MP3CDWinFilePrefixer

Description:  A little app that prefixes media files.  Uses the amazingly handy TagLib Sharp library courteously provided here:  http://developer.novell.com/wiki/index.php/TagLib_Sharp

The license info for TagLib Sharp is bundled along with this app.  If the creator of TagLib requires that I provide the source for TagLib, it can be downloaded at the aforementioned link or I can provide it with this app upon request. 

I wrote this app in like an hour.  It didn't take much effort.  I got tired of manually renaming my files, and everything
else I used didn't work the way I wanted it to.  If you like it, figure out what direction Portland, Oregon is from where  you currently are, look in that direction, and say "thanks, bro."  I will feel your good vibes and it will warm my heart.


BASIC USAGE:

Put all your mp3 files you want renamed (for example, if you were going to drag them over to a CD and your CD player plays
mp3's in alphabetical order) in a source directory. 

Create a directory elsewhere (call it output to make it easy for you, but it can be anything you'd like) for output.

Start the app.  

Click the "Go" button next to the Src Folder textbox. Browse around until you find the folder with all the files 
you want renamed in it. 

Click the "Go" button next to the Dst Folder textbox.  Find that output folder you made earlier.

If you want a custom seperator before your prefix, put it in the seperator box.  Otherwise, you get a dash.

If you want to prefix all your files with a random number, click the "Randomized Shuffle" checkbox on the right.  

Otherwise, select a ordering scheme from the left hand side radio buttons.  Those are all based on tag information pulled
right out of the mp3 file (like the album name, song title, bitrate, etc.).

What this app will do is take that information and put it right on the front of the filename for you, and move all those
files into your new directory.  As soon as you click "Let's Go!"  (I listened to way too much Rancid when I was a teenager)

If you're thinking "Holy crap, I forgot to add that awesome new album by Leatherface that I bought on the Amazon.com last 
night, click "Wait...No!", then go back and add your album.

(And yeah, if you're from the RIAA and you're thinking "I am totally going to screw this chump"...forget about it, 
this tool has nothing at all to do with music piracy, it's only for renaming and moving your files around on your own 
system.  There's nothing even remotely illegal about that, and it's not like I'm making one red cent off this open source
application.  Plus, I'm not wealthy, emotionally volatile, and potentially a threat to public health safety standards.)

Last, but not least, this app has a config file.  That is because I am an experienced software engineer by trade, and I HATE applications that forget the settings you gave them.  Anyone who doesn't use a config is a script kiddie and that's all they are.  If you want to bypass that whole clicking around to find your directory thing, just drop the path in the config.  Note: you may break it if you give it a path with a slash on the end.  Windows doesn't put slashes on the end of their paths, so I add one on in the code.  Just keep that in mind if you tinker with the config.  The app remembers your last separator, src, and dst folders. 


TROUBLESHOOTING

"Oh, crap, where did all my files in the src folder go!"  

They went into the output folder.  This thing MOVES the files.  It doesn't copy them.  You didn't MOVE your files into that source folder...did you?  Just rename the files that the tool renamed in your output folder and copy them back.  I'm not a huge fan of making lots of copies of things.  I might add an option for that, though.  It's not hard, I just do it because it's more efficient.

"It broke!"

You're not using it right.  Did you put any files in your source folder?  Does your output folder exist?  Are you playing those files in your source folder with your music player RIGHT NOW?  These are the questions you need to ask yourself.  I made this thing with very little serious testing.  If it broke and you can't figure out why it's broken after poking around for an hour or so, contact me with an email.  I'll look into it.  I work fulltime as an engineer, so I'll fix it when I can. I warn you, though, if you send me an email without detailed steps as to how you broke it, I'm not going to fix it.  I won't respond to your email.  I don't have a support center.  This is an app I wrote on a Saturday when I got an itch. 


SUGGESTIONS?

Don't like my code?  It's open source.  Download the source and goober out about the one line of code that makes your OCD go haywire.  This IS GPL, though, so stealing the code, putting your name on it, and not including all the original sources is a violation of the GPL and I WILL enforce it, no matter how little effort went into this thing.  It's the principle that counts, and no one likes a code thief.  It's not much code, just write it yourself.  Good grief. 