Update file list dynamically?

Hi there,

I'm just checking this program out and it seems very powerful, but to me it's a bit counterintuitive in terms of what's displayed in the file list. Maybe I just don't understand the paradigm and someone can help me?

I add a directory of files, then add a number of methods to rename. When I like what I see in the 'New Filename' column, I hit 'Start Batch'. The rename finishes and all the files disappear from the file list. Why? What if I want to continue working on them? Clicking the 'Refresh' button does nothing, so I click the 'Add all successful items' link below to add them back again.

I see that I have in fact made an error, so I click the 'Undo Last Batch' button to revert my changes. I'm told the reversion was successful but the file list doesn't change: it still displays the results of the last rename BEFORE the reversion. Essentially this is a list of garbage non-existent files which don't reflect the actual contents of the folder I'm working with. Under what circumstances would I want to see this? Why is the file list not updating in real time to display the actual contents of the folder I'm working with? Again, clicking 'Refresh' does nothing. In this case, clicking the 'Add all successful items' link (or 'Add all items') does nothing: I'm told all of the items are already in the list?

Now I've got to select all the garbage filenames, remove them, then manually drill the folder tree to add the folder back in again. Is there a way to make this happen dynamically to reflect the contents of the folder?

Can't figure it out. Am I doing something wrong? Thanks for any help,

ianc

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Reply to #1:
I think you may have misunderstood the purpose of the main filename list.
It's not intended to reflect the contents of any specific folder, but a selection of files.

Those files don't need to be in the same folder, and you don't necessarily add them to the list by using the "Add" button to browse for files or directories.

I mostly add files to the list by drag-drop from Explorer file lists, sometimes from several different folders for the same batch, when I have content in various locations needing similar renaming.

As for remnants in the list after performing a batch with errors followed by an 'Undo', this again relates to the fact that the list is not intended to reflect contents of any specific location. For this case it simply shows the file list involved in the failed operation, so that you can double-check what file(s) or method(s) caused the conflict.

I hope this clarifies the intended usage for you.

Best regards: Ulf Ronald Andersson (aka: dlanor)

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Hi Ulf,

Thanks for the response. I understand what you're saying about how the file list is not folder-centric.

Still, I'm not sure why it can't be updated to reflect the current state of the files it contains. For me it causes these operations to be very confusing and labor intensive, so I think I'll probably move on and give something else a try.

Thanks again for the fast response!

ianc

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Reply to #3:
I can understand your point of view, and wondered how to reply when Ulf gave his well-worded response.

I urge you to to stay with it though, IMO, you won't find a better Renamer, AR's pros far outweigh its cons.

I wrote my own Excel-based Renamer, which is more flexible that you can shake a stick at and was tuned to exactly what I wanted. But I kicked that in to touch once I discovered what AR can really do.

My personal advice is that AR present version work's at its optimum when used in tandem with a good file searcher (I use FileLocator Pro) which does a lot of the gathering of files to supply to AR. When things go wrong, it's easy then to re-load AR .... but that's just my way of working.

Mark

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Program menu -> Settings -> Renaming tab -> Add files when batch ends -> All items ;-)

Styb

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Reply to #5:
Agreed, that saves using "All all items" in the main GUI.

But then, you have to clear that list before using another .... so it's swings and roundabouts :)

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