How can I delete a catalog not showing in local catalog list?

[cblane]

I have a catalog that, in the Catalog Management dialog is displayed in orange with a "!".  It is not listed below in the Local Catalog list.  How can I delete it?

[Kirk Baker]

How did you get into this condition?  I'd like to see your Photo Mechanic log.  In Photo Mechanic Plus go to the Help menu and choose "Reveal Support Data..." and moments later a Finder window will come forward with the zipped log file selected.  Use the 'Attachments and other options' link when you're composing your reply to this message and there you'll be able to upload your zipped PM log file.

Thanks,

-Kirk

[cblane]

Searches were all getting the same results even when they should have been limited to one catalog so I decided to dlete all of the catalogs and start fresh and test them one-by-one.
Here's the log file.

[Kirk Baker]

Thanks for the log file.  How did you delete your catalogs?  Did you delete them through the Catalog Management window or did you delete them with the Finder?

The Catalog system thinks that it should open the "Master Slide Archive" catalog but it cannot be found at its last known location.  I noticed that you're storing it on a drive that may not be your boot drive.  That's OK as long as the drive will always be available.  If the drive won't always be connected, you'll have to "Forget" that catalog or the Catalog system will keep trying to open it.

-Kirk

[cblane]

The drive is external and always connected so it should't cause a "not found" condition.  I finally managed to "forget" the catalog but it took over 10 minutes of fumbling around to get to the dialog that offers the option.  Regarding whether I deleted the catalog from within the software or externally through Finder, it was all within the program.  I managed to have it happen again when trying to set up a new catalog which is a quirky process. If I open the Catalog Management dialog, select "New Catalog", Browse to the folder containing the photos, the set the name to the desired catalog name, scanning to the new catalog fails because the new catalog is within the folder that is to be scanned (default location, from the dialog).  I got it to work by manually choosing the catalog folder to be excluded.

The process of creating a catalog shouldn't require so much manual intervention.  Logically, creating and populating a new catalog should all be managed in one dialog where the user gives a name for the new catalog and identifies the source folder.  A scan button should be present within the dialog as the next step and the scan should proceed without error because the software will be smart enough to automatically exclude the new folder created in the previous step.  I've worked in the software industry for decades (primarily in software testing and user experience) so I'm not a newcomer to databases and I can't help but think that the database side of Photo Mechanic Plus is still too finicky and lacks sufficient documentation to properly use it.
I was hoping that it could become a reliable and logical DAM that could be an improvement over the unreliable DAM that Capture One uses. It's not there yet but I'm rooting for you.  Your tech support here is great but I can't help but get the sense that the developers are the same people who test the software. I will periodically check back because it does look like you are continually improving your application and care about your customers.

In the mean time, I will use the standard Photo Mechanic 6, because, even though it's quirky, unconventional and at times confusing in its user experience, it delivers very useful functionality.