itunes workflow

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itunes workflow Mon Jul 08, 2013 9:44 am • by lgoler
I'm attempting to consolidate files from two external drives that both contain music files into one clean copy on a third external drive. So for example, A.) has only jazz music B.) has rock music C.) has both

C. already has some files from the A Drive and some of the B drive.

I'm trying to import them to iTunes using the "organize files" function while not creating duplicates. Can anyone recommend a rule that would first have Hazel check to see if there are duplicates in the destination drive, and if so, delete them? I notice that if you check the box in iTunes that says "organize automatically" iTunes will create a duplicate of the file but put a "1" or "2" at the end of the filename.

Any other suggestions please fire away.
lgoler
 
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Re: itunes workflow Mon Jul 08, 2013 12:35 pm • by Mr_Noodle
Hazel tries to check for duplicates when importing but if iTunes is doing the organizing, it may not work since Hazel only knows about the location of the file before the import, not where iTunes will put it. I think you may have better luck if you have Hazel organize the files (you can simulate the same folder structure using the sort into subfolders action) and then import them without having iTunes copy the file.
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Re: itunes workflow Mon Jul 08, 2013 2:10 pm • by lgoler
The problem with your option is that the subfolder structure won't be the same on the destination drive until after I've put them into iTunes because of the way it creates the artist-->album-->filename convention. So, for example, the song exists on Drive A in a Folder called Music, artist folder called, "Miles Davis" and a sub-folder called "Kind of Blue", and the track name is "Freddie Freeloader". If I ask Hazel to copy all files from the Music folder, and the file "Freddie Freeloader" exists on destination Drive C, but happens to be in a sub-folder called "Kind of Blue (Japan)", would it still know to throw out the duplicate or would it copy?
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Re: itunes workflow Tue Jul 09, 2013 12:40 pm • by Mr_Noodle
The point is to have Hazel do the artist->album->filename convention. If the files have the proper id3 tags, then this should be doable. Once filed, it's in its final place so when you import it, the file locations should be the same.
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Re: itunes workflow Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:52 pm • by lgoler
Mr_Noodle wrote:The point is to have Hazel do the artist->album->filename convention. If the files have the proper id3 tags, then this should be doable. Once filed, it's in its final place so when you import it, the file locations should be the same.


Mr. Noodle, after all this time I'm back to asking about this same thing. Can you specify the rule and how to create it if I want the following:

- merge music from drive A into an iTunes library on drive B
- have Hazel determine if files already exist and if so, don't copy
- if files don't exist, use file/sort structure as you've specified.

What is the rule I need to create to do this?
lgoler
 
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Re: itunes workflow Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:43 am • by lgoler
Paul,

In follow up to my last question, I see that having Hazel do the sorting is optimal for my job, however, I can't figure out how to have it copy over just the files and not the folders from one drive to another. I want them to be sorted into new subfolders using a specified folder mapping scheme based on the file metadata. As it is right now, the folders are coming with the files.
lgoler
 
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Re: itunes workflow Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:08 am • by Mr_Noodle
If you have files in subfolders, then you need to tell Hazel to go into those folders. Search the help for "subfolders" for how to do that.
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Re: itunes workflow Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:21 am • by lgoler
Thank you. So assuming I get the "go into subfolder" rule correctly, is it still possible for Hazel to discern if a duplicate file exists already on the target folder and if so, discard it?
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Re: itunes workflow Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:46 am • by Mr_Noodle
If using the copy or move actions, there's an option to do that, yes. The file must have the same name for it to trigger though.
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Re: itunes workflow Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:24 pm • by lgoler
So I want to make sure I understand how to write the process. Please let me know how to make this work:

A Drive where music folders are held:

- Hazel watches "music" folder and copies .mp3's only to a new folder on drive B

B Drive where music library is to be used:
Rule 1 - Go into subfolders
Rule 2 - Check to see if file already exists in sub folders in the iTunes Media folder library and if so, trash it. WHAT IS THE RULE HERE?
Rule 3 Hazel moves files (contains extension .mp3) from new folders into iTunes Media folder and into folders based on Author>Album

Is what I've said above accurate?
lgoler
 
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Re: itunes workflow Thu Jul 13, 2017 11:00 am • by Mr_Noodle
Skip step 2. Step 3 will use a "Move action" and "Sort into subfolder". Both of those have the option of throwing the file away if the file already exists at the destination.
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Re: itunes workflow Wed Jul 26, 2017 12:47 pm • by lgoler
Mr_Noodle wrote:Skip step 2. Step 3 will use a "Move action" and "Sort into subfolder". Both of those have the option of throwing the file away if the file already exists at the destination.


and what should be my process for ensuring that Hazel doesn't sort files into folders based on the metadata of the file, if the exact same file already exist inside a folder.

Bottom line, I keep running into an issue where I'm watching a folder and the rule says copy to my music folder on another drive, and then Hazel re-copies over those files and I end up with duplicates on the target volume.
lgoler
 
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Re: itunes workflow Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:49 am • by Mr_Noodle
Are the duplicates in the same folder? Hazel can't do anything about it if not.
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