Posted
Hi,
It seems much more difficult than it should be to select MIDI files for importing into a Library.
Scenario 1: The library sidebar is open. Also open is an OS window on the directory containing MIDI file(s) I want to import.
The desire to drag-and-drop a) a MIDI file, or b) a multi-selection of MIDI files, or c) a sub-directory containing a bunch of MIDI files onto the library sidebar to import the files is overwhelming!
Unf. the library sidebar does not function as a drag-and-drop target, at all.
Please enable the library sidebar as a drag-and-drop target - ideally to operate smoothly with all 3 of a, b and c above.
Scenario 2: Knowing I can't currently drag-and-drop MIDI files onto the library, I follow the Library Import menu path to "do it the hard way". Why the hard way? Because the dialog presented does not offer me anyplace into which I can simply paste the source path in a single quick operation. Am I wrong about this? If so, my apologies, and please advise on where/how to do that.
So what is required is that I click down and down and down and down (and maybe even more) to navigate to the source directory where the MIDI files are. This is extremely tedious.
As background, I'm on Windows. From an OS window I can right-click on the path at the top of the window, do a 'Copy address as text' and no matter how deep the nesting is, I have the full path now in the buffer ready to be simply pasted wherever I need it. That's exactly what I do with almost every program on my computer. Why not Synfire?
Again, if there is a way to do this, my apologies, and please advise.
Otherwise, please figure out how to add this functionality to the program.
Thanks!
Fri, 2023-12-15 - 15:26 Permalink
The file dialog remembers the last used folder when you import the next batch.
Fri, 2023-12-15 - 16:50 Permalink
With macOS you can drag any file to the file open dialog and it will go there. There is no such standard in Windows. As far as I know a standard file dialog as such does not exist.
If you opened a MIDI file, next time you want to open one it will start at the same place. If you have all your MIDI files under a common folder, that will save you the proposed copy/paste of the location.
I would rather not add an input field to the dialog. Not many users would bother typing lengthy filenames. Drag and drop is a much better solution. Will check if it can be done.
Fri, 2023-12-15 - 17:13 Permalink
Drag-and-drop would be great. Thank you for investigating that possibility.
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As for not liking an input field, I can't comprehend the issue there.
I wouldn't usually type in a long name either, but I sure would cut-and-paste it in! That's a very normal user operation, at least in Windows. Such a field could and would simply be ignored by those who don't want to use it. For those who do want to cut-and-paste, it represents -problem solved-!
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FWIW, it might be a little too easy for someone who is spending all or most of their time using a Mac to not have a decently strong feel for things that are really workflow blockers on the Windows side.
Fri, 2023-12-15 - 17:20 Permalink
re: "all your MIDI files under a common folder"
That is actually a huge ask, if it is intended to suggest that rather than solve the navigation once-and-for-all at the source, all users everywhere forever could/should reorient their entire file system organization to accommodate Synfire.
Cross-platform development (esp. in an uncommon language) can be a #*&$%, yes? ;^)
Fri, 2023-12-15 - 17:34 Permalink
Yes, cross-platform development sometimes is a horror. The idioms on Windows and macOS are widely different to a point where it's hard to find a common denominator for some things. I'd rather not open that can of worms if there is a more elegant solution.
Simply dropping a file is surely more convenient than copy/paste.
reorient their entire file system organization
I didn't suggest that. But I assume it's very common that if you import many MIDI files, they are likely in the same location.