"Always Overwrite" Option During Import

[derekm]

When importing html files (songs or setlists), the option should exist to overwrite existing.

We use and love iRP to manage charts for our monthly themed jams, writing and updating 40-50 charts every month, and distributing updated setlists among dozens of musicians regularly. Four or five of us update independent charts, that we upload into Dropbox, and one of us maintains a setlist for each show and distributes that back out. During rehearsals, we often tweak the charts (notes, repeats, endings, sometimes corrections) and re-distribute. Musicians in the group mostly use iRP itself instead of PDFs as we often adjust keys for a rehearsal, or even for a show.

Our iRP libraries end up FULL of duplicate version of the same songs, which have to be manually cleaned up.

A simple "overwrite" option during import would make this much simpler. If the default option was a global preference that would also be fantastic - people who write charts would likely leave that off (e.g. compare what someone else did on a chart and verify it), while people who only receive the files/setlists would always want it to default on.

 

[pdxdjazz]

Thanks for sharing the effective way you are using iRp!
The most heart-wrenching reports we receive here are folks that accidentally/inadvertently loose content.
Imagine spending a day (or more) working with a singer tweaking charts for an up coming show and, well, ….you can imagine the rest of the story.
Failing to frequently make and store a backup, accidentally *deleting* instead of “removing” a playlist and making unanticipated “fat-finger” errors on small screen devices etc. all have caused (and probably will in future cause) some heartache.

I suspect that the introduction of *features* that automatically destruct charts may have a lengthy period of evaluation and thought.

In the meantime, I’d consider the following:
1. Any chart that will be used as a jam session chart should be marked with an alphabetical “code” appended to the end of the title. eg. All Of Me z - Gerald Marks . If the code were longer and unique, a quick library search would list all of the “jam session” charts in your library.
2. As charts are imported into each app, the app scans for a duplicate title and if a duplicate exists, the app automatically appends a number during import. If no duplicate is present, no number is added. When a user views the list of charts with that title in their library’s song list the one with the highest number is the most current one they have imported. Note: their number may be different someone else’s number who has imported more or fewer versions of that chart.
3. I can certainly see an issue for folks that wish to save previous playlists that may now contain song versions that have been superseded.
4. It would be quick and easy to delete from your library all older versions of a song (they’re the ones with lower numbers) but they would also disappear from all older playlists.

Sounds like your shared Dropbox should have a folder whose only job is to be keeper of the most current, total master song list.

Maybe it’s a job for A.I.

Others may have ideas as well.
)BOB