Backing up settings: strange behaviour

[TheFlyingCelt]

Hi all,

I back up MusicBee settings through File-->Library-->Backup Library and actually I find all my files backed up. So far so good.
BUT when following Edit-->Saved Settings-->Save Settings Snapshot and I browse to the dedicated folder to save (its own default path as well) I see that despite having previously run "Backup Library" a minute before, the file already present in the folder is not up to date, but to the last time I manually did it. I assume that Settings Snapshots is not part of the Backup Library process?!
Same thing happens with View-->Import/Export-->Export Panel Arrangement: the file layout.layout is not up to date, as if the "Backup Library" won't save that file either.
Any idea why?
Can someone tell me more about it please?

Thanks in advance

[frankz]

Library, Settings and Panel Arrangement are three distinct things.  That's why there are menu options for each of them.

Library: Information about your music files, tags, etc.
Settings: Everything that makes MB work like information about your system and portable devices you've attached, the state of the program last time you ran it, etc.
Panel Arrangement: Views

[TheFlyingCelt]

Always very clear with your explanations Frankz. Thank you!
Are you aware of a way to back up all the above mentioned in one single operation?

[frankz]

If you have a portable installation and back up the folder you install to, that should capture everything (assuming your MBL file is also kept in that folder).

I don't know for what purpose you're intending to use the files you're exporting.  I was probably too succinct in my explanation above, actually, for not knowing that.  Those exports are made to be imported, but for simply backing up your library and your configuration, just Library and Settings should be sufficient because I think Panel Arrangement is included in Settings.  The reason they're split off for export is because your Panel Arrangement would look fine on my MB but your Settings probably wouldn't work.

The good news is that MB backs up Library and Settings automatically.  MusicBee keeps a <LibraryName>.bak file of your last library with your library and MusicBee3Settings.bak of your last settings in its %AppData%.

But if you're keeping it for later import or for historical purposes ("I really want to roll back to the way things were a couple months ago"), then exporting the three individually would be the way to go.

[TheFlyingCelt]

I tend to be very organized with the software I use (or maybe paranoid?!?    )
Well, I wish to be able to get everything back as it was anytime in case of system failure, or in case I just need to reinstall MB on a new PC and have everything back exactly like I left it; and as almost every day I'm finding something new about MB, I often need to backup my settings, views, etc again.

I'm not sure what a portable installation is, sorry for my lack of knowledge. I just downloaded and installed MB on my computer and it's always there, installed. I hope that somehow answers your question.

I guess it would be good if Steven could group everything together under a single backup interface, with check-boxes to check or not according to what one needs/wants to backup. Just an idea, as it's quite confusing as it is at present.

 

[sveakul]

I'm not sure what a portable installation is, sorry for my lack of knowledge. I just downloaded and installed MB on my computer and it's always there, installed. I hope that somehow answers your question.

A portable installation is where all the files and settings used by MusicBee reside in a single folder--no registry entries, no separate folders in the Windows "User" tree, etc.  That way a backup is as simple as copying that folder elsewhere.  That version is among the three offered on the Downloads page.

[TheFlyingCelt]

Thanks Sveakul for educating me on the matter :-)
Why would one want to use portable version? I mean, can you please list the pros and cons? Sorry for the temporary OT.

[boroda]

pros are already described by sveakul. the only advantage of installer version over portable one is that installer version will have separate settings for every windows user.

[TheFlyingCelt]

So, unless I needed MB to be used by multiple users in Windows (not my case), basically portable is better as everything about the software is in the same folder which I can just back up as it is, and in case I needed to reinstall I just copy the whole folder and everything will be as it was?
If so, that's great! Now, If I wanted to move to portable, now that I have set every single thing in my MB, should I start from scratch or I can import settings, views, library from installer to portable?

[phred]

The reason they're split off for export is because your Panel Arrangement would look fine on my MB but your Settings probably wouldn't work.

I can't seem to find it now, but when the Panel Arrangement (View > Import/Export) backup was introduced, Steven said that it -could- be shared among users. And it was the Settings (Edit > Saved Settings) that could not/should not be shared because of different paths each user would have.

[psychoadept]

Now, If I wanted to move to portable, now that I have set every single thing in my MB, should I start from scratch or I can import settings, views, library from installer to portable?

See the Backup & Restore page on the wiki for how to find your settings files in the installer version so you can transfer them to portable. (Beware you may also need to adjust some file paths, such as for plugins, in the settings file. But it's s plain text file, a simple search & replace should be possible)

[TheFlyingCelt]

Now, If I wanted to move to portable, now that I have set every single thing in my MB, should I start from scratch or I can import settings, views, library from installer to portable?

See the Backup & Restore page on the wiki for how to find your settings files in the installer version so you can transfer them to portable. (Beware you may also need to adjust some file paths, such as for plugins, in the settings file. But it's s plain text file, a simple search & replace should be possible)

Perhaps it's best to keep it as it is then..

I thought I had found a solution, but as you can see HERE I guess it won't work...

[phred]

Perhaps it's best to keep it as it is then..

As long as it's the true Installer version and not the Store version. There are no differences between Installer and Portable. I understand that you may keep things as they are, but if you do go to the Portable, just keep it outside of Windows controlled directories. If you have multiple partitions, put it anywhere other than C:. If you only have a C: partition create and use C:\MusicBee.

[TheFlyingCelt]

Windows and programs are on C: which is a SSD, while data storage is on two different HDDs.

I think I'll keep the standard installation for the time being.

Still I cannot understand why files layout.layout and Settings 2020-feb-01 0956.ini despite being both in appdata, yet don't get updated automatically on "Library Backup" command, although THAT is the folder that gets backed up as you can see in the screenshot I attached in my previous message...
 


EDIT: basically those 2 files don't get created/updated unless it's manually done. That's odd and not really logic to me.