[musichawk]

Drag-and-drop to Add a file works, and detects if the file already exists. But before it existed on the tablet, the very same file when included in Batch Import was being skipped.

Case sensitive doesn't seem to be a factor in my specific files, unless somehow the case got changed during import which then conflicted with a later attempt. All my files are proper cased since they are the actual song titles I want in the database. All naming and manipulation happens in Windows.

Should I try drag-and-drop of my entire set of files (close to 5000), maybe tried in batches? I don't know which files are missing, that alone would be a huge job, though I'd start with the "A..." songs since I know some of them are missing. I'll end up with many many messages that files already exist, but doing this might eventually get all my currently-lost files added. Of course that wouldn't seem to "fix" the issue with Batch Import that I'll need for the next fakebook, etc.

New clue, maybe:

I'm definitely missing songs in the top of the alphabet, down to "An..." But another "An..." imported, so likely the exact letters aren't the problem. Looking further, in Explorer that's my first 252 or so files. However, MSPC shows them in different order, dropping leading articles and certain punctuation, so I don't really know how whether the skipped files are a significant number that would be a strong clue. .But maybe Batch Import is skipping approximately the first 250 files, could be an additional 50 or more that have leading articles/punctuation.

Or is it by total list size? The entire folder I'm trying to Batch Import (skipping dupes) is 4658 + 78 in my one subfolder (XMAS songs), total 4736. Maybe the Import only handles 4500 files (not counting subfolder)? Or could it be affects by file/title lengths? (I could try Batch Import omitting the subfolder if you wish).

I see a file counter zip by when Batch Importing, could that have an affect or provide clues?

Also, can't prove this but I'm getting the sense that certain songs have been missing from MSP even before this. I keep everything in my Windows TAB folder, and I'm spotting random songs that are there but not on my tablet. Didn't notice so I don't know when or why or how it was overlooked. Could be my error, or could have been skipped by prior Batch Import.

By the way, the reason I'm doing what I'm doing is my system for managing sheet music PDFs. I have many thousands, 5 times more than I'm pulling into MSP. Each scanned fakebook/music book is in its own folder, named with the ID of the source (Ultimate FakeBook is UFB, etc). I find the best version(s) of each song that I care to play and copy it into my TAB (for Tablet) folder). Since all my files have the source ID at the end of the filename, I can manage this easily. When I find a better version, I put it in TAB and remove the old version.

With folder TAB on my PC as my master, I simply need to copy (Add or Import) the entire folder into MSPC and thereby into MSP on my tablet. Then periodically update, I thought via Batch Import with Avoid Duplicates, when I add more new songs to TAB, or update by adding/deleting. I really just need to have MSP match TAB. (This is a common professional method, nothing I invented, with bands/orchestras/shows etc where they maintain a master library.)

In my situation (and others who do the same method), I would love a way to batch import/refresh/sync the entire MSP with the Windows folder. Some control over this would be needed.

Option: If a PC file does not exist on tablet, import it absolutely (what I'm trying to do). Bypass any checking other than the OS limitation of non-duplicate path/file name. Something like "Copy file to tablet even if the song already exists with same or different title". Right now, only manually Adding seems to do this with the Batch-skipped songs. Respect that the file name can't already exist, but make that the only constraint. (And/or, give an option to auto-rename the old or new file, appending a counter for instance.)

But also, help deal with files on the tablet that are no longer on the PC (in the specified folder) because right now that's a manual process. (Currently, when I find a song on tablet that I don't want, I put the song in a special collection then later review that collection vs. what is on the PC's TAB folder. I don't know that MSPC should delete files from the PC, but it would be really helpful to flag them, or present a Only-On-Tablet list. Maybe stick a value in a standard or Custom field so all such files can be found.

PS: A handy MSPC feature would a column that shows the full path of each file, to debug goofy and confusing situations.

Sorry to be dumping so much detail, just hoping something gives you a "a-ha".