Is there a way to keep the image open in PicView even though it has been removed from the hard disc?

[chrugail]

I use a DMS that temporarily writes files to a temp directory to display them in an external viewer. This also works excellently with PicView. Unfortunately, the manufacturer of this software is very aggressive when it comes to cleaning up the temp folder. The temp folder is cleaned every minute. As soon as the clean-up takes place, PicView reacts - and the image is no longer displayed.

[Ruben2776]

I can make an additional option to disable the file watcher in the future. The file watcher synchronizes the viewed directory to add, delete or rename files. The code is built around that functionality, so it may not be easy to implement though.

[chrugail]

I would welcome this customisation, but I understand if the adjustments for this function are too big.
I like PicView very much, but this behaviour makes it impossible for me to use it as a default viewer.

[Ruben2776]

Okay, I have made a new build, where you can turn off this file watcher within the UserConfig.json file. You can find its location by going into the Settings window in PicView, and right clicking and choosing the UserConfig.json menu item. Close PicView and look for the IsFileWatcherEnabled and set it to false, while the application is not running.

There are also two new settings there, called PositiveIterations and NegativeIterations. They control how many images are preloaded in the respective direction when navigating the directory. Don't set it to anything negative, or it might crash. The total amount of preloaded images is PositiveIterations + NegativeIterations + 2, and 1 more for the currently viewed image, as the current image will always be added to preloader.
So for this to work, you need to have set the amount of preloaded images >= the images on your disk.

Not sure what will happen if you try to rename files within the application.

You can download the new build, at the bottom of this page, while being logged in to GitHub:
https://github.com/Ruben2776/PicView/actions/runs/15405522306

[chrugail]

Thank you very much,
Unfortunately, I don't seem to fully understand how to use it. I close PicView, open AppData\Roaming\Ruben2776\PicView\Config\UserSetting.json in the editor, adjust IsFileWatcherEnabled to False, save the file and open PicView again - as soon as I do that, IsFileWatcherEnabled is set to true again....

[Ruben2776]

That isn't supposed to happen. Did you set it with as False when it should be false? It's case-sensitive, so that might be why.

Additionally, you can try with a newer build with some fixes:
https://github.com/Ruben2776/PicView/actions/runs/15511766360

UserSettings.json
I've also uploaded a config file you can replace it with, if that helps. Remember to overwrite, or edit the file, when PicView is not running, as it continuously saves settings into the file.