Additional Tagging & Reporting Tools

[hiccup]

as for the "MSR preset": it must exist to save presets from MSR, but it's a service preset (just a template for user MSR presets) and should be always hidden, so it's a bug that it's visible right after importing presets.

I don't understand.
I can see a purpose for that specific preset. How could a user make use of it if it is invisible?

[boroda]

not user. MSR uses it as a template. of course i could hard code its body to paste it to every user MSR preset, but it turned out to be easier for me to make "service hidden" ASR preset to use it as a template for saved MSR presets.

never mind. users should never see this preset, and it's fixed now. i just didn't expect that somebody would "import" predefined presets, rather "install" them. again, this visual bug is fixed.

"null reference exception" from your previous bug report has been fixed also.

also:

* some UI/UX fixes and improvements.
* some "tag history" command bug fixes.
* it's the final release for the version 8.0 (it's not compiled in debug mode anymore).

https://www.mediafire.com/file/h2t08o9562efboi/mb_TagTools_latest.zip/file

full plugin package:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/b6jrq6nlkkcrxbv/Additional-Tagging-Tools-Plugin.zip/file

[hiccup]

not user. MSR uses it as a template. of course i could hard code its body to paste it to every user MSR preset, but it turned out to be easier for me to make "service hidden" ASR preset to use it as a template for saved MSR presets.
never mind. users should never see this preset, and it's fixed now. i just didn't expect that somebody would "import" predefined presets, rather "install" them. again, this visual bug is fixed.

At the moment I don't seem able to fully digest what you have explained here.
(It's me, I'm sure ;-)

But here's the gist of what made me wonder about this 'disappearing preset':
That preset seemed to make it possible to find and replace various strings in a tag.

E.g. if you would have a tag containing 'cats' and 'elephants', you could have them changed to 'dogs' and 'penguins'.
( doing: cats/dogs|elephants/penguins if I am not mistaken)

Is this still available as some preset that can be copied/modified?

And what do you mean by MSR?
Are you referring to that particular preset (Multiple search & replace), or some more general AT&RT feature?

Again, sorry for perhaps being a bit slow/thick tonight.
(for one thing, it looks like I need to understand the differences between what you are calling 'presets' and 'templates')

[boroda]

At the moment I don't seem able to fully digest what you have explained here.

no, it's very simple. of course, MSR is "multiple search & replace". every MSR query can be saved as ASR preset. such ASR presets (saved by user from MSR) will be visible/manageable both in ASR and MSR. all such presets use the same common part (the same "basis"). this common part is implemented as "service hidden" ASR preset. this service preset could be used directly by users, but it's not so easy to edit it manually. much better to allow MSR handling this. that's why this service preset is hidden.

every time you save MSR query as (ASR) preset, you actually create a new modification of this service preset.

----------------

edit:

initially, MSR has been created as this (not service or hidden at that time) ASR preset (it has been requested by @redwing). but later i've decided that most users won't be able to understand how to use it, and created a dedicated MSR command as simply some user-friendly frontend for this preset (and hidden this ASR preset).

[hiccup]

no, it's very simple

Hi.
I am simple. (and not ashamed of it ;-)
I'm also a foreigner.

From a specific tag I would like to have the string 'cats' replaced by 'dogs', and the string 'elephants' replaced by 'penguins'.

I think there was a preset named "Multiple search & replace"  that could do that.
That preset (or template?) is now gone.

How can I find how to create or modify a preset that will change cats to dogs and elephants to penguins?

[boroda]

I am simple. (and not ashamed of it ;-)

 

From a specific tag I would like to have the string 'cats' replaced by 'dogs', and the string 'elephants' replaced by 'penguins'.

just open MSR command. enter "cats" in the "search for" column of 1st line and "dogs" in the "replace by" column. then enter "elephants" and "penguins" respectively in the 2nd line. you can add as many subsequent search/replace lines as needed. also, you can use case-sensitive search or regex search/replacements if you wish (tick corresponding check boxes on the left columns of template table for required lines). you can save your search/replace pattern as ASR preset. this ASR preset can be auto-executed if needed.

i'm too lazy to write detailed documentation for every plugin command, but i tried to use tool tips as mush as possible. follow them.

[hiccup]

just open MSR command.

Ah!
Never underestimate how blind and ignorant a user can be for things that are there plain to see in the open.

So AT&RT has a specific "Multiple search & replace" feature.


Which is a different thing from the "Multiple search & replace" preset/template that I encountered and was talking about.

I'll shut-up for a while now, and see if I can digest and understand what you have been trying to explain.

Thanks!
 

[boroda]

So AT&RT has a specific "Multiple search & replace" feature.
Which is a different thing from the "Multiple search & replace" preset/template that I encountered and was talking about.

not exactly. MSR command is just a convenient frontend for that service hidden ASR preset, which (ASR preset) is also named "MSR". ASR & MSR are very tightly tied.

but you (and any user) don't need to know how MSR command is implemented, just use it, all its features are available on the MSR window.

[hiccup]

So AT&RT has a specific "Multiple search & replace" feature.
Which is a different thing from the "Multiple search & replace" preset/template that I encountered and was talking about.

not exactly. MSR command is just a convenient frontend for that service hidden ASR preset, which (ASR preset) is also named "MSR". ASR & MSR are very tightly tied.

With 'different' I meant that I had only looked at the "multiple search & replace" preset in AS&R, and I was completely oblivious of the "multiple search & replace" frontend that you were talking about.
(some RTFM would have done me good…)

So I now understand that if you want to create a preset that can replace multiple strings in a tag, it's best to start by opening the "Multiple Search & Replace" function from the drop-down menu and create and then save it as a preset.
After that it will be available in the AS&R panel, where you can also modify it if so desired.

I'm still not sure why AS&R shouldn't have an 'example' preset for it that a user can use as a template to modify.

- - -

A practical question about such a preset that I can't get to work:

Suppose you have 'semi-roman' characters in the title tag, such as: VIII
And you want to change that string to Ⅷ
(the single character for the roman number 8 )

I tried doing this:
VIII/Ⅷ  (and *VIII/Ⅷ)
but it doesn't work.

What am I doing wrong?

- - -

edit:
I'm getting this error message when trying to create and save such a preset.
What does it mean, and what should I do?

[boroda]

I'm still not sure why AS&R shouldn't have an 'example' preset for it that a user can use as a template to modify.

because even @redwing (!), who has requested this ASR preset (which has been available only as (visible) ASR preset at that time), wasn't able to completely understand how to use it. so i've created MSR frontend for it. do you think that direct access to this preset can be useful to somebody? this anyway won't give any additional features which are not supported by MSR command.

---------------

this error message means that service ASR preset (which is "MSR") hasn't been installed. 1st "Install All" ASR presets (to install "MSR" preset either), then you can safely delete any visible predefined (and of course user's) ASR presets ("MSR" preset won't be visible, so you can't delete it accidentally, only if you manually delete its XML file from "<AppData>\ASR Presets" working folder - NOT from "Plugins\ASR Presets" folder, which is just the source for installed presets and can be safely deleted at any time).

-----------------

new plugin version.

Some UI bug fixes and minor general bug fixes:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/h2t08o9562efboi/mb_TagTools_latest.zip/file

full plugin package:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/b6jrq6nlkkcrxbv/Additional-Tagging-Tools-Plugin.zip/file

--------------

my GitHub account is blocked for unknown reasons (i hope only temporary), so the latest plugin source code is available here for now:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/gpg14ohuaocbzhv/TagTools_Latest_Source.zip/file

[hiccup]

because even @redwing (!), who has requested this ASR preset (which has been available only as (visible) ASR preset at that time), wasn't able to completely understand how to use it. so i've created MSR frontend for it. do you think that direct access to this preset can be useful to somebody? this anyway won't give any additional features which are not supported by MSR command.

I can only speak for myself.
I was happy to find the 'multiple search & replace' preset in ASR.
And thanks to the explanation it included (cats/dogs|this/that etc.) it seemed pretty easy to edit it and put it to use.
So I was confused when it didn't stick, and the preset disappeared after a restart.

So now I have learned that there is a separate MSR frontend that was designed for this specifically, and that it is not intended to have this available from the ASR panel.
But it will become available in ASR after you have used MSR.

I now understand how this came to be, but having the need of this additional MSR to create something that can be used in ASR doesn't seem the most optimal solution.
In my opinion it would be better if ASR was capable of doing this by itself, without the need to resort to some separate MSR feature.
 

[boroda]

I now understand how this came to be, but having the need of this additional MSR to create something that can be used in ASR doesn't seem the most optimal solution.
In my opinion it would be better if ASR was capable of doing this by itself, without the need to resort to some separate MSR feature.

let me rephrase what you said: you are actually just proposing easy access to "MSR window" (some access to MSR features) from ASR window. this can be done, but the problem is that (despite the fact that ASR and MSR share a common base internally) from user's point of view, these 2 commands have nothing common until the user save his MSR search/replace template for future use. saving MSR templates is neither required by plugin nor frequently demanded by users. also, saved MSR templates anyway can be managed from MSR command, their management doesn't require opening ASR window.

Close internal interconnection of ASR and MSR is the question of implementation, users must not care about this.

[hiccup]

let me rephrase what you said: you are actually just proposing easy access to "MSR window" (some access to MSR features) from ASR window. this can be done, but the problem is that (despite the fact that ASR and MSR share a common base internally) from user's point of view, these 2 commands have nothing common until the user save his MSR search/replace template for future use. saving MSR templates is neither required by plugin nor frequently demanded by users. also, saved MSR templates anyway can be managed from MSR command, their management doesn't require opening ASR window.

Back to my comfortable and simple state of mind ;-)

There is "Advanced Search & Replace".

I appreciate the word 'advanced', and I would think it is the most powerful version of what it does.

But then there is also "Multiple Search & Replace".
So now 'Advanced Search & Replace" doesn't seem to be the most advanced and complete version, but there also is some "Multiple Search & Replace" variety that does something different.

So 'advanced' can not do 'multiple?

From the perspective of a user that does not know the history and understand the background of how that came to be, that will seem confusing.

I don't have a specific suggestion at the moment, but I believe it would be better if there would be one ring to rule them all.

Just my opinion. Your arguments and perhaps the opinion of other users may be more valid.

[boroda]

"advanced..." or some other name, but the purpose of ASR is to provide permanently saved presets (which allow only tiny adjustments), not arbitrary search/replacement, which is possible in ASR in principle, but its UI is NOT intended for this. the main purpose of MSR is to provide arbitrary search/replacement. saving MSR templates is just an additional bonus.

[boroda]

Minor change. Plugin uses MusicBee font & skin colors by default now:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/h2t08o9562efboi/mb_TagTools_latest.zip/file

Full plugin package:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/b6jrq6nlkkcrxbv/Additional-Tagging-Tools-Plugin.zip/file

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Plugin source code repository has been moved from GitHub to sourceforge.net:

https://sourceforge.net/p/tag-tools/code/ci/master/tree/