Is there a way to efficiently move a project with linked files?

[smiklin]

I have a project with about 4000 image files, and when I started it, I thought it'd just be the easiest to link the image files to the project.
However, I want to move the project and the files to another machine, and I am struggling to find a way to do so effectively.

Here's what I've tried so far:

1. Move the project and the files, and then use the "manage bad link files" option. However, I can't seem to specify the exact folder within which the files are stored (which would make the search easier) so the search seems to go on for a long time. Also, it looks like I need to confirm new locations for each of the files, which is time-consuming in itself.

2. Importing the linked files, and then move them together with the project — this does work but is extremely time-consuming. Not only do I need to import each file one by one, but when the import is completed, the list of files scrolls back to the top and I have to scroll down for the next file, which makes the whole process very frustrating and time-consuming.

3. Using the import button to just batch-import all the files anew, hoping there would be an option to replace existing file or something similar -- doesn't work, the import of a file with an existing name is refused.

4. Just copying the files into the project -- this, unsurprisingly, doesn't work, but I am wondering if it could be a first step to a bit of a messier workaround -- is there something in the .qda file itself that I could change to indicate the files are internal?

5. Exporting the codes, creating a new project with all the images imported, and then importing just the code information from the first project. This doesn't seem to work, as I can't figure out how to export the relevant detail (code + coordinates?) that would just be laid on top of the files with the same name in the new project.

Is there a way to do this properly? I would be happy with either an easy way to point the project to a new file location, or an easy way to import the images so as to move the whole thing.

Many thanks!

[ccbogel]

Sure. So to clarify the images are linked externally. I have re-created the issue, by moving the files from folder Cacti3 to newCacti:

First make a copy of your project folder e.g. myproject.qda and do the following steps on this copy (just in case).

I will use from the menu Reports > Database queries to do this.

First I look at the mediapath link that is stored in the database:

Then I will run the following query to change the folder path from Cacti3 to newCacti. You will have to do something similar to change the 'from' folder to the 'to' folder.

NOTE: just for this solution, please do not use the word 'images'. Also, if you you are doing a bigger folder path change, use forward slashes, do not use backslashes.
I will be putting in a better manage links solution in the 4.0 version very soon.

UPDATE source
SET mediapath = REPLACE(mediapath, 'Cacti3', 'newCacti')
WHERE mediapath LIKE '%Cacti3%'

This is how it looks in QualCoder:

Then I look again to check the path, as well as re-open the project, to be sure.

Please let me know how this works for you.

[smiklin]

This worked absolutely perfectly, thank you so much!