Undo in the middle of the History list

[sergeima]

Hi All,

It is a general Audacity question but since I am a Mac user, I am placing it in the Mac forum branch.

I am considering to undo a couple of effects up in the History list (compression, normalization, these kind of effects, nothing about time line). The problem is, I made several useful cuts after these operations, and I do not want to loose these cuts. So, I understand my options are

• Brute force approach: Discard all I did after unwanted operations and then
  repeat useful cuts, searching for the in- and out- time again and again
• To ease a bit brute force approach, I can check the timing of these cuts while
  these timings are graphically available, collect them in a list, discard together
  with unwanted normalization and repeat the cuts, selecting in- and out- times
  from my list. This would eliminate a need to select these intervals again
  interactively

What I do not understand is like follows

1. Looking for some conveniences -
   Is there a way to find these timings in the project data, so I can copy it
   without looking at the time time?
2. And more radical approach -
   Is there a way to change the project text file so my useful cuts are moved
   up in the history list so I can discard unwanted effects from their new
   position at the history bottom?

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thank you,
Sergei

[billw58]

@sergeima

• To ease a bit brute force approach, I can check the timing of these cuts while
  these timings are graphically available, collect them in a list, discard together
  with unwanted normalization and repeat the cuts, selecting in- and out- times
  from my list. This would eliminate a need to select these intervals again
  interactively

That’s your best approach.
Set the Selection Toolbar to display hh:mm:ss+samples or samples
Undo one step at a time making note of the in- and out-times of the cuts. With luck the selection should be visible after you undo each cut and you’ll be able to read those times from the Selection Toolbar.
Continue undoing until the effects are removed.
Enter the in- and out-times of each cut into the Selection Toolbar, then cut.

@sergeima

1. Looking for some conveniences -
   Is there a way to find these timings in the project data, so I can copy it
   without looking at the time time?

No.

@sergeima

2. And more radical approach -
   Is there a way to change the project text file so my useful cuts are moved
   up in the history list so I can discard unwanted effects from their new
   position at the history bottom?

No, no, no. Don’t mess with the AUP file. One little slip and your project will be destroyed.

– Bill

[kozikowski]

I think it’s still true you can’t change the UNDO order.
Koz

[steve]

@kozikowski

I think it’s still true you can’t change the UNDO order.

Yes, that’s correct, The Undo history is a strictly ordered list.

It’s like a journey. If you travel from New York, to Philadelphia, to Richmond, to Charlotte, to Atlanta; you can’t go back from Richmond to Philadelphia without first going back from Atlanta to Charlotte to Richmond.

[sergeima]

@billw58

@sergeima

• To ease a bit brute force approach, I can check the timing of these cuts while
  these timings are graphically available, collect them in a list, discard together
  with unwanted normalization and repeat the cuts, selecting in- and out- times
  from my list. This would eliminate a need to select these intervals again
  interactively

That’s your best approach.
Set the > Selection Toolbar > to display > hh:mm:ss+samples > or > samples
Undo one step at a time making note of the in- and out-times of the cuts. With luck the selection should be visible after you undo each cut and you’ll be able to read those times from the Selection Toolbar.
Continue undoing until the effects are removed.
Enter the in- and out-times of each cut into the Selection Toolbar, then cut.

Thank you, this is really convenient way to repeat effects, especially selecting samples as time counter.