In mine, it's a simple existence check. I don't check modification dates or anything like that. I didn't figure the use case of getting better versions of songs you already have with the exact same name, album, etc. was something that ws very likely, vs. the mod date on the source being updated for some other unimportant reason, which would then mean I'd be doing unnecessary copies. Only way to force new copies is to delete or change the destination.
I'd be interested to know if "smarter" checking for whether or not to copy is something that would be useful for people. Same with deleting items no longer in the source but in the destination - I don't do that and specifically didn't want to in the case of my whole library copy. But for playlists I currently will delete items deleted from a playlist (figure that's probably a common use case). I don't currently delete whole playlists at the destination that are no longer in the source - I've mixed feelings about it. It's not hard to manually delete them, and didn't want to delete folders someone may have added manually
I kind of saw things, based on my usage pattern, as being you'd copy a bunch of stuff the first time you used it, then after that it'd mostly be quick updates to grab the new media you've acquired, and you'd probably just start it and (since all your selections from last time are reloaded) hit do it. Done. I didn't attempt to handle the cases of updating already existing media, or deleting media you don't want copied over any more. Figured it's unlikely to happen, and in the rare occasion it does, scrap the destination and redo it all overnight. That doesn't work if it's not rare though. Open to feedback.
I do kind of wonder what would be best to do next though. My thoughts right now are, in addition to any bug fixes that are needed:
* fix the playlist view look - some mismatched backgrounds and such, just cosmetic
* make it so you can click anywhere on the line to select the playlist
* autoupdate notification
* detail progress view, sort of like you can click the Safari or iTunes progress/disclosure button and pop up a list of operations and status
* playlist folder management, as in if you deselect a playlist, it'll remove it from the destination playlist folder - feature or misfeature? Looking for feedback.
< pause to regroup and consider what to change>
* windows version
* linux version
Not sure how useful a windows version will be (much less a linux version). How many people actually use apple lossless on windows and also own a Model S and care enough to bother with something like this. If you don't use Apple Lossless, not really sure what someone would really be looking for in a utility that doesn't already exist in one of the many available. For Linux, I'd expect even fewer use Apple Lossless (probably already do FLAC directly), installed base lower, and otherwise same comments as Windows applies.
Are there Windows users out there just pining for something specific in a util like this? If so, what?
- - - Updated - - -
running the program now. will probably take all night, so hopefully my morning commute will be my first in over a year with my library.
i think the advantage of the genre/playlist swapping is that you don't have to go through all the artist folders to get to the playlist you want.
i'm pretty excited. thanks for driving each other to create a great solution.
You won't have to go through all the artist folders the way I do it now (and you should clean up the destination to match the new way, if you've ran the first couple versions). There's a playlist folder, and in it are the individual playlist folders (and only them - all music from the folder/library copy is under the Music folder). Inside each playlist folder is a flat directory structure, no subfolders, and each filename has a numeric start, with enough digits to make sure the sort order is maintained (1 digit if <10 items, 2 if <100, etc.). From that folder view you can play your "playlist" in order, or you can hit shuffle. There's no digging around further, from that view. I don't really see anything the genre thing adds except possibly better album art handling - but I know that can be a big thing to people.
)
