[MB10]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed...

I'm on an iPad and have not changed anything regarding the "let MobileSheets manage files" and "different libraries" options from the default settings.

I like to transfer my sheets to MobileSheets via a OneDrive folder from my PC (Import -> OneDrive -> find file -> ok). In some cases I find that a sheet I wrote myself with Sibelius needs some cleaning up, layout improvement or added information. I would then update the sheet in Sibelius, save again as pdf and upload the pdf to the cloud, thereby replacing the old sheet in the cloud. Of course this does not automatically replace it inside MobileSheets. For that I open the song, go to edit -> files -> + -> OneDrive -> find file -> ok. Now MobileSheets warns me that there is already a file with this name.

I would think if I then choose the option to replace the file, I would end up with a song still consisting of one file (the updated one) but keeping the annotations I made on the old file. Instead my song consists of two files with the same name, one having annotations and being the old version and one being the new version.

Am I doing something wrong?

[MB10]

I might have made an error, could it be that the file is replaced but because I said "add new file" I have it in the song twice now, once with and once without annotations? And I can just delete the second copy again that I just added? In this case I just confused myself, should be clear now

[Zubersoft]

Do not edit the song and add the file that way - that's not going to replace the file in the way you want. It will replace the existing file in the storage location (which is what that warning is about). MobileSheets doesn't have logic for that scenario to detect that you are importing a file with the same name as an existing song in the library which also matches an existing file in the currently edited song. It's just warning you that you are going to be replacing a file in the storage location. Instead, you can either tap Import->OneDrive, select your file and when the conflict dialog is displayed, select the option to update the existing song in the library, or long press your song, tap the three dots at the top right and tap "Swap File". That will swap in the new file without impacting your annotations.

As a side note, you may be able to get away with removing the existing file in the song editor and adding back the new version, as I did add code to persist the annotations when this occurs, but it's better to be explicit about it with the swap file feature or by importing the same file again.

Mike

[MB10]

Thanks, Mike, for pointing that out! I thought I had seen something like the "Swap File"-option somewhere but could not remember where it was. But I just looked for it in the wrong place: The edit -> files dialog.

Swap file is the better choice for me because if I had chosen "import" again it would not have immediately have known that there is a song to update because I changed the song title.

[Etude]

I do this frequently myself (I use Musescore). I usually have several updates at a time.  It is not clear to me the best way to update songs in Mobile Sheets. Can I just change the file in the backup directory (both pdf and mp3) and sync to the backup?

[MB10]

Hi Etude,

I can't really tell about your suggested way as I do not backup/sync to a folder. I think there are several people that do something like that and it probably works, but if you are afraid of losing annotations etc please wait for confirmation before trusting me

It would definitely work as written earlier to use the "swap file" option, but here you would have to go song by song. Also, you could do the thing Mike describes by importing the updated files and choosing to update existing songs in the library. In this last case you have to pay attention that the updated file still has the same name and you cannot change the name of the song inside MobileSheets to something different than the title of the pdf file

[Etude]

Hi Etude,

I can't really tell about your suggested way as I do not backup/sync to a folder. I think there are several people that do something like that and it probably works, but if you are afraid of losing annotations etc please wait for confirmation before trusting me

It would definitely work as written earlier to use the "swap file" option, but here you would have to go song by song. Also, you could do the thing Mike describes by importing the updated files and choosing to update existing songs in the library. In this last case you have to pay attention that the updated file still has the same name and you cannot change the name of the song inside MobileSheets to something different than the title of the pdf file

It does take a while to do the backup/sync, but one song at a time is tedious, as is importing and deleting duplicates. I’m not overly concerned about losing annotations, so I might give it a try - after I back up to a database, first.

[MB10]

I agree - it is tedious to swap files one by one, but on the other hand it gives you the most control over the process so in cases of up to around 5 songs at a time I think it's worth the effort (at least for me)

Just to clarify: importing "duplicates" does not lead to actual duplicates because MobileSheets automatically detects them and just updates the files belonging to the corresponding songs. I think this also works for multiple songs at a time. The only thing to be aware of is as I said: The files have to have the same names and the song name cannot have been changed from the name that was automatically constructed from the file name.

But I agree that your method is worth a try and if you backup before and are not concerned about losing annotations you should probably be fine. Perhaps someone else with experience of this process can confirm that

[otnt]

or long press your song, tap the three dots at the top right and tap "Swap File". That will swap in the new file without impacting your annotations.

Mike

Is there a reason why "Swap File" feature is missing on the "Files" tab in "Editing" the piece/song?
I know I can delete existing file and + a new one but that does not retain cropping.

[Zubersoft]

The swap file feature is not designed to be cancelable - all actions taken within the song editor are not final and can be canceled. The swap file code will immediately change the database and commit all required changes. So it's not a good fit for the song editor in its current state. I would have to see how difficult it would be to redesign the code to strip out any changes to the database but keep changes to the song data.

Mike