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[zirum]

Hi,

I just moved all my movies from X:/movies/* to Y:/1 - Movies/*
Added the new folder as a watchfolder, and ran a import. By MC only added the new files instead of repearing the broken link. Why is that?

[Alex B]

It imports the new files and removes the broken file links (if selected in options) as separate processes. It does not try to guess if one or more of the imported files would be identical with the files that are going to be removed.

If you want to preserve all library data you need to use the Rename, Move, & Copy Files tool. It can move the files or just apply the file location changes to the database in case the files are moved outside MC.

Alternatively you can export the video files libary data as an MPL playlist (use the relative location option and copy the playlist to the same relative location in the new path structure) and import the playlist by using the File > Import Playlist tool.

In general, it is useful to create MPL playlists of all files that cannot contain metadata in the file tags. MPL files can be used for applying tags to other libraries -- for instance, when the files are imported on another PC.

[zirum]

Rename, Move & Copy would not be very suited, since this was about 100Gb of files on a NAS. I did not have the opportunity to keep my computer on for the whole job, so i made a backup job that could resume whenever my computer was online.

I guessed this would happen, but hoped that I could delete the new imports, and do a "find & replace" on filename on the old instances. But I seems to still import the new ones, so that I get duplicates. Should not filename be unique constrained?

(Sorry for so long to respond, had a weekend out...)

[darichman]

If you didn't fiddle around with your directory structure TOO much, try:

Rename, Move, Copy Files
   > Select "Update Database to Point to New Location"
   > And then use Find and Replace to replace the old filepath with the new one

[Alex B]

Rename, Move & Copy would not be very suited, since this was about 100Gb of files on a NAS. I did not have the opportunity to keep my computer on for the whole job, so i made a backup job that could resume whenever my computer was online.

That's fine. I also prefer to move big chunks of network files outside MC. There is no reason to move the files over the network if they can be moved faster and safer on the server PC.

I guessed this would happen, but hoped that I could delete the new imports, and do a "find & replace" on filename on the old instances. But I seems to still import the new ones, so that I get duplicates. Should not filename be unique constrained?

As I said, Auto-Importer is not the correct tool for this. The filenames are indeed unique (including the paths) and MC cannot just automatically detect if different files happen to be identical. It would need to make a bit-to-bit comparison against each file. For instance, if you have 100 old and 100 new files this would mean 10000 full file comparison tasks EDIT: actually, if the files are already moved there are no old files so it would be impossible to compare them. It could work only if the files are in the both locations, but then the library links would be fine.

A few months ago JRiver introduced the redesigned Rename, Move, & Copy Files tool. It can now apply changes only to the database if preferred.

It can easily change "X:\movies\" to "Y:\1 - Movies\" in a few seconds in case the files are already moved outside MC.

Maybe you could restore your latest library backup, switch Auto-Import off and fix the paths with the RM&CF tool as I and darichman suggested. Alternatively you can still use the old method, which is to use the Find & Replace tool for fixing the Filename(path) or Filename field.

Also, the MPL system should work:

1. Disable Auto-Importer
2. Select the video files (restore a library backup file if the library doesn't contain the old file locations anymore)
3. Export the playlist to X:\Movies\  (enable the relative paths option)
4. Remove the video files from the database
5. Move the MPL playlist file to  Y:\1 - Movies\
6. Import the MPL playlist by using the File > Import Playlist tool. (You need to select the "Common playlist types..." option in the "Files of type" drop-down menu.)
-- If you have static playlists of these video files you will need to export/import them separately because the old static playlists will be emptied when you remove the old files from the library. The "relative paths" option will work also with them.

[thurston]

Thanks for posting this, I almost made the mistake of using auto-import after I moved hundreds of files with windows explorer rather than MC.  Using Find and Replace used much less time than auto-import would have.
Thanks!

[zirum]

I did not know that the "Rename ..." could be assigned just to update in library and not also move the actual file. I'll try that. Thanks!

I am however a bit confused by this:

As I said, Auto-Importer is not the correct tool for this. The filenames are indeed unique (including the paths) and MC cannot just automatically detect if different files happen to be identical. It would need to make a bit-to-bit comparison against each file. For e.g. 100 hundred old and 100 new files this would mean 10000 full file comparison tasks.

What I tried to explain was that I tried to use the initial library, after the files was moved. Auto-import off. Do a find & replace on the path. Now my library reports those files as not missing anymore. Then I did a "run import...", but then all the same files get imported again. So I have two records in the library with the exact same filename, but every other file misses the extra information I have edited in MC from earlier.

I am just a bit curious where my logic fails. Very glad for your solutions, and do not mean to nag about what that should have been done other ways initially.  

[JONCAT]

A few months ago JRiver introduced the redesigned Rename, Move, & Copy Files tool. It can now apply changes only to the database if preferred.

Is there a strong argument to make this default behavior?

dc