Prior to the advent of the DAZ Install Manager now known to many now simply as DIM, all content had to be installed manually using an executable file or zip file.
When you had a few to a lot of content to install it was a laborious task that took ages. Not only did you need to execute the install program, you needed to know where to put the content properly so that everything worked as it should.
Zip files were (and are) even worse on a Mac as there is no native merge directory utility as there is with the modern versions of MS Windows.
Then along came DIM a godsend to most, easy straight forward to use. Content went into the correct place and the world was all warm and fuzzy. That is until it does exactly the opposite and causes applications to not work properly, as was the case in a previous blog post where it actually killed the CMS database. Well, not intentionally, but it does have some quirks that are well worth noting.
1. It will only allow content to be installed in a “Shared” directory/folder notably (on an OS X system) “/users/Shared/My DAZ 3D Library”, you cannot at the time of this writing nominate any other folder of your choosing. This in itself is not a huge problem, just annoying.
2. Originally DIM would only allow you to download and install content (and updates) purchased from the DAZ Store, and was very good at it saving a lot of time and frustration. All good. Now it would seem the newer version also finds, downloads and wants to install DAZ applications as well. I found this out the hard way.
3. Although relatively easy to use it is not very intuitive and in most areas I found out how to use it by trial and error. Not very spectacular when installing content, or more importantly not installing for reasons that will become apparent shortly.
I don’t know why DAZ in their wisdom decided to include applications like DAZ3D Studio 4.6 Pro 32 bit for Mac as well as the 64 bit version. As they are not compatible on the same machine. They also use the same CMS service and databases. In my case I was not really paying attention to list of available downloads and just thought it was the content I had purchased along with a few content updates, so I hit the GO button. Only to find that to my horror DIM was reinstalling DAZ3D Studio 4.6 Pro 64bit and the 32bit version as well.
That is what killed or corrupted my CMS content database.
Yes I hear you say, “but you can remove unwanted downloads and hide them so they don’t install”. Quite right, I agree. But only if you know what you are doing and are paying 100% attention! Even then they reappear next time you run DIM anyway. Grrrr……
The long and the short of it all is this, use DIM it is excellent, but bear in mind you have to pay attention to what is in the list in front of you.
I much prefer to use DIM for purchased content download and installation, but manually download Applications, Plugins etc from my account page then install them myself.
Anyway I hope this helps, just my 5 cents worth.
Mac OS X Guide to DAZ3D 