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UPDATED: Gather Up the One-Hits v2.2
Gather Up the One-Hits had a persistent problem for some users whereby only a single track would be copied to the "One Hits" playlist. I believe I have fixed the problem, albeit at a cost of some speed; but it should only take a few seconds rather than a few moments to run.
iTunes 8.0.2 Released
Apple has released iTunes v8.0.2. As of this writing it is only available via Software Update; I prefer to download the installer from the download page, so I'll wait a bit. According to the release notes, iTunes 8.0.2:
- Addresses a quality issue creating MP3s on some computers.
- Fixes a connectivity issue with the iTunes Store when using some Internet proxies with Mac OS X.
- Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
More info when and if available.
iTunes Library Manager v5.2.1 Released
iTunes Library Manager v5.2.1 is now posted. It fixes a problem some Tiger users were experiencing during the Rename routine.
On a technical note, I should point out that Tiger users will be unable to take advantage of the much faster load and save routines that Leopard users will experience. Under Leopard, rsync is used to back up files. However, the Tiger version of rsync can't be trusted to copy the resource forks of files correctly, so ditto is used instead.
Dupin v1.4.2 Released
A small number of Dupin users reported getting a crash at startup with v1.4.1, so this has been fixed in the latest release. The issue was caused by either 1) a playlist selected in Dupin's Playlist Popup no longer existed or 2) an iTunes update would re-create a default Smart Playlist (such as "90's Music") which had been selected in the Playlist Popup. Neither condition should be an issue now.
Dupin v1.4 Released
iTunes' "Show Duplicates" feature is helpful but you still have to examine every track to determine whether you want to keep or delete the tracks it finds. Smart Playlists are of dubious help and trying to locate all duplicates with them can be tedious as they can quickly crowd your Source list and slow iTunes down.
Now there's Dupin.
Dupin is your iTunes duplicates manager.
Dupin allows you to quickly find all sets of duplicate tracks in iTunes based on the criteria you choose. It can then automatically select the "Keeper" tracks from among a number of duplicates using your choice of a variety of versatile filter options. Tracks you decide not to keep can be purged from iTunes and their files optionally moved to the Trash. Dupin is flexible, fast, and easy to use.
With Dupin you can:
- Locate, sort, filter, and purge duplicate tracks
- Manage intentionally duplicated tracks
- Copy tracks to new iTunes playlists
- View duplicates in non-loaded libraries created with iTunes' multiple library feature
- View duplicates in iTunes libraries on other machines on your local network
- Sort tracks and view track info
- Export a list of duplicates to a text file
- Locate tracks in the Finder and in iTunes
- Audition tracks
In addition, Dupin features:
- Familiar iTunes-like interface
- Robust Help
- Ample keyboard shortcuts
- Visual progress feedback during operations
- Customizable toolbars
- Optional update checking
Updated in version 1.4:
- Recognizes Genius Playlists
- Adds "Refresh Playlist Popup" toolbar button and menu option to View menu
- Adds Preference to limit number of Dupe Groups fetched during "Get Duplicates"
- Adds Preference to toggle between deleting files immediately or moving them to Trash during Purge
- Trash alert sound muted
- Fixes a minor date formatting issue
- GUI updated
- Speed and performance enhancements
This update is free for registered users.
iTunes Library Manager v5.2 Released
iTunes Library Manager v5.2 is now available.
iiTunes Library Manager makes back up copies of the current iTunes Music Library database file and iTunes Preferences, allowing you to maintain two or more libraries each with its own preferences settings.
For example, you can have one "Main Library" which contains all your songs and playlists, and another which just contains your "Holiday Music" songs and playlists.
Additionally, because each library is saved and loaded with its associated preferences, you can create many different configurations for different uses. For instance, you can assign each library its own designated Music Folder, and keep a directory of audio files on your computer and another distinct directory of audio files on another volume, network drive or external drive; different libraries can have different Sharing, Burning or Importing settings, too. The flexibility is awesome.
Updated in v5.2:
- Compatible with iTunes 8
- Recognizes--but does not manage--iTunes' multiple-libraries; however, such libraries can be the basis for additional iTLM libraries
- Some GUI enhancements
- Speed and performance fixes
This is a free update for registered users.
Retired, Not Euthanized
I got several fretful emails regarding yesterday's post about the retirement of several scripts which iTunes 8 has rendered unnecessary. Of particular concern was the appearance of Make Bookmarkable on the list. This is somewhat typical:
"Just a quick note to vote for preserving Make Bookmarkable. Although the ability to change the Media Kind to Audiobook in iTunes 8 has been added to preferences, it is NOT possible to change the Media Kind of podcasts -- despite the fact that the majority of podcasts are MP3s. I listen to dozens of podcasts and most of them are spoken word audio. Many benefit from the ability to speed them up. Until Apple allows for regular MP3s to be sped up I will continue to use Make-Bookmarkable."
Additionally, changing the Media Kind of a track does not change its file's file type, so changing an MP3's Media Kind to "Audiobook" does not make the MP3 an AAC. It just allows it to be listed in the Audiobooks library playlist (by some hidden mechanism; AppleScript cannot emulate it). So, in consideration of the cases where one actually wants to change the file type with Make Bookmarkable, I suppose it will remain un-retired and updated when necessary.
As for the other scripts on the list, they will still be available on the site, just out to pasture in the Retro Scripts section.
Retiring Some AppleScripts
Here is a list of AppleScripts which have been rendered "Old-And-In-The-Way" by virtue of new features in iTunes 8, particularly the new multi-edit features:
- Batch Set Tracks Sorting Tags
- Make Video Tags
- Set Video Kind of Selected
- Make Bookmarkable
- Make UN-Bookmarkable
- Selected Tracks Bookmarkable
- Set Selected Tracks Shuffle
- Enter Description Text for Selected
- Enter Long Description Text for Selected
I will most likely move these to the Retro Scripts category once I positively determine that their utility is superfluous with iTunes 8.
iTunes 8 and Genius Incompatibilities
As I hinted at yesterday Genius playlists are a new "species" of playlist. Several scripts are affected by their inability to correctly distinguish Genius playlists from other playlist types. I will be working on fixes for them in the coming days. I think, in fact, that you can pretty much attribute any failings of AppleScripts that did work before iTunes 8 to the appearance of one or more Genius playlists. You may want to verify this by shutting Genius off and trying the errant script again. While some AppleScript behaviors have been updated/fixed in iTunes 8, I have not (yet) noticed any new AppleScript features that would otherwise cause scripts to error.
Multi-Edit Features in iTunes 8
iTunes 8 now allows access to many more media tags when using the multi-edit Get Info screen. Also, note that you can convert any file type to Audiobook (M4B). Looks like the end of the line for Make Bookmarkable.
