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[Harry The Hipster]

I've posted on this once or twice before, and at one point received some useful sounding suggestions that I can't retrace through the threads. Apologies for repetition.

I maintain 2 libraries: one for active material on my drives, the other an archive of material I've off-loaded to clear drive space (I'm not cheap, just indecisive about getting another drive or upgrading my entire system).

I've got a lot of data in my various comment and custom fields that I don't want to have to replicate in my archive library when I remove files. If I simply delete what I've removed to CD-R from the active library and re-import data from the CD-Rs into my archive library, I don't get the custom fields. I can work around the problem by cloning the two libraries, and then manually deleting active files from the archive library, and vice-versa, but its clunky and a pain in the butt.

Is there a short cut I'm missing? Thnxs for yr help.

HTH

[Callithumpian]

Probably not an exact match to your problem, but this should work.
I'm assuming that you have moved these files to CD-r and that the MJ database still thinks them on the HD. It would be way better (IMO) if you could achieve your ends from a single day-to-day working library and allow filtered View Schemes to do the work.  So everything below assumes that you are prepared to merge the "inactive" and "active" libraries first.

If you select all the "inactive" DB entries and send them to the File Properties dialogue.

Then do a "Find and Replace", replacing "C:\" with say, "ARCHIVED:\" so that a typical subject ends with its location looking like:
"ARCHIVED:\Dianna Krall\Dianna Krall - Peel Me a Grape.mp3"
On exit choose "Update Database Only"

Then make a VIEW SCHEME with the usual "Artist\Album" elements but, down the bottom in the "Search Criteria" box, put "-location=Archived".
This will exclude those "inactive" entries from the Scheme.  You can even name this View Scheme something like "Minus Archives"
You could make another View Scheme which showed only archived material using "location=Archived".

The search criterion that you use need not be location.
Maybe your archived entries already have some distinguishing information that you could use instead to filter them off.  In fact you could just add your archived material to a playlist called "Archived" then use
"-playlist=Archived" as the search criterion in your custom View Scheme.

When I archive stuff I put its Archive No. in the Custom 1 field - like "ArchiveCD45".  Hence I can use the search criterion "C1=[]" to show only Unarchived material (Custom 1 blank) or "-C1=[]" to show only the Archives.

I hope that somewhere in the above is a way you could use, but there are undoubtedly other ways.
There always are with complex, quality applications.
The "best way" will always depend on what you did last and what you intend to do next.

[Harry The Hipster]

Callithumpian:

Thnx. Sounds promising. Will give it a try.

HTH