Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

I'm glad you caught that....sorry for any confusion.


Definitely...this is a relatively common operation, since many people make alternate versions of their music library (for portable devices, backup, etc.) I assume that's why dBp has naming elements for copying the structure of an existing library. While we haven't nailed down the cause of your issue...yet, there's undoubtedly a solution.


Yeah, you're right...that'll get really old doing that many albums manually. I really think this can be worked out and you'll be able to get through them without all that extra work.

So let's say you have your original files....C:\users\davidrubenstein\Music\Aerosmith \Toys In The Attic

When you set are setting up the conversion for these files, what exactly are you putting in the "Folder" section? And what do you want the "top-level" folder to be in the new location? (i.e., should it start with the \music level, or lower, at the \artist level? Or something else?)

I want all the albums to be in "music"folder", as opposed to being copied with the added and unnecessary layers. The good news is removing those layers, bypassing is a better description, is incredibly easy and almost instantaneous.

I select all the music album folders, and "move" them three levels up directly to the root of the folder I want, in this case "music".

Because I'm moving, not copying, it's instant, and by selecting all it was all done in one step.

So, effectively, problem solved. Having said that, it should've worked by removing the unwanted layers using "trimfirstfolder" so I'll send the screenshots when I'm back later today.

Thanks again for all your help guys.

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

There is something else going on however. This definitely DOESN'T work. Now adding the [trimfirstfolder] is adding some kind of corruption as it removes the folder structure being left intact. I've tried, one, two and three, and intellectually, one can clearly see three would be correct, but once the [trimfirstfolder] is added, the folder structure is no longer copied over intact for some strange reason.

Please post a screen shot of the dBpoweramp Music Converter AIFF converter window, with the settings you are using that is causing the problem.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Funny. Actually I caught that earlier and added it, but thank you guys, you've been great.

I'm glad you caught that....sorry for any confusion.

I've solved this with a little work-around, although in all honesty, I have to believe what I'm trying to do is extremely common and a solution should be found for what we've been discussing.

Definitely...this is a relatively common operation, since many people make alternate versions of their music library (for portable devices, backup, etc.) I assume that's why dBp has naming elements for copying the structure of an existing library. While we haven't nailed down the cause of your issue...yet, there's undoubtedly a solution.

Anyway, my workaround, which worked fine with the small sample-size of folders I've copied over to test this string throughout this craziness, is to use [origpath]\[origfilename], and then to simply move the actual "album" folders three levels up, and then delete the empty "users", "davidrubenstein" and "music" folders, leaving the albums, which seem to only be copied over intact using only [origpath]\[origfilename] convention.

It worked fine doing this with a small sample-size, it will obviously be much more involved with 1,000 albums that I'm converting, but until the code is sourced correctly I can't think of any other way, though this is hardly the most efficient way.

Let me know your thoughts guys-

-D

Yeah, you're right...that'll get really old doing that many albums manually. I really think this can be worked out and you'll be able to get through them without all that extra work.

So let's say you have your original files....C:\users\davidrubenstein\Music\Aerosmith \Toys In The Attic

When you set are setting up the conversion for these files, what exactly are you putting in the "Folder" section? And what do you want the "top-level" folder to be in the new location? (i.e., should it start with the \music level, or lower, at the \artist level? Or something else?)

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Funny. Actually I caught that earlier and added it, but thank you guys, you've been great. There is something else going on however. This definitely DOESN'T work. Now adding the [trimfirstfolder] is adding some kind of corruption as it removes the folder structure being left intact. I've tried, one, two and three, and intellectually, one can clearly see three would be correct, but once the [trimfirstfolder] is added, the folder structure is no longer copied over intact for some strange reason.

I've solved this with a little work-around, although in all honesty, I have to believe what I'm trying to do is extremely common and a solution should be found for what we've been discussing.

Anyway, my workaround, which worked fine with the small sample-size of folders I've copied over to test this string throughout this craziness, is to use [origpath]\[origfilename], and then to simply move the actual "album" folders three levels up, and then delete the empty "users", "davidrubenstein" and "music" folders, leaving the albums, which seem to only be copied over intact using only [origpath]\[origfilename] convention.

It worked fine doing this with a small sample-size, it will obviously be much more involved with 1,000 albums that I'm converting, but until the code is sourced correctly I can't think of any other way, though this is hardly the most efficient way.

Let me know your thoughts guys-

-D

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Ha! See what I mean?

definitely

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

Ha! See what I mean? Got it right the second time around, at least.

But this does illustrate my point well: You and I have been doing this a long time and it's still easy to type "bracketology" errors..... Thanks for catching it in that post, I'll go back and fix it. To the OP, if you're copying and pasting at all, use my most recent examples!

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

In post no. 16, the syntax in the string:
[trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][origpath[][][]\[origfilename]

is incorrect. It is missing a right square bracket at the end of [origpath

The string you need to try is:
[trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][origpath][][][]\[origfilename]

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

So:
[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][][][]\[origfilename]
should work, as garym suggested, but it is not. I am trying to find out, why it is not working.

Yeah, I suspect it's the combination of his "Folder" designation and the "orig" string not quite being in sync yet. I.e., perhaps he was adding too many levels already under "Folder," or something along that line. I think if he just sets the general folder location and leaves it alone, he should be able to work his way toward the correct number of folder levels to copy over (by adjusting the number of [trimfirstfolder] elements). And because naming strings require such precise syntax, a missing or extra bracket anywhere in the mix can also throw the whole thing into turmoil. :(

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

In his original post, he indicated that he wants the folder structure replicated in a new location of his choosing. So it's a different destination folder.

So:
[TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][TRIMFIRSTFOLDER][origpath][][][]\[origfilename]
should work, as garym suggested, but it is not. I am trying to find out why it is not working.

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

In his original post, he indicated that he wants the folder structure replicated in a new location of his choosing. So it's a different destination folder.

Thanks so much guys. I'm out now but will try when I get back.

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

In his original post, he indicated that he wants the folder structure replicated in a new location of his choosing. So it's a different destination folder.

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

In the music folder (users/davidrubenstein/music) the folders are organized as either name of artist e.g. Aerosmith, with the various albums as sub-folders, and then the individual tracks of each album.

In the case of a compilation album, where each track is from a different artist, it is largely the same, the name of the ALBUM is the main folder, and then only the tracks, NOT a bunch of separate or sub-folders by artist, but this is only for a soundtrack or compilation album for example. And all tags are absolutely consistent and solid.

I'm trying to convert from FLAC to AIFF.

So, if you convert the following folder:
DriveLetter:\users\davidrubenstein\Music\Aerosmith \Toys In The Attic

from FLAC to AIFF, where do you want the AIFF files created, in the same folder? I am not clear on the destination folder (Output Location).

[BrodyBoy]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

When I use that exact string, I get only all individual music files with NO folders. It eliminates the users/david/music hierarchy, yes, but loses the folders of artist or album(!)

I think you removed too many folder levels.

Try working with just a small batch at a time, so your experimentation isn't too time-consuming. And delete failed attempts, so you don't get a mixed up mess. First, specify the general location for your new files in the "Folder" section. Then try [origpath]\[origfilename] with just one [trimfirstfolder], like this:
[trimfirstfolder][origpath][]\[origfilename]

Be VERY careful to get all the brackets correct. (Because if you leave out closing brackets, an element will just get ignored.) How close does this get you to what you want?

If there are still too many levels, try adding another [trimfirstfolder]:
[trimfirstfolder][trimfirstfolder][origpath][][]\[origfilename]

How about now?

[DMRube]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

How are the folders organised under this folder? What is the destination folder and what format are you converting from/to?

In the music folder (users/davidrubenstein/music) the folders are organized as either name of artist e.g. Aerosmith, with the various albums as sub-folders, and then the individual tracks of each album.

In the case of a compilation album, where each track is from a different artist, it is largely the same, the name of the ALBUM is the main folder, and then only the tracks, NOT a bunch of separate or sub-folders by artist, but this is only for a soundtrack or compilation album for example. And all tags are absolutely consistent and solid.

I'm trying to convert from FLAC to AIFF.

Thanks so much, I really appreciate your help-

[mville]

Re: Preserving folder layout, not same as I'm seeing in forums

I thought I did actually in post 10, I thought I described the folder hierarchy. It's "users/davidrubenstein/music".

How are the folders organised under this folder? What is the destination folder and what format are you converting from/to?