Still - after all of this - I am hoping you guys can see that it still would be nice to be able to to use RM&C - directly on the selected folder
And, as I've said (now three times),
it can do this:
For the record, though, if you do want to just add a directory to the existing "in place" folder, you can. You use the Filename Template to do it, and not the Directory Template. This is still not a very efficient way to work, but if you need to in a particular case, you can.
Select the files, and open up RMCF. Uncheck the Directories Template (which will then use the existing directory structure as the base) and put your directories you want created in the Filename Template, like thus:
Rule: if(isempty([Disc #],1),,Disc [Disc #])\<Your Regular File Naming System Goes Here>
If you just want to add a folder, and even pass through the existing filenames, then do:
Rule: if(isempty([Disc #],1),,Disc [Disc #])\[Filename (Name)]
So, I'm not sure what the issue is. Have you tried this?
That is what I thought the tool was designed for - to hit files inside OR outside the library and be able to utilize the power of it's renaming templates to make the job easy.
No. It is not. It can do some limited things for non-imported files, but it
absolutely is designed to work with imported files.
In general, it is this core assumption that is leading you astray.
MC is not designed to work on anything not in the Library. The Library is how it knows about files, and generally, it provides only very limited tools to work with files outside the Library. This is a conscious design, because the central assumption is that it shouldn't mess with things it doesn't have "permission" to mess with, and it only has "permission" to touch the files that have been imported.
Generally, the reason you want to do this:
So I wanted to first try to use the power of RM&C to get these guys ship shape - OUTSIDE of any library - before moving them into the library.
That is faulty reasoning, probably because you don't understand some of the things MC can do. To be perfectly clear:
The best methodology for dealing with new files is to import everything and deal with them after they are in your Library. That gives you full access to all of the organizational power that MC offers (which is substantial). Doing it "backwards" forces you to essentially work with handcuffs on.
The reason some users, almost certainly like yourself, want to do it the other way is simple: You don't want files you haven't "tamed to your will" to show up in your "lists" (the set of files you use inside MC for "consumption") and "pollute" everything. That is a perfectly reasonable desire, and one I completely and utterly share with you. Most power users here would agree, but most power users here also import everything first and then deal with them afterwards.
The issue here is, to some degree, an issue of naming. MC uses a "Library" but that really just means "database". It is separate from, conceptually, your "media library" (big L versus little l is often the way I like to describe it). MC knows about and can use the files in your Library, but these don't have to be part of your media library that you browse when looking for some music to play.
How? Because MC doesn't have to show you everything in your Library under Audio in the Tree, that's why. It
does show you all of the imported audio files there by
default, but you can very easily change this.
The
best way to do this is reasonably simple:
1. Make a new custom Field in MC called something like [Approved]. Make it a Check Edit Type field, and give it acceptable values of only 0 and 1. After you make this field, select ALL of the files in your Library currently, and set this value to 1.
2. Add a new Top-Level View to MC called "Imports" (or "Advanced" or whatever) which acts
separately from the regular Audio, Video, and Images views of your Library. Within this view, make or copy over some views you'll use to deal with these newly imported files.
To do this, simply:
* Select Playing Now (or something other than Audio, Video, or Images) in the Tree.
* Go to
View > Add View > Add Library View. Give it the name Imports, and set it up in Panes view, and add some categories that will help you tag your files. Probably the most important category to add is Location, so that you can browse the files on disk by directory structure.
* On the right hand side of the dialog, under Included Files, open up the Set Rules for File Display search editor. Add a new rule that says:
[Approved] is 0* In the future, you will probably find it useful to make additional views underneath of this, so that you can filter the "all files" version of your Library in different ways, but for now you can start with just this one.
3. Select Audio in the Tree and right-click and choose
Customize View. On the right hand side of the dialog, under Included Files, open up the Set Rules for File Display search editor. Add a new rule that says:
[Approved] is 14. Assuming you use these features, repeat Step 3 for the Images top-level View, the Video top level View, and the top level Views in:
Tools > Options > Media Network > Advanced > Customize Views...Tools > Options > Theater ViewOnce you've done this, all newly imported files will ONLY show up in that Imports view we made in Step 2. All new files imported will automatically "come in" with [Approved] set to zero, so they'll show in that list. Since you're filtering those out of all the other views, they will NOT show in Audio, Images, or Video (or anywhere else) until you've set that [Approved] "flag" to 1.
That way, you can import the files, let MC manage them and allow yourself full access to all of MC's file management prowess, but you don't have to "pollute" your "media library" (the stuff you use).
As I said above, RMCF will work on files the way you want. You just have to put the directories you want added to the current directory in the Filename Template instead of in the Directories Template. That's because the Directories Template always works from the "far left hand side" of the full filename path. The
Filename Template works from the left hand side of the file's name (after the last slash in the full filename).
If you want to add folders, without changing the existing folder structure for files on disk, then you do it in the Filename Template, and make sure the Directories Template is
unchecked.
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Topic: Rename, Move and Copy Tool - Act on Local Folder? (Read 9504 times)