Patch/feature bring back request

Advanced Renamer forum
#1 : 06/04-13 04:26
TheKnooGai
TheKnooGai
Posts: 4
Hello,

I have recently downloaded & installed ver. 3.55 after having used ver. 2.73 since at least 2010 (according to the copyright date in the "About"). I like some of the new features, however a feature/behavior that I relied most heavily on seems to have been lost. When I add multiple files from multiple folders, then arrange by name, then path, ver. 2.73 always seemed to remember that the files were previously arranged by name.

For example, (in 2.73) when I arrange by name, the files appear in the list as follows:

~New Folder 1\001.JPG
~New Folder 2\001.JPG
~New Folder 3\001.JPG
-----------------------------------
~New Folder 1\002.JPG
~New Folder 2\002.JPG
~New Folder 3\002.JPG
-----------------------------------
~New Folder 1\003.JPG
~New Folder 2\003.JPG
~New Folder 3\003.JPG

Then, when I arrange by path, the files appear in the list as follows:

~New Folder 1\001.JPG
~New Folder 1\002.JPG
~New Folder 1\003.JPG
-----------------------------------
~New Folder 2\001.JPG
~New Folder 2\002.JPG
~New Folder 2\003.JPG
-----------------------------------
~New Folder 3\001.JPG
~New Folder 3\002.JPG
~New Folder 3\003.JPG

However, in ver. 3.55, no matter what I do, I cannot arrange by path whilst still maintaining an ordered sequence. Arranging by path in 3.55 results in the following randomization:

~New Folder 1\003.JPG
~New Folder 1\001.JPG
~New Folder 1\002.JPG
-----------------------------------
~New Folder 2\001.JPG
~New Folder 2\003.JPG
~New Folder 2\002.JPG
-----------------------------------
~New Folder 3\002.JPG
~New Folder 3\001.JPG
~New Folder 3\003.JPG

This is especially important to me as I usually have my folders labeled incrementally as well as the files in them. I typically use Windows XP to search for the file-type within the parent directory, which gives me the results from all of the sub-folders. This allows me to select all of the files I want, add them to AR, then rename them using <Inc Nr:001>.jpg, then run the search a second time (to show the change in file names), then simply cut & paste to a single folder. This lets me then view all of the files in 1 folder, but with the same sequence as they were by folder & file name.

For now it seems I will have to revert back to 2.73 until this is resolved. I just wanted to make it known so that it could be looked into.

Thank you kindly.


06/04-13 04:26 - edited 06/04-13 04:31
#2 : 06/04-13 21:35
Kim Jensen
Kim Jensen
Administrator
Posts: 870
Reply to #1:
Advanced Renamer has never been able to rename on multiple columns. The results you see in version 2.73 is the result of a coincidence.


06/04-13 21:35
#3 : 07/04-13 15:24
TheKnooGai
TheKnooGai
Posts: 4
Reply to #2:

I don't understand. Or perhaps you didn't understand my example. I was not talking about actually renaming anything. I was specifically referring to SORTING. Meaning, I can drag & drop multiple files from multiple folders (in my example above, New Folder 1, New Folder 2 & New Folder 3). The contents of those folders (001.JPG, 002.JPG & 003.JPG in above) will be displayed in the list of files. By clicking 1 of the "sort by" tabs at the top, I can choose to SORT (different from renaming) by "Filename", "New Filename" & "Path", as well as a bunch of other things. The problem occurs in 3.55 when I first SORT (again, NOT "renaming") by filename, then sort by path. In ver. 2.73, the program REMEMBERS that I FIRST sorted by filename, so when I THEN sort by path, each line is sequentially listed by filename AND filepath. In ver. 3.55, when I first sort by filename, it groups all of the 001 files from all of the different folders, but when I then sort by path, the order of the files in EACH path are completely scrambled.

Let me TRY to give a more accurate example...

Let's say that I took 1 picture on each day of the week for 4 weeks. I have 7 pictures (starting with Sunday as 001.JPG) in each of 4 folders, with each folder labeled "Week 1", "Week 2", "Week 3" & "Week 4". I want to combine all of these separate pictures into 1 folder & rename them sequentially, so that they can be viewed in the order that I took them. I cannot simply combine them first, because each folder contains 001.JPG, 002.JPG, 003.JPG, 004.JPG, 005.JPG, 006.JPG & 007.JPG, which means I would receive a conflict of filename error. So, I can use Windows to simply search the parent folder for all JPG files, then drag & drop all 28 pictures into Advanced Renamer. In ver. 2.73, I can first sort by filename, then path & this is what I will see in the list:

Filename | New Fi.. | Path
001.JPG | 01.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
002.JPG | 02.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
003.JPG | 03.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
004.JPG | 04.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
005.JPG | 05.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
006.JPG | 06.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
007.JPG | 07.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 1\
001.JPG | 08.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
002.JPG | 09.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
003.JPG | 10.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
004.JPG | 11.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
005.JPG | 12.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
006.JPG | 13.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
007.JPG | 14.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 2\
001.JPG | 15.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
002.JPG | 16.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
003.JPG | 17.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
004.JPG | 18.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
005.JPG | 19.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
006.JPG | 20.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
007.JPG | 21.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 3\
001.JPG | 22.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\
002.JPG | 23.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\
003.JPG | 24.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\
004.JPG | 25.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\
005.JPG | 26.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\
006.JPG | 27.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\
007.JPG | 28.JPG | C:\1 Month Study\Week 4\

In this example, I can simply "Start Batch" as everything is sorted correctly, first by filename, then by path. However, try to imagine the problem when sorting by path THEN completely scrambles the order of the pictures in each folder. Yes, I COULD rename all of the files in each folder separately, but imagine I want to rename the files in HUNDREDS of folders.

Something was changed along the way to ver. 3.55. I'm back to using 2.73 now as its sort by function works as it should, exactly like Win XP's sort by function. So much so in fact, that the same way Win XP will initially sort numbered files like:

1.JPG
10.JPG
11.JPG
2.JPG
20.JPG
21.JPG
3.JPG
30.JPG
31.JPG

...another click on the sort by filename changes it correctly to:

1.JPG
2.JPG
3.JPG
10.JPG
11.JPG
20.JPG
21.JPG
30.JPG
31.JPG

...Advanced Renamer 2.73 does the exact same thing. Initially sorting filenames by the first digit, then (upon clicking "Filename" a second time) by whole number.

I would really like to start using 3.55, or perhaps a new 3.56. But the sorting has to be fixed. I'm not a programmer, but I would think the coding for sorting needs to be compared between 2.73 (because we KNOW it sorts correctly) & 3.55.

Thank you kindly.

Edited to add:

I decided some screen caps would explain better.

NOTE: This list is ready for batch renaming.
http://mewziq.com/AR273.JPG

NOTE: Using the example at the beginning of this post, the order of the pictures is scrambled within each folder. This means that the picture I took on Saturday of Week 1, will become the first picture (01.JPG) in the new folder that contains all 28 images.
http://mewziq.com/AR355.JPG


07/04-13 15:24 - edited 07/04-13 16:16
#4 : 07/04-13 15:59
Kim Jensen
Kim Jensen
Administrator
Posts: 870
Reply to #3:
I did understand you but unfortunately I wrote "rename" instead of "sort". It has never been possible to sort on more than one column in Advanced Renamer. You might have been able to accomplish a similar result, but that was only by coincidence and not a build in feature.


07/04-13 15:59
#5 : 07/04-13 16:26
TheKnooGai
TheKnooGai
Posts: 4
Reply to #4:

Okay, so it maybe wasn't intentionally put in, but it was most certainly lost in the latest version. I am asking that the coding for sorting be compared between 2.73 & 3.55 to see if it's possible to release a new version that will remember what the previous sort was. If you look at the pictures in the previous post that I just added, you will see the problem here. Sorting is the MOST important feature, as THIS is what determines which files will get what names. If this is not fixed, it will mean that anyone who wishes to rename files from multiple folders will either have to use the older versions of AR, or they will have to rename the files in each folder, 1-at-a-time. If someone needs to rename 100 files in each of 200 folders, it will take a REALLY long time. They'd also have to change the start value for each new batch such as 001, then 101, 201, 301 etc.

AR 2.73 consistently sorts all files correctly. It is not an anomaly. The program remembers what the previous sorting was, so when I sort by path, I get all of the files in the correct order by name, then path. But it sounds like there will never be any steps taken to fix this.


07/04-13 16:26
#6 : 07/04-13 17:00
TheKnooGai
TheKnooGai
Posts: 4
Reply to #5:

***UPDATE***

I decided to look into the version log for AR & I found the change. Apparently, whatever was in 2.73 that worked, was also LOST in the very next version, 2.74. I noticed the following in the log:

Advanced Renamer 2.74 - 23. nov. 2010
* Bug fix: Sorting with numbers failed with big numbers

So I searched around & found version 2.74 for download. Installed it, opened it & ran the test I used to make the above posted screen caps. Just like 3.55, 2.74 & presumably every version in between suffer the same problem. They all completely forget that the files were sorted by filename when sorted by path. So the order of the filenames gets completely scrambled. It seems I've been using the best version all along. Being able to sort in this manner is how Windows does it & is the only way when the order actually matters. Looks like I'll be sticking with 2.73 since it REALLY doesn't seem like this will ever be solved. Thanks anyway.


07/04-13 17:00
#7 : 07/04-13 19:25
Kim Jensen
Kim Jensen
Administrator
Posts: 870
Reply to #6:
It's not that I don't want to add support for multiple column sort, but it is a rather big change (believe it or not) and I might want to use my time on something else instead.


07/04-13 19:25