Working in the External Files Manager Grid

The external files manager grid gives the following information for each of the files listed:

Column	Description
User Path	Lists relative path entries. This is the only column where you can directly modify file paths.
File Type	Specifies the type of file being displayed.
Status	Identifies paths as "Valid" or "Invalid". Path status is only visible when the View resolved paths check box is checked. Otherwise, each row's status cell displays a question mark (?).
Resolved Path	Lists the full paths as interpreted from the relative path entries in the User Path column. Resolved paths are only visible when the View resolved paths check box is checked. Otherwise, each row's Resolved Path cell displays a question mark (?).
Owner	Lists the owner of the external file.

Navigating in the External Files Manager Grid

Navigating in the external files manager grid is similar to navigating in any other grid-style interface in Softimage.

Click a row heading to select a row or click a column heading to select a column.
Shift+click and/or Ctrl+click, or drag the mouse to select multiple columns or rows, or add columns or rows to the selection.
Individual cells are selectable, except for File Type and Status cells.

Choosing the External Files to Display in the Grid

By default, the external files manager grid lists all of the external files used by the scene. However, there are several ways to limit the number of files displayed, and control how they are displayed.

The left-hand pane of the external files manager provides clickable links for the scene itself and for all of the models in the scene. Clicking these links causes the grid to display the external files used by the entire scene, or the model whose link you clicked.
The File Type drop-down in the Options section of the external files manager allows you to restrict the files listed in the grid to a particular type (for example actions, material libraries, pictures, synoptic views, and so on). Setting the file type to All lists files of all types.
To resolve the relative paths shown in the User Path column, check the View resolved paths check box. Resolved paths are then displayed in the Resolved Path column.

By default, the external files manager does not resolve relative paths because it can slow down system performance — sometimes drastically — in cases where a large number of paths are no longer valid.
You can control the number of items (records) that are displayed in the grid by selecting Show All, 10, 25, or 50 from the Grid Size drop-down in the Options section.
You can sort, in ascending order, the files listed in the grid by selecting the column of the parameter you want to sort by and clicking the Sort Selected Column button in the Actions section.