New artwork preference "link to the source picture" changed on restart

[bicyclops]

Latest version 3_5_8292
"- new option to set the default location of new artwork to the source file location (instead of organised copy)"

Edit Preferences  -> Tags (1)
under artwork, check "link to the source picture"
Exit MusicBee.
Start MusicBee
Edit Preferences  -> Tags (1)
"link to the source picture" is unchecked
"copy to the same folder as the music file and name as:" is now checked.

Please make it so this preference is retained on restart.

I would prefer it if you could uncheck ALL options under artwork and have that be retained on restart, but  you said earlier there was some reason that it couldn't do that.

I'm really tired of having to reset this preference every time I start MusicBee. I thought maybe this new feature would solve it, but no.

[Steven]

thats fixed now:
https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee35_Patched.zip
unzip and replace the existing musicbee application files

[bicyclops]

There's still an intermittent issue.

MusicBee sometimes makes a copy of the primary picture and gives it the name in the field below "copy to the same folder..." and changes the primary picture to the new copy, even though "link to the source picture" is set as the preference.

The scenario:

I set the field below "copy to the same folder..." to "musicbee_redundant_copy" so I can easily search for these files that MusicBee creates.
I have "link to the source picture" set as my artwork preference.
I have an album for which cover.jpg (in the same folder as the music files) is the primary picture.
I right click on a track in that album to bring up the Tags dialog and make some change to the tags for the track, e.g. change "A" to "a" in the track name.
Save.
At this point, sometimes MusicBee will have copied cover.jpg to musicbee_redundant_copy.jpg and changed the primary picture for the album to musicbee_redundant_copy.jpg
This doesn't happen in every case and I haven't figured out why it happens sometimes and not others.

I have found that when I uncheck all options under artwork and Save, this does not happen.
When I start MusicBee it ignores my previous preference setting of all options unchecked, and sets "copy to the same folder..." as the preference.
If I forget to open the Preferences dialog and uncheck "copy to the same folder..." , I will start to see musicbee_redundant_copy.jpg files in folders for albums on which I have done some edits.

I was hoping that this new option "link to the source picture"  would solve the issue, but it doesn't.

I just want to be able to edit albums and not have MusicBee change my artwork, without having to remember to change the Preferences every time I start MusicBee.

[Steven]

I have decided to remove the 'link to source' option as your suggested approach seems better.
So un-ticking all the options is now persisted on restart
https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee35_Patched.zip

[Pingaware]

So for clarity, what's the expected behaviour now?

My old default behaviour was to tick embed and link to an organised copy of the picture (cover.jpg), which is also what my default location for artwork storage in the preferences is. When hovering over the picture in the tag editor, that has Embedded and Cover.jpg appear at the bottom, which is also what the Save To preferences for the artwork say.

When I select the same options now when saving artwork, the save to option doesn't appear to persist in the tag editor, although the embedded option does visibly persist. Is the new behaviour for it now to save to Cover.jpg but no longer show that in the tag editor?

[bicyclops]

Installed newest patch. All unchecked artwork option is now persisted on restart.

Tried editing several track names in various albums.
Of the ten or so I tried, in two cases musicbee_redundant_copy was created, and the primary picture for that track was changed to the new copy.
So after that, the artwork for the album shows "Mixed".
Album Artwork Manager shows that the one track whose name I edited, now has musicbee_redundant_copy as its primary picture, while the rest of the tracks still have cover.jpg as their primary picture.

So there is still something odd going on.

[bicyclops]

I said:
"I have found that when I uncheck all options under artwork and Save, this does not happen."

Wrong.
I reverted to 3.5.8249, turned all artwork options off and the problem still happens sometimes.

[Steven]

So for clarity, what's the expected behaviour now?

The behavior being discussed in this thread is for new artwork added to an existing file eg. paste a picture, drag/drop etc. If none of the options for Tags(1)/  artwork/ "default location for added files" are ticked, the expected behavior is if the picture was dragged/added from an existing .jpg file then MB should link the file to the picture file location but apparently not always. When importing files, the tags(1)/artwork retrieval filters determine which pictures get imported.

[Steven]

Tried editing several track names in various albums.
Of the ten or so I tried, in two cases musicbee_redundant_copy was created, and the primary picture for that track was changed to the new copy.
So after that, the artwork for the album shows "Mixed".
Album Artwork Manager shows that the one track whose name I edited, now has musicbee_redundant_copy as its primary picture, while the rest of the tracks still have cover.jpg as their primary picture.

so your library is auto-organised? and your test involved changing tags such that the file being edited caused MB to move the music file to a new folder, but some of the other files in the same album remained at the old location?
After you add a cover.jpg file, can you check the location setting MB is applying by opening the music file in the tag editor/ artwork and click "Save As"

[bicyclops]

so your library is auto-organised?

No. All music files and artwork is organized outside of MusicBee. Only after I have all the files in the correct folder do I click Insert to Scan Folders for New Files to import into MusicBee.
I never embed the artwork, always link to the original picture file.

and your test involved changing tags such that the file being edited caused MB to move the music file to a new folder...

No, nothing is moved to a new folder. The file cover.jpg (or front.jpg) is copied to musicbee_redundant_copy.jpg in the same folder as the original cover. The primary picture for only the edited track is changed to the new copy. The other music files in that folder retain the original artwork file.

Here's the whole workflow including initial entry into MusicBee:
Insert (Scan Folder for New Files), Choose Folders...
Check the folder containing the music files and artwork for the new album. OK.
Destination is set to add to inbox. Proceed. Check that it looks correct.
Send To -> Music Library.

Sometime (could be months) later, while playing the album notice that a track title needs a change.
Right click track -> Edit, change track title. Save.
It's at this point that MusicBee sometimes copies the artwork and reassigns the new copy to the one track. There's no change visually, so you don't know this has happened.

Months later, decide to do some edit for the whole album. Right click album, Edit.
Artwork shows as "Mixed" because one track has a different file set as the primary picture.

So I'd like an artwork preference that is implemented like this:
MusicBee never copies or renames any of my artwork files.
When I edit track name or any other tag or any other info for a track, the artwork file for that track is not changed, unless I explicitly change it.

[Steven]

When you import files into MB, artwork is scanned according to the retrieval filters set up in Preferences/ Tags(1)/ artwork, so MB is not using the new artwork settings on the left hand side because you are not adding artwork.
So if the folder has a "cover.jpg" file then it will be imported as an organised picture because it matches the organised artwork naming template that is also configured in the same panel. You can easily see if thats the case at that point in time by editing one of the files in the tag editor/ artwork tab/ click "Save As" which will show the location settings MB has assigned. From that point on, if one or more of the music files is moved, the cover.jpg would be copied to the new folder. I dont see how simply editing a file would create a copy unless you have library auto-organise enabled.

I will make a change so that when a music file is imported, it doesnt set the picture as organised if the option is not enabled

https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee35_Patched.zip
unzip and replace the existing musicbee application files