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[EpF]

I remember  trying to do this a year or two ago, and getting very confused: How do you edit-in-place a Filename (name)?

I thought all you had to do was rename part of the path outside MC, do your filename edit and then restore the original path outside MC, but I keep getting the filename instanly resetting itself to what it was (i.e., it had MC's '[space](1)' append added on).

All I want is to remove MC's append, so the library entry points to the existing file, so I can keep all my tags (it's a video file).

Anyone know how to do this?

[Alex B]

I think it'll work if you hide the file before changing the Filename field. Move it to the new folder afterwards.

[EpF]

Not certain exactly what you are trying to do, where, to what, etc

MC has a filename 'link' for every library file. At the moment, some of the links in MC's library point to files which don't exist, because the link has an extra ' (1)' after the filename (name) and before the extension.

E.g., actual file is called: 06 - Rory Gallagher - Tobacco Road.mp3
MC's filename (name) field says: 06 - Rory Gallagher - Tobacco Road (1).mp3

It's my fault that this happened, I know, but now I'm trying to fix it because all my tag information is attached to the broken link. This isn't such a problem with the example shown here because mp3s store most of the info I need; just not some other stuff like number of plays, date imported etc. But other file types don't save this info in tags, like certain image files, and I really don't want to lose it.

I know one way of fixing it is to hide the files from MC, rename the files in Explorer to match the MC filename (name) field, and then point the filename (path) in MC to the hidden files, and voila! The major problem with this is it involves individually editing the filename of hundreds of files in Explorer - which is so laborious that it wouldn't be worth it. I really need to be able to use the conditional functionality of 'find and replace' in MC.

I think it'll work if you hide the file before changing the Filename field. Move it to the new folder afterwards.

That's what I was doing when I said in my first post that I renamed part of the path outside MC; effectively hiding it from MC. Then I just 'undo' the rename in Explorer.

-Inside MC you could use "Find & Replace" to Find " (1)" and replace it with "".

-Another is Inside MC use "Rename File From Properties", which if there is ONLY ONE file of that name SHOULD drop the (1). MC will keep appending the (1) or even (2), (3), etc if it sees a duplicate filename (rather than following the Windows Convention of informing you that that filename already exists and asking if you wish to overwrite or rename, etc)

Neither of these work - it says it does, but the ' (1)' is still there in the filename. I wonder if this is because, as far as MC is concerned, the file doesn't exist - remember, I've renamed part of the path in Explorer before doing this.

-Inside MC you can go to the actual folder in the Tree under My Computer and physically remove the (1) by editing the filename.

Again, because I've hidden the file, I can't go to it in MC.

The crunch question is: If a Library link is broken in MC, can you edit the filename (name) field? (you can edit the filename (path) field). Secondary questions: If the answer is 'yes', under what circumstances would that not be possible - and how do you fix it?

I'd appreciate any suggestions - including ones which recommend simple ways of batch or condiditional renaming of files in Explorer..

[EricT]

Not really helping you out (other than perhaps making you feel better that someone else is in a similar predicament) I have found the same thing.  The Library tools "Rename Files from Properties" won't work if the link is broken.  Too bad because I had two versions of my database and therefore two versions of my library (wav AND mp3).  I made a bunch of changes to the filenames on the mp3 side and then opened the mp3 library against my wav files. 

I did a select all and changed filetype from mp3 to wav, then
Find and Replace .mp3 to .wav under the filename field
but it will be a manual process to change all the filenames to match my changes (at least I can search for the red x and go from there). 

If you change the filename field in MC to match the "wrong" filename of the actual file on the hard drive you can then use "Rename File from Properties" and it will change the filename to what you have under the name field.  (May be easier than doing it in explorer - but still a manual chore).

Any other thoughts on these issues?