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Topic: Including subdirectories in tag changes< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
Lee Hester
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Posted: Jan. 12 2003,23:27

Can anyone help me to figure out how to do simple mass changes to include subdirectories? :confused:

Example: I recently added some C.P.E. and J.C. Bach to my collection.  I used to just have J.S. Bach tagged as "Bach."  Now I'd like to have him tagged "as Bach, Johann Sebastian"

All of his stuff is in one directory, with numerous sub and sub-sub-directories to organize it in categories, albums and so on.  

If I could just say "Make the artist field in every tag in this and all subdirectories='Bach, Johann Sebastion'" it would be perfect. :D

Such a thing would also help where I've gotten stuff off the web. The artist field may be "Bach"  "J.S. Bach"  "Johann Sebastian Bach" or whatever....  "JSB" even, depending on who ripped it.  I'd like to be able to standardize all of them, but sometimes I just dump them in the appropriate subdirectory without checking the tag.

So....  Is there a way to easily set field(s) in the tags of all mp3's in a directory and all its subs?

This program is very powerful, but I haven't figured out a lot of its features. :confused:

Thanks for your help. :)
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Magnus Brading
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Posted: Jan. 13 2003,15:38

Of course there is. ;)

1.
Set the appropriate working directory

2.
Go to the "Mass set tags/flags" tool.

3.
Fill in any field you like (leave the other fields unchecked/grayed out).

4.
Check the "Include subdirs" checkbox and press execute.

Done!


Let me just tell you, that if you weren't sure if the program could do even this simple task, you're still in for quite a few positive surprises of what it can do. ;) Feel free to ask here anytime you are uncertain anyway.

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Fiddleminger
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Posted: Jan. 25 2003,22:11

Um, no.  Not quite "done".

That damn box is, and has always been, grayed-out.  For whatever reason -- I always assumed it wasn't yet implemented -- the program has no intention of letting me do any recursive operations of any kind at any time.

Could this be related to the "explorer dirtree" bug?  I've never had the tree display work without setting the "compatibility" flag.  This has always been on W2K.  Over the time I've been using TS, it's been installed at one time or another on five different PCs.  All different h/w.  Always W2K.  The explorer tree has *never* worked without the "compatibility" checkbox.
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Disposable Hero
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Posted: Jan. 25 2003,22:17

Did you try unchecking "Custom file selection mode"? It's near the top, directly underneath the "Working directory" textbox.
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Magnus Brading
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Posted: Feb. 02 2003,20:30

Yes, please follow Disposable Hero's advise above, and it will work.

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Fiddleminger
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Posted: Feb. 17 2003,08:43

Quote (Magnus Brading @ Feb. 02 2003,20:30)
Yes, please follow Disposable Hero's advise above, and it will work.

You're right, of course.  It does work.  But might I ask "Why?"  Why is there this (undocumented, AFAIK) interaction?  Why should you have to uncheck CFSM to enable "Include subdirs" at all?  I don't see the point of it.  It's not intuitive and it's not documented.  Sure, if you run a command across a directory tree, you're not going to select individual files.  So have the program uncheck them all automatically and just get on with it.  Don't put unnecessary undocumented impediments in the way of using a function.

This brings me to one of my Pet Peeves: here we have a function "Include Subdirs" and there's NO entry in the Help for it!  Looking in Help is the first thing I do in a situation such as this, but there's no entry for it.  Try it for yourself: type "Include subdirs" in the index -- nothing.  Nothing applicable in the "Find" index either for either "include" or "subdirs".  Grrr.

There should be a rule:  Every functional word on every screen should have an entry in help somewhere.  Every error message should have an entry, including information on why the error was generated and how to avoid it in the future. All functional dependencies should be documented.

I don't mean to sound harsh.  It's just that this is one of my hot buttons.  I'm willing to explore and try things, but this one just doesn't make sense.  TS overall is an excellent product and I've recommended it many times and will continue to do so enthusiastically.  Magnus has done an outstanding job.
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Magnus Brading
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Posted: Feb. 17 2003,13:47

The reason for why subdir processing is disabled when using custom select mode is that if I would enable it and instead just uncheck all files in the custom select box, or ignore them, or whatever, I can promise you that there would be 10 times as many people here, reporting the "bug" that the files in the custom select box are unchecked and/or ignored as soon as they press the execute button, not understanding why. :( I must choose the least confusing alternative of the two, and I clearly think that it is disabling the subdir processing while having activated the custom select mode.

I was not aware of the bad documentation of the "include subdirs" option though, I will make sure it is documented better in the next version, including mentioning that it cannot be used together with the the custom file select mode. Thanks for pointing this out.

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Fiddleminger
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Posted: Feb. 17 2003,19:08

Quote (Magnus Brading @ Feb. 17 2003,13:47)
The reason for why subdir processing is disabled when using custom select mode is that if I would enable it and instead just uncheck all files in the custom select box, or ignore them, or whatever, I can promise you that there would be 10 times as many people here, reporting the "bug" that the files in the custom select box are unchecked and/or ignored as soon as they press the execute button, not understanding why.

So these functions are mutually exclusive, then.  Maybe they should be presented as something like either/or radio buttons so there's no doubt about what's going on.  You get to select files, or you get to operate over a directory tree.  Makes sense to me and I think anyone would get the idea immediately.
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Magnus Brading
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Posted: Feb. 18 2003,14:08

The problem with using radiobuttons is the global nature of the "custom file selection" settings, and the tool-local nature of the "include subdirs" setting. I agree that the current solution is in no way optimal though. :(

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