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[mdx1]

I keep two version of the same file, FLAC for less critical listening and AIFF for the living room.  Recently I did extensive tag editing to the AIFF library but would like to apply the same tag changes to the FLAC library. 

Is there a way to accomplish that?

There is an Export to XML option but there is no equivalent Import XML option.  I converted every AIFF file to FLAC using dbPowerAmp but the tags did not get picked up by the FLAC library in MC 1.5.  I would rather not have to convert over 8000 files again in the future.

Thanks,

Nelson

[Alex B]

Are the files in separate Media Center databases?

Are the paths and filenames identical for both file types? (Except the filename extension and perhaps the base path.)

[mdx1]

Are the files in separate Media Center databases?

Are the paths and filenames identical for both file types? (Except the filename extension and perhaps the base path.)

The AIFF files are under D:\Music-AIFF and the FLAC files are under F:\Music-FLAC.  Other than that, the file names and path are identical.

I just discovered the export/import playlist option.  Would that work once I do a global replace on the top level directory name and file extensions?

[Alex B]

You can use the MPL playlist export / import process to update library data. A suitable external editor is Notepad++ (it's fast).

You can enable the "Store paths relative to exported playlist location" option. Tick it and export the MPL file to D:\Music-AIFF . The relative paths will be correct when you import from F:\Music-FLAC (you must place the fixed MPL file in this folder before importing).

You will need to fix the Filename and File Type fields. A single operation can fix them:
Find what: aiff</Field>  Replace with: flac</Field>

You must use the Import Playlist tool (File > Import Playlist...) to actually update the library field values. The Auto-Import feature is designed to be more protective and only creates a new playlist when it imports an mpl file.

The bitrate values will be wrong, but you can fix that by first updating the file tags: Library Tools > Update Tags (from library) and then reloading the file info: Library Tools > Update Library (from tags).

You may want to create a new library backup file before proceeding and perhaps try the procedure first with a few test files.

[mdx1]

Alex,

Thank you!  It worked beautifully!

The export to relative path does not seem to work or make any difference.  The export file names are still fully qualified starting with the drive letter.

It also would be nice if one can select just a subset of fields to export.  For example, on this set of files, only the Comment field was updated.  If only the Comment field was updated, the bit rate would stay the same.  

But those two things are very minor.  I am happy it worked so well and so fast.  Editing 8000+ files by hand would be slow.

Now I have another question.  Is it possible to have MC automated copy the content of one field to another?  For example, I would like to copy the Album name to the Comment field automatically.  What I am trying to accomplish is creating a new category of Album Sets which can contain one of more albums at my choosing.

[Vincent Kars]

Not 'automatically' but there are powerful options like copy/move or Excel style expressions
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MC14/MC14_Edit.htm