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[dlmax63]

The importing user interface has changed and no longer has the 'Advanced' options to select file types to import or the two check boxes for ignoring previously removed files or special files.

Will these be added back in?

Is the new method using the file associations selections?

I routinely change the file types for importing to include/exclude certain file types. With the MC14 method, I must change my preferences in the options and then do the import. Otherwise, I have to do a remove from library if I leave it set for all my possible file types.

I'm not sure where you are going with the new method.  Could you add the old options back in, please?

I also noticed that even though I had unchecked "Update for external changes", MC still looked at all 11000+ of my files, this was taking too long (I quit waiting after an hour and stopped MC since the cancel button was unavailable).

[phalanthus]

i cannot say i am impressed with the changes for no apparent reason to importing of folders
why? why?
i cannot see how i tell the program what folders to "watch" and import from- with MC13 it was simple but now MC14 decides to add all and sundry other directories i do not want
am i doing something wrong?
i have gone back to MC13 and not happy!
some guidance will put a smile back on my grumpy face

[JimH]

Tools/Options/Library & Folders/Auto Import/Advanced.

[dlmax63]

Thank you Jim.

Do I have to go through this every time I change the file types for import, do the import, then go back in and change the associations again?

[MrHaugen]

I'm kind of scratching my head, wondering if this was such a great idea. The imports will import EVERYTHING you have associated with MC or what? Unless you go to customize in Auto Import. Why is there not a way of single import with only the file types you want? I think I understand you're goal here, but for users that use single import a lot, there might be much crap ending up in our libraries.

[Matt]

In the new import interface, you can check or uncheck any folders.  Changes are remembered.

If you pick a folder and pick "Customize...", you can modify the file types and advanced options.

The old Options > Library > Auto-Import settings system will likely be removed sometime during the v14 development cycle.

[dcwebman]

OK, I am not getting this at all. I don't want Auto-Import running in the background so whenever I know I have added new files to my drive, I always did a simple Tools - Import Folder. Trying it now and selecting "Import a single folder" took forever to check my 6600 files and the Cancel button isn't highlighted to let me stop it - bug.

So I tried the Auto-Import option and selected the ONE folder I use, did a Customize to select the audio formats to import, unchecked Ignore files previously removed and let it run. Nice and quick like Import Folder used to work.

Now I see the post by JimH about the Auto Import/Advanced option of which there is no Advanced option so I assume he meant to add a folder which I have never had to do and don't see a reason to do if I'm not running Auto-Import.

Simply add the Customize option to the single folder import like you used to be able to do.

[Matt]

I always did a simple Tools - Import Folder. Trying it now and selecting "Import a single folder" took forever to check my 6600 files and the Cancel button isn't highlighted to let me stop it - bug.

Two bugs.  They'll both get fixed.

Simply add the Customize option to the single folder import like you used to be able to do.

Yes, agreed.

[dcwebman]

Thanks Matt. That should make it clearer for everybody.

[Alex B]

Hmm... I am not sure if I can figure out the purpose of the change. Is it intended to be easier to understand and use? Does the redesigned system provide functional advantages?

In my main MC13 library I have stored only a couple of dedicated import locations and when I am not importing stuff by dragging to Playing Now and importing from there I use the "Run Auto-Import Now" command. I have the cleaning features disabled because it is not possible to limit them only to the listed locations. I don't want MC to monitor all media file locations and make automatic changes to the database.

With MC14 I seem to able to do the same as the "Run Auto-Import Now" button did by going through about five steps. (Import... > select Auto-Import > press Next > review the list of about 150 folders and verify that only the correct folders are ticked > press Finish)

MC14 seems to always verify a rather strange list of about 150 folder paths after the Auto-Import options are selected. It always takes some time before the list is ready. (The first time was really slow. Apparently it checked each and every folder on my hard drives.) Perhaps I have used the about 150 listed folders sometime in the past because some of them look familiar. Where do they come from?

[JimH]

Hmm... I am not sure if I can figure out the purpose of the change. Is it intended to be easier to understand and use? Does the redesigned system provide functional advantages?

The former method was fine for someone who understood the concept of importing and knew where their media was stored.

That's about 80% of the people who frequent this forum, but I think it's only about 10% of typical users.

The new import should work for both.  Please be patient while we work out the problems.

[Alex B]

The former method was fine for someone who understood the concept of importing and knew where their media was stored.

That's about 80% of the people who frequent this forum, but I think it's only about 10% of typical users.

I see. I thought the old system was pretty straightforward for those who wanted to use an automatic system without knowing much about the technical details. You just needed to tell MC once where you keep the media files in case they were not in the default media locations (which I think were listed automatically).

My impression was that it was only sometimes difficult for those who wanted to create a more complex custom configuration, but didn't quite understand how the advanced options work or couldn't even find the advanced options.

The new import should work for both. Please be patient while we work out the problems.

This is exactly the reason I posted my observations and asked the questions. I am trying to understand the goal and help the development process. I wasn't complaining because I didn't think it was a finished work.

How MC gathers the list of the folders? Are the old paths and settings stored in the database? If I have used them in the past they have been removed from the visible list in MC13 a long time ago. Can I reset them somehow?

[Matt]

How MC gathers the list of the folders? Are the old paths and settings stored in the database? If I have used them in the past they have been removed from the visible list in MC13 a long time ago. Can I reset them somehow?

It's scanning your drives (in a background thread) for likely media folders.  It looks at folder names, properties, etc. and compares it against a set of white-list / black-list rules.

If it's missing things or finding things it shouldn't, please provide more details.

Thanks.

[Alex B]

It just seems to be a quite arbitrary list of about 150 folders. Some of them are excluded for no obvious reason.  Many of the automatically found folders contain temporary stuff that is not going to stay.

This PC has 2.3 TB of physical hard drive space. As I have explained a few times I use the virtual X: Y: and Z: drive letters for the imported stuff in my main media library. The roots of these virtual drives are also the basefolders in this library. Currently I create them from the folders on two physical 1TB drives by using the SUBST command (for that I have a .bat file in the startup folder). On other PCs the same three letters are created by mapping network shares.

I attached a screenshot of the first about 20 folders that were found automatically (after the three default Windows locations).

In theory, if I would like to use a fully automatic setup I would still need to limit the searches to the X, Y and Z letters. In reality, for various reasons, it still would not work properly for me and the best option is to import from a separate dedicated import location and move the files or drag & drop from Windows Explorer if I have already placed the files in the final location.