No, I didn't select Exclude files previously removed from library. I never use this mode.
However, there are other settings that I suppose would trigger searching the entire music path I had formerly specified.
But I think this is "unpredictable behavior" or "bad UI". Unless a user opens "Advanced" and contemplates what the various options MIGHT do, the behavior is unexpected.
I realize it's difficult to recreate problems, but I can experience the unpredictable behavior over and over. All I do is open my main library, which has thousands of files, create a clone, then in the clone library try to search a specified path.
To repeat what keeps happening in my tests:
1. Clone a library that had lots of stuff in it.
2. Open the new libary; it appears to be empty.
3. Select Import Media.
4. Do not click Advanced, so it is what it is/was. In my case. settings include Fix or remove broken links, and Update library for external file changes. (But never Exclude files previously removed from library.)
5. Specify a search path that does not include the entire file tree, and click Search. For instance, My Music\Christmas.
Every time I do this, it starts searching my total My Music path, even though the search dialog shows only My Music\Christmas. The difference, with my music collection, is 30 seconds of searching vs. several hours!
This is unpredictable behavior because it is not searching the path specified in the search dialog. The fact that it might be doing something IMPLIED by Advanced settings is an explanation of the behavior, but is it a reasonable thing to do? Is it clear to the user how the basic and Advanced settings interact? If you use search in Windows, for instance, and specify a path, do you expect Windows to ignore it if some other non-displayed box is checked?
For those who are reflexively defensive, I LOVE MC; I've used MC and MJ for many years. I'm trying to idenfity either a functional problem (bug) or a UI weakness. Maybe the Advanced settings shouldn't require another click to see settings that override the Search path. Maybe the file-type settings should be in a separate dialog, assuming they apply to the overall search and don't affect the specified path. But I think ANYTHING that causes the actual search to not EXACTLY follow the specified Search list should be obvious in the basic dialog, AND if a setting overrides the search path, that should be stated.
But, I don't think Advanced settings explain what I'm experiencing!
After I CLEAR a new library clone, it immediately works as expected. It uses ONLY the specified path and doesn't search anywhere else. BUT (my reason for calling it a bug), the clone still has the Advanced settings of its parent, including Fix or remove broken links, and Update library for external file changes. If those settings were the cause of the behavior, why does the behavior change when the settings remain but I CLEAR the library clone?
My hunch is the clone caches a search path that was used in the clone parent, and uses it in the clone. This cache is flushed only when the seemingly-empty library is cleared. But since this retained search path is not displayed in Import Media, it leads to "unpredictable behavior" -- MC doesn't search what the dialog displays, and requires a unstated separate step in a separate dialog to resume behaving predictably. How would a user know to CLEAR a new clone that appears to be already empty?