[BRX]

I got the update now (on Windows, but I continue here anyway).

I like the new UI very much. But even after the discussion here I'm not sure and need clarification:

If I rearrange and use the save button, is that saved to the song (non-destructively as I would have expected) or to the PDF (overwriting)?
I don't want to test and overwrite something.

The menu command "Save as new PDF" is very confusing as I already argued if it only overwrites the old PDF and doesn't work as "save as".

And the "Add file" doesn't seem to work for me. It opens the file dialog. But if I pick a file nothing appears in the rearrange window and if I change back to the files GUI there's nothing changed there either (and no prompt for saving).

[Zubersoft]

The wording for the option has been changed to "Update PDF with Current Page Order" instead of "Save as New PDF". This has been updated on Android and in the FastSpring Windows version, but not in the Microsoft Store version (as the update approval takes longer with that and I didn't want to go through the whole process again for a single label update). So it will be changed when I release the next update.

If you rearrange and tap "Save", it will be non-destructive. The only time the original PDF will be modified is if you tap "Update PDF with Current Page Order" (or "Save as New PDF" in the version you are using), add a file, or add a blank page/template. Otherwise MobileSheets is just modifying the page order string which you can manually do to accomplish the same thing (right-click or long press the page order field to directly enter the page order string).

As far as the "Add File" issue yo usaid you encounter, I don't seem to encounter that problem... If I select a PDF, that PDF gets added to the bottom of the current file and the page order string a the bottom gets update to reflect the addition of the new pages. If you don't see this behavior, what type of file are you importing?

Thanks,
Mike

[BRX]

Thanks for the clarification. I was expecting that but wanted to be sure.

As for adding a file. I tried (several times) to add another PDF as file (from local) and expected something to show up in the new UI window (but it doesn't).

Also for clarification: If I (successfully) add a file this way would it be the same as adding a file in the file tab and show up there after using the save button?

Also, isn't "save as a new song" confusing as well? So far I would have connected this with saving as a snippet and creating a new song using the same PDF. Is this now creating a new song with a new PDF?

[BRX]

Huh, experimenting further with the 3 dot menu of the single pages

Insert blank page works.
Insert file shows the file picker but after picking one nothing happens (like with add file)
Insert file from library shows the library but after picking MSP freezes completely and I have to kill it in the task manager.

[Zubersoft]

No idea why you are encountering all those issues - something strange is going on. I'll have to try testing with various library backups to see if I can encounter what you are talking about. It seems to work reliably with all of the tests I've run so far. As far as adding a file on the files tab - that is very different. Doing that will just add a second file to the song which is managed independently from the first file. Adding a file in the page order UI will modify the original file and append new pages to it using the selected file as the source for those pages. This also lets you insert a chord pro file into the end of a PDF, for example (you can't have a PDF and chord pro file in the song editor at the same time).

"Save as New Song" saves a new version of the PDF and creates a song using that PDF. It's different from creating a snippet which shares the original file.

Mike

[Zubersoft]

Well I am able to reproduce an issue now - it appears after successfully importing the first file, blank page, etc, future imports seem to fail. This seems to be a bug with the PDF library. I'll work on addressing this. This only seems to impact the Windows version.

Thanks,
Mike

[Zubersoft]

I tested with a 23 GB library and the dialog still worked fine to add a file from the library. Can you please send me mobilesheets.db at C:\Users\<your username>\AppData\Local\Packages\41730Zubersoft.MobileSheets_ys1c8ct2g6ypr\LocalState? That should help me reproduce the issue you saw. I have a fix in place for the other I mentioned (which may fix the problems you are seeing). It does seem to take an exceptionally long time to clean up resources after closing the dialog if you have a very large library though. I'll see if I can optimize that.

Thanks,
Mike

UPDATE:

I fixed the issue with closing the dialog with a large library. That's probably just what you were seeing - if you wait long enough, then it starts responding again. This will be fixed with the next update. All these issues are Windows only.

[BRX]

Hi, it may well be my issues are coming from the library size (> 50 GB as you might remember).

Today I tested it on my other Win10 PC (which for some reasons doesn't update MSP automatically and I have to do it manually from the MS store).

So, on the PC (normal Windows PC with 16 GB RAM) the add button and adding from the file picker works. Why that doesn't work then on my Surface Book with 32 GB RAM I don't know. (Both still on Win10 Pro)

But the adding from library doesn't work from the 16 GB PC either. It freezes too. I waited about 3 minutes and nothing happened. This time I let it open in the background in case it  just needed that long. But when I checked on it again a couple hours later the MSP window had closed on it's own. Do you want to have my db already or should I wait until the next update is pushed through and I tested again with that?

Also in respect of the naming/warning of the new functions.

As I see it it is a paradigm shift (albeit requested from the users) . But MSP never changed oder overwrote the source PDF before which I personally very much like and am very careful about it. If you don't think clearer labels or warnings are warranted, I'm OK with that since I'm warned now. But I expect that some of the users will be surprised with maybe unintended consequences of pushing a misunderstood label/button. But that's just my 2 cents.

BTW, it would be nice to have a long press shortcut to get to the new page arranger as well. How about a long press on the page slider or a small button on that?

[Zubersoft]

Having your database would still be good just to verify that my changes will address what you are seeing. I'll wait to hear more feedback on it to see if users have concerns about their files being modified. I would say the vast majority do not care much about that, but we will see. In your case, you can definitely just avoid the features (adding/inserting a file/Updating the PDF with the current page order) that modify the underlying file and just use the UI for changing the page order as you always have.

One of my goals is to update the quick action box to allow more icons to be configurable, and add settings so it can be expanded to a larger grid for users that want shortcuts to more features. Then one of the options for that could be to rearrange pages. Also, if more users request it, I can add rearranging pages as a touch/pedal/smart button action. For now, you can access it a little faster by tapping the second icon at the bottom left of the song overlay and then "Rearrange pages".

Thanks,
Mike

[BRX]

I send you a private message with a link.

[Frank Cox]

Unless I'm missing something (which is very possible) it seems this new page ordering ui allows me to delete pages with one click but not to add them with one click.

I have to enter the number of pages into the line at the bottom then the pages show up and I can reorder or delete them from there.  And if I delete the last page then the number of pages at the bottom changes to match.

But I can't add the next page of the pdf without having to rewrite the number myself.  So if I say "pages 1-6" and then want to add page 7 I have to write 7 into that box.

Could you have a big + on the screen right after the last page to add the next page to go along with the x to delete a page?  Then I can just go +++ to add the next three pages and go X if I went to far and just wanted the next two pages.

[Zubersoft]

That is true. You can always long press the page order field at the bottom to directly edit it if that's faster for you. I'll think about your suggestion, but I'm not sure it would make sense in every situation, and might be confusing if users have inserted one file into another (as the new file is technically appended to the end of the first file). I could also add an option where you tap the three dots and there is a "add next page" which would only be displayed if the next page after that selected page is not currently present in the page order. This would handle adding back a page anywhere in the page order, not just at the end. Thoughts? I know this is not as fast to access, but I don't think is something that would be all that common for most users.

Mike

[Frank Cox]

When I want to add a multipage song from a book that I haven't added to a playlist before my bookmark takes me to the first page of the song but that's all.  I then have to guess if it's a three page song, two page song or maybe six or ten pages.  Then after entering the number of my guess the preview shows up and I can see if it's all there or not; if it's not I have to enter a bigger number into that field and see what happens.

A + to just add the next page and show the preview would allow me to avoid all of that and just hit + until I get to the end of the song.

[Zubersoft]

This is not an easy thing to add at all - the component used on each platform is a standard list/table component, so trying to insert an "add" symbol as a big button at the end of the list requires a significant amount of work, especially on Windows where it uses data binding. A much easier approach is to have a completely separate "add" type button somewhere else on the screen not tied to the list that you can tap to just add the next page in the PDF. How about I add that in the undo/redo bar at the bottom left? The fifth icon could be a little plus symbol, and it will be enabled if the next page in the page order is not currently present. I could also add the option I mentioned so I support both cases. Then you can just tap that icon over and over and remove pages when needed. That should work for you, right?

Thanks,
Mike

[Frank Cox]

That would be perfect!