MobileSheets Forums

Full Version: Help! How do I filter my search for songs within only one of my pdfs?
You're currently viewing a stripped down version of our content. View the full version with proper formatting.
Hi!

I'm new to mobilesheets and finding trouble organizing my imported files on my tablet:
I'm a sax player so I have multiple real books in Eb, Bb and concert, with multiple versions of the same song in different "relative" keys.
When importing the PDFs and CSV files, my songs list mixes all the files in alphabetical order and I can't find a way to filter my search for files that come from only one of the specific pdf books, so I can't know for sure if I'm reading a concert key, Bb or Eb song (being the song in a different key relative to the transposition).

So, for example, if I search for a specific song, three versions (or more) of it will appear, and if I don't know which key I'm supposed to be reading in I have to inspect each file to understand from which pdf it comes from.
Same thing when I'm trying to make a setlist for songs that come from a single pdf. For example, a setlist of the files that come Frome the New Real Book in Eb. So it's not like I can search for each song individually, as it would take forever.

It tried using the File Paths filter con the search section, thinking it might have somethiing to do with this, but it hasn't helped me.

What am I missing?
I'm sure there must be a solution, but I can't find it anywhere

Thanks!!
I don't know exactly how you have set up your system but here goes

The best (?) way to handle multi song pdf files is to import them in conjunction with a .csv file.
The first line in the .csv file defines the fields that are in the file; I think only Song Name and the page numbers are compulsory.
You can use other fields to specify things like a collection name and signature (you can specify any field that displays when you "Edit Song")

You prepare the .csv file using something like Excel. 
I would manually add the key signature at the end of the file name but you could use advanced formatting to automatically append the key when the name is displayed (the problem with changing the displayed name is that not all your songs may have a key signature)
Personally, I would just manually add it to the name.
I would include a collection name in the .csv - set the field to the name of your fake book.
If necessary, you could put the songs into multiple collections (e.g. "fakebook,SAX")
You need a separate .csv file per fake book i.e. you can't have a single .csv that covers all your fake books.

You can only use a .csv while you are importing songs into the library i.e. you can't use it with files you have already imported; you would need to reimport them.

The format of the .csv file is quite pernickety so do include the collection name in it as you are likely to repeat it a couple of times to get the information correct.
To repeat a import; go to the Song tab and set the filter to your collection name. Then select all the displayed songs and Delete them (note: you can only delete from the Songs tab).
Having removed the non-working entries, you can repeat the import with the corrected .csv

I suggest you work with a small multi-song file to work out what is required (you could use a large file but only populate the first 10 songs say)

Finally, several other members use fake books so it is highly likely that someone has created a .csv for some of your books. - Search forum post titles for .csv

I hope this helps you.

Geoff
PS: It is always a good idea to make a backup via MSP before modifying lots of songs - just in case.
Don't forget that you can go to Settings->Library Settings->Song Title Formatting, and include additional fields either in the song titles or captions. This can make it much easier to identify differences between songs. You put the song's filename in the caption field, for example, or even the full path to the file. Do you have metadata in your library that clearly distinguishes songs with matching titles? Or is the filename the only thing that is different?

Mike
It's a good idea to add every fakebook PDF to a specific group for easy filtering. I use one "Albums" entry per book, but "Collections" could also be used (I use Collections for bands / line-ups).
A nice example for full-featured CSV files is here:
https://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/forum...p?tid=6846