Trader's Little Helper

[Mr. T.]

Originally Posted by velvetsailor

Awww, man...

you sound a displaced programmer to me.
TLH checks for SBE's...who else does that...huh.

on my secret wish list...I would like TLH to check CDDB/freed.db for tagging.

velvetsailor, can't you just delete shntool.exe, shorten.exe and flac.exe from your C:\WINDOWS folder and re-install TLH?

Mr. T, shntool will check for SBE's (and does a ton of other stuff too). It is command line, but it is easy. Why would you be in dire need of a prog that checks for SBE's if you don't download shows though?

[roann]

Originally Posted by Mr. T.

on my secret wish list...I would like TLH to check CDDB/freed.db for tagging.

There will be no CDDB/freed.db check with TLH because TLH doesn't offer any tagging functions.

Robert

[roann]

Originally Posted by velvetsailor

Awww, man... I don't mean to sound ungrateful, because it's got to be hard to even imagine all the time and "TLC" that have gone into TLH (and thank you very much!), but I think someone should wake me up if and when TLH looks a little less like rocket science, really.

Last time I tried TLH was back around the Windows Security bug announcement here, and all I could get it to deal with .WAVs, but back then I was thinking I wanted to do whatever it took to get the shntool fingerprints for .SHNs for TTD posts, so at the same time I installed shntool not realizing there were issues between TLH and the particular version, that were stated here but were not stated on the download page for TLH where I got it. I tried everything I could think of (or read about here) to get rid of shntool but still could not get TLH to deal correctly with anything but .WAVs, and just gave up. After that, I still have not caught up with changes to TLH.

So, as always, mkwACT is where I end up back at, because that, I can get to actually work in the here and now when I need it. In fact, other than its distaste for those ubiquitous lines that begin with ye olde octothorpe #, I have never had a single difficulty with it nor needed to force my tiny brain to try to contend with many pages of complicated support for it.

Being the case that mwkACT chokes on info inside the .md5 file that it considers to be spurious, like the lines that identify the file as having been created by TLH or the MD5 Summer, I've copied and renamed and edited hundreds and hundreds of md5 files for torrents that were created by TLH, everything with the "spurious text" gets an extra edited .md5 file that will plainly state "all files verified correctly" with mkwACT - that is on top of the extra md5s that get generated to monitor corruption in text files and artwork images, since a lot of the md5s I get with torrents address only the audio files and not other contents. And then I pass them onto people who probably don't get why there are sometimes 3 or 4 checksum files with a single show, or the protocols I use to try make sure that they too can get a straight answer out of mkwACT, just by clicking on a single md5 file.

And I realize that this is splitting hairs somewhat, because I think mkwACT should announce file corruption in addition to announcing that it found characters it doesn't like, but this stuff can be pretty disconcerting for the novice user - it took quite a long time for me to fully trust that mkwACT wasn't one of those programs that stops on the first few errors it finds and then fails to announce additional ones.

And this is technically mkwACT's problem rather than TLH's of course, but if I've understood correctly, I probably shouldn't expect a fix from MKW?

So on behalf of myself and anyone else who may still be in this same boat, I'm wondering if it would be possible / adequate if TLH put an identifier for md5s that it created, into the md5 file name or elsewhere, instead of into the md5 files themselves, so that these files will give a straight readout with mkwACT. Windows displays a date of creation for the md5 file anyway, so I'm guessing the date of creation doesn't actually need to be stated in the md5 file itself at least?

And I know, this would be applicable to MD5 Summer as well, but 95% of the files in question came from TLH.

Or is all this just lazy and completely ignorant of me? (Likely so, and apologies if it is).

(1)The download page for TLH clearly states what should be done to avoid problems (see Notes section).

(2) The v2.x.x.x releases of TLH work completely without reference to what is installed elsewhere in your programs and/or Windows folder(s). So if you want TLH to work properly please do as follows:
a) Uninstall TLH using its uninstall routine (do not just delete the TLH installation directory).
b) Open Windows Explorer. If the TLH installation folder (usually C:\Program files\Trader's Little Helper) still exists, delete it (including all that's in it).
c) Re-install the latest release (download location see link above).
d) Do not install other programs such as shntool to the TLH installation folder (or one of its subfolders), do not replace any of the programs that the TLH setup installs to the TLH installation subdirectory CmdLineApps with other versions.

(3) The development of mkwACT has been stopped years ago, and mkwACT is not supported anymore by its author. Furthermore (AFAIK) it is the only program around that doesn't "understand" comments in checksum files. IMO it makes no sense to change things only because some people aren't able to properly install TLH as described above (no offense meant). So I definitely neither will change the comments that TLH puts into a checksum file nor there will be any additional "identifiers" in the name of checksum files TLH creates.

(4) If you install TLH the way described above and there are still problems please let me know.

Robert

[Dweller_Benthos]

As if....

Anyway, long story short, I just got done copying about 500 CDs worth of files to an external HD so that when the CDs decay beyond use (some were already giving read errors) the files will be safe. Now, for the TLH wish(es):

I now have the daunting task of verifying several hundred filesets. TLH does this very well, but getting a couple hundred MD5s, FFP and SFV files loaded into it so it can batch verify is kinda a pain. If I double-click one verification file, it opens in TLH no problem, if I double-click another, it replaces the one that's already there. Using the Add... button is OK for one or two files, but navigating to more than that gets to be a hassle, then, you lose track of where you were etc (yes I'm lazy). So, what I'd like TLH to be able to do is if a second file is double-clicked, it just gets added to the list, so I can easily go through a bunch of folders in explorer and fast click on a bunch of files, and let it rip. Even better, if I could point TLH to a master folder or a whole drive and tell it to find all the MD5 files (or FFP or SFV or any combination thereof) and it would automatically parse the folders, sniff out all the files and add them to the list to verify. That would be sweet.

OK, on to wish two (I get three, right? LOL)

Barring whatever happens with wish one, it would be cool if TLH had a way to report the total results when verifying more than one set of files. That way, instead of scrolling back up through a bunch of results to see if there were any errors, if a total appeared at the bottom that said something like:

Files: 2345 Passed: 2340 Missing: 1 Bad: 4

Or, if there was a check box that you could check to only show errors in the results list, something like that.

Well, I think I'm pressing my luck here, so i'll save wish three for a time when I think of what it might be, lol

thanks

D_B

[roann]

Originally Posted by Dweller_Benthos

I now have the daunting task of verifying several hundred filesets. TLH does this very well, but getting a couple hundred MD5s, FFP and SFV files loaded into it so it can batch verify is kinda a pain. If I double-click one verification file, it opens in TLH no problem, if I double-click another, it replaces the one that's already there. Using the Add... button is OK for one or two files, but navigating to more than that gets to be a hassle, then, you lose track of where you were etc (yes I'm lazy). So, what I'd like TLH to be able to do is if a second file is double-clicked, it just gets added to the list, so I can easily go through a bunch of folders in explorer and fast click on a bunch of files, and let it rip.

Go to Options > Preferences > Verify checksum files, uncheck Clear existing file list before adding files, and press the Apply button. Now checksum files when double-clicked will be added without replacing the ones that are already on the list. A drawback is that after each double-click TLH gets the focus so the TLH window might get restored (depends a bit on the OS used). I'll try to change this with the next release.

Originally Posted by Dweller_Benthos

Even better, if I could point TLH to a master folder or a whole drive and tell it to find all the MD5 files (or FFP or SFV or any combination thereof) and it would automatically parse the folders, sniff out all the files and add them to the list to verify. That would be sweet.

Nice one, added to the list.

Originally Posted by Dweller_Benthos

OK, on to wish two (I get three, right? LOL)

You got more than one wish only if you run the commercially available version of TLH.

Originally Posted by Dweller_Benthos

Barring whatever happens with wish one, it would be cool if TLH had a way to report the total results when verifying more than one set of files. That way, instead of scrolling back up through a bunch of results to see if there were any errors, if a total appeared at the bottom that said something like:

Files: 2345 Passed: 2340 Missing: 1 Bad: 4

Or, if there was a check box that you could check to only show errors in the results list, something like that.

You're not the only user who requested something like that. It's on the list but I don't know if it will make it to the next release (unfortunately it's a bit more difficult to implement than one could possibly imagine).

Robert

[Dweller_Benthos]

Hey, thanks, you know, I did look in the preferences for some kind option for adding files, but must have skimmed over that bit. It'll help a bunch.

Thanks for considering the other "wishes" I can see how implementing the last might be more work than it's worth.

D_B

[mike1061]

Can I ask what the difference is, when you select varify checksum files, then add fingerprints, and when you do the same thing but ckeck full ffp vif.? With the box checked it takes a lot longer, so that implies to me that tth is doning more work. Until I just saw Jamie's comment in the checksums demistified thread I thought I was verifing the files properly with the box un-checked.
Thanks Mike

[roann]

Originally Posted by mike1061

Can I ask what the difference is, when you select varify checksum files, then add fingerprints, and when you do the same thing but ckeck full ffp vif.? With the box checked it takes a lot longer, so that implies to me that tth is doning more work. Until I just saw Jamie's comment in the checksums demistified thread I thought I was verifing the files properly with the box un-checked.
Thanks Mike

With the box Full ffp verify unchecked the checksum given in the .ffp file is compared only against the one stored in the .flac file header. The audio data is not checked at all. The only way to definitely verify flac files is to check the Full ffp verify box. Now additionally the audio data is compared against the checksums mentioned above. But this needs decoding, and that's why it takes so much longer to process.

Because using the Full ffp verify box unchecked is pretty senseless I finally removed the box/option long time ago. Full ffp verify became the default setting and cannot be turned off anymore.

Note that your TLH version is completely outdated if it offers that box. Please upgrade!

Robert

[Phlimphlam]

Just dropping in to say thanks to roann and others who have helped contribute.

As a noob TLH has been extremely helpful. Appreciate it!

[mike1061]

Thanks for the reply.
Mike

[ColinM]

If I could make a request for the next version. This is my only request. It's perfect for all I do, otherwise.

When creating a .torrent file, you Browse to the location where you want to save it. Unfortunately in my case, it defaults to the dir of the file you are about to create a .torrent file for. I keep my .torrent files in a single folder for easy access, plus files I create .torrents from are all over the 4 hard drives in my case.

Can the program 'remember' its' last saved location when creating multiple .torrent files? Or possibly designate a default directory to start from?

Imagine this:

Torrents - main folder
Music - sub folder
TV - sub
WRC - sub
Other - sub

If I could set TLH to always start from C:\My Documents\Torrents when saving .torrent file then I would only to navigate a single folder down. I can't be the only one who prefers .torrent files be saved in a central location.

[roann]

Originally Posted by ColinM

If I could make a request for the next version. This is my only request. It's perfect for all I do, otherwise.

When creating a .torrent file, you Browse to the location where you want to save it. Unfortunately in my case, it defaults to the dir of the file you are about to create a .torrent file for. I keep my .torrent files in a single folder for easy access, plus files I create .torrents from are all over the 4 hard drives in my case.

Can the program 'remember' its' last saved location when creating multiple .torrent files? Or possibly designate a default directory to start from?

Imagine this:

Torrents - main folder
Music - sub folder
TV - sub
WRC - sub
Other - sub

If I could set TLH to always start from C:\My Documents\Torrents when saving .torrent file then I would only to navigate a single folder down. I can't be the only one who prefers .torrent files be saved in a central location.

TLH is not able to permanently remember the last folder a .torrent file was saved to. But you can set a default directory where to write .torrent files to:

If TLH is already running close and re-start it. Open Options menu, select the Preferences ... item, and choose Create torrent file. Select This one in the box Directory to write torrent files to. No use the <...> button to select a default directory of your choice. Press the Apply button.

Robert

[ColinM]

Well, that works fine.

Thank you again for a fine program.

[VABLivenLevity]

cool