Not if Copy as Text could be implemented as an action (2nd point in my first post). Then you could set it up in an action group, and execute in just one step - or even no extra step at all for users (like me) that already have an action group that they always perform on every new album.
Yes! %_clipboard% would work if also the current Copy as Text could be implemented as an action. Then you could setup an action group with the following actions: 1) Copy as Text 2) Format value with the string %_clipboard%. But then, if Copy as Text was to be implemented as an action, it might be easier to add a target field directly to it (see my post above with pictures). I'm not sure which one of these solutions that would be the most straightforward, or the most suitable one to implement.
Note that this request does not concern so much the occasional tinkering with the odd album or some faulty tags. It's for repetitive tasks that I perform in the exact same way for every album that I add to my library, or sometimes just on certain album types. I always try to improve the workflow and the setup/nesting of action groups in the Actions menu, that's where this request comes in.
You all have been nagging me about examples. I admit being hesitant to give them out. That's because I fear discussions about details, missing the principals - especially since some of my cases are a bit complex. But here's a simple example to give you the idea: For each album, I collect the artists, titles, years, composers + some custom fields of all tracks and join them together in the comment field, i.e. the same info is tagged into all tracks. This way I can display the info in foobar2000 and BubbleUPnP whilst playing the tracks. This currently requires two-step export-import.
If I look at your description then I would still assume that as you have to select all the files anyway, the manual interaction with copying the contents from the clipboard would be the best way to do it. And that is there already.
The copying and also the pasting would be automatic if they could be setup as actions in an action group. How could manual interaction be faster than that?
You would have to select the files - that is the same for both ways.
Then you have to either call the action
Menu Actions>Select the action or use a user-defined shortcut with Alt-6 and further keystrokes
1a. perhaps even edit action,
1b. enter the new format string,
1c. save the modification,
1d. finally execute the action and then
navigate to the field for inspection.
or
copy the data.with Edit>Copy as text
inspect the correctness of the format string
press Enter or click OK and
then paste the contents to the selected field in the tag panel (here: comment) with Ctrl-V
Looks very similar to me and has some drawbacks in respect to flexibility on the (currently not existing) action side.
It is unfortunate you feel this way. I think as one of the regulars here we have seen some pretty unique cases. But remember the library you keep is yours to manage as you see fit and what others think or say about how to manage it is just an opinion. One of the ways to minimize any concern of details or principles is to use an example from a more common album artist like ABBA or The Beatles where there is less likely to be anything to debate (much ).
This circles back to say basically the same thing since post #1. The question is how to get these custom fields populated.
Ultimately I think you have found the best process for what you are trying to accomplish. There is no function or action in mp3tag to directly compare two or more files. Your loop-export/import-to-a-tag-field workflow is creative, and is the closest I think you are going to get for now. At least until if/when the dev may choose to implement some of your suggested feature requests.
There would be nothing like that. It would be only Actions > Select the action group from the list. Two clicks.
As I have said, they are repetitive tasks that you would pre-configure only once in the action groups.
What has drawbacks? It's unclear to me, please elaborate.
There is room for improvement. I've had these export/import combos for years. Actually what triggered my request was the recently added feature Copy as Text, which I sometimes use and appreciate very much. Since it can loop multiple files, I soon realised its potential to simplify many of my action groups. Writing the action exports to tags instead of textfiles would work as well. I can only hope that the developer finds one of these approaches attractive.
The approach with a fixed action group - if you should ever get the idea to modify the required format string, then this would take much more time than the direct access in the Copy as text function. But for standard jobs it may be just as quick.
I think everyone has made one's point.
Right now the improvement is the copy as text function which is there and can be used.
If the function itself or access to the contents of the clipboard gets implemented has to be seen.
That is a shocking admission and your excuse is weak, to put it mildly.
If you had been clear about your objective from the beginning, this thread could have been resolved promptly. Instead, you took advantage of our patience. You kept us guessing endlessly. You dribbled out details, without revealing your goal until near the end.
I think that you owe the responders in this thread an apology for wasting hours of their time for no good reason. The others are too polite to say so, but not me.
).