Recent file Menu enhancement

[Robert J. H.]

Hi all

The File menu has "Recent Files", which is almost standard in most applications (sometimes, the files are just listed at the end of the menu).

I've two proposals to make:

1. The current behaviour, i.e. the order of the recent files seems a bit quirky.
Example: Open a project, import 20 tracks, save project and quit.
I would naively expect that my project is at the top of the list, however, that's not the case. It has disappeared because it was the first opened and a bunch of files were afterwards imported. Shouldn't we include saved files at the top of the list?

2. It would be nice to have two distinct "Recent ..." entries for projects and other audio files respectively.

Robert

[steve]

It would be nice to have two distinct "Recent ..." entries for projects and other audio files respectively.

I don't know the practicalities of coding that, but I like the idea of separate "Recent.." lists for opening projects and importing files.

[Gale Andrews]

My old proposal for reorganisation of the File Menu
into discrete sections for projects and audio files would naturally meet your request.

But otherwise, yes I think separate File > Recent Projects and File > Recent Audio items is a reasonable idea.


Gale

[Robert J. H.]

My old proposal for reorganisation of the File Menu
into discrete sections for projects and audio files would naturally meet your request.

But otherwise, yes I think separate File > Recent Projects and File > Recent Audio items is a reasonable idea.


Gale

OK, the three of us do then agree on the second point.

What are your opinions about number one?
For me, the "Recent ..." should contain files that have been recently edited, not only opened.
This means that the list should also be updated on save and on export commands.
I've just did the following:
- Save an open project under another name. This project appears correctly at the top of the recent file list.
- I've imported an Audio file and it is now on top
- I've deleted the track and saved the project but the audio file is still on top and not the recently saved project.

Therefore, it works sometimes already as expected.

[Gale Andrews]

I'm not sure the list order should update every time you save a project. If you were working on multiple projects and saving them periodically the order would keep changing.

The specific problem you mentioned would be solved by having a separate list for projects.

However personally I would like to see exported files in the list, perhaps as an off-by-default preference.


Gale

[steve]

An alternative long term approach could be to adopt a feature that is commonly found in grown up DAW applications, which is to have a "media manager". This would be a separate window, probably with tabs. that can display media according to various criteria. For example, you could list recently use audio files, or filter that to show recently used WAV files, or show recently saved projects, or recently exported files, or to show all files within a "library" (a recursive search within a specified directory or directories)...
The media manager would allow files to be dragged and dropped into the current project, or for projects to be opened in a new window.

Developing a "media library" would be quite a major development task, but having used such features in other software, they can be very useful.

[steve]

My old proposal for reorganisation of the File Menu

Wow, that is quite old now, but I like how it turned out. I've got too much other stuff at the moment, but I think I could probably tackle that when I have time.

[Gale Andrews]

An alternative long term approach could be to adopt a feature that is commonly found in grown up DAW applications, which is to have a "media manager".

Does such a manger typically replace either file open or file save dialogues?

Does it know which files are used in which track(s), a dilemma we face if we to have detailed properties information for each audio file in the project?


Gale

[steve]

s such a manger typically replace either file open or file save dialogues?

No, it's in addition. You don't have to use it if you don't want to.

One of the most useful features in my usage was being able to copy files into the same folder as the project (or a "working" folder). This makes it really easy to keep all files that relate to the current project together in one place. (Some applications insist that you do this, but I don't think that is appropriate for Audacity).

Does it know which files are used in which track(s), a dilemma we face if we to have detailed properties information for each audio file in the project?

No, but if you copy files into a "working" folder, then you can easily find all files that are in use.
There's no way that we can say which track contains which file because in Audacity we "copy" data from files, and any track may contain data from any imported file, or not contain data from any imported file (the data could be a copy of a copy, or could be generated).
This is a somewhat different situation from most real-time DAW applications in which audio clips often do point directly to audio files.

[Robert J. H.]

I'm not sure the list order should update every time you save a project. If you were working on multiple projects and saving them periodically the order would keep changing.

That's exactly what it should do, last out, first in.

The specific problem you mentioned would be solved by having a separate list for projects.

However personally I would like to see exported files in the list, perhaps as an off-by-default preference.


Gale

It solves the problem in the sense that the actual project doesn't slip out of sight.
However, I could open my project "song" and afterwards a project "Sample Library".
I can copy some clips into the song-project and close the library.
I save the song. And guess what, when I open Audacity the next day, the library will have the first place in the list although it has probably been closed long before I've finished working on my song last time.