[McAroni]

Just saying and I have no idea if this is possible: can't a copy of the original file be created before or when it is modified to protect the original file? With the file name xyz_modified.pdf or something similar. That way the original file would be preserved and modified files would be easy to identify.

[BRX]

That's more or less the same as what I meant with "save and swap" (with the original so the modified is used for the song and the original is preserved). 

I'm aware an added page modification has to be saved to the PDF.

But if you have the save/swap as default then you don't have to care if the file is used by other songs (in my case these are plenty because I have a lot csv-imported songbooks. Also the new file will gave only the edited pages and not the hidden pages of the original file.

Where's the downside?

[Zubersoft]

I'm already addressing that though (with CSV files) by adding a warning that lets you rename the file that is created, or you can use the new "Save as New PDF" which will let you rename the file that is saved and this will replace what file is used by the song in the song editor. The downside of automatically renaming any modified file is that people could end up with 10 versions of a single PDF if they made repeated modifications and they may not even realize this is happening, and it would continually use up more disk space, and also create a huge clutter. Unless you are suggesting that the only time I forcefully rename the file is if it's shared by multiple songs, but that's already being addressed with the change I made to prompt the user to rename the file (instead of just automatically renaming it) which I think is better as they will then understand what is happening. 

The only question here that hasn't been addressed is whether I really need to warn/prompt or automatically rename the file when modifying a PDF that is only used by a single song. I'm arguing against this unless the vast majority of users posting here all think it should be the default behavior, as it just creates an annoyance that most users will have to deal with when they probably don't care about the original file being modified if MobileSheets is the one managing their files. Alternatively, I could change the behavior depending on whether "Let MobileSheets Manage my Files" is checked or unchecked, and warn/prompt whenever any file is modified if it's unchecked, but that wouldn't apply to the Windows or iPadOS versions where all files have to be under the storage location.

Mike

[McAroni]

To avoid endless duplications maybe the changed filename could be used to identify if this is still the original file. 
e.g. if the file once is renamed to xyz_modified.pdf the "_modified" Phrase identifys it as copy created from msp and then no further duplication is necessary.

I am in favor of displaying the warning. At least once, with the option "do not show this message again"

[itsme]

Please warn / rename even if the PDF is only used by one song for these reasons:
- I import via CSV only those songs from complete fakebooks that I want to use, so it happens that only one song from a book shows up in MS
- I share my collection via cloud sync with my fellow musicians, so any change would be distributed to my colleagues

Did you consider if the changed PDF could contain only the pages that are really used? Complete fakebooks sometimes are really big, so copying them might become an issue. One copy would be Ok, but not more please.
That's the feature "export song as PDF" that already exists, right?

[BRX]

I'm completely with itsme. 

Please let the warning be default if a change is happening. You still can make a tickbox for (not) showing the warning again and then it's the user's responsibility. My PDFs are my "sacred core" I want to change only deliberately and with sufficient warning. 

I'm all for letting the user take charge and be responsible himself but not if he isn't warned before especially if it is something that may not be expected because of the paradigm change.

The multiple duplicates are something I don't mind personally, especially if they get some appendix which makes them easily identifiable (renaming is needed anyway). Also itsme argues the same thing as I with the new file only containing the necessary pages of the song.

[McAroni]

I'm completely with itsme. 

My PDFs are my "sacred core"

Yes.

[Zubersoft]

Fair enough, I will display a warning with an option to ignore it, and also an option to "rename" the file which will be the equivalent of the "Save as New PDF" option. This new PDF will only use the pages specified in the page order, so it will not use all of the pages from the PDF like with a CSV file.

Mike