13298 MP3 Compare Importance

[chrisjj]

In FC I have a few thousand file pairs having a small set of tag fields that are important plus a large scatter of fields that are not... but which unfortunately default to Important. How should I set the unimportants? Currently I can find no way except opening successive mistmatched file pairs in MP3 Compare to see if there are some more unimportant fields in Session Sessions, and untick them there - hard work.

Thanks.

[Michael Bulgrien]

If you know what your important tags are, define them as grammars, set everything else as unimportant, save your settings as your session defaults, then compare your thousands of files using a "Rules-based comparison".

[chrisjj]

If you know what your important tags are, define them as grammarsThanks, but how? On the MP3 Formats, I find no Grammar tab.

[Aaron]

Set the MP3 Compare defaults on the Home screen, expand the Edit session defaults folder, select the MP3 Compare, and go to the Importance tab. From here, click the Unmark All button, then check the "small set" of fields you wish to compare. All future MP3 comparisons will then use these settings.

[chrisjj]

Set the MP3 Compare defaults on the Home screen ... All future MP3 comparisons will then use these settings.Thanks Aaron, that works... but unfortunately with the side effect of overriding the settings of apparently all my other saved MP3 sessions too. Aren't default settings intended to apply only to subsequent creations?

[Aaron]

Correct. A saved MP3 Compare session will save the currently checked items in the Importance tab for that session. New MP3 Compare sessions will use the new defaults. I quickly re-tested this and did not run into any issues.

If you have a saved Folder Compare, this will use the defaults for any child sessions unless you save child session settings by launching a child session, saving the session settings using the dropdown "for these files" or "for all files" and then re-saving the parent Folder Compare.

If you are still having any trouble, please send in your current Support package (Help menu -> Support; Export) to support@scootersoftware.com and include a link back to this forum post. Please include screenshot(s) or detailed steps on which session you are having trouble with and which values you expect to see.

[Michael Bulgrien]

Thanks, but how? On the MP3 Formats, I find no Grammar tab.

Sorry, I missed that you were asking about an MP3 compare. My bad.

[chrisjj]

Correct. A saved MP3 Compare session will save the currently checked items in the Importance tab for that session. New MP3 Compare sessions will use the new defaults.

OK, I'll take that as a correction to the previous "All future MP3 comparisons will then use these settings."

I quickly re-tested this and did not run into any issues.

Here's the test showing my issue.

1 Load workspace inc. MP3 session, see all elements are checkmarked:
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/9894/jascpaintshoppro1gif.png

2 In MP3 setting defaults, clear all element checkmarks:
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1926/regionj.png

3 Reload workspace

Expected: all checkmarked
Observed: none checkmarked: http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/4844/regionl.png

BCsupport.zip sent to support@scootersoftware.com

[chrisjj]

Sorry, I missed that you were asking about an MP3 compare. My bad.OK, thanks anyway for the thought, Michael.

[Erik]

Any sessions stored in a workspace are not considered new and thus do not use session defaults.

I have previously explained to you what session settings are stored in workspaces. I suggest you re-read the following post:
http://www.scootersoftware.com/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=27066&postcount=15

[chrisjj]

Any sessions stored in a workspace are not considered new and thus do not use session defaults.

I have previously explained to you what session settings are stored in workspaces.I don't mind where BC stores a session's settings, provided it stores them somewhere.

Are you suggesting that BC is not supposed to store this session's settings?

[Erik]

Are you suggesting that BC is not supposed to store this session's settings?
Actually, I'm saying almost the exact opposite. Did you re-read the earlier post? What it is describing is not where settings are stored, but which settings are stored.

If you save a workspace when you have unnamed or modified sessions open, all of their settings are remembered. Thus, when you load that workspace, the settings will be exactly what they were the last time.

[chrisjj]

Did you re-read the earlier post? What it is describing is not where settings are stored, but which settings are stored.It describes "which session settings are stored in workspaces".

If you save a workspace when you have unnamed or modified sessions open, all of their settings are remembered.Are you suggesting this applies in the case in question? In which case, how come the settings are seen changed after reloading?

[Erik]

No - it describes "which session settings are stored in workspaces".
That's pretty much the exact wording I used in my post. Does the following rephrasing make things clearer for you?

The earlier post describes which settings will be restored exactly as they were when the workspace was saved.

Are you suggesting this applies in the case in question? In which case, how come the settings are seen changed after reloading?
Actually, after looking at the settings you emailed, I discovered that the workspace is remembering it as a child session. As described, child sessions will only have the filenames be remembered.

[chrisjj]

Does the following rephrasing make things clearer for you?

The earlier post describes which settings will be restored exactly as they were when the workspace was saved.It would do... if it were true. But according to my test results, it is not.

Actually, after looking at the settings you emailed, I discovered that the workspace is remembering it as a child session. As described, child sessions will only have the filenames be remembered.There is no statement that "child sessions will only have the filenames remembered" in your posting. And it contradicts your:

If you save a workspace when you have unnamed or modified sessions open, all of their settings are remembered.


If you have reproduced the loss of settings I reported, I'd be grateful to hear this issue is going to be fixed.

[Erik]

There is no statement that "child sessions will only have the filenames remembered" in your posting.
Actually, that's exactly what is meant by the following statement from my posting:

Child sessions (file compares spawned from folder compares) store their base folders/files and a reference to their parent.

[Erik]

No, it does not contradict my previous statement since child sessions are not the same as unnamed sessions. However, there are several ways you can convert a child session into an unnamed session. The easiest one is to close the parent session.

[chrisjj]

Actually, that's exactly what is meant by the following statement from my posting:

Child sessions (file compares spawned from folder compares) store their base folders/files and a reference to their parent.

No - nothing there says other settings are lost.

No, it does not contradict my previous statement since child sessions are not the same as unnamed sessions.My session is unnamed, so by your

"If you save a workspace when you have unnamed or modified sessions open, all of their settings are remembered."

it should be saved. It is not.

Are you saying this is working as designed? I.e. I change this session's settings, close the workspace, get no warning that there are unsaved settings, and BC throws away those settings - deliberately?

[Chris]

BC3 is working as designed.

If you want to affect new sessions, edit the session defaults.

If you want to affect an independent MP3 Compare session, change the settings, click OK, then save the session.

If you want to affect an MP3 Compare session that is a child of a Folder Compare session, edit settings in that child MP3 Compare. Set the dropdown in the Session > Session Settings dialog to "Use for these files within parent session" or "Use for all files within parent session" before clicking OK.

If you aren't sure if you're in a child session, look for the presence of the "Search > Next Difference Files" command. If the command is present, the session is a child of a Folder Compare. If the command is not present, it is not a child session.

[chrisjj]

BC3 is working as designed.Thanks. It would be handy if you could tell me if there are any other cases in which BC silently and deliberately discards my session settings when I close.

[chrisjj]

It would be handy if you could tell me if there are any other cases in which BC silently and deliberately discards my session settings when I close.

Please.

[Lutz]

2 suggestions:

Child sessions should be marked at the tab (with a tooltip showing the parent session and perhaps a tab context command 'goto parent' and/or the 'Select Tab' list ordered by parent/child relations).

Storing a workspace should offer the option to store all child sessions settings also (with the checkbox 'don't ask again').

Greetings Lutz

[chrisjj]

Much simpler: store all session settings.

[chrisjj]

Please.
Please?

[Aaron]

This behavior is not likely to change in BC3. You'll need to explicitly save the child sessions as part of the parent session first if you want to save them as part of the workspace. When we look at upgrading session settings and workspaces, we'll take this feedback into account.

[chrisjj]

Sorry to be unclear - what I was asking for is whether you could tell me if there are any other cases in which BC silently discards my session settings when I close. Thanks.

[Aaron]

Not that I know of. BC3 only discards session settings from unsaved child sessions.

[chrisjj]

Good to know. Good luck in closing the single loophole. Thanks Aaron.