Overwrite protection not working

[tenbob]

Hi. I've discovered some apparent bugs in v12.4 Registered which can lead to loss of files. Could someone please advise if I'm doing something wrong.

I'm doing a bulk conversion of files in a set of folders and subfolders. At the start of the coversion there is a warning screen that tells me if I'm going to overwrite any files in the destination folder. I can then rename them to avoid this. So far, so good.

Bug No.1. If I rename the file and inadvertently choose a name that already exists, it will overwrite THAT file without giving me any further warning.

Bug No.2. The warning screen does not warn me if two input files are going to produce the same named output file. eg if the inputs are song.wav and song.m4a, the output file for both will be song.mp3. The second conversion overwrites the first, so I only get one output file.

I discovered this the hard way after converting for several hours then finding I was missing some files. Tracking down which ones was a nightmare.

The fact that the program can silently overwrite files without any warning is a huge risk. Is there any way to tell it NEVER to overwrite anything. Or to get it to make up new unique filenames to avoid this.

Thanks for any help. tenbob

[Spoon]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Yes use the dynamic naming and add in [unqiue] to the filename.

[tenbob]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Hi Spoon. It's great to hear from the "main man".

It looks like I can't use the dynamic option because I don't have the Reference version of the software. So I'm still stuck.

It does seem to be a serious issue that dmc overwrites files without giving any warning. It should at least pop up a confirm dialog just before your valuable file gets zapped.

Replacing my missing files was a nightmare. I had to load all the source filenames and paths into a spreadsheet, sort it, match it with what was there and then create a batch file to recopy the files I wanted. Literally hours of work that I could have avoided if the program had warned me that it was going to overwrite stuff.

So is there any solution for non-Reference users? - tenbob

[Spoon]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Not if you are converting from multiple sources to the same folder no.

[Porcus]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Not if you are converting from multiple sources to the same folder no.

The user could very well convert to source, and then use the command line -- or a move utility like xxcopy (warning, it is powerful, meaning also power to destroy!) with do-not-overwrite settings.

[tenbob]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Thanks, Porcus, for the useful suggestion. xxcopy looks like a powerful program. The key feature is it can flatten a directory tree and put all the files in one place, generating new names for duplicates as necessary.

It turns out I can also do the same thing using iTunes, which is how the tree was created in the first place.

Here's what I SHOULD have done if I'd known that dmc was going to mess up the conversion by overwriting some of its own output files. (1) Select all the required files in iTunes and drag them into an empty folder. iTunes magically flattens the tree and invents new names for any duplicates. (2) Examine the filenames in the temporary folder to find any where the first part of the name is the same, but the extension is different. Manually rename these to avoid any clashes when they are converted. (3) Run dmc on the folder.

I still think it's an elementary feature of almost any user interface to say "That file already exists - Do you want to overwrite it?" I don't see why it's not being done here.

tenbob

[LtData]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

The check is done, but at the beginning for existing files, not for files that are created in the conversion against files created later in the conversion.

[wilcoson]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Yes use the dynamic naming and add in [unqiue] to the filename.

i had the same thing happen and overwrote a bunch of existing files with the same tagging. where does [unique] (i'm assuming you misspelled it) go in relation to the filename. i have a long dynamic naming line that categorizes by first letter of band name then band then album title then track title.

[wilcoson]

Re: Overwrite protection not working

Actually, having further considered it, there is no solution for this other than making sure that I rename the new files with a slightly different album title. Wished I'd have done that.