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[Spike1000]

I seem to spend a lot time in RM&C as I tweak the way I organise things in JR. I'm typically moving directories of audio files about as I move them to a new physical directory or effectively doing the same by renaming a folder in the path.

I show how I go about this in the screen shot attached, it also shows the issue.

Let's say I want to move the files M:\Media\Music\PJ Harvey\4-Track Demos\ to M:\Media\Music\PJ Harvey\4-Track Demos (24-96)\

I've highlighted the album and pressed F6 to get the attached dialogue.

I'm using the 'Find and replace' function but it's currently showing the previous moves I did with some Simon Mayo podcasts. The hassle is I can't highlight and cut the existing path (M:\Media\Music\PJ Harvey\4-Track Demos\) from the 'original' column and paste it into the 'Find What' and 'Replace With' boxes. I have to either copy it from a separate windows explorer window or type it very slowly and carefully to avoid mistakes. This does become a bind if I'm moving many directories.

Any chance of making the 'original' column highlightable so the text can be copied accurately and efficiently?  


Is there perhaps another more efficient and accurate way to move directories/files?  

Cheers

Spike

[astromo]

I would say that the efficient way is to align your library meta-data with your folder structure.

If
[Artist]=PJ Harvey
and, previously:
[Album]=4-Track Demos
then all you have to do is to re-tag [Album] to  "4-Track Demos (24-96)"

Then, in RM&C [F6] set up as follows:

RM&C Option:
   Rename

Directories [check]
Base Path:
   M:\Media\Music\
Rule:
   [Artist]\[Album]\

(If you want to work over the filename then ...)
Filename [check]
   ... use your standard audio filenaming structure, e.g. [Track #] [Artist] - [Name]
(else leave this bit unchecked)

Does that help?

[blgentry]

Astromo has good advice for many situations.  Most situations in fact.  But in some cases this won't line up with how you want to organize your stuff.  So here's some additional info that might help:

The Find and Replace boxes operate on substrings. You don't have to have the entire thing there for it to work.  In the case of this example, all you would need is:

Find:  Demos
Replace: Demos (24-96)

Lots easier than the whole path.  I *think* I read somewhere that F&R does matches right to left, so it tends to find things at the end more easily.  I can't remember where I read that, or if I made it up though. 

Brian.

[Spike1000]

Thank you astromo for your tips. Yes that'd probably work but in this case it's too convoluted (for me) for a simple directory rename/move  Many thanks though.

Brian's tip that the find replace matches substrings is really efficient and a fast work around (ie less typing/mouse clicking). I sort of noticed the substring matching subconsciously when I first tried RM&C but the penny hadn't dropped as to how it could used effectively.

My job involves being highly risk adverse at times so I'm 'programmed' to copy original information in its entirety as often as I can to eliminate mistakes in typing hence me copying paths from separate explorer windows rather than typing things again. Brian's tip significantly minimises the typing required BUT I'd still love to be able to copy from the 'original' column to be absolutely certain that I have a unique match without the risk of an unnoticed side effect. . . Any of the developers care to comment on this as a possibility?

Thanks once again for your input.

Spike

[ferday]

By using good tags it can certainly become much easier

I'd have 24-96 in a different tag (mine are in a custom [album format] tag)

Then you can make RMC presets for whatever you need

If(isempty([album format]),[album],[album] [(album format)]

You could also do a find: [album] replace: [album] [(album format)]


If you're concerned about the original file path you could use filefolder() or filepath() to extract the info without having to retype anything

I'm sick as a dog today...if this makes no sense just ignore me please ha ha

[RoderickGI]

My job involves being highly risk adverse at times so I'm 'programmed' to copy original information in its entirety as often as I can to eliminate mistakes in typing hence me copying paths from separate explorer windows rather than typing things again. Brian's tip significantly minimises the typing required BUT I'd still love to be able to copy from the 'original' column to be absolutely certain that I have a unique match without the risk of an unnoticed side effect.

Here is another tip:

• If you are working on a standard alone PC, or the MC Server i.e. Not a MC Client PC, unless you have mapped all drives from the Client to the Server, in which case you will be editing network paths to the files.
• If you are renaming just one directory structure at a time, using Find/Replace.

Then select one of the files you are about to move/rename, right click on it and select "Locate\On Disk (external)".
A Windows Explorer window will pop up, opened at the directory where the selected file is located. Copy the directory structure from there.

No hunting for the correct directory in a Window Explorer window. No retyping of the source directory structure. This would also work if you had multiple files already selected, I believe. Just right click on any of the selected files.

[glynor]

It is worth reading this if you haven't:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Rename,_Move,_and_Copy_Files

What it looks like you are doing with your folder structure would almost certainly be better handled by properly tagging the files in MC and then "pushing" the proper structure to disk using a Directories and Filename template.

[Media Sub Type] would probably be the most appropriate field to use for what you were trying to change (at least previously) in the screenshot, for example. There's already a Radio and Podcast value available for that field.  If you have any that don't fit one of the existing Media Sub Types, I usually use "Other" and then a [Genre] tag to sub-classify them.

If you describe how you want the entire Library organized on disk, we can help you make expressions you can use in the templates to automatically fill out what you want.  There are also a bunch of examples in the Wiki article I linked above (check the sub-articles about the different template types).

[Spike1000]

First of all a big thanks once again to the people taking the time to share their knowledge and experience, it really is appreciated.

Some top tips learned from people with a broader range of experience in JR than myself. My use of JR has evolved over time, I've researched and found ways of doing things that work for me, but the more times you have to repeat them you begin to realise that yes, they do work, but they aren't usually the best way to do things   I'm aware of the individual elements mentioned above, but don't always have the foresight/experience to link them all together to produce a really neat efficient solution. That takes more experience than I currently have; hence my appreciation of you taking the time to share.

In response to Glynor's valid points, my library is evolving and has evolved over time. I started with .mp3, I now have FLACs, then 24bit started to appear along with 48kHz and 96kHz and then DSF vinyl rips and 5.1 channel then there's non-music files such as audio books, radio recordings and podcasts. . . The 'new' formats sort of creep up on me, you start to add one or two in a way that seems to work, then as you get more you realise that it's not very efficient and could be done better. At a certain point you say I need to rework this and 'fix' the meta data and tagging to 'use the power' of the tags and the database to do things 'properly; this is exactly what people have been saying in this thread and what I'm trying to move towards. What I personally don't have the clarity of what the end game will be so my database/tagging evolves with some tinkering to get better and keep heading the right direction. Not the most efficient solution but something I just keep chipping away at without breaking anything  

One of the hardest things for me is having an overview and clarity of the big picture of all the elements of JR so things aren't perfect from the start. As a consequence things evolve and improve over time as I gain knowledge, experience and understanding.

My file structure is pretty close to what I want but needs a bit of tweaking as I'm getting directory name clashes as I've got the same album in potentially CD, HD, vinyl, DVD, Blu-Ray, SACD, 2.0 and 5.1 formats. Not a massive problem, but as it's crept up on me it's now big enough to need tackling and resolving.

As for [Media Sub Type], I hold my hand up to under using those tags   Glynor's keen eye spotted that they would be an ideal way of improving the tagging/meta data. However, I do keep my radio/podcasts in a separate directory structure as those directories are backed up to different locations due space limitations on the backup drives. I do the same with my video files for the same reason.

Many thanks for you help.

Spike