March 10, 2012
· Test Tab
This program requires a recent version of Windows (XP or later) to run. It is one in a series of collection management tools for the advanced collector of lossless audio files stored in flac and shn formats. This tool aids in the conversion and testing of folders containing flac, shn, and wav files and the generation of md5, ffp, spec, and DigiFlawFinder files. The design allows for the easy conversion, testing, and processing of a single folder to a batch of all the folders on one or more hard drives.
There are other programs available from other sources which can be used to perform many of the same tasks, but they can require much more operator interaction and time. Still those programs will be adequate for most users’ needs. Very heavy or advanced users though may benefit from using ShnFlacWav.
This program was created for personal use to automate a lot of individual tasks in order to minimize the amount of mouse and keyboard work and interaction. This has had the intended result of increasing my productivity giving me more time for researching, cataloging, archiving, sharing, and listening. This program is being freely shared so that it may do the same for others.
Potential users of this program are those who can take advantage of batch processing. For example, the batch processing automates the overnight testing of the folders on your storage media such as hard drives. That allows you to early detect media failures and create another backup from your backup before that also fails. Other users will appreciate the interaction with the MyChecksums and DigiFlawFinder programs. And those who store their collection in flac or shn format but listen or do analysis in wav format may find a productivity advantage using this program to perform that conversion to wav.
This program is folder oriented in that it deals with folders containing flac, shn and wav files and not the individual files. This program is batch oriented in that it allows for the processing of a batch of folders.
The folders in a batch can be selected from either a quick pick list of common locations, drag and drop, or buttons that invoke a get folder or get all sub folders dialog box. The batch of folders is processed either to make corresponding folders of wav files from flac or shn files, to make corresponding folders of flac files from wav files, or to test the files in each folder. During batch processing, any folders with problems or errors are highlighted and that folder’s processing detail can be brought up and viewed where each detail line with an error is highlighted for quick determination of problems.
The make wavs action takes all flac and shn files in a folder from the batch and creates another folder with corresponding wavs. That new folder has the same name as the source folder plus an added extension of “.wavf”. The new wav folder is placed in a specified destination drive and subfolder. There are options to also generate a spec file and a DigiFlawFinder file in the process. A spec file is a text file that contains the md5 checksums, the flac fingerprints or st5 checksums for shn files, and the shntool len output. The DigiFlawFinder file is a report of found possible digital flaws in the wav files and is generated by invoking the DigiFlawFinder program.
The test action can check to see whether the flac or shn files in a folder will decode without errors. It can check all md5, ffp, st5 and mychecksum files to see that they match. Once it matches a checksum it will not waste time matching duplicate checksums in the folder. Any combination of those tests can be performed. Any failures are highlighted by the type of failure to make it easy to determine the seriousness of the failure. So you can differentiate between a flac or shn file that fails to decode, a flac or shn file that fails the ffp or st5, a flac file or shn that fails the md5, a text file that fails the md5, a wav file that fails the md5, or another file type like a jpeg that fails the md5.
The generate action takes all wav files in a folder from the batch and creates another folder with corresponding flac files. That new folder has the same name as the source folder plus an added extension of “.flacf”. The new flac folder is placed in a specified destination drive and subfolder. There are options to also generate at the same time an md5, ffp, st5, and spec file in the process.
After I download new sets, I move them off to accumulate with other new ones in a folder where they wait to be processed and archived. I test these folders in a batch to make sure that I have it all. That way I catch if I accidentally stopped a torrent before it completed, if I got some other error in the download caused by my torrent software and hardware, the torrenter made a mistake and left out a file, or the torrenter generated flac files that have errors (the latter seem to come mostly from those using traders little helper, but that may be because more people use that software). It is easy to drag and drop the folders to be tested into the program and then click on the test button and then review the results when the batch finishes.
If I have generated some new flac files I want to torrent or grabbed something from my archive to torrent, I run the test to make sure it is error free before wasting other’s time having to redo a torrent.
· Testing Old Sets
I have a lot of sets archived on my hard drives. After getting this program written, I ran it on all those sets. I found some sets with files with errors that needed to be restored from dvdr or downloaded again from the internet. Now that those sets are verified, I still need to check them regularly to make sure all the files on the hard drive are still readable. I use the test option to check just the mychecksum md5 which will then read through every file and check its checksum. I also have hard drive backups of each hard drive. They are offline but also need to be similarly checked regularly.
· Making Wav Files
I store my collection on hard drives in flac and shn format. I like to generate wav files for listening and analysis purposes. I prefer listening in wav format as there are anecdotal reports that the sound quality is superior over listening directly from flac and shn. I also need wav files for analysis purposes such as opening in a wav editor, comparing wavs in eac for matches, and running the DigiFlawFinder program.
ShnFlacWav makes it easy to generate wav files in a batch. I select the folders from a pick list of common folder locations or using drag and drop from explorer. Sometimes I want a spec file to compare checksums to what I already have stored in the Mychecksum program’s database or the ChecksumLookup databases. Sometimes I want a spec file in order to compare track lengths to other recordings using its shntool len output. Sometimes I want a DigiFlawFinder report to look at or compare possible digital flaws with other recording versions. I can easily set those options on or off for each folder in the batch. I then click on the make wavs button.
· Generate
I have wav files either from an eac extraction from cd or from a transfer or a wav editor that I need to convert to flac. I put those wav files in a folder named to describe the contents without an extension. I get that folder from a pick list or drop that folder into the ShnFlacWav generate grid. I usually generate at the same time an ffp, md5 and a spec file so I also set those options. I click on the generate button. If I start with a folder named xxxxxx, I get a folder named xxxxxx.flacf with corresponding flac files to the wav files and new files xxxxxx.ffp, xxxxxx.md5, and xxxxxx.spec.txt.
I have folders that contain downloaded flac or shn files that I may want to have an md5, ffp, st5, or spec file. I either get the folder from the pick list or drop the folder into the ShnFlacWav generate grid. I select the desired files I want generated and then click on the generate button. The generated files will be created in the folder with a name based on the folder name.
The three main tabs make wavs, test, and generate all share common features. To use them, you fill the tabs grid with the folders you want to process. You can fill the grids by dragging and dropping folders from internet explorer, using the Get Folder button to select a folder, using the Get SubFolders button to get all folders in a folder, or choose folders from the pick folders tab.
The Clear All button will clear the grid of folders. The Clear Selected will remove rows from the grid where the first column is checked. There is an execute button which will perform a task on each folder in the grid depending on the tab you are on such as the Make Wavs, Test, and Generate Buttons. There are also buttons to execute on just the selected folders where the first column in the grid is checked. Once the batch process starts, the progress bar moves along for each folder and the current folder and file being processed are displayed to the right of the progress bar. The batch process can be paused by clicking on the Cancel button and canceled by confirming the cancel. At the end of the batch process a summary message is issued and grid cells with errors or warnings are highlighted. To view the detail output for a folder row, click on one of the cells on that row to the right of the folder name. The View Output form will show each detail step in processing the folder and highlight where the error occurred with each step’s completion or error message. Note that during the batch processing, ShnFlacWav runs other programs which do the testing, conversion, and processing and while they are running ShnFlacWav may not respond until those programs finish their step of the processing.
Each of the three main tabs has different options of check boxes or destination locations for the output folder. The default values for those options can be set on the setup tabs. The Reset After checkbox when checked will restore the default values of checkboxes after the batch process completes. If you complete with no errors, the completion message box will give you the option to clear the grid to enable selecting your next batch. Otherwise you should review the errors to see how serious they are. Each of the grids have context menus that can be brought up by right clicking on the grid to give additional functions.
There are two setup tabs. The Setup Picks tab lets you set up 3 pick folders lists. Drag and drop folders into the list or use the Get Folder button to select from a dialog box.
· The first Get From Pick List is a list of parent folders used on the Show Pick Folders Tab. Each parent folder will have its own tab and show a list of all folders it contains. Click on the parent folder tab you want to see sub folders in and then click on that sub folder to add it to the current grid for batch processing. Refresh a parent folder list by right clicking to bring up the context menu and then click on menu item Refresh. You can also refresh the parent folders grid by double clicking on the grid preferably outside of any column so as not to get an item transferred. These parent folders are common places you may be getting your folders to process from.
· The second list is the Make Wavs to Pick List. The folders you add to this will be in the Make Wavs tab Wavs To drop down listbox to select the parent folder where the wav folders you make will be placed into. Note that the first item will be the default location.
· The third list is the Generate Flac to Pick List. The folders you add to this will be in the Generate tab Flac To drop down listbox to select the parent folder where the flac folders you generate will be placed into. Note that the first item will be the default location.
The Setup tab lets you setup default values for the checkboxes on the different tabs. If you use the DigiFlawFinder program you must specify where it is. If you run large batches of DigiFlawFinder, you may want to set the maximum number to run at once so your cpu processing does not get overloaded. You can also access the help file and see the current program version you are running. You save and restore your settings here also.
In order for this program to run, it requires Microsoft Windows .Net Framework 3.5 SP1 and Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 runtime. Those both require a version of windows like windows XP or later. Both are available for free download from Microsoft if you do not already have them.
System Requirements for Microsoft .Net Framework 3.5 SP1
(I have only tested this in Windows 7, but I assume it will also work with Windows XP and Windows Vista)
This program requires a screen resolution of at least 1024 x768 and benefits from higher resolutions
If you don’t know whether you have the required Microsoft software installed already, you can look in Control Panel’s Add Remove Programs. If you have windows 7, .NET Framework 3.5 sp1 comes pre-installed and you may have to turn it on in “Turn Windows Features On or Off.”
If it is no longer at that location, search in your browser for “Download details: .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1” and you should find a Microsoft site with a web address beginning with http://www.microsoft.com/downloads. (google found it but bing did not); (Make sure you are downloading this from Microsoft).
It is large and can take some time to download and install it as it will install a lot of precursor .NET software if needed. Follow the installation instructions
Later versions of Windows, such as Windows 7, come with Microsoft Windows .Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 already on the computer and it just needs to be activated . To activate go to Control Panel, then Programs and Features, and then Turn Windows Features on or off, and then check the checkbox to turn on Microsoft Windows .Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1.
It is suggested you place this new folder in one of the User folders like My Documents. But you can put it where you want. However, if you are a Windows 7 or Vista user, do not put it in Program Files or other system oriented folders or you will have security access problems running the program.
Unzip and place all the files in the ShnFlacWav.zip download set into that folder. You should then have ShnFlacWav.exe, ShnFlacWav_help.htm. You also get some utility files used to generate checksums. You may overlay these with your own versions if you want. They are md5deep.exe, metaflac.exe, flac.exe, md5sum.exe, shntool.exe, shorten.exe, and cygwin1.dll.You may want to create a program shortcut to ShnFlacWav.exe on your desktop or in a favorite location to make it easier to run.
· If an update comes about, just copy the new update files ShnFlacWav.exe and ShnFlacWav_help.htm and overwrite any files (you may want to back them up first if you wish). If you have changed any setup preferences, you may want to make sure you have saved them to a file in the Setup Tab so that they can be reloaded.
Running multiple copies is not recommended as it has not been tested. Some of the other exe programs that ShnFlacWav runs may not function correctly when multiple versions are running.
· Clear Rows
o Clear All button removes all rows from the grid.
o Clear Sel button removes all rows that are selected (have the first grid column Sel checked)
· Get Folders into the Grid
o Get Folders button brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a single folder from. Just that folder is loaded into the grid.
o Get SubFolder button brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a folder from. All subfolders in the first level of the selected folder are loaded into the grid.
o The starting folder for the folder dialog boxes can be set in the Setup Picks tab and is the selected or first entry in that tab’s Get From Pick List.
o Folders that are dragged and dropped onto the grid are added to the grid. More than one folder can be dragged and dropped at a time.
o The Show pick folder tab button will show the Pick Folder Tab form. Clicking on a folder name on one of its tabs will add that folder to the grid
o Folders named "System Volume Information" and "$RECYCLE.BIN" are skipped.
The grid columns are:
o sel – checkbox indicates whether row is selected
o from – name of the folder to make wavs from. This folder should have flac or shn files in it.
o spec – checkbox that indicates whether to generate a spec file for this row’s folder
o dgf – checkbox that indicates whether to generate a DigiFlawFinder file for this row’s folder
o wav cnt – the number of flac and shn files that were attempted to be made into wav files. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o spec cnt – indicates whether a spec file was generated
As folders are added to the grid, the folders grid row checkboxes of spec and dgf are set according to various settings. They are set to match the values of the tab spec and dgf checkboxes. The default values for those options can be set on the setup tabs. The Reset After checkbox when checked will restore the default values of checkboxes after the batch process completes. Further, on the setup tab you can enter a list of prefixes that when they match the beginning of a folder name being added to the grid, that folder’s grid row checkbox is automatically set to checked. However, if the auto off checkbox is checked, then the rules regarding prefixes are not applied. Any desired adjustments to a row’s checkboxes can also be made manually by clicking on the checkbox in the grid row.
· Setting the Wavs To Parent Folder
To the right of the Wavs To button is the drop down list box indicating the folder where the wavs folder will be placed. It has an initial value of the first entry in the Setup Picks tab Make Wavs To Picklist. The drop down will reveal other setup entries in the list for selection. To choose a different value for the To Parent folder, you can type it in, drop it in, or select it using ihe Wavs To button which brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a single folder from.
· Making Wavs
o Use the Make Wavs button to start processing the batch of folders in the grid. The Make Wavs Sel button will make wavs for only those rows where the first column is checked. Either will step through the grid one row at a time processing the folder. The make wavs action takes all flac and shn files in a folder and creates another folder with corresponding wavs. That new folder has the same name as the source folder plus an added extension of “.wavf”. The new wav folder is placed in the specified Wavs To destination drive and subfolder.
o If a specification file was requested it is placed in the from folder with the suffix “.spec.txt”. If for some reason the from folder cannot be written to such as it is on a dvdr, the generated files are written to the ShnFlacWav\output folder. If a DigiFlawFinder report was requested, the DigiFlawFinder program is launched using that destination folder. If during setup you have limited the number of concurrently processing DigiFlawFinder programs, then that request is queued and rows where the DigiFlawFinder request is queued have their dgf checkbox highlighted in green until they are released and start processing.
o Once the batch process starts, the progress bar moves along for each folder and the current folder and file being processed are displayed to the right of the progress bar. The batch process can be paused by clicking on the Cancel button and canceled by confirming the cancel. At the end of the batch process a summary message is issued and grid cells with errors or warnings are highlighted. To view the detail output for a folder row, click on one of the non-checkbox cells on that row to the right of the folder name. The View Output form will show each detail step in processing the folder and highlight where the error occurred with each step’s completion or error message. Note that during the batch processing, ShnFlacWav runs other programs which do the testing, conversion, and processing and while they are running ShnFlacWav may not respond until those programs finish their step of the processing.
o If you complete with no errors, the completion message box will give you the option to clear the grid to enable selecting your next batch. Otherwise you should review the errors to see how serious they are. If you get an error making a wav file, you may want to retry that row setting the thru errors checkbox. Sometimes using the thru errors option on a damaged file will give a wav file that is not noticeably damaged on listening.
· Grid Context Menus
The grid’s context menu can be brought up by right clicking on the grid to give additional functions. Note that when you select a menu item that operates on a single row, it operates on the currently selected row which is not necessarily the row the mouse is over when the right click was done.
o Open Folder Name of current row in windows explorer
This opens an explorer window for the current row from folder name
o Open Folder Name of current row To Folder in windows explorer
This opens an explorer window for the current row To Folder (where the wavs are made)
o Set All Sel Column Selected
All rows have Sel column set to checked
o Set All Sel Column UnSelected
All rows have Sel column set to unchecked
o Set All Spec Column to Above Spec Value
All rows have the Spec column set to the value of the tab Spec above
o Set All Dgf Column to Above Dgf Value
All rows have the Dgf column set to the value of the tab Dgf above
o Make Wavs Current Row
This makes wavs for current row. This is useful when a row gets an error and you want to retry just that row with the thru errors option checked
o Copy Selected Wav Grid Rows to Gen Grid
Copies selected rows in the grid to the Gen grid. This is useful if you accidentally filled the wrong tab with your selections.
o Copy Selected Wav Grid Rows to Test Grid
Copies selected rows in the grid to the Test grid. This is useful if you accidentally filled the wrong tab with your selections.
o Sort Grid by Full Folder Name
This sorts the grid by the full folder name including drive and parent folder. This is the default sort.
o Sort Grid by Just Folder Name
This sorts the grid by just the folder name without the drive and parent folder.
o Clear All button removes all rows from the grid.
o Clear Sel button removes all rows that are selected (have the first grid column Sel checked)
o Get Folders button brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a single folder from. Just that folder is loaded into the grid.
o Get SubFolder button brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a folder from. All subfolders in the first level of the selected folder are loaded into the grid.
o The starting folder for the folder dialog boxes can be set in the Setup Picks tab and is the selected or first entry in that tab’s Get From Pick List.
o Folders that are dragged and dropped onto the grid are added to the grid. More than one folder can be dragged and dropped at a time.
o The Show pick folder tab button will show the Pick Folder Tab form. Clicking on a folder name on one of its tabs will add that folder to the grid
o Folders named "System Volume Information" and "$RECYCLE.BIN" are skipped.
The grid columns are:
o sel – checkbox indicates whether row is selected
o folder – name of the folder to test.
o f/s – the total number of flac files that were flac tested and shn files that were attempted to be decoded into wav files. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o ffp/st5 – the total number of ffp and st5 unique checksums that were attempted to be tested. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o md5 f/s – the total number of unique md5 checksums for flac and shn files that were attempted to be tested. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o md5 txt – the total number of unique checksums for text files that were attempted to be tested. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted. (this includes files with extensions "txt", "log", "ffp", "st5", "md5", "fp", "html", "pdf", "rtf", "doc", and "ini")
o md5 wav – the total number of unique md5 checksums for wav files that were attempted to be tested. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o md5 oth – the total number of unique checksums for other files (those not in the other md5 categories) that were attempted to be tested. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted. Files named “thumbs.db” are ignored.
· Testing Options
The row of checkboxes on the test tab indicates what to test. If they are all unchecked then they all will be tested. If any are checked then only those checked will be tested.
o flac – will run the flac test on all found flac files (files with extension “flac”)
o shn – will decode all found shn files (files with extension “shn”) to wav files (the output will go to the null output so that nothing is written to the hard drives)
o ffp – will test all unique checksums found in flac fingerprint files (files with extension “ffp” or “fp” or files with extensions of “md5” or “txt” where the filename also contains “fingerprint” or “ffp”)
o st5 – will test all unique checksums found in st5 files (files with extension “st5”)
o md5 – will test all unique checksums found in md5 files (files with extension “md5”)
o mycs ffp – will test all unique checksums found in the flac fingerprint or st5 portion of mychecksums files (files ending in “_mychecksums.txt”)
o mycs md5 – will test all unique checksums found in the md5 portion of mychecksums files (files ending in “_mychecksums.txt”)
The default values for these options can be set on the setup tabs. The Reset After checkbox when checked will restore the default values of checkboxes after the batch process completes.
o Use the Test All button to start processing the batch of folders in the grid. The Test Selected button will test only those rows where the first column is checked. Either will step through the grid one row at a time processing the folder. The test action runs the tests selected in the test tab.
o Once the batch process starts, the progress bar moves along for each folder and the current folder and file being processed are displayed to the right of the progress bar. The batch process can be paused by clicking on the Cancel button and canceled by confirming the cancel. At the end of the batch process a summary message is issued and grid cells with errors or warnings are highlighted. To view the detail output for a folder row, click on one of the cells on that row to the right of the folder name. The View Output form will show each detail step in processing the folder and highlight where the error occurred with each step’s completion or error message. Note that during the batch processing, ShnFlacWav runs other programs which do the testing and processing and while they are running ShnFlacWav may not respond until those programs finish their step of the processing.
o If you complete with no errors, the completion message box will give you the option to clear the grid to enable selecting your next batch. Otherwise you should review the errors to see how serious they are. Some errors that may be correctable are filenames that use foreign characters that do not always translate correctly. Other times the checksum file is not in the right subfolder so the files to test are not found.
The grid’s context menu can be brought up by right clicking on the grid to give additional functions. Note that when you select a menu item that operates on a single row, it operates on the currently selected row which is not necessarily the row the mouse is over when the right click was done.
o Open Folder Name of current row in windows explorer
This opens an explorer window for the current row folder name
o Set All Sel Column Selected
All rows have Sel column set to checked
o Set All Sel Column UnSelected
All rows have Sel column set to unchecked
o Test Current Row
This tests just the current row. This is useful when a row gets an error and you want to retry just that row possibly after making corrections in the folder
o Copy Selected Test Grid Rows to Wav Grid
Copies selected rows in the grid to the Wav grid. This is useful if you accidentally filled the wrong tab with your selections.
o Copy Selected Test Grid Rows to Gen Grid
Copies selected rows in the grid to the Gen grid. This is useful if you accidentally filled the wrong tab with your selections.
o Clear All button removes all rows from the grid.
o Clear Sel button removes all rows that are selected (have the first grid column Sel checked)
o Get Folders button brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a single folder from. Just that folder is loaded into the grid.
o Get SubFolder button brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a folder from. All subfolders in the first level of the selected folder are loaded into the grid.
o The starting folder for the folder dialog boxes can be set in the Setup Picks tab and is the selected or first entry in that tab’s Get From Pick List.
o Folders that are dragged and dropped onto the grid are added to the grid. More than one folder can be dragged and dropped at a time.
o The Show pick folder tab button will show the Pick Folder Tab form. Clicking on a folder name on one of its tabs will add that folder to the grid
o Folders named "System Volume Information" and "$RECYCLE.BIN" are skipped.
The grid columns are:
o sel – checkbox indicates whether row is selected
o from – name of the folder to generate from. If you are generating flac files, this folder should have wav files in it. If you are not generating flac files, this folder should have files in it to act upon.
o flac cnt – the number of wav files that were attempted to be made into flac files. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o ffp cnt – the number of flac files that were attempted to make the ffp file. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o st5 cnt – the number of flac, shn, and wav files that were attempted to make the st5 file. If any fail, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted.
o md5 cnt – indicates whether an md5 file was generated. If it fails, then a dash and the failure count follow this and the cell is highlighted
o spec cnt – indicates whether a spec file was generated. If it fails, then a dash and the failure count follows this and the cell is highlighted
· Generate Options
The row of checkboxes on the generate tab indicate what to generate. Only checkboxes checked will be generated.
o flac – will generate flac files from all found wav files (files with extension “wav”)
o ffp – will generate a flac fingerprint file for all found flac files
o st5 – will generate an st5 file for all found flac, shn, and wav files
o md5 – will generated an md5 file for all found files
o spec – will generated a spec file for all found files. A spec file is a text file that contains the md5 checksums, the flac fingerprints or st5 checksums for shn files, and the shntool len output. The spec file ends in “.spec.txt”.
The default values for those options can be set on the setup tabs. The Reset After checkbox when checked will restore the default values of checkboxes after the batch process completes.
To the right of the Flac To button is the drop down list box indicating the folder where the flac folder will be placed if flac is selected for generation. It has an initial value of the first entry in the Setup Picks tab Generate Flac To Picklist. The drop down will reveal other setup entries in the list for selection. To choose a different value for the Flac To parent folder, you can type it in, drop it in, or select it using the Flac To button which brings up a folder dialog box for you to select a single folder from.
o Use the Gen All button to start processing the batch of folders in the grid. The Gen Selected button will generate only for those rows where the first column is checked. Either will step through the grid one row at a time processing the folder.
o If flac is selected for generation, the generate action takes all wav files in the folder and creates another folder with corresponding flac files. That new folder has the same name as the source folder plus an added extension of “.flacf”. The new wav folder is placed in the specified Flac To destination drive and subfolder. All other files selected for generation are placed in the same folder as the flac files and have either “.ffp”, “.st5”, “md5”, or “.spec.txt” appended to the from folder filename to become the generated filename.
o If flac is not selected for generation, the generate action looks at all the files in the from folder to generate the selected file types. These generated files have either “.ffp”, “.st5”, “.md5”, or “.spec.txt” appended to the from folder name to become the generated filename and written to the from folder. If for some reason the from folder cannot be written to such as it is on a dvdr, the generated files are written to the ShnFlacWav\output folder.
o Once the batch process starts, the progress bar moves along for each folder and the current folder and file being processed are displayed to the right of the progress bar. The batch process can be paused by clicking on the Cancel button and canceled by confirming the cancel. At the end of the batch process a summary message is issued and grid cells with errors or warnings are highlighted. To view the detail output for a folder row, click on one of the non-checkbox cells on that row to the right of the folder name. The View Output form will show each detail step in processing the folder and highlight where the error occurred with each step’s completion or error message. Note that during the batch processing, ShnFlacWav runs other programs which do the generating, conversion, and processing and while they are running ShnFlacWav may not respond until those programs finish their step of the processing.
o If you complete with no errors, the completion message box will give you the option to clear the grid to enable selecting your next batch. Otherwise you should review the errors to see how serious they are. If you get an error making a wav file, you may want to retry that row setting the thru errors checkbox.
The grid’s context menu can be brought up by right clicking on the grid to give additional functions. Note that when you select a menu item that operates on a single row, it operates on the currently selected row which is not necessarily the row the mouse is over when the right click was done.
o Open Folder Name of current row in windows explorer
This opens an explorer window for the current row from folder name
o Open Folder Name of current row To Folder in windows explorer
This opens an explorer window for the current row To Folder (where the wavs are made)
o Set All Sel Column Selected
All rows have Sel column set to checked
o Set All Sel Column UnSelected
All rows have Sel column set to unchecked
o Generate Current Row
This generates for current row. This is useful when a row gets an error and you want to retry just that row
o Copy Selected Gen Grid Rows to Wav Grid
Copies selected rows in the grid to the Wav grid. This is useful if you accidentally filled the wrong tab with your selections.
o Copy Selected Gen Grid Rows to Test Grid
Copies selected rows in the grid to the Test grid. This is useful if you accidentally filled the wrong tab with your selections.
· This tab lets you setup 3 lists of folders. Use the radio buttons to indicate which list you are working on. You will need to stop and restart ShnFlacWav to see changes take effect.
o Clear All button removes all rows from current listbox.
o Clear Selected button removes all rows that are selected from current listbox.
o Get Folder button opens dialog box to select a single folder to add the from current listbox. (folders may also be added to the list by drag and drop from explorer.)
o Sort button sorts the from current listbox
o Move Up button moves the selected folder up one level in the current listbox
o Move Down button moves the selected folder down one level in the current listbox
· The Get From Pick List folders are used in the Pick Folder Tab. Each folder in this list represents a parent folder tab on that form which will show all of its sub folders to pick from. Also the selected or first folder in this list will be used as a starting folder on the select folder dialog box when using one of the other tab’s Get Folder buttons. The number of parent folder tabs on the Pick Folder Tab is limited so that only the first 6 parent folders in this listbox will appear on a tab.
· The Make Wavs Pick List folders are used on the Make Wavs Tab Wav To drop down box from which to select the destination folder.
· The Generate Flac To Pick List folders are used on the Generate Tab Flac To drop down box from which to select the destination folder.
· Remember to save any changes on the Setup tab.
· Make Wavs Settings
o The settings of spec, dgf, and thru errors checkboxes are the default values that will appear on the Make Wavs tab.
o The value of max concurrent dgf if left to zero will run as many concurrent DigiFlawFinder processing sessions as requested. This may max out your computer processors and cause performance problems to have so many processing at the same time. An integer value will limit the number of concurrent processing DigiFlawFinder sessions. Whether you need to limit is very dependent on your computer specs. The recommended setting is either 1 or the number of processors on your computer minus 1. If you plan on using the computer for other tasks, you might need to try minus 2 or more.
o The prefixes of folders to auto Document is a comma delimited list of folder name prefixes that will automatically set the rows spec checkbox to checked if it matches the folder name unless auto off is set to checked. This is useful when you follow a standard naming convention and want to more often than not generate a spec file for a select number of bands but not all bands. An example entry of 3 bands may be “bd,gd,rh”.
o The prefixes of folders to auto DigiFlawFinder is a comma delimited list of folder name prefixes that will automatically set the rows dgf checkbox to checked if it matches the folder name unless auto off is set to checked. This is useful when you follow a standard naming convention and want to more often than not generate a DigiFlawFinder report for a select number of bands but not all bands. An example entry of 3 bands may be “bd,gd,rh”.
o The DigiFlawFinder text box is the location of the DigiFlawFinder.exe file and is required to run DigiFlawFinder from ShnFlacWav. You can set it either by drag/drop of the exe file from explorer, typing its location and full name in, or clicking on the DigiFlawFinder to bring up a file dialog box to find the DigiFlawFinder.exe file.
· Test Settings
o The settings of flac, shn, ffp, st5, md5, mycs ffp, and mycs md5 checkboxes are the default values that will appear on the Test tab.
· Generate Settings
o The settings of flac, ffp, st5, md5, and spec checkboxes are the default values that will appear on the Generate tab.
o Flac Level is the level of flac compression used when generating the flac files. The default when left blank is 6.
· Save forms positions and sizes when saving (this setting is not saved)
If you want to save the position and size of the open forms for the next time you open the program, check this checkbox and then save the settings.
This will save any changes on the Setup Picks tab and the Settings tab. They will be available for this instance’s session and all future instances, but not concurrently running instances
This resets all settings back to their last saved settings
This will save any settings changes made and store them in the file “\ShnFlacWav\settings\ ShnFlacWav.ini”. This provides a backup for your settings. It is possible on future program updates or a reinstall that your settings will be lost. They may then be reloaded from this file. Also you may wish to transfer your settings to another computer or temporarily try other settings knowing you can reload the saved ones.
If you have previously saved your settings to a file, this will reload your settings from “ShnFlacWav\settings\ ShnFlacWav.ini”
The version number of the program
Displays this Help file
This form will display 6 parent folder tabs. The parent tabs are setup on the Setup Picks Tab in the Get From Pick List. The grid on each tab shows all the subfolders in the parent folder for the tab. Clicking on a subfolder will transfer that subfolder to the Make Wavs, Test, or Generate tabs grid whichever is active at the time. To refresh this either double click on the form (not in a cell to avoid transfer to the grid). Or right click on the grid and choose the menu item Refresh. This form is activated and shown by clicking on the Show Pick Folder tab buttons or by double clicking on the main form in the space below the Cancel button.
This form displays a grid of all steps and sub-steps in the process for the current row. The beginning and source of a step is highlighted in blue. Any sub-step that has an error is highlighted in orange. Unfortunately some of the errors from the software used are not well documented.
There is a discussion group for this software at:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigiFlawFinder/
If you plan to post a question in a message, please try to choose a message subject line that describes your question and that it is about ShnFlacWav. That will make it easier for others who may have the same question or who are not interested.
And the latest version of this software is available for download at:
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/DigiFlawFinder/files/
For those who do not wish to join the yahoo group, the software is also available at:
http://jokerman.org.uk/lb/ShnFlacWav_v101.zip
You need to make sure “Microsoft Windows .Net Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1” is installed according to the installation instructions
· Start Position of Form is on a monitor that no longer exists
Add this parameter to the end of the command line that launches the program so it is like (keep your old folder location):
ShnFlacWav.exe -ignore_start_positions
If you run this program from a shortcut, right click on the shortcut and bring up the properties panel and add “ -ignore_start_positions” to the end of the target field without the quotes and a leading space, Click Apply button, and then the Ok button. And then run it and save the new start positions. Then shut it down and go back and remove the new parameter you added.