Please make Audacity show it’s import/export progress on the windows taskbar icon. This is what I’m referring to.
Let me explain why I would like this feature implemented:
If I import two files to the same project, I have to wait while the first file is copying before I can import the second file. But my explorer window(s) take up a lot of the screen, and I can’t see the progress bar in Audacity. So I have to keep switching back and forth to see how far it has come and if it’s done before I can drag and drop the second file into Audacity.
The same goes for exporting. If I’m going to use the file in another program or make a backup of the file after it’s done exporting, I have to switch back and forth to make sure it’s done exporting, before I can do anything with the file.
I apologies is this request has been made before, but I tried searching for it here on the forum and wasn’t able to find anything related.
Are you using a really slow computer, or working on huge files? What are you actually doing?
You can import multiple files at the same time if they are in the same folder.
Audacity doesn’t use Net framework (Audacity runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, but Net framework is Window only).
Huge files I guess, my computer isn’t slow. I’m using ffmpeg to import/export, maybe that’s why. I’m syncing audio files. The audio files aren’t in the same folder, so I can’t drag and drop both at the same time.
I’m pretty sure the progress indicator can be implemented in C++.
Since both MacOS and Linux (Ubuntu, last time I checked) have a progress indicator for dock icons, it might even be possible to implement it there as well. But it is possible that MacOS only use the native progress bar indicator for Finder dock tiles, but I’ve seen other apps (like Chrome or Firefox) modify the tile icon itself to give it a progress indicator. MacOS’s Launchpad tile uses the same progress bar (while installing apps from the AppStore) as Finder tiles, but it might be because “Launchpad” also relies on Finder. Here’s the documentation for the Windows taskbar.
The simplest solution would be to move or copy the files into the same folder before you start. Moving files that are on the same logical drive should be very fast. Copying is slower, but should still be a lot quicker than when importing since the files do not need to be decoded.
I expect that your right, though not in a cross-platform consistent way. Audacity uses WxWidgets as its “compatibility layer”, which has recently added a class “wxAppProgressIndicator”, which can be used to update the progress bar in the taskbar button on Windows and the dock icon on OS X (no Linux support yet). Audacity has recently moved to wx3.1, so technically this looks like it should be possible for Windows and macOS.
I’ll log this feature request on the Audacity wiki, but don’t hold your breath - there are not many Audacity developers, and there are a lot of competing priorities. Of course, if you are a C++ developer, then you are welcome to submit a patch.