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Author Topic: Library Field marked as "Filename" does not retain backslash characters in paths  (Read 3422 times)

progerman

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Hi everyone,

I read these forum posts a lot while I go about my business in JRiver MC 22, and I am really impressed with the amount of knowledge that you guys have with regards to JRiver MC and audio/video in general. Therefore, I am hopeful that some knowledgeable individual out there can please provide some guidance with regards to an issue I am experiencing. :)

For some reason unknown to me, when I plug my FIIO X7 player into my laptop, JRiver MC 22 (as well as 21) seems to "forget" my device. As such, all the settings that I have configured for my device are lost. It doesn't do this all the time, but it does it often enough to be a pain. As a result of this, I am trying to make a workaround that will make my life easier when the settings disappear again.

I have created a library field called:

Code: [Select]
Device - FIIO X7 - Folder Path
I then configure my device in JRiver MC 22; under the "Files, Paths, & More" option, I set my Audio Path property to:

Code: [Select]
[Device - FIIO X7 - Folder Path]\
The value of one of these fields is:

Code: [Select]
Audio\My Artist\2015 My Album
Unfortunately, my backslashes are not being retained when JRiver MC 22 builds the target file name when copying to the device, and the path is generated as:

Code: [Select]
D:\Audio_My Artist_2015 My Album\myfile.flac
I totally understand why this is taking place (as a programmer myself, I do this kind of character substitution all the time). However, what I don't understand is why it still does not retain the backslashes when I configure the Edit Type of my library field as:

Code: [Select]
Filename
I have two queries regarding this:
  • Is this by design, or is it a bug?
  • Is there a solution to the problem, as in is there a way to make the path retain the backslashes present in my field?
Thank you all in advance for your replies.

Rob
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JimH

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If you want MC to rename part of your path, you can put any field inside brackets.  For example:

[Artist]\[Album] and so on.
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blgentry

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I've experimented with trying to make a field that contains paths like this, for use with handheld sync definitions, and I found the same thing that you did:  MC eats the slash or backslash characters so they can't be used.  I believe this is by design so that fields that unintentionally contain these characters won't cause crazy behaviors to happen.

The handheld sync tool has lost my sync definitions on some devices sometimes too.  I think I redefined the one for my FiiO X1 at least 5 times.  But I've retired that device; it's kind of a piece of junk.

What I found in the mean time is that connecting the handheld device with MC NOT RUNNING, and then launching MC after, seemed to make it much, much more reliable.  I'm not sure if this will help you or not.  I'm using the Mac version of MC, so things might be slightly different.

You might do something really low tech for your needs:  Copy your sync definitions to a text file.  Or use MC's "Notes" section and copy your definition there.  Then you could just cut and paste and know it would be correct each time.

Brian.
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progerman

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If you want MC to rename part of your path, you can put any field inside brackets.  For example:

[Artist]\[Album] and so on.

Hi Jim,

Thank you for the reply.

I did exactly as you indicated when I configured the device's path in the standard manner... and as you said, it does retain the slashes I enter for the path. However, when I have the slash as part of a field's value, the slash is replaced with an underscore character.

The hope was that setting the field type to be a "filename", that it would honour the characters that I gave it as being part of generating a filename, but that does not seem to be the case.

It would be ridiculously helpful if you could add another field type... or a checkbox that says "treat as verbatim in file paths".

... unless there is anything else that you can suggest that I may not have spotted while perusing the amazing multitude of configurable options?

Thanks again.

(P.S. I really love MC!!!)
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progerman

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I've experimented with trying to make a field that contains paths like this, for use with handheld sync definitions, and I found the same thing that you did:  MC eats the slash or backslash characters so they can't be used.  I believe this is by design so that fields that unintentionally contain these characters won't cause crazy behaviors to happen.

The handheld sync tool has lost my sync definitions on some devices sometimes too.  I think I redefined the one for my FiiO X1 at least 5 times.  But I've retired that device; it's kind of a piece of junk.

What I found in the mean time is that connecting the handheld device with MC NOT RUNNING, and then launching MC after, seemed to make it much, much more reliable.  I'm not sure if this will help you or not.  I'm using the Mac version of MC, so things might be slightly different.

You might do something really low tech for your needs:  Copy your sync definitions to a text file.  Or use MC's "Notes" section and copy your definition there.  Then you could just cut and paste and know it would be correct each time.

Brian.

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the reply. It is good to know that the issue that is plaguing me isn't isolated to my PC... or even a PC, for that matter!

While I do plug my device into the same USB socket, using the same USB cable, every time I sync, it is very hit and miss as to whether I am going to have to set it all up again. I have a more convoluted configuration, where my classical music writes to the disk in a different manner, and by composer, using custom fields, and I have lost that so many times now, that I have just resorted to copying the classical music manually and copying the mainstream music using MC 22.

Can you provide any good resources on where I may find the device settings that MC 22 has saved?

Thanks again.
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blgentry

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I have a more convoluted configuration, where my classical music writes to the disk in a different manner, and by composer, using custom fields, and I have lost that so many times now, that I have just resorted to copying the classical music manually and copying the mainstream music using MC 22.

This is why I suggested copying all of your configuration fields to a text file.  Or to a NOTES entry in MC itself.  Then you can cut and paste the values if it disappears again.  It's one by one, but that's got to be better than trying to remember and re-typing it all.  Bonus points for using a split screen view while doing so, making it very easy to copy and paste.

Quote
Can you provide any good resources on where I may find the device settings that MC 22 has saved?

They might be in the Registry on windows.  I'm not 100% sure, but I think so.  I would not advise poking around there unless you are ok with messing up your MC configuration.

I too would like to see Handheld sync settings handled differently.  They've hidden away the part of the definition that tells what device, or what directory, the HHS definition points to.  When it works, it's golden.  But when you need to change something (like the directory it points to), or when it stops working, it's hard to troubleshoot.

Brian.
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