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Joined: 09 Mar 2007
Posts: 448
Location: Canada
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 Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:15 am Post subject: |
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Hi Peter,
Your points are all valid and I've thought in the past about implementing the same suggestions. My responses to your ideas are below:
1)
The use of 2 windows was done so that users can see more rows than if the preview was a subpanel of the main window. Also there are many functions available on the preview window that would be difficult to also incorporate on the main window.
In case you hadn't found this, you can drag names into the sample panel of the main window. the corresponding preview panel is auto-updated with each change to the custom renaming list.
2)
The reasons for not having auto update of the preview window are:
a)
A scan can take a very long time depending on the number of files that are to be renamed and the type of renaming that is to be applied. For example it could take minutes if there are thousands of files and the custom renaming list has 50 rows and some of those rows require opening files and looking inside them.
b)
There are many checks made after the scan to warn users of missing tags, illegal characters, duplicate names, etc. Sometimes only a few errors are found amongst hundreds or thousands of files so PFrank will pop up a window when this occurs. With auto updating, a popup would not be practical.
c)
The purpose of the sample previewer is to let you focus on one or several key names that might be tricky to rename. The updates are instantaneous; there are no delays and you don't have to worry about duplicate renaming errors. You will also know immediately if your regular expressions or predefined commands have syntax bugs since the previewer will blank out (would need to then press scan to see the exact error if it isn't obvious).
Another advantage of the sample previewer is that it also gives you a vertical view so it is easier to compare old and new names (you can do this on the preview window too).
The idea is that you debug the custom list on a few sample filenames before starting any serious scans.
3)
Why the summary window?
I haven't had alot of feedback on the summary panel but I hope most people find it useful. There's lots of information to help you if things do not seem to be progressing as planned. The counts of how many names were scanned and out of those how many can be renamed plus other counters (depending on the type of renaming your are doing) are available. It provides detailed feedback on any scanning errors that occur. It provides details on many of the options so if there are scan problems, maybe a quick glance at the summarized options might indicate some obvious error in the settings. In addition it shows information from renaming, undo, importing, editing, and other operations.
It's great for support purposes because people can copy and paste the info to an email and send it to me if they have problems.
If you don't want to look at the summary panel or if you need more room for the custom renaming area, it can be shrunk to a narrow size by dragging the sash located just above the panel downwards (just move your mouse over it until the double arrow appears).
Of course different people will agree or disagree with the above philosophies - it's all a matter of personal preference.
Unless there are compelling reasons to change, I'm going to leave things as they are.
I do appreciate the feedback though as I keep track of all unimplemented suggestions in case opportunities for change come up in the future.
I also do make changes or improvements based on people's recommendations when practical. Therefore if you have any more ideas then please let me know.
thanks,
Peter. |
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