Author Topic: Start with different "MusicBeeLibrarySettings.ini" files?  (Read 1007 times)

clsven

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Assume I want to use (at least) two different layouts and MusicBee settings.
That means I have to use 2 different "MusicBeeLibrarySettings.ini" files.

Can I somehow pass the corresponding settings file (with relative path from installation dir) from command line like:

MusicBee.exe -settings =".\Library\MusicBeeLibrarySettingsStandard.ini"

and

MusicBee.exe -settings =".\Library\MusicBeeLibrarySettingsSlim.ini"


I read somewhere about a StartupSettings.ini (in older MB versions).
Can this be used?

Claudia

phred

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I just checked my MB directory and the StarupSettings.ini file is there with a last-modified date in 2016. Opening the file shows a theme and font that I haven't used for quite a while. So it's quite possible the settings file isn't used any more.

A possible work-around:
Since you can have two portable installations (or one portable and one installer) on the same PC (in different directories) you might be able to accomplish what you're trying to do. Create desktop shortcuts named 'MB Slim' and 'MB Standard' or something that works for you.

I'm sure someone else will chime in with confirmation that my suggestion will work. Or won't work. Or have another suggestion.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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Zak

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Assume I want to use (at least) two different layouts and MusicBee settings.

Okay.

That means I have to use 2 different "MusicBeeLibrarySettings.ini" files.

It doesn't. If you look at the MusicBeeLibrarySettings.ini file in a text editor, you'll see it only includes the settings that appear on the Library tab of the Preferences dialog.
It doesn't store anything about the layout or general program settings.

Can I somehow pass the corresponding settings file (with relative path from installation dir) from command line like:

MusicBee.exe -settings =".\Library\MusicBeeLibrarySettingsStandard.ini"

and

MusicBee.exe -settings =".\Library\MusicBeeLibrarySettingsSlim.ini"


I read somewhere about a StartupSettings.ini (in older MB versions).
Can this be used?

Claudia

Still nope. Command line parameters are listed here:

https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=6885.msg39599

That's very old, but to my knowledge there haven't been any parameters added since that affect anything other than what MusicBee does when it starts up.
It has never supported starting up with different settings or a different layout.

I've never seen StartupSettings.ini and I don't even have that file so it can't be anything useful.
Are you sure that's a MusicBee file - searching on the forum shows no results for that name.

Theoretically, you could write some kind of script to swap between copies of the file MusicBee3Settings.ini which does store wider program settings. However, it currently runs to almost 5000 lines and there are also other configuration files that MusicBee uses, not all of which are user-editable. I would describe the expected results of attempting to do this as "undefined".


Since you can have two portable installations (or one portable and one installer) on the same PC (in different directories) you might be able to accomplish what you're trying to do. Create desktop shortcuts named 'MB Slim' and 'MB Standard' or something that works for you.

I'm sure someone else will chime in with confirmation that my suggestion will work. Or won't work. Or have another suggestion.

I've just tested this very quickly, and it appears to work fine.

I'd suggest two portable installations to make sure they didn't interfere with each other.
Set up a library in the first copy of MusicBee the way you want it.
In the second copy of MusicBee select File > Library > Create New Library and select the last option choose an existing library... and then point it to the same library.

The two different copies of MusicBee can be configured to appear differently but still share the same library of music and playcounts etc.

-edit-
After testing this, it appears that when running the first version of MusicBee again some of the library settings (monitored folders) were reset. I'm not going to set it up and test it again to work out exactly what's going on, but it's something to be aware of.
Last Edit: October 22, 2020, 05:23:47 PM by Zak
Bee excellent to each other...

phred

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I've never seen StartupSettings.ini and I don't even have that file so it can't be anything useful.
Are you sure that's a MusicBee file - searching on the forum shows no results for that name.
As I stated when I mentioned the last modified datestamp on my StartupSettings.ini was 2014, a font and a theme are in the file. That coupled with a number of appearances of "MusicBee" kind of proves it's a file that MB used at one point.
Code
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CoreSettings xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<SettingsPath>G:\MusicBee\AppData\</SettingsPath>
<LibraryPath>\MusicBee\phred\</LibraryPath>
<KnownLibraryPaths>
 <string>\MusicBee\phred\</string>
</KnownLibraryPaths>
<PromptLibrarySelection>false</PromptLibrarySelection>
<DefaultFontFamily>Kabel</DefaultFontFamily>
<DefaultFontSize>9.749999</DefaultFontSize>
<DefaultFontStyle>Regular</DefaultFontStyle>
<Theme>Blue\Dem Ol&apos; Kozmic Blues</Theme>
<UseNativeWindow>false</UseNativeWindow>
<PlayerAtTop>true</PlayerAtTop>
<ProgressBarLocation>3</ProgressBarLocation>
<PlayerLayoutFlat>true</PlayerLayoutFlat>
</CoreSettings>
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here