Hoster 4.30 Song Edit

[admin]

Originally Posted by Roy Dennis

Walt, after looking further into this point, the Tools/options tick box has nothing to do with making it persistent so that it always stays ticked. It is so that it uses the full database of songs in the database (currently around 340,000 entries) and growing bigger every month. This is why it takes a long time to load each time you open with this enabled. If you un-tick this box and then tick the box in the edit screen only, it will be a lot faster as it is using a much smaller data base that in most cases would be enough.
I don't think it will be made persistent because it slows the function of the edit dialog down and is not necessary for most of the edit functions.

Roy, you're on the right track, but not quite correct.

There are two databases:

1. Import Database - This comes with Hoster and is opened for populating the Artist and Title tables when you click the check boxes (separately) in the Import CD Tracks, or Edit Songs dialogs. This Database has separate Artist and Title Tables. When called to fill in the Artist and Title fields in the dialogs, these Tables VERY QUICKLY open and populate the lists behind these 2 fields.

2. Songs Database - This contains your imported songs. It is a totally separate flat file Database, meaning the Artists, Titles, Brand, DiscID, Track#, BookID, etc. fields are all in a single table of records for each song you imported or indexed. This is the database called into operation by the Tools menu Options dialog check box.

Now, when #2 is enabled, its records must be parsed into fields, and the Artist and Title fields merged alphabetically, one at a time, into the lists for the 2 fields. THIS... is what takes the time.

The logic here is your Songs Database in the past had many Artists and Titles that weren't in the Import Database. That is not so today.

Also, we spend about 40 hours a month cleaning up Artist and Title names, and adding new records. Thus, the Import DB's Artist and Title table entries are spelled correctly (we Google them to determine the spelling) and in Lastname, Firstname order. IF we only present this today in the Edit Songs and Import CD Tracks dialogs, it would be better than merging your Songs DB with them.

I'll leave this Tools menu Options check box in 4.31, but will probably remove it in Hoster 5.00.