Remove pre-created folders. Will be made on launch.

.gitignore

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Ignore image comparison
-/contrib/images
+
 
 ## Ignore Visual Studio temporary files, build results, and
 ## files generated by popular Visual Studio add-ons.

RealTimeFacialRecognition.vcxproj

@@ -147,11 +147,6 @@
     </Link>
   </ItemDefinitionGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
-    <None Include="contrib\images\.placeholder">
-      <DeploymentContent>true</DeploymentContent>
-      <Link>/images/.placeholder</Link>
-      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
-    </None>
     <Text Include="contrib\testing\group.mp4">
       <DeploymentContent>true</DeploymentContent>
       <Link>/testing/group.mp4</Link>
@@ -163,11 +158,6 @@
       <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
       <DeploymentContent>true</DeploymentContent>
     </Text>
-	<Text Include="contrib\logs\system.log">
-      <Link>/logs/system.log</Link>
-      <CopyToOutputDirectory>Always</CopyToOutputDirectory>
-	  <DeploymentContent>true</DeploymentContent>
-	</Text>
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <Xml Include="contrib\cascades\haarcascade_frontalface_alt2.xml">

build.bat

@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ echo binPath is set to: %binPath%
 
 :: Delete unnecessary files from the release folder.
 echo --- Some errors may show up, depending on which build mode has been used. Don't worry ---
-::del /s /q "%binPath%*.log"
+del /s /q "%binPath%*.log"
 del /s /q "%binPath%*.pdb"
 del /s /q "%binPath%*.obj"
 del /s /q "%binPath%*.idb"

src/Main.cpp

@@ -14,6 +14,40 @@ std::string CASCADE_FILE_MAIN;
 std::string IMAGE_DIR;
 std::string LOGGING_DIR;
 
+void Initialize() {
+    if (std::filesystem::is_directory(LOGGING_DIR))
+    {
+        Messages::Info("Logging directory exists. Continuing.");
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        std::filesystem::create_directory(LOGGING_DIR);
+        Messages::Notice("Logging directory does not exist. It has been created. First launch?");
+    }
+
+    if (std::filesystem::is_directory(IMAGE_DIR))
+    {
+        Messages::Info("Image directory exists. Continuing.");
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        std::filesystem::create_directory(IMAGE_DIR);
+        Messages::Notice("Image directory does not exist. It has been created. First launch?");
+    }
+
+    if (!std::filesystem::exists(LOGGING_DIR + "/system.log")) {
+        std::ofstream logFile(LOGGING_DIR + "/system.log");
+        if (!logFile) {
+            Messages::Error("Log file could not be created. Check file permissions?");
+        }
+        logFile.close();
+        Messages::Notice("Log file created successfully. First launch?");
+    }
+    else {
+        Messages::Info("Log file exists, appending.");
+    }
+}
+
 // Function to check if a file has a valid image extension
 bool hasValidImageExtension(const std::filesystem::path& path) {
     std::string extension = path.extension().string();
@@ -185,6 +219,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
     readSettings();
 
+    Initialize();
+
     // Load the face cascade
     cv::CascadeClassifier faceCascade(CASCADE_FILE_MAIN);