Feaure Request for multiple file selection

[wince]

A new feature I would like added if at all possible is the ability to select multiple files or all files whilst in the rename original files window.

As an example, say I add 10 files then match. Now I want to remove all files from the list, I have to either select each one individually or quit the app and start again.

The same applies if I add 10 files then match and I want to remove 4 of the files from the list. I have to manually select each once to delete as I can't select multiple.

I'm running Filebot on Mac OSX 12.6.3

[rednoah]

As an example, say I add 10 files then match. Now I want to remove all files from the list, I have to either select each one individually or quit the app and start again.

You'll want to use the Clear All button the clear the Original Files and New Names list items.

The same applies if I add 10 files then match and I want to remove 4 of the files from the list. I have to manually select each once to delete as I can't select multiple.

You'll want to press the DELETE key on your keyboard to delete individual items rapidly.

[wince]

Thanks I never noticed the clear all button.
As for deleting partial files, I would still need to select then delete, select then delete, select then delete and select then delete as I can't select multiple files and delete them at once

[rednoah]

The typical works flow is to use the UP and DOWN keys to navigate through the list as you are double-checking the results, and hitting the DELETE key to remove items as we go along. DELETE will auto-select the next item, so you can just hit the DELETE key in rapid succession to delete many items.


I don't see how "SHIFT-CLICK one item after another, then click the button" could possibly be faster or more satisfying than just using the keyboard. That said, a point could be made for the sake of usability, an easy-to-find way of doing things, even if it's not the best way of doing things.


Adding multi-selection support is non-trivial to implement correctly, and adds little to no benefit that I can see over the existing way of doing things, others than having an additional less efficient way of doing things. Especially in the context of deleting items. Adding multi-selection support could allow for new features though, but I can't think of anything useful. In anycase, I would need good reason (ideally multiple reasons that elevate each other) to implement and maintain such a feature.

[iamse7en]

I'll give you a use case where it's either delete one at a time or delete all killed me tonight. I am tweaking/renaming my library to better conform to Plex conventions. Dragged all of my TV episodes, did a lot of work getting this list all ready to go, resolving duplicates, etc. Turns out Modern Marvels (where I have about a dozen seasons, but MANY episodes) tweaks their episode number and titles, because it's different than the last time I renamed them via TVDB api a few years ago. Well they're all a mess, and I want to handle them differently (I'll remove the s00e00 info and have Filebot go just off the episode title, which is correct, but the s00e00 is now incorrect after they made many changes over the past few years).

I cannot clear all, as it would undo what is probably 45 minutes of work. I was hoping I could just click on the first Modern Marvels, then shift click down to the last Modern Marvels, but alas, I cannot. I must click that damned delete key 528 times! It took me almost 10 minutes of just hitting the key over and over when it should have only took 5 seconds.

[rednoah]

I must click that damned delete key 528 times! It took me almost 10 minutes of just hitting the key over and over when it should have only took 5 seconds.

Why not just press and hold the DELETE key? I tried with 600 sample files and it takes less than 1 minute of holding the DELETE key to clear them all. Not ideal, but it does take less than a minute and only one keystroke, so not too bad for a rare corner case.







On another note, I strongly recommend processing shows / series folders one at a time, or at least limit yourself to manageable numbers of files for each batch, and not everything at once. It'll make it more easy to keep track of your progress and get things done step by step.


I will keep the use case in mind though. We may add some kind of "batch tools" at some point to easily batch modify / delete related Episode items at some point for this and related use cases.

[kiwichick]

I know this is an old post but I would like to add my support for this request. I often add a folder of files but want to either remove items or exclude items from being renamed. The X button tooltip even says "Exclude selected items" so why can't we select more than one?

[rednoah]

I know this is an old post but I would like to add my support for this request. I often add a folder of files but want to either remove items or exclude items from being renamed. The X button tooltip even says "Exclude selected items" so why can't we select more than one?

Support for multi-match selection would be difficult for all possible actions. We could look into implementing support for multi-selection (non-trivial when multiple lists of varying length are involved) but I would need to see your use case. As far as I can tell, keyboard navigation is the best way of going through the list and removing mismatches from the list, but your actual use case may differ from the use case I have in mind.


Do you use the button with your mouse? That's rather inefficient. The button is there for discoverability, but the DEL key is the way to go if you need to remove items from the list more than once.


Why not use the DEL key to quickly delete items from the list?




EDIT:

FileBot r10358 adds support for multi-selection for DELETE and UP / DOWN actions (but not drag-n-drop reorder due to framework limitations) and forces single-selection for other actions.

[kiwichick]

I would need to see your use case.

The use case is as I mentioned in my comment: "I often add a folder of files but want to either remove items or exclude items from being renamed."

[rednoah]

The use case is as I mentioned in my comment: "I often add a folder of files but want to either remove items or exclude items from being renamed."

The solution to this particular use case are the UP / DOWN array keys for selection and DELETE key for removal. Simple. Efficient. Fast. As you navigate through the list item-by-item to double-check everything before hitting the Rename button. (NOTE: Your use case description does not adequately explain why the already provided / recommended solution does not work for you.)



I have started with implementing basic support for multi-selection in the latest revision because I thought your use case was "I want to move a large number of selected items up or down in the list; e.g. select video file and external subtitle files for many languages and then them move them up / down as a block" and the only way to do that currently would be lots and lots of clicking. The proposed multi-selection feature would thus make lot of sense there, multi-select once, click once.