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[ShayB]

hi,

I created a user field [my_path] and filled it with "calculated value".
The target is to have the same base dir and just change the differnt paths acording to the media.

I checked the value as a field in one of the scheme views and it looked fine.  for example "/audio files/g/"
now I used it as the rule for the sub-directory ( /[my_path]/ ) but instead I  got:
 "/audio files_g/[my_file_name_rule]"


Is this a bug / is there a work-around to fix this?

Shay

[marko]

*Is this a bug?*
No. It's just a case of interpretation...
you are asking MC to create a directory called "\[field]\"
If the data contained within [field] contains a back(or forward)slash, they are converted to an underscore because they are illegal characters in file or folder names.
You can check this by renaming a folder using explorer...
If you try to add a slash in the foldername, explorer doesn't create a new folder path, it returns an error. MC is avoiding that error.

*is there a work-around to fix this?*
Of course there is, you are using MC after all

*The target is to have the same base dir and just change the differnt paths acording to the media.*
You should be able to use database expressions to create a single rule for directories and another for filenames that takes care of all your renaming requirements regardless of media type.

If you would like some help with this, post back giving clear details about:
your 'base path'
the different media types involved and the filenaming templates you'd like to use.
any custom library fields involved.

-marko.

[ShayB]

hi Marko,

So here are more details to help me spread my files into the appropriate folders:
I have a base address like "d:\media center"
after that I have folders "audio" , "images", "video",...
in images I have "camera", "scaned" , others...

I want to be able to rename the files so I created user fields such as [_audio_name] and [_scaned_name]
which uses the fields I need to create the file names. when ever I need to rename an audio/scaned I just replace the name of the feild in the rename file expression.

I want to do the same with folders but as you mentioned it the "\" is replaced by "_" and so I can't use users fields that contain the sub folder that I want.
(       for audio I used "Audio\mid([artist],-1,1)\"
  and for scaned I use "Images\scaned\")

As I understand, the base dir cannot support expression/field.

So, how do I workaround the folder rule limitation using the above details?


Shay

[marko]

As I understand, the base dir cannot support expression/field.

You understand correctly, doesn't he Matt? I've been asking for this to be implemented for several years now. I've never been emphatically told "Can't be done, NO" so I still live in hope

I have a base address like "d:\media center"
after that I have folders "audio" , "images", "video",...
in images I have "camera", "scaned" , others...

Good.

Still need more info though... (please read this through to the end in case I'm miles off beam)

for audio I used "Audio\mid([artist],-1,1)\"

and then what? artist\album?
do you use the [disc #] field for multi disc albums, so, multi disc albums would be artist\album\disc #\?
what do you do with multi-artist albums?

in images I have "camera", "scaned" , others

Images are not as straightforward as audio...

"camera", "scanned" and "others" are what I refer to here as the image "source" and as such, I created a user defined field called, strangely enough, [source]!!
I'm looking for minimum workload with this field, so, as the huge majority of my images come from my camera, and my camera names it's jpg's as IMG_1234 I decided to use the [filename (name)] field.
I set [source] to be a calculated field using an expression that checks the filenames for the three leading characters and so sets the [source] value accordingly.

For images that I scan into the PC myself, I have control over their filenames by way of the scanner software, they get named SCN_1234
When MC imports photos that my Mum has sent me, part of my tagging workflow is to rename the files to MUM_1234
and so on...
MC makes this very easy to manage by providing a counter() function.
Say the files my Mum has sent me so far are numbered sequentially up to MUM_0876.jpg
I select the dozen or more pictures she most recently sent me, in the tag window, I click to edit the [filename (name)] field and type in =MUM_0counter(877).jpg and hit Enter and all the files are sequentially renamed. It's a very quick and simple step in the tagging workflow.
You don't need to copy that, but you do need a tag of some description to distinguish between sources, and you need to let me know what that tag is

As for audio above, you have your base directory of D:\Media Center\Images\Camera\
but then what? Do you just dump everything into the \Camera\ folder?
Here, I use \[year] - [month]\ folders to hold the files.. What do you do?

after that I have folders "audio" , "images", "video",...

How do you file you video files away?

-----

The idea here is, that once you have gathered all that information, you/we will create two expressions, one for folders and one for file names.
They will be created along the lines of:
if the file is audio, does it have a disc number, is it multi-artist, etc. etc. so do this with it, if it's an image file, do this with it, and if it's a video file, then do this.
and the same again for file names.

-----

It may seem like a lot of work, and to be honest, it probably will be, but, if you're fully happy with you're filenaming templates and don't plan on changing them any time soon, it's well worth doing. I've used the same two expressions in the rename from properties tool for two years or more now. It's simplicity itself. Choose rename from properties and then immediately hit the OK button. Job Done!

Audio is an easy target. Take your custom field as an example: Audio\mid([artist],-1,1)\
If you select a bunch of audio files and then use that directly in the rename tool, it will work as you expect, but, you will need to always be sure you only have audio files selected.

As you use various templates in the rename tool, they are automatically saved under 'presets' for you to use again at will, so perhaps you might prefer this more fragmented type of approach?
For me, being able to just select a bunch of tagged files, choose rename from props, hit the OK button, and know that regardless of media type, the files will be sent to the correct locations is a wonderful thing indeed. Something that, as far as I know, only Media Center can do.

So, the time invested now more than pays back in the future. I'll leave you to decide how you want to proceed. If you would like some help/guidance creating the expressions, I don't mind helping out. Just give it some thought and let me know. I've only typed all of this because from your post above, it would appear that you're well on your way to a well organised media hard drive, but with those 'media specific' custom fields, a) they're not working as you expected, and b) to my understanding, they are not really saving you much time and effort.

-marko.

[Matt]

You understand correctly, doesn't he Matt? I've been asking for this to be implemented for several years now. I've never been emphatically told "Can't be done, NO" so I still live in hope

I can't think of any reason to _not_ add this.

Remind us once a week until it's done.