Delete Band in a Box duplicate songs. Using free software.
A typical Band in a Box 2012 installation may have many thousands of music files in hundreds or even thousands of directories, with many files duplicated.
But first understand Band-in-a-Box common file extension names.
Band-in-a-Box song files end in a ?G? file extension.
If the song has a melody, the extension begins with an 'M'. If the song doesn't have a melody, it begins with an 'S'.
The second letter of the extension is always a G.
The third letter refers to the style that the song uses. 1-9 and A-N refer to the original "built-in" styles (for example, ZZJAZZ.STY, ZZWALTZ.STY) and U refers to a "User" style (actually, any other style).
Example 1: MySongTitle.MGU
The M tells us that the song has a melody.
The G is always present in song names telling us that it is a song.
The U tells us that the style is a user style.
Example 2: MySongTitle.SG1
The S tells us that the song doesn't have a melody.
The G is always present in song names telling us that it is a song.
The 1 indicates that the song uses Style #1, which is Jazz Swing (ZZJAZZ).
MGX. This refers to songs that contain an entire MIDI file on the Melody track. For example, if you had used File | Open MIDI file (Band-in-a-Box 2004 or later), or the MIDI file Style Wizard (Band-in-a-Box 12 and later).
Version bib 2012-5 have a new engine built to support the brilliant new MIDI SUPER TRACKS. The extension is *.SGU.
Version 2012 Style naming conventions:
_MyStyle.sty is a RealStyle.
The = (equal sign) prefix for styles that have some MIDI parts, but at least one RealTracks instrument. You can browse through styles without ever hearing MIDI.
A + sign at the end of the style name. For example, MyStyle+.STY would be a MultiStyle.
The prefix of the style with the # symbol, it is a Norton Music Style http://www.nortonmusic.com
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The song files are quite small like midi files.
Sort Band in a Box file structure using free software.
After running the following routine the songs are sorted into the following structure.
if the new folder starts with 000 this will show up at the top of the tree in BB.
The programs can be used free of charge.
Sample listing after running the following utils.
Volume in drive C is system-1G
Volume Serial Number xxx-xxxx
Directory of C:\bb\000-bb-songs-new+styles
25/08/2012 22:55 <DIR> .
25/08/2012 22:55 <DIR> ..
22/08/2012 11:45 <DIR> #
22/08/2012 11:44 <DIR> A
22/08/2012 11:44 <DIR> B
22/08/2012 11:44 <DIR> C
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> D
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> E
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> F
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> G
22/08/2012 11:54 <DIR> H
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> I
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> J
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> K
22/08/2012 23:22 <DIR> L
24/08/2012 20:12 <DIR> M
22/08/2012 11:43 <DIR> N
22/08/2012 11:42 <DIR> O
22/08/2012 11:42 <DIR> P
22/08/2012 11:42 <DIR> Q
22/08/2012 11:42 <DIR> R
22/08/2012 11:42 <DIR> S
22/08/2012 11:42 <DIR> T
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> U
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> V
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> W
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> X
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> Y
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> Z
22/08/2012 11:39 <DIR> _Misc
31 Dir(s) (18217 files 2.9GB)
Download the instructions from
http://learnsax.co.uk\pics\tidy-files.pdf (http://learnsax.co.uk\pics\tidy-files.pdf)
What can CloneSpy do?
CloneSpy can help you free up hard drive space by detecting and removing duplicate files. Duplicate files have exactly the same contents regardless of their name, date, time and location. Also, CloneSpy is able to find files that are not exactly identical, but have the same file name. Perhaps you have different versions of a file and you want to find all of them and remove the older versions.
With CloneSpy you can process files which
Are duplicates
are duplicates and have the same file name
have the same file name
have the same file name and (approximately) the same size
CloneSpy offers you a complete mechanism for determining which duplicate or same-name files should be removed. It is also possible to leave this decision up to the individual user.
CloneSpy can handle equal files by
deleting redundant files
deferring file operations on redundant files to a batch file where you can apply arbitrary file operations
replacing redundant files with shortcuts or hard links (NTFS) to retained files
With CloneSpy you can build checksum files from files on CDs (or even on hard drives, etc.) and use them to check whether these files already exist on your system. The checksum files will prevent you from having to play DJ every time you search for duplicates!
My Band in a Box 2012 music had 76207 files in 2660 directories with many files duplicated
In various folders Cloan spy will detect and remove the exact files even if they have the same name.
CloneSpy is a Free Duplicate File CleanUp Tool for Windows? NT/2000/XP/Vista/7
http://www.clonespy.de/ search google for downloads.
(1) Backup all your Band in the Box files.
(2) Delete the unwanted files first *.mid, .png, .doc, .lst, *.bin
(3) Run Cloan Spy
(4) Select options in Cloan Spy.
Run Cloan Spy
(5) Select your source directory ?Add Folder to pool 1? tag (dot) pool 1 only.
My Band in the box music is stored in C:\bb-songs\ folder
Action (dot) automatically delete without confirmation.
Older files (dot).
Select sub directories [full path] from the drop menu.
On automatic deletion delete directly (dot)
(6) Start scanning.
Many files will have the same name but the music will be different they need to be renamed.
LupasRename is a free to use.
http://rename.lupasfreeware.org/lupasrename.php
search google for downloads.
LupasRename will rename all the songs and can add a number at the end of all files
(moonglow001.mgu, moonglow002, moonglow003)
(1) enter path name
(2) click on the three folder symbol [recursive mode]
all files and sub folders will be shown in the l/h panel
click on the dbclick to show all files in the r/h pane.
(3) at the bottom of the page tick insert at position
(4) click on auto-number
(5) select after file name and 1,1,1 for the index options and dec.
(6) Click Rename.
The program should only take minutes to complete.
We now have a unique file name for our music.
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We now have to organise our file structure with a free program FileSieve V3.0
From www.BootBlock.co.uk
search google for downloads.
We would like to have a folder
bb-songs with sub folders
A TO Z.
All music file starting with a will go to the A folder.
All music file starting in b will go to the B folder. And finally
Up to Z.
2 extras folders are created for files that don?t reach the above criteria
The program is easy to use and needs no explanation and very fast and will complete in Minutes
Tony Edge http://learnsax.co.uk
http://learnsax.co.uk\pics\tidy-files.pdf (http://learnsax.co.uk\pics\tidy-files.pdf)