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New user problems
#1
Hello,

I've just installed the paid version of MobileSheets, and and struggling to get started.

I have a large collection of Jazz lead sheets in PNG format, which I read in the manual is the preferred way to import sheet music into MobileSheets. My collection consists of over 4000 files, with some songs duplicated, and is in the following format:
You're My Everything - 1.png => version 2, sheet 1
You're My Everything - 2 1o2.png => version 3, sheet 1 of 2
You're My Everything - 2 2o2.png => version 3, sheet 2 of 2
You're My Everything.png => version 1, sheet 1
Your's Is My Heart Alone - 1.png
Your's Is My Heart Alone .png


My first approach was to use the companion PC software to copy my Jazz lead sheets to my tablet (a Samsung Tab Pro). This failed because the import tried to use "You're My Everything - 1" as the base name for the songs. Further, it tried to use "You're My Everything - 1" as the base name for all six files, even though they refer to two separate songs.

My seconds approach was to copy all 4000 files separately to a MobileSheets directory on the external SD card. I specified this external storage to MobileSheets, using Utilities -> Set Removable Storage Location. I then tried to batch import these files using Utilities -> Batch Import, with the following options:
- Import Directories: same as above (however, when selected, it was flagged as empty)
- All other check options are greyed out; however, "Create Subdirectory Per Song" is checked, all the rest are unchecked
- Title: "Guess Title From Filename"

When I start the import, it immediately stops with the message "The batch import has been cancelled".

Under Advanced, the option "Store Database on SD Card" is checked.

Can anyone help, please?

Paul
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#2
Hi Paul,

There is logic in MobileSheets to try to automatically group files that have very similar names into the same song. This is done so that if you have a files named, "Song File 1.png", "Song File 2.png", and "Song File 3.png", it will recognize that they share the same title and will account for that. Unfortunately, your naming convention is apparently conflicting with this logic, as you said that all six files were grouped into one song. Just to clarify - this happened during a batch import, right? The process for grouping files is currently to first check if the lengths of the filenames are within three characters. If so, ignore the first 3 characters, and last 3 characters, and then see if the middle matches. If so, then verify that either the start or end of the strings are identical (depending upon whether people numbered the strings at the start or end of the filename). Given that logic, I believe your files should have been grouped fairly well... I verified this on the tablet code though, so maybe you will have better luck with the tablet batch import.

Your description of the failed import on the tablet is a little concerning. Before you try the batch import again, I would try a clean start with your library by going to Options->Utilities->Clear Library, and deselecting the external storage so that it doesn't delete any of the files you are trying to import. Next, when you do the batch import, uncheck the option for "Copy Files" since the files you want to use are already in the right location on your external SD card (right?). Let me know if you have any more success with this. There may still be some incorrect groupings based on the filenames, so you will have to let me know how it goes.

Mike
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#3
Thanks Mike,

Unfortunately, your naming convention is apparently conflicting with this logic, as you said that all six files were grouped into one song. Just to clarify - this happened during a batch import, right?
Yes, I confirm that this happened with the batch import using the PC companion software.

I had previously installed the free version, then the paid version on top of that, and then removed the free version. Just to ensure no possible side effects, I completely uninstalled it and restarted from scratch.

I cleaned the library using Options -> Advanced -> Clear Library.
I tried the batch import using Options -> Utilities -> Batch Import, with following options set:
- Import Directories: /storage/extSdCard/MobileSheets
- Scan all subdirectories for files
- "Create Subdirectory Per Song" is checked
- All other check options are left unchecked
- Title: "Guess Title From Filename"

I get the same message "The batch import has been cancelled". However, when I return back to the main screen, I see that the first nine songs are displayed:
111-
12-4 2-4duplicities
12th Street Rag
26-
34 Skidoo
34 Skidoo -
500 Miles High 1o
502 Blues
52nd Street Theme


These songs seem to correspond to the following filenames on the SD card:
111-44.png
12-4 2-4duplicities.png
12th Street Rag.png
26-2.png
34 Skidoo - 1.png
34 Skidoo.png
500 Miles High 1o2.png
500 Miles High 2o2.png
502 Blues.png
52nd Street Theme


Comments:
- Can MS handle dashes in the file name? Some files already had a dash (without surrounding spaces) in the filename. In other cases, I added a dash (with surrounding spaces) to identify different versions of the same song.
- It seems that MS got confused with the "1o2", "2o2", etc suffixes that are used to identify songs consisting of 2 or more parts on separate image files.
- Will filenames such as the following which mix the "1o2", etc with the version dashes cause problems?
Ain't Misbehavin' - 1.png
Ain't Misbehavin' - 2 1o2.png
Ain't Misbehavin' - 2 2o2.png
Ain't Misbehavin'.png



I've attached a ZIP file with these songs.

Paul


Attached Files
.zip   Songs.zip (Size: 809.97 KB / Downloads: 3)
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#4
Thank you for the files. I will test it out and let you know what I find as soon as I can. I'm currently on travel for work so it may take me a few days to get an answer.

Mike
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#5
I tested out the files and everything seems to be as I would expect. Nine songs were created, and the only song whose files were joined was 500 miles. The titles for the songs are all over the place though due to some of the logic in the batch import that is designed to ignore numbering at the end of filenames. Short of adding an option not to group similar filenames, I'm not sure how this can be avoided. Every user may have a different way of organizing files, so this is a difficult problem to overcome. The only way I can see handling this would be fairly complex, and would involve users entering a pattern matching string so I would know what to look for. For example, if the pattern matching string was %Title% %Page%o%Total%, I would know to only group songs who have something at the end such as "1o2", otherwise I would just treat every file as a single song and not mess with their title.

Mike
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#6
Mike,

In the manual, you haven't specified the expected naming convention for files to be imported. The only reference I could find was
"The companion app tries to provide a song title based off the name of the file that has been added..." on P6
While I agree that the user shouldn't be expected to know about regular expressions when specifying the song filename format, I think that you need to at least formally specify the filename format that the importer expects.

I'm especially confused about the importer:
"Use subdirectories for metadata (Artist/Album/Genre) – If you want the batch import to fill in the artist, album, and/or genre field for you, an easy way to do this is to create several levels of folders for your files..." on P18
"Avoid Duplicate Songs – This option will prevent songs from being created in the library if a song already exists with the same name and files..." also on P18
- If I separately copy the PNG image files to the destination directory specified in Options -> Utilities -> Input Directories, what is the purpose of the "Use subdirectories for metadata..." option.
- In the jazz world, it is common to have multiple versions of the same tune (different key/instrument/vocal/instrumental, etc). Does this conflict with the option "Avoid duplicate songs..."?
- Does the importer take the specified input location, and use it to create its own library?

I'm also confused about the discussion about the three kinds of storage on P14. Shouldn't this be hidden from the user? Just allow a user to specify the location where the PNG image files are located (either on internal or external storage), and take it from there.

I don't know how to proceed from here. I'm sure it must be me, because other users posted glowing review for MobileSheets on the Google PlayStore.

Paul
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#7
You are correct that I did not explain the expected filename format for image files. I will try to fix that when I rewrite the manual.

I also am getting rid of the support for the subdirectory parsing features, as I don't think they are necessary. To sum up what it does, if you put all of your files under folders such as
Code:
[Artist name]
    [Album name]
         [Genre name]
               [File]
then MobileSheets will automatically populate those fields in the songs that are created. You can use just one folder for artist, or two if you want artist and then album, etc. I was just trying to give people a method to structure their files in such a way that they could avoid having to type in those fields manually.

Avoid duplicate songs just looks at files that are currently being used by any song in the library, and if a match is found, that file is not imported. If you have multiple versions of the same tune, there should be no problem using this feature so long as the file you import is named differently.

The import will look at whatever folder you specify as the input, and will do one of two things. If you select "Copy Files", it will copy every file it finds to a folder managed by MobileSheets. If you uncheck this option, it will use the files in their original location. If you like to manage your own files, always leave this copy option unchecked. There is a similar option in the song editor if you tap the hammer & wrench icon, so uncheck it there as well. Like I said before, I'm working on simplifying all this as it's gotten a little complex. As you suggested, the next version just gives you two choices in the main settings screen:

1) Do you want to let MobileSheets manage your files?
2) Choose the storage folder for MobileSheets

If you choose yes to 1, then MobileSheets will copy files to the storage folder during imports, so that everything is maintained under one folder. The storage folder is still required even if you choose no to 1, as sometimes you may want to import songs from dropbox or other cloud storage, and those files need to be copied somewhere (so that MobileSheets doesn't require an internet connection to be used). The default location is probably fine for most users though (it's the location that is currently being used).

I hope that makes sense. Sorry for the hassle - I'm working on fixing it so I don't lose new users due to issues like these.

Mike
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#8
Mike,

I'll just wait for the next release.
I don't want to spend time renaming my files, if the expected format is likely to change later.

Thanks again,
Paul
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