Accessing Xara On-line Content

[Acorn]

After version 9 of the Xara Desktop Application (XDA), Xara switched to delivering its template and components on-line.
This is called the Xara Online Content Catalogue (OCC).

Versions 10 & 11 OCCs are free forever as is the licence to use the XDA.
Magix-sold XDAs still have forever use of the application but the OCC access is removed when the XDA's Update Service expires.
This allows Magix to generate update sales more forcibly.

All XDAs have the capability to locally download the entire OCC contents.
Once downloaded, they are cached on your device and can be used forever within that XDA and even between XDAs.
As you Import individual components or website assets in your design, they are automatically added into your local cache.
It is only after your Update Service has expired or the OCC server is out-of-action, you come to realise you may not be able to import a required resource.

Before your Magix Update Service has lapsed or as a precautionary step, it is recommended you download all the OCC to your machine.
The steps are simple and explained briefly in https://helpandsupport.xara.com/xara...s_gallery.html.
You do need to repeat the right-click on Category folder > Download All action on all of the given Category Folders.
For designer Pro X/+, there is a lot of content so expect a long download time and a large download size, in the order of 3GB.

To check if the MagiXara OCC servers are around, you can click on one of these links for your XDA:

• http://downloadsv10.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html
• http://downloadsv11.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html
• http://downloadsv12.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html
• http://downloadsv15.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html
• http://downloadsv16.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html
• https://downloadsv17.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html
• https://downloadsv18.xara.com/web/catalog/index.html

Interesting that there is no new one for XDAv19, even XPro+v22 used OCCv18, the last link.

For those who want to know where their downloads are, they exist in %localappdata%\Xara\ subfolders depending on your purchases.
Select your Product (XDA) folder then your Version folder and into the Cache folder.
Your content is in design/eng/, if you have an English version.

The following is gleaned from personal experience:

• Always download your second licensed XDA to another device.
• You must use the Design gallery Download All for this second copy as well. Copy & Paste between devices is possible.
• You must Download All for each new XDA version installation. Disc designs linking to prior downloads is possibly.
• Your Cache is at risk.
  
  • Xara chose to use the AppData folder for convenience but that convenience allows for casual deletions.
  • Xara can, and has, trashed the Cache on you computer. It got the catindex.txt files muddled and this allows the Cache to be updated incorrectly. Saving a (large) copy helps.
  
  
• After OCC expiry, separately link to OCCv12 or above to use it to provide a search mechanism. All you can achieve is locating the Category sub-folder to allow you to guess where in your Local Design gallery, the component is waiting.
  
  • I have used Notepad++ against all the catindex.txt files as a better alternative.
  
  
• Even better, try using this method: https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...026#post654026.

Acorn

[Acorn]

As of Xara Plus versions 23+, Xara has decided to remove the option of Download All.
Instead, "In v23 and later all content is automatically downloaded to the Designs Gallery, except for the stock photo and illustration library and the Symbols."

https://helpandsupport.xara.com/xara...t_catalog.html

This might explain your phantom broadband usage of around 3GB.

Acorn

[Acorn]

Xara is re-establishing a perpetual licence following the end of working with Magix.
Details as they emerge will be added to https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...Online-Content.

Acorn

[vfrvulcan]

As of Xara Plus versions 23+, Xara has decided to remove the option of Download All.
Instead, "In v23 and later all content is automatically downloaded to the Designs Gallery, except for the stock photo and illustration library and the Symbols."

This might explain your phantom broadband usage of around 3GB.

Acorn

This doesn't seem to be happening for me. New install/sub of V23 but none of the OCC gets downloaded. I've left the program open in the background for a couple of days and nothing in the cache folder.

The only way to get anything into the cache folder is to expand the tree in the Design Gallery and it will *occasionally* download pngs of the content of the selected branch there but not the xar files (e.g. 75 of the 76 icons currently available).

What am I doing wrong/not doing?

Aaron

[Acorn]

This doesn't seem to be happening for me. New install/sub of V23 but none of the OCC gets downloaded. I've left the program open in the background for a couple of days and nothing in the cache folder.
The only way to get anything into the cache folder is to expand the tree in the Design Gallery and it will *occasionally* download pngs of the content of the selected branch there but not the xar files (e.g. 75 of the 76 icons currently available).
What am I doing wrong/not doing?
Aaron

Aaron, when my XPro+ is opened the status line includes "Scanning gallery groups".
If there is an update, I will see activity mentioning downloading/updating at top-right of the application.

The cache is in C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\Xara\XtremeProSub\Sub\Cache\designs \eng\; mine is 1.76GB with over 23,000 files.
One of the populated folders you should have is What's New (24.3) - path: ..\whatsnew243\spring_cliparts\ where its catindex.txt has top entry: # Folder Revision:68982.

I use Notepad++ to search for '# Folder Revision:' across all catindex.txt files to see what has been updated in recent times.

If you have none of these flag up what you are failing to get directly with Xara.

Acorn

[vfrvulcan]

Thanks for the reply Acorn,

Aaron, when my XPro+ is opened the status line includes "Scanning gallery groups".

I see this very briefly during startup

If there is an update, I will see activity mentioning downloading/updating at top-right of the application.

Nothing seen here

The cache is in C:\Users\[UserName]\AppData\Local\Xara\XtremeProSub\Sub\Cache\designs \eng\; mine is 1.76GB with over 23,000 files.

Currently 2875 files, 24.8MB

One of the populated folders you should have is What's New (24.3) - path: ..\whatsnew243\spring_cliparts\ where its catindex.txt has top entry: # Folder Revision:68982.

Yes, I have the same folder revision with:
# Folder Revision:68982
idx001_clipart_spring.xar,1. Clipart (Spring), , C,,,,,,3111181623
idx002_clipart_spring.xar,2. Clipart (Spring), , C,,,,,,1821703221
and so on for the 160 items that should be there, but there is only the single idx001...png file in the associated xarainfo folder, no xar files or the rest of them

If you have none of these flag up what you are failing to get directly with Xara.

Have also just updated to v24.8 and still does the same thing
Think I'll (after unregistering it) reload a system backup from before it went in and try again.

Aaron