* IF MC is used to "DELETE FROM LIBARY AND DISC", this is done BUT the source folder remains, all non-music files (cover art, etc.) remain...only the track files are deleted;
Good point. I don't delete a lot of things, so I hadn't considered that.
*IF AUTO IMPORT is used, it looks like the import will only include music files...and not cover art, docs, etc.;
Cover art should be picked up automatically from the directory. "Docs", I'm not sure about. If you mean like PDF liner notes and things like that, I'm not sure how that stuff works. I've read up on it some, but it was extremely confusing. I think you need to some very special setup to make liner notes display. Auto Import works fantastically for music files, video files, and images separately. I've used auto import on hundreds of albums, movies, TV shows, etc with essentially no issues.
Looks like a two-step process...
If you're going to be deleting things more than occasionally, then yes, a two step process might be better for you. Delete the directories externally, then use the smart list inside of MC to delete MC's entries.
Unless you have some way of displaying liner notes and extra images with an album, I wouldn't consider that any kind of second step. MC will pick up the audio files and appropriately named cover art automatically.
Brian.