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..