[Zubersoft]

Updates have been released for both MobileSheetsPro and the companion application. These updates include some big changes like support for splitting up PDFs using CSV files and PDF bookmarks. I'm in the process of updating the manual to include more information on all of this.  I will provide instructions at the end of this post for how CSV files must be formatted. The full list of changes can be seen below:

MobileSheetsPro v1.3.1

• Added new import option to create multiple songs from one PDF using bookmarks or .csv files
  
• Added new pedal modes for advancing through songs and looping to the start/end
  
• Added supporting for viewing and using PDF bookmarks in the bookmarks window
  
• Added new setting to automatically import and convert PDF bookmarks to MobileSheets bookmarks
  
• Fixed bug with sharing popup menu not putting the most recently used items at the top
  
• Added support for batch importing audio files (creates songs with blank pages)
  
• Added new setting to move the alphabet list to the left side of the screen for left handed users
  
• Added support for automatically associating imported files with audio files whose name matches
  
• Fixed bug that caused settings to always be restored from backup files
  
• Added support for the "Starred" and "Shared with Me" folders on Google Drive
  
• If an initial path is invalid, the file browser will now go to the root directory
  
• Added checkbox to song editor audio tab for automatically playing a track when a song is loaded
  
• Fix bug that can occur when using the "Import into MobileSheets" option from an external application
  
• Tapping the music symbol on the setlists tab now correctly loads a song and beings playing back audio
  
• Fixed issue with restoring backups with the "Add Unique Id to Filenames" setting enabled
  
• Fixed issue with batch importing chord pro files where the lists of artists grows with each file
  
• Fixed issue where half page turns don't work if the page is too small
  
• Fixed issue with the Metronome "Apply to All Songs in Setlist" button not working correctly
  
• Fixed issue with transposing minor chords that can cause a crash
  
• Fixed a number of render issues with chord pro files
  
• Modified cancellation message on song editor screen to have explicit save/discard buttons
  
• Fixed issue with tapping PDF links that launch other applications
  
• Added ability to manually sort the songs on all song group tabs (albums/artists/genres/etc)
  
• Fixed issue with reading proper text file encoding before extracting title and other fields
  

MobileSheetsPro Companion v2.2.3

• Added the option to sort all group tabs manually
  
• Fixed bug with library restore always restoring settings regardless of selection
  
• Added auto-start audio checkbox to audio tab
  
• Updates for compatibility with latest tablet release
  

CSV Format

In order to use CSV files, it's expected that either a PDF with the exact same name as the CSV is present in the same directory or the first line of the CSV has a path to a valid PDF file. Then the fields to populate must come next. Two columns are required: title and pages. Other supported column names includes:

• artists
  
• albums
  
• genres
  
• composers
  
• source types
  
• custom groups
  
• keys
  
• signatures
  
• custom
  
• custom2
  
• tempos
  
• difficulty
  
• duration
  
• rating
  
• years
  
• sort title
  
• audio files
  
• keywords
  
• setlists
  
• collections
  

If a column is listed (other than title and pages) that you don't to populate for a song, you can leave it blank. All columns must be comma-delimited. Each value must be delimited using the | character. So, the following example could be used:

title,pages,composers,tempos
SongA,1-3,ComposerA|ComposerB,120
SongB,4-5,,

Neither composer or tempo is listed for the second song. When the CSV is imported, both songs will be listed and can be created at once if desired.

Mike

[Ben]

Hi Mike,

thank you the update (not available on amazon yet) and explanations.

Here's perhaps one for v1.3.2:
When closing/exiting a song from, say, the Artists tab, and this is the only song of that artist, you're at the top again (letter A). Preferably you're led back to the position from where you opened that song, which is what happens if that group has more than one song.

Cheers
Ben

[itsme]

Great that this version is released. It contains many fixes and extensions that I was waiting for.
Regarding .csv import: I doubt that comma as separator is the best choice, as a comma occurs frequently within song title or artist tags. If this is the case it confuses the import. Semicolon or tab might be better.

[BRX]

I too am very excited about this update, especially because of the csv import. Thanks Mike. But I second that it should be something other as a comma as separatorr. Lots of commas in the song titles.

[GraemeJ]

I too am very excited about this update, especially because of the csv import. Thanks Mike. But I second that it should be something other as a comma as separatorr. Lots of commas in the song titles.

Not a feature I am going to use, but I totally agree with the comment.  A colon would be a much better choice.

[Zubersoft]

I had started using semi-colon but was using excel for testing out the csv files and it was a pain to get it to use the semi-colon as the delimiter. I'll switch back. I'll gather up any other bug fixes that are needed and release a v1.3.2 in short order.

Thanks,
Mike

[BRX]

Go with tabs then. Easy to export from excel, too.

[Zubersoft]

I'd prefer semi-colons because if you want to have empty entries, I think it's easier to visualize than with tabs. If the majority of people like tabs, I can go with that too. I can also eventually make it configurable if people care.

[BRX]

I agree semicolons are more visible. But I don't think you can export with them directly from excel. That's the main point for tabs. Also in a good text editor tabs can be shown visible, too.

But please offer a configurable choice if this is viable. I like that always best.

[Zubersoft]

I'm going to see if I can automatically determine what the delimiter is. I'll search for tabs or other characters that appear to be used as the delimiter for all songs. I'm going to disregard commas, as I agree that those are used in titles and should not be considered. I believe this should work reliably and in the case that I can't accurately determine what the delimiter is, I'll present the user with the list of possibilities found in the file. I think I would prefer this over a setting as it should work most if not all of the time, and for those rare cases, the user can pick what they know to be correct. If people don't like this idea, let me know.

Mike

[alex_hk90]

I'm going to see if I can automatically determine what the delimiter is.  I'll search for tabs or other characters that appear to be used as the delimiter for all songs. I'm going to disregard commas, as I agree that those are used in titles and should not be considered.  I believe this should work reliably and in the case that I can't accurately determine what the delimiter is, I'll present the user with the list of possibilities found in the file.  I think I would prefer this over a setting as it should work most if not all of the time, and for those rare cases, the user can pick what they know to be correct.  If people don't like this idea, let me know.

Mike

I tend to find that either "@" or "#" are good as delimiters.

And thank you very much for the update!

[BRX]

Sounds good Mike.

Since commas are out as general delimiters maybe you can let MS recognize them as separators for multiple items in fields other as title. (Like for composers, artists, collections and so on).

[Zubersoft]

I'm not sure it's a good idea to use comma as a delimiter for anything. Users may want to put commas in other fields, and it increases the complexity if I have to add special delimiting for one field but not others. If people would still prefer comma over |, then I will certainly consider it.

[CholitoWeb]

Thanks for this update Mike. Happy 2016

[itsme]

LibreOffice allows selecting the separator. Clicke "Save as" and select .csv. After clicking the "Save" button you can select delimiters and character set. I could not find such a selection possibility in Excel. Luckily I switched to LibreOffice a while ago.