Media Master

Individuals and families can have links to media files - documents, photos, pictures, Internet sites, other trees, etc. In the process of building a tree the user sometimes creates a lot of links to files stored in different directories in the computer so that it's hard to remember where everything is. Besides that, links can point not only to files stored in the folder where the tree file itself is located or in the Media Directories, but also can be an absolute location (e.g. C:\Works\Archive\Photos\Smith.jpg), or can be stored in the system document folders - "My documents", "My pictures", "My videos" or "My music". When it is necessary to reference these media files together, it is easy to lose track of them. Files which the links point to can be renamed, deleted or moved, while the links themselves remain to point to these suddenly nonexistent files. In this case, if the user decides to transfer the tree and all related files to another computer, to burn them to a DVD, to place them on a web-server or to send them by e-mail, some files can be accidentally lost. To efficiently manage the links, there is a special tool in the program called Media Master. It allows the user to get the list of all links in the tree, to test which of them are valid, which are broken, where they actually point to, and how much disk space these files occupy. In Media Master the user can correct or remove inaccurate or lost links, as well as prepare the tree for transfer to another computer, saving the tree along with its media files in a separate directory or a compressed (ZIP) archive. All accessible media files related to the given tree will be copied to a directory of "assembly" (or ZIP archive), and links within the cloned tree will be redirected to them. The result is a complete set of files which can be transferred to another computer without any loss of media files.

The interface and the operating procedure

In the main window of Media Master at the left there is a list of all files to which the links in the given tree point.
The files in the list are highlighted with a different color depending on the state of the file:

White specifies that the link is valid, and that its corresponding file is found in a directory of the tree itself or in one of the Media Directories. This is "an ideal case". Such files do not need any further attention, however it is nevertheless possible to edit these links or to delete them.

Attention! All manipulations performed on the links in the main window of Media Master (editing and removal by corresponding buttons) will lead to real changes to links in the original tree. However the subsequent stage of collecting the files in one directory will affect neither the links in the tree, nor the media files in any way - they will be simply copied (instead of moved), and the links will be redirected only in the cloned tree file which has been saved in the directory of "assembly".
This, by the way, gives an opportunity to use Media Master as a convenient tool to control and correct the links.

Blue color designates files which are located on the Internet. These links also do not require any preparation for transfer since these files will be accessible from any other computer that is connected to the Internet. Note that files accessed through such links are not copied into the directory of "assembly", and links in the cloned tree are the same as those in the original tree.

Yellow color indicates that the file has an absolute path, or is found in one of the system media folders ("My documents", etc.) or in one of the Media Directories if this directory itself has an absolute path. Such files also do not require special attention as long as you do not wish to change the location of the media files. During the "assembling" procedure these files will be copied in the directory of "assembly", and links in the cloned tree will be redirected to them.

And finally, red color specifies that there is a problem with the link - its corresponding file was not found in the directory of the tree, nor in the Media Directories, nor in the system media folders. It is necessary either to correct such a link, either by redirecting it to an existing file or by removing it. Although it is possible to leave it "as is", it simply still will not work after being transferred to another computer.

The button "Edit the link" opens a dialog window in which the user can change the link's path to the corresponding file. Changing other link's data (such as Name or Notes) is not provided in Media Master, but it is possible to do this in the Editor.

The button "Delete the link" allows removal of the selected link.

Attention! The Media Master's window, unlike usual dialogs, does not block access to the main program's window. It allows the user to switch to the main window if necessary, make changes, and then return to Media Master. Do not forget to update the list of links using the "Refresh list" button afterward!

Selecting a file in the list at the left displays the information for this link, shown on the right, and a double click will open the document.

In the "Owner Record:" field - the type of the record (Person, Family or a shared record) that owns the given link. If the link belongs to an element of the record, then the type of the record will be shown as a chain (Record - element - ... - element).

"Where found:" shows the path where the file was actually found. The path can be either absolute, or it can begin with the Media Directory, or it can be an Internet address. Or it can also be "Not found".

"Link title:" and "Link notes:" show, respectively, the link's title and notes. The "Format:" field indicates the extension of the file if the format is known to the program.

After the links are put in order, it's time to start the "assembling" of files.

"Total size of media files" field shows two numbers: The first is the total size of all files in the list (except "not found" files). The second, is also the total size, including contents of those directories that are targets of the links that point to directories (rather than to separate files). This information allows the user to estimate in advance the size of the "assembly". Please note that it does not include the size of the tree file itself, but only local media files. The size of the remote Internet files, of course, is not included, since the actual files will not be included in the "assembly" anyway.

The button "Prepare tree and media files for transfer" opens the following dialog:

assembling dialog

The top dropdown list allows the user to specify a folder in which to place the files with absolute paths or located in the system media directories ("My documents", etc.). The list contains local - not absolute! - Media Directories, as well as the directory of the tree itself. It is also possible to add a new folder by the button "Add new". All these directories will be created in the folder of "assembly" on demand i.e. if there will be files which should be written there.

The lower dropdown list contains a set of so-called "OEM codepages" and is used only for packaging the "assembly" in a ZIP-archive. This is needed for the following reason: A feature of the ZIP archive is that it can store the names of files containing symbols from only one codepage. In other words, it is only possible to put into the same archive only files with names comprised of English letters plus one international alphabet. For example, if there are media files with names "Johnson.jpg" and "Ильюшин.doc" they can be saved in the same ZIP file using Russian code page Cp866. Similarly, "Johnson.jpg" and "MüllerAusSchäßburg.jpg" - then using West-European Cp850 can also be saved in the same ZIP file. But it's impossible to pack "Ильюшин.doc" and "MüllerAusSchäßburg.jpg" in the same ZIP archive. In this case only saving in a directory can help. By default, the codepage is set to the national OEM codepage according to the language of the Windows OS. The list of languages to OEM codepages mapping is stored in LC-OEM.txt file in the program's main directory.

The checkbox "If media file is a directory save it's entire content" speaks for itself. Make sure that such folders contain only the necessary files...

The radio buttons below allow the user to select the format in which the tree is to be saved - as a Relatives file (.rel) or as a GEDCOM file (.ged).

By pressing the button "Pack in ZIP file" the user is asked to provide a name for the ZIP file, and by clicking on "Save in directory" the user may choose a folder in which to save the "assembly". The folder should be empty (it can be created directly in the Directory dialog), otherwise the program will suggest creating a new subdirectory file_name_trans in the chosen folder.