-Brading Software Message Board
+--Forum: Mp3/Tag Studio Suggestions
+---Topic: Tag/rename from list with subdirs started by Flyby
Posted by: Flyby on Nov. 23 2002,16:01
What I want to do is burn my mp3 collection to CDs in a way that is compatible with my DVD player (that handles mp3 CDs) and also be able to restore the files to the computer just like they were before.
For convenient playback on the DVD, I like the file names to be in a different format than what I use on the computer. I use mostly "<Artist> - <Album> - <TrackNr> - <Title>.mp3" on the computer and I plan to use <TrackNr>-<Title>-<Artist>-<Album>.mp3 on the CD. I also need to replace some characters that the DVD can't display. I have mostly full albums and I want each album in it's own sub directory.
With subdir support in the Tag/rename from list function, I could restore all file names to their original state after I copy the files back to the computer using a custom list with the format "<Filepath relative>" generated before the Auto rename (from tags). Now you might say "why don't you just use Auto rename (from tags) with the original format to restore the file names?". The reason I can't do that is because I have checksum files (md5 or sfv) in all folders and therefore the file names have to be restored exactly like they were. Not all original file names are in exactly the same format with exactly the same character replacements.
To make this work, the program would sort the directory names alphabetically, just as it does with files. To make it a bit safer, it'd be nice if it checked that the number of files in each folder (after filtering) match the number of files in the corresponding directory in the list file. I guess you could make the whole thing simpler by only supporting name changes for the files. I personally don't plan on changing the directory names.
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Nov. 23 2002,16:27
Hmm, I'm not sure I completely understand. You're not saying anything about renaming directories or moving files between directories, right?
So, are the files organized in the desired directory structure from the start, and you only want to rename the files inside each directory then?
Posted by: Flyby on Nov. 25 2002,00:01
Right. I don't need the directories renamed. They will be the same as in the file.
On the other hand it would seem logical to also support renaming of directories
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Nov. 25 2002,00:28
Ok, then I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say that the "Tag/rename from list" tool has no "subdir support"? It supports both full and relative paths for both the input and output names in the lists it processes?! Please explain further and I will do my best to help you.
PS.
Since the processing model in the entire program is based on files and not directories, it wouldn't really be that logical (or non-problematic
) to support directory renaming in this single tool, no.
Posted by: Flyby on Dec. 01 2002,00:17
As far as I can tell, it doesn't support renaming files in multiple directories from the same list, unlike "Auto rename (from tags)". There is no "include subdirs" checkbox.
Let's say I use "Create custom lists" with <Filepath relative> row format on a directory with two sub-directories with mp3:s in them. The list I get looks like this:
----------------
Filename with relative path
A\x1.mp3
A\x2.mp3
A\x3.mp3
B\y1.mp3
B\y2.mp3
B\y3.mp3
----------------
If I try to use "Tag/rename from list" with rename selected and <New name RP> row format, and select the parent directory, I get "There were more entries in list than there were files to process. Aborting." Because it only looks for files in the parent directoy that I selected.
If I select the A directory instead, it gives the same error message but also suggests renaming the first file to "Filename with relative path", the second file to "x2.mp3" and so on.
What I want it to do is rename the first file in A to x1.mp3 and the first file in B to y1.mp3 and so on.
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Dec. 01 2002,18:17
You have to specify both the old and the new filename in the list to be able to do that. It is just a special case to give only the new name (please see the help file for more info about this).
So, the template to use will look something like this:
---------------------CODE SAMPLE-------------------
<Old name RP>; <New name RP>
---------------------CODE SAMPLE-------------------
And then when you want to rename them back, you simply switch the fields in the template and use the exact same list, like this:
---------------------CODE SAMPLE-------------------
<New name RP>; <Old name RP>
---------------------CODE SAMPLE-------------------
Posted by: Flyby on Dec. 03 2002,21:59
The problem is that I don't have a list in the "<Old name RP>; <New name RP>" format and I obviously don't want to create it by hand.
The perfect solution would be if the Auto rename (from tags) function could generate the list when I use it to rename the files to the format I want on the CD. I could then use the list to bring back the original names after I copy them back to a harddrive.
How about a "save as list" button in the "Processing results preview" window that pops when you do the auto rename? (the list should be in the "<Old name RP>; <New name RP>" and not the format displayed in the actual window). Another option would be a button or something on the Auto rename (from tags) tab.
Posted by: Disposable Hero on Dec. 04 2002,01:40
Apologies if I'm being dense, but I don't understand - is there some reason that you cannot generate the desired list with the listmaker tool's Advanced Mode?
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Dec. 04 2002,01:49
Actually, that is already done Flyby.
The undo file (rename.und) saves both the old name and the new name after each operation, and you can easily parse it with the list rename tool (even though it is on separate lines). Simply save a copy of it after the initial rename operation, and you're done.Also, since you are using the auto rename tool to create the filenames in the first place, you can actually create such a list by using only the listmaker, by simply using the same template fields that you used in the auto rename tool, to build the filenames in the list yourself.
(with the only exception of files that will contain illegal characters in their names, but the undo file technique handles that too).
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Dec. 04 2002,01:53
And no Disposable Hero, you're not dense. On the contrary.
The only possible problem with that, as mentioned in my post above, is the case where the generated filenames contain illegal file system characters.
Posted by: Flyby on Feb. 09 2003,21:14
I just tried it with the undo file as you suggested and it worked!
There's a small gotcha though. Here's what I did:
After copying the rename.und file, I used search and replace in the file to remove the absoulte part of the paths in the file. I did this because I want to be able to use the list even though the base path is different (because it's on a different computer, for example).
I ended up with a list like this:
Björk - Vespertine\01-Hidden Place-Björk-Vespertine.mp3
Björk - Vespertine\Björk - Vespertine - 01 - Hidden Place.mp3
Björk - Vespertine\02-Cocoon-Björk-Vespertine.mp3
Björk - Vespertine\Björk - Vespertine - 02 - Cocoon.mp3
Björk - Vespertine\03-Its Not Up To You-Björk-Vespertine.mp3
Björk - Vespertine\Björk - Vespertine - 03 - It's Not Up To You.mp3
I used the rename from list tool in advanced mode with the "<Old name RP>[NEWLINE]<New name RP>" format. The files were renamed properly, but they were also moved to a subfolder with the same name as the folder in the list.
So instead of:
Björk - Vespertine\Björk - Vespertine - 01 - Hidden Place.mp3
I ended up with:
Björk - Vespertine\Björk - Vespertine\Björk - Vespertine - 01 - Hidden Place.mp3
So it seems the <New name RP> is interpreted as "relative to the old file location" instead of "relative to the working directory". This must be a bug, right?
I had to use "<Old name RP>[NEWLINE]<New name>" to make it work. This seems very counter-intuitive since there actually is a relative path with the new name.
Posted by: Magnus Brading on Feb. 09 2003,22:11
While it might still be useful to have a mode that uses paths relative to the currently processed file, you are probably right that the most intuitive functionality for the <New name RP> field would be to make it relative to the working dir. It would most likely be best to make the current functionality of the <New name RP> field into a fourth mode instead, something like <New name FRP> (File Relative Path).
Thanks for pointing this out, I will make note of it for a future update.
Posted by: Fiddleminger on Feb. 17 2003,05:04
Allowing as how I may not completely understand the OP's issue I'd like to suggest that the OP consider the possibility of using a DOS batch file to do what he needs to do. You can do a lot, using, for example, "dir /s /b >file.txt" and then editing this file with Excel, adding in appropriate delimiters and commands with search/replace and column-oriented operations. You then save out the file with a ".bat" extension and run it from a command line. It sounds more cumbersome than it is, and you can accomplish some fairly messy tasks easily and quickly. This technique obviously isn't the answer to a maiden's prayer for all situations, but for tasks that lend themselves to simple command-line operations, it can be remarkably effective.
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