result in unsightly bleeding edges, and a single pair of panties may require half a dozen re-uploads before the desired look is achieved.


One of the first things that we all fall in love with in OpenSim is the free upload feature. Sweet - you can just keep trying over and over till you have the correct knickerosity. It's wonderful.
You have a similar story of multiple uploads to tell, for sure. But have you ever stopped to think about what your crazy uploading does to the Asset Server of your grid? 
Yeah. Billions of copies of those unsuccessful undies.
"But wait!  I regularly go through my Inventory and trash all the things that don't work or I don't need!" I hear you say. 
Of course you do. But then what happens? Ever noticed that your trash seems to just come back, like a sort of bin boomerang?

Sitting on it doesn't help.
When it comes to Trash, OpenSim is not like Second Life. On many grids, just clicking on Empty Trash does not, as you might think, eliminate forever those items you no longer want. 
"What??? Why not?" you cry. "Doesn't that mean there is a crazy backup of unwanted crap on the Asset Server of my grid?" 
Well, yes. Probably. Not to mention all those times you uploaded a 1024 x 1024 texture when a 512 x 512 would have done just as well. 
"What are the guys in OpenSim thinking? Why would the system settings be this way?" you yell.
Well, let's just say it's a way to prevent somebody 'accidentally' eliminating all your stuff.
So how DO you get rid of your trash? Here are some screenshots illustrating how it works on four of the more popular grids.

OSGRID
Simple enough: Log on to the website and go to your Account. The drop-down menu includes Empty Av Trash (it specifies 'Av Trash' so you don't get confused and think the website can empty your RL trash)
 You are then asked to confirm you do want to empty your trash. 

When it says please be sure you're logged into the website' they mean logged on to the grid. If you are logged in to the grid, you will see this window on the website:

Now Wash Your Hands.

METROPOLIS
Metropolis Grid's trash system is a bit less easy to navigate. It's a good idea to have both Viewer and website open at the same time. 
Go to the bottom of the home page, and look for Inventory Management, in the Tools column. This will open a list of all your Inventory. Once you've logged in here, you can see what's in your trash by clicking on the word Trash.  

Wow. Turns out I had more Turkey Vultures and trees than I knew what to do with. 

Click 'Back' to return to your Inventory page, and look for that little red 'Empty' box in the Trash line.

Inworld, empty trash in the usual way.  
One last window, just to get you really confused... but on the whole, you should find your garbage is gone. 

CRAFT
Craft grid have just begun a pilot system for removing trash. Until now, you (and they) were stuck with it all. The reasoning? Better to have too much rubbish than lose people's inventories in hacker attacks or act of dog. 
Their new system is simplicity itself. 
Log in, go to Avatar Tools, and aaaah... 

FRANCOGRID
This system is quite easy too, except for one thing - that it doesn't work with Singularity. I find the Firestorm Viewer depressingly reminiscent of Viewer 2 and never use it except for the sole purpose of emptying my Francogrid rubbish. So you see, it is important to have both viewers.
[UPDATE:  emptying trash using Singularity now works!]
Log on to the website, and onto the grid. On the grid, empty your trash. Go to Edit > Preferences > Network, and choose Clear Cache. You can now close the Viewer. 

On the website, click where it says Inscription, then Log in on the next page, using the middle tab marked, hello, Log In. On the next window, you'll see the Inworld Profile tab. On the far right, EMPTY TRASH. Go ahead and check the box and hit the Empty button. Since you already chose to clear your cache, that part is good to go. But remember, in Singularity, it doesn't appear to work, so dust off your Firestorm before attempting this maneuver. 
So that's four of the two hundred-odd grids in OpenSim. How does Trash work on your grid?

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