[Brian Bender]

Android OS SDK v22
MobileSheetsPro v2.9.0 from Google Play
Device: SM-P905V

Hi Michael,

I've been racking my brain trying to get Mobile Sheets to allow me to load a concert key chart on my master tablet and then load a Bb Instrument chart on the slave tablet. 

I understand that I can go to "Connect Tablets -> Settings" on the slave tablet and select "Song ID" or "Custom", which gives me this functionality as long as I have set the Song ID or Custom field on each tablet to corresond to each other. 

The problem is that if I set up, let's say 25 song files (concert and Bb versions) to match up across the two tablets in this manner, it all gets wiped away as soon as I clone my master tablet to my slave tablet.  Incidentally, I clone my library by copying the folder "com.zubersoft.mobilesheetspro" from my master tablet to my computer and then copying the folder from my computer to my slave tablet.  I began using this method instead of the backup/restore feature when I started to run into problems creating backup files because my database is larger than 4GB (I use my external SD card as the storage location for my library, and there is a 4GB filesize limit).

I have an idea that could solve my problem.  Song ID is probably not going to help because the same Song ID can't be assigned to two song files on the same tablet.  But it looks like I can assign two different song files with the same Custom field.  For instance, let's say that I have a song on the master tablet called "All of Me (C instruments)" and a song calIed "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" on the slave tablet.  If I enter "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" into the custom field of each song, then everything works great.  That is, until I clone my master tablet to my slave tablet.  At that point, loading "All of Me (C Instruments)" on my my master tablet will load "All of Me (C Instruments)" on my slave tablet, which doesn't help at all because then the "Match songs using: Custom" is functioning exactly like the "Match songs using: Title" parameter.

But if I were to enter "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" into the Custom field on both of the files "All of Me (C Instruments)" and "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" on the master tablet (which would also mean on the slave tablet after cloning), then that puts me one step closer to a solution.

Currently if I enter "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" into the custom fields in the song files "All of Me (C Instruments)" and "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" on the slave tablet AND I load "All of Me (C Instruments)" on the master tablet, then "All of Me (C Instruments) will load on the slave tablet.  Mobile Sheets Pro seems to prioritize loading the song with the matching title even though there is a second song titled "All of Me (Bb Instruments)" with the same parameter entered into the Custom field.

So my question is: Would it be possible to add another option on the slave tablet called "Match songs using: Custom (and skip files with the same title)"?  Or alternatively add a tickbox called "skip files with the same title" that appears when "Match songs using: Custom" is selected?  There are probably other ways to accomplish this, but this solution seems like it could work for my situation.  I suppose what I'm really asking for is a second level of options for the "Match songs using:" feature.  Or perhaps using the "Key" parameter as the second level of options if "Match songs using: Title" is selected?

I understand that it has been suggested in this forum that a workaround to achieving this functionlity is to create multi-page PDFs with page one being a concert chart, page 2 being a Bb chart, page 3 being an Eb chart, etc.  For various reasons it makes more sense for me to keep the transposed charts as separate documents. 

If we could somehow figure out a way to add this functionality to MSP, I think it could benefit a lot of people.  I know it would help me a lot!  I am a full-time musician playing in a variety of profesionnal bands (Swing, Dixieland, Klezmer, Irish, Contra Dance, Reggae, Funk, Afrobeat, Cover/Pop, etc).  I literally just got home from a Klezmer gig where this feature woud have been very useful!  I have three tablets (one master and two clones).  I had the master tablet, and I gave the two slave tablets to the bassist and the clarinetist.  So basically the clarinetist had to read concert charts for the whole gig.  To his credit, he did pretty well with the transposition, but he definitely made some mistakes that he wouldn't have made if he had been reading Bb charts.

I do love MSP and I use it in many of the bands that I play with. In the Cover/Pop band, I love the fact that I can send patch change messages to my keyboard when I load a song!  That means that my keyboard is set up instantly with horns, strings, synths, piano, organ, splits, layers, etc.  The band no longer has to wait for the the keyboardist (me) to be ready before starting a song!  This feature is also great for accompanying theatrical troupes, since I can break the PDF script that I work from into separate pages whenever a patch change is needed (on my keyboard I can also store "performances" which include drum beats and tempos -- very useful for theatre gigs, solo gigs, etc.).

Thank you for creating and developing such a wonderful app, Mike! I have recommended it to many people

PS - One more feature request....I often need to combine two (or more) files into one multi-page file.  I realize that this feature exists in the "Edit -> Files" screen, but this method doesn't work for me because my library is quite large (22,983 songs), so searching my entire library for each song takes way too much time using the file browser.  What I would like to do instead is to select two (or more) songs and then use a "combine" feature in the overflow menu to create a new multi-page song.  My workaround is to print the selected files as a multi-page PDF, save the PDF to Drive, and then import the PDF into MSP from Drive.  It just seems strange that there isn't a more direct way to accomplish this within MSP.

Also, for some reason one of my slave tablets always connects to the master, but the other slave connects about 50% of the time.  I'm connecting via Bluetooth (I've tried toggling Bluetooth off/on on each device, but that doesn't help).  All three tablets are identical models, and have identical device settings and MSP settings. The master tablet runs Android 4.4.2, and both slave tablets run Android 5.1.1 (I've had trouble upgrading the master tablet to 5.1.1). I'm usually able to get the third tablet to connect if I restart it.  But that means waiting for it to reboot and then waiting for the external SD card to be recognized (which can sometimes take up to 10 minutes).  Not fun if I'm loading into a gig, setting up the PA, etc.



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