[Steve B.]

I'm wondering how many KB are used (on average) for a page of music in MSPro.

Having used an app on my Android phone (CamScanner) to scan and export .pdf's of most of my printed music, I'm wondering if I have gone too far.

In many cases, a song may have three repeats which go back over three pages. I have Copy/Pasted the three pages twice, so that I have a nine-page .pdf which I then import into MSPro.

Now I am noticing I could have simply set up those pages to repeat from within MSPro...oh the dreaded learning curve!

So I am wondering if it would be worth the effort to go back, delete the extra pages in the .pdf's and re-import the songs. We're talking about a couple of hundred songs, and at least as many 'duplicated' pages within the .pdf's.

I have not run into any performance issues or lack of storage space problems...YET, but of course one must always be mindful of available space on a mobile device.

[Zubersoft]

There really won't be a performance issue with the duplicated pages you created, and I can't imagine the extra pages you added increased the size of the PDFs significantly unless you were using a program that generates large PDFs. Even if you added an extra 500kb per file, and you had 300 files, that's 150 MB. If you have a large SD card in the tablet, that may not be an issue for you. If you think having that extra storage is important, then it may be worth the effort to remove all the duplicates.

Mike

[Steve B.]

Hmmm. Well the app I'm using can and does create 'large' .pdf's...anywhere from 4 to 13 MB depending on the number of pages.

As I said I have not run into any storage issues yet.

I am beginning to think MSPro stores the complete .pdf as loaded, and then renders from the original file?

Will changing the default storage location (I'm letting MSPro manage the storage) force me to re-load all the files, and if I do will the original .pdf's become available to be loaded by some other app? Can I move all the loaded files from the default storage to a location of my choice without needing to re-import them?

As it is, I have saved separate copies of all the files to a dedicated folder on my SD card. I suspect I am creating unnecessary duplicates.

[Zubersoft]

MobileSheetsPro does not alter the original PDF file. If you change the default storage location, MobileSheetsPro will offer to move all your files for you to the new location. You can also manage your own files if you want in any location you want by unchecking "Manage My Files". If you use services like Dropbox to import files, you will still want to specify a storage location though, as the files are copied there when imported.

Mike

[Steve B.]

Excellent, thanks Mike!

[Steve B.]

AARGH!
Well, I thought I had this figured out with your help (THANKS Mike!), but not so much due to Android limitations.

The first (of three) tablet I started making changes on can't/won't write to the SD card (Android 4.4.2), so I can't move MobileSheets' database to the card.
Of course I can write to the card when the tablet is connected to my PC.
My experimentation seems to suggest that if I delete a song previously imported from Google Drive, and instead import the same file from local storage on the SD card (selecting 'create new from existing'), a new file/folder IS NOT created in the 'Internal storage\Android\data\com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro\files' database.

This is good in that the duplicate .pdf files can be eliminated.
And also, precious system memory could be freed.
It would mean resetting all metadata (artist, collection, genre) for many hundreds of files.

My main concern would be about the possible impact on my current method of synchronizing my three tablets.
So far I have used the 'brute force' method of back-up on one tablet, and restore to the others.
Would 'tablet B' be able to deal with a backup from 'tablet A' that points to a file on 'tablet A's' SD card?
'Tablet B' would have the same file on it's SD card, with a similar (if not identical) pathway.

While I could accept the elimination of the files on the SD card, it's irritating to be 'forced' to use system memory instead of that big SD card I bought.

[Skip]

I'm pretty sure I've used backups from one tablet on a different tablet [ backed up my p900 then used it on a Nook HD+].

[itsme]

While using more than one tablet: different Android versions on the tablets might cause strange effects regarding SD card usage. Not only write access is lost, also the path to the SD card can change.
Take a look at http://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/forum/...p?tid=2978 to see my experiences

[Steve B.]

While using more than one tablet: different Android versions on the tablets might cause strange effects regarding SD card usage. Not only write access is lost, also the path to the SD card can change.
Take a look at http://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/forum/...p?tid=2978 to see my experiences

...and just to make it even more complicated, one of the tablets doesn't have a card (no card slot)!

I'm thinking my plans are shot down.
Not really happy about that nice, big, empty card I can't use!

Of course I realize it's a problem with Android, and not MobileSheets.

[GraemeJ]

Not really happy about that nice, big, empty card I can't use!

You should be able to use the external card, but only in a specific directory.

In MS, go to Settings | Storage | Set the Mobile Sheets Storage Location and select the external card.  USE WHATEVER PATH IS SHOWN - DO NOT TRY AND CHANGE IT.

Worked for me :

[Steve B.]

Not really happy about that nice, big, empty card I can't use!

You should be able to use the external card, but only in a specific directory.

In MS, go to Settings | Storage | Set the Mobile Sheets Storage Location and select the external card.  USE WHATEVER PATH IS SHOWN - DO NOT TRY AND CHANGE IT.

Worked for me :

This won't work with Android 4.4.2. Writing to the SD card is only available for a select few apps, like the camera.

This issue is further complicated by the fact that my tablets are all running different versions of Android, and as well one doesn't have a card.

I wish there were some way to sync settings like cropping and the various metadata like artist, collection, etc. separately from the file pathway. Any chance of that happening, Mike?

Once I get my music imported, there shouldn't be a whole lot of changes that couldn't be handled manually. But I'm obsessed with having all the music displayed identically on all three tablets. I'm sure I'll manage, but it won't be as easy as I hoped.

In any case, it will be worth it once I can leave all those books and binders at home in the closet!

[GraemeJ]

This won't work with Android 4.4.2. Writing to the SD card is only available for a select few apps, like the camera.

I'm running 4.4.2 on a Samsung P900 - works for me.

[Steve B.]

I guess you are luckier than I!

When I tap on the SD icon, nothing changes.

Regardless of that, my major goal was to be able to sync all three tablets, which is (apparently) only possible when the database is in system memory.

So I have bitten the bullet and wiped the database. I am re-importing as local files, which is what I should have been doing from the beginning.
Learning a few new tricks along the way, so it's all good!

[Skip]

I can use an external card with my p900 also. I can switch it between the two larger machines. I have to remember that the path is different on the p900 between the onboard and external cards, internal is storage>emulated/0 and external is storage/extSDCard. Overall though, I've found that using the p900 as my main unit, backing it up, then using the backup to update the other two, is the easiest.