Random Copy

I programmed Random Copy to solve an Issue with my MP3-Player which I used some Time ago. It was a simple Device and it only played all Songs in alphabetical order. You could not resort it, and it had no random play function. For that i programmed Random Copy, simply to arrange the Songs in random order. Over the time people asked me after other functions, so it got more complex. For Version 3.1, I redesigned the User-interface.

The Program can also used for creating other random-based Collection of files (as far as i know some people use it for Diashows), but it was designed to copy music to a mp3player or a disc. For MP3 Files there are some special features like replacing the album in the id3 Tags, remove the id3 Tags or renaming the files after the tag Information. At least it can decompress mp3 files and create "wave" CD which can be played in even the oldest CD-Player.

This document is the whole help too, so you can jump direct to the Download part of the page, if you are not interested how it works.

Installation

Screenshot All my Programs are simply executable EXE-Files (tested under Windows XP - Windows 7, )I think it also works under Windows 8, but it is not tested, however it does not use the metro UI). It has no Installer. You can start it from your Download folder, but you also can create a Special folder for it. Your settings are stored in a subfolder of the Appdata Directory, but no registry Writes are made.

Basic Usage

The most important Settings you do at the Menu item with the same Name: BASIC Settings. The most important Setting is the Working mode, therefore this radio box is in bold letters.

Random Copy has three Modes:

A file-based mode: the normal (and most used) Mode for create a Music collection out of different Source Folders.
A directory-based Mode: to create a Music collection, also based on different source directories, but in difference to the file-based Mode its contains the complete Content of a directory. You get a random collection of albums.
A CD-based Mode: A mode special to fit the size of a CD or DVD with songs, so there is less space left. Destination files could be the source files or wave files after internal conversion.

The Usage is identical in all three modes

Select your Mode in the Radio group "Copy mode".
Select the size of all Files, you want to copy (how big is the memory of your mp3-player) or how many Titles you want (you can switch between both Modes in the Radio Group "Type of Limit"). I'm the CD Mode you should set this value to the size of a CD or multiples of this size when you want create more than one CD.
Check the filter of files to copied
You can exclude file which are to small or to big, too old or too young with settings for file size and file date. Then close the Dialog "Basic Settings".
Select in the main window a destination directory in the edit field right half of the Window, where the collection will be copied. If your player is recognized as a storage device, you can select it directly
Select one or more source directories on the left side. You can move Folders to the list on the right Side by drag and Drop (from left: add the Folder, from the list, remove the folder), also you can use the Buttons "Add" and "Delete" to add or remove a folder from the list.
Make further fine tuning by press on "Specific settings" - this dialog differs depending on the Mode
Click on "Search" and then if you are satisfied with the Collection "Copy" to copy the files..

How it works

With clicking on Search first Randomcopy builds a list of all files in all Sub-directory's. It includes all subfolders, also Folders in subfolders. So this could be take some time, if you have a big Collection of files and choose the main folder as an start. All files matching the filter are included. Different file extensions you can separate by a semicolon in the filter string (e.g. "*.mp3;*.wma" or "*.jpg;*.jpeg;*.png"). Also file size and date must match the given conditions. It will stop when the limit is exceeded or there are no more songs found matching the criteria.

The result is a sub collection of songs in a different order. The List can be longer than the size of the Media since exceeding the size is only given when you add an title.

This collection is after a click on "Copy" copied to the destination folder. It will stop then the given limit (Size in Megabytes or Number of Titles) is reached. You can stop the process by "stop" or empty the list by "reset". If you don't want a random list, like it was generated you can change between unsorted and sorted lists. If you have the list sorted you must make a Rescan to get a new unsorted list after switching to "unsorted".

Basic settings

There are some settings you can make, the options differ from mode to mode:

Common of all Modes

Order of files:

Influences the Order of the list so also the order of the files in the destination folder. There are three modes allowed

Sequential - preserves the given order, the same effect as copying by the explorer
Random: as described random files of the source folder are copied.
Mixed: Mixes Files from different folders. First it takes the first file of all source folders, then the second file of all directories and so on. You get a list like that:
dir. 1 - song 1
dir. 2 - song 1
dir. n - song 1
dir. 1 - song 2
dir. 2 - song 2

...

Eliminate Duplicates

If you have an extensive Music collection, it's possible that some songs are there more than once. For example if you have several "best of" albums. This function can look after duplicates (different Songs with the same title). There are two possibilities to find a duplicate. First if the filename is identical, only the first occurrence will be taken. This works with every file. The second Option works only with .mp3 and wma files - the id3-tags are then readout. There a duplicate is that a song has the same title and artist as an song found. So you will get cover versions, since there the artist is different. Reading out the id3 Tags of the songs needs much more time to find songs, since now every song must be opened.

Set new file date

If your player sorts the files after creation date, this function can create a new order by setting the actual date to the destination files. The Source files are untouched.

File Size

Its possible to avoid to copy short tracks or long Rock-Operas like In A-Gadda Viva (17 min long). For this purpose you can limit the File Size with two edits. The first does exclude all files smaller than this limit (0 if you don't want to use it), the second excludes all files which are bigger than the higher limit (0 or a very high value if you don't use it). For example: if you choose 2 for the lower limit and 6 for the upper limit you will only get files from 2 to 6 Megabyte size (2,0 until 5.99999).

File date

If you only want a collection of the last songs you bought you can set the file Date. You will get all files which are in the interval you given. Please note, that the date is interpreted as "beginning of the day" (mid night" and not end of the date. so if you want the files of 25 September included take at date the 26 September. Also in all dialogs the settings are stored when you close them, so you have to adjust the end date form time to time. If you don't want use that take a date like 1.1.1980 to 31.12.2099.,

File Renaming

The original purpose of the program: the destination files can be renamed to prevent playing in an alphabetical order. It is possible to change nothing, to add a 4-digit random number or a 4-digit sequence number (please remember - the order of the files copied to the destination is not made by the numbers, but by the order mode, so you even get a random list with a sequence number if you have selected random mode in the order settings. Also a renaming mode in the way of reading the id3-tags out is available. As in "Eliminate duplicates" this is only possible with mp3 files. The Start number can be chosen.

MP3 Gain Support

MAP3Gain is a Command-Line Program included in the ZIP-Archive. The Purpose of the program is that the songs have the same Peak-Loudness, very useful if you have Songs form different sources and different loudness. For every copied file MP3Gain will be called. To specify the work you can set the Command-Line Parameters. Please note, that since the program is called for any file you can't use the "Album Mode". The Use of MP3Gain will slow the Copy-Process.

Usage for Non-MP3 Files

I made Randomcopy for the use with an MP3 Player and therefore i added specific functions which works only with mp3 files. Then people wrote me that they use the program to create random collections of Pictures. To avoid wrong settings you can disable with that Checkbox all functions which are specific for MP3 Files, like changing the tags, renaming the file after title and artist, insert an new album tag or converting in Wave Files.

Portable Mode

The Program uses the Windows Guides for storing information. All data will be stored the folder "C:\Users\XXXX\AppData\Roaming\BL-Soft\RandomCopy" , where XXX is your Username. Since I'm lazy and do not use an installer form my programs. People asked me if it is possible to store all data in the program folder, so the program is portable. If you "Enable Portable Mode" the Program will store all data in the folder in which it is located. This folder must have Write-rights for the User Account. The opposite is "disable portable Mode" (you can do the same if you delete the file "Randomcopy.ini" - the program checks at start if the file is there and when it is it will store in the program folder otherwise in the Appdata folder).

File Mode Settings

This is the normal Mode of the Program, chosen by "File Mode" in the Radio group on the Main Form. Then you have in the Settings Form the following Choices:

Process Filename - Deletes from the Filename Leading Numbers, Spaces, Minus-Signs etc. until the first alphanumeric Char. Useful for renumbering the files

Start number: Number used for numbering the Files but also for numbering Tracks and CD's in the CD Mode, can be chosen by the user.

Remove ID3 Tags: Removes the ID3 Tags from the destination files, to avoid that the player sorts them after the containing information in the Tags.

New Album Title: My last player uses the album information in the id3 Tags so its impossible to generate a collection grouped by subfolders. With this option you can replace the album tag in the ID3 (v1 and v2 Versions) by this string. Also the Track number is set by the actual file number (set in start number and incremented after every file). So for your Player all files are part of one Album when you check this option.

In File mode the result are only files, the folder structure is not copied. You should copy the files not direct to the main directory of a player, since the number of entries there is limited. Instead make a folder and copy the fields into this folder.

CD-Mode Settings

Screenshot In CD Mode the main purpose is to fill the content of a cd with at least space left as possible. For that purpose you have to set in this dialog the size of the burned media. Please notice, that this is independent from the size of the source selection. If the source selection is bigger than the size of a media, you get more than one cd. So I think its smart to set the size of the source collection as a multiple of your cd-size.

In the wave mode the destination files are bigger than the source files due to the compression. Wave Mode only works with MP3 Files. It will generate Wave Files (16 Bit per Sample, 44.100 Samples/s) from the MP3 Files for older CD-Players. Other compressed formats like wma or ogg cannot decompressed. For that purpose the bass.dll is included in the package.

If you copy in CD-Mode, the program will start to create subfolders in the destination directory called "cd1" .. "cdn" and fill them with the files. The number of created cd's depend from the size of the source list. Then you have to burn the content to the cd's with a separate program. i recommend "Cdburnerxp". The program tries to minimize the left space of every cd.

Directory Mode

Screenshot In this Mode you get a number of folders containing the given numbers of files. Which files of every source folder is taken is random. (If the number "Songs per directory" is higher than the number of songs in the folders you will get all songs of a folder.

Since the File filter (BASIC Settings) works only with files, you also have here an directory filter for limiting the directories you want to get. For example, you want all Music from Bands beginning with "T" you can select "T*.*". This selectors fits on all folder names, you get also subfolders beginning with "T" for example albums starting with that letter. This is mainly useful if you have a naming convention in your collection.

Also you can limit the number of files per directory. If there are less than this number all files will be copied, so if you don't want to use this feature simply set the value very high e.g. 20 or 30 ( a cd normally hold 14-18 songs).

The directory Mode then copies the complete folder (or the amount of files you specified). For the selection of the files, the file mask in the basic settings will be used.

The normal Mode is creating subfolders on the player. You get not the complete tree but a structure with the sublevels of the given Source folders in the main window. For Example your Source Folder is "C:\Music" and the Album "C:\Music\T-Rex\Best of" will copied to Destination "F:\My Music" the resulting folder will be "F:\My Music\T-Rex\Best of"

If you want like the standard mode at the file-based mode a flat list (without subfolders), you can check the Checkbox "Flat mode - no subfolders"

In directory Mode you must select as source folders which contain folders (parent folders) since as first step the program will look after matching folders to the wildcard.

Blacklist

This Feature is experimental./p>

If you click on the Blacklist Button you open a new window. In these you can add and delete other directories to a separate List. These list is a "Blacklist" meaning, that all files in these folders and their Sub Folders are not included in the copy Process. You can turn this off and on by Checking or Un-checking the Checkbox "Use Blacklist".

This is useful if you want all Songs by a artist but not CD's like "Greatest hits" or "Remixes". So you can exclude this directories from the search. Or you have some folders which contain a Audiobooks or classic music which is not wanted on your MP3Player.

Blacklist can be used for whole folders or single Files. (Menu item Blacklist Folders and Blacklist Files).

History

This Feature is experimental.

History In the normal Copy Mode you can't avoid that you get some of the same titles again when you fill your Player next time. If you want to avoid this,/span> you can test this function. When activated all copied Files will be included in a History list and these List and the Date when they were copied, is stored on disk. Next time the list will be loaded and if the function is activated and a file is in the list it won't be copied again. Since the list will so grown and grown from every use of the program, there are three ways to delete a part of the list:

You specify a search text - if this text is included in the Filename it will be deleted from the history list. For example: You want copy again all Titles from the Rolling Stones "Rolling" will delete them from the list, therefore activate them again for Copy actions.
You specify a date - all files which are old than these Date will be deleted from the list. For example: 12.9.2014 means all entries older than this day will be deleted from the list (always the oldest ones).
You specify a difference to today (e.g. 7 for a week) and all files which are older will be deleted from the list.
You also can delete the whole list.

The history list must be sawn as a blacklist - a file which is contained in the list will not be copied. It is also possible to activate an automatism. For that you simply have to check "Use automatic delete" and from now on every Start the list will be cut from the files older than the Time difference in days you specify.

Please note that the function Blacklist and History are wanted by users and not used by myself. So id did not have tested them as much as other functions. Since there are several modes in the program it might not work in all Cases. If you find a bug feel free to inform me (including the settings you made).

Help & Info

The Help will only show this document on the web.

Info shows you the current version and allows to download a new version. After downloading a new version you must close the program and extract the zip-archive by hand. Also you can send me a mail (by your default mail client).

Virus?

Wenn sie beim Starten eines meiner Programme einen Alarm ihrer Antiviren Software bekommen, dann ist dies ein Fehlalarm, verursacht durch eine Post-Mortem Modul, dass Abstürze und Fehler meldet. Mehr finden sie auf dieser Seite.

If you get an alert from your antivirus software, when you start one of my programs, this is a false alarm, caused by a post-mortem module, that reports crashes and errors. You can find more information about this on this page.

Version History (up from 3.1)

Version 3.10

New User Interface for the Main Window. Since there were more and more Options and Button i decided to make the User Interface simpler and cleaner. I used a normal Main Menu. All Settings can now found in "BASIC Settings". The Other Settings for Folders, File and History Lists are in other submenus of this Topic.

New Functions:

New User Interface with a menu structure
No MP3 Mode, disables all Topics which only work with mp3 files. Needed since many people use the program to crate Dia shows or other random JPG-Collections
MP3 Gain Option
For Players who allow only a limit number of titles: Maximum of copied files can be adjust not only by size, but also by the number of Titles copied.
Portable Mode: Its possible to store the Configuration in the program Directory, No Write into the Appdata Folder.
Sorting/Unsorting the lists
New Routines for searching files, allowing file date limitations.
Reading also WMA Tags out

Version 3.11: Bugfixes

Two Bugs eliminated at random Selction (Titles double in the list) asnd Settings of the Album Tag (did not work in every case).

Directory mode will make an error when no folders are found and the programs displays a crash notice. Fixed

Also some songs wre not copied if the number of songs in the source folders in directory mode is smaller as the selected minimum of songs.

Version 3.12: Experimental Whole Dir Mode

Bug eliminated: get only one File at scan under certain circumstances

Experimental Whole dir Mode (get all files in a directory, randomly choosed from all directorys, repeated until filenumber / size reached.

Version 3.13: Updates New Version Routine

Version 3.13 will load the new version via https, since i used now ssl for my website. The old versions will not download any file, since they try to load via http and can't handle the redirect to https.

Version 3.14: Bug Fix

Index.Startvalue was ignored, fixed

Version 3.15: Profiles Save/Add

Two new Menu items allow the save or load of all settingsin the dialogs in seperate profiles

Download Random Copy

If you like the program you can donate via PayPal. You decide how much the program is worth for you.

Last Changed: Version 3.13 made 23.10.2016

If you have a large music collection, perhaps my program MP3Database to catalog them and find songs fast.

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