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[Alex B]

From the MC11.1.186 thread:

I started to rearrange my files on disk using the tree within MC so that my library paths would also update.

I have
x:\music\wma
x:\music\wav
x:\music\ape

and then my artist\album directories under these, but I've now decided to move the artists directly under x:\music thus getting rid of the WAV, WMA and APE directories.

So I dragged x:\music\wma\Ben Harper to x:\music and selected move and it moved the Ben Harper directory and the album sub directories correctly.

I then selected x:\music\wav\Ben Harper and dragged this onto x:\music and selected move again, but this time instead of moving the directories under x:\music\Ben harper it created an x:\music\Copy of Ben Harper directory and moved the albums under this.
Should they merge with the existing directory?

I then made a mistake with a move and it got more concerning!

I moved x:\music\wav\Jack Johnson onto x:\music\wma instead of x:\music, this time MC looked like it was moving the files, but in fact because I already had a Jack Johnson directory under x:\music\wma it just deleted them from x:\music\wav and left me with broken links still pointing to the wav path.
Based on the first move it should have at least created a "copy of" directory, not just deleted the files shouldn't it??


Oh and should I be doing it like this or is there a better way?? (I have my album image as folder.jpg in the album directory so need to move this as well).

Cheers
Richard

As far as I can see that should have worked. I don't know why it didn't work.


However, this is what I would have done:

1. Make a library backup (I hope you have one, you can restore the latest backup file before the step 5.).

2. Close MC.

3. Move and combine the folders with Windows Explorer.

4. Open MC (the files are now offline)

5. Select all files under X:\music\wma and use the Find and Replace tool:
-  Tick only: Filename (path)
-  Find what: X:\music\wma\,  Replace: X:\music\

6. & 7. Repeat the previous step with "wav" and "ape".

After the last three steps the database is fixed and MC can find the files again. Also the cover art files are fine.

[trott]

I tried this, but although it seems the changes were made to the database, MC apparantly insists on also actually moving the files themselves...Now I have to click 15000 times 'no'

Is there any way to only change the database? Also, why not change 'filename' instead of 'filename(path)'? Won't the other values get calculated?

or...will this only work when the original files are disconnected?

[Alex B]

Now I have to click 15000 times 'no'

It would not work because MC would not change anything when you answer no. Though, it would give your mouse finger a nice workout.   

I tried this, but although it seems the changes were made to the database, MC apparantly insists on also actually moving the files themselves... Is there any way to only change the database?
or...will this only work when the original files are disconnected?

It's supposed to move the files if they are connected. Just temporally change the base path first (outside MC) if you like to keep the original files intact. For example, from "X:\music\wma\" to X:\music\tmp\".  After you have changed the database you can return the original base folder name.

Also, why not change 'filename' instead of 'filename(path)'? Won't the other values get calculated?

There is no functional difference in this case. "Filename (path)" can access only the directory path part of the complete filename. "Filename" can access the complete name including the directory path. There is also "Filename (name)" that is only for the actual name part without the directory path. You can make these three fields visible in a details view for comparing the differences. They are visible in this example:

Well, in the filelist, you only have a few fields at hand, while in the tag info, you'll see all fields available...

It depends. Here are the fields I have made visible in my All Media view:


Click to see the full size image.

I scrolled the view horizontally between the screen shot slices. I am so comfortable with using the horizontal scroll bar that I don't normally use the Tag Info window at all.