Topic: state of shntool/shorten/flac/mkwact on pc?

[scb]

As most of you know, i'm a mac user.  i don't play nice with PCs except when I'm at work, and since it's work i don't really call it playing at all.

But i've been toying around with rewriting some of my mac apps in Cocoa-java for OS X, and in doing so I realized it probably wouldn't be too hard to move these things to RCP apps that would also work on windows.  My question for you windows users is this:  should I bother?

is there any kind of graphical front end for shntool on windows?  Is mkwact outdated at all?  Is it still fine?  Is there any need for anything new?


edit:
current functions of xACT on the mac:
encode/decode flac, shorten, monkey's audio. 

encoding of shn to flac

shntool len, info, join, split, cmp, pad, more

info file creation using shntool to tie filenames to track lengths

shntool fixing, output to aiff, wav, shn, flac (with level choice)

md5, ffp file verification.  verification of internal md5s of flac and ape files.  creation of md5 files, ffp files

drag and drop files to to the app for processing

cd extracting with cd paranoia (this wouldn't be on the win version)

and more that i'm forgetting

[greenone]

I know there's Trader's Little Helper that just came out...it has a lot of the same features: http://thor.prohosting.com/roh0205/

[macdaddy]

last i checked, traders little helper was not completey functional...

the only thing i cant get going with xact is a md5 of flac files (it only hits me with ffp or shntool md5 no matter what option i choose)...

the batch rename is terrific, as are all the other functions - thanks for the effort.

[scb]

>>the only thing i cant get going with xact is a md5 of flac files (it only hits me with ffp or shntool md5 no matter what option i choose)...<<

why do you need an md5 of flac files?  flac files have md5s of the pcm audio data within them already. 

[macdaddy]

>>the only thing i cant get going with xact is a md5 of flac files (it only hits me with ffp or shntool md5 no matter what option i choose)...<<

why do you need an md5 of flac files?  flac files have md5s of the pcm audio data within them already. 

to include, as a courtesy, for a file set that is torrented - it allows a one click (right click if using mkw) wat to quickly check to verify download...

thanks again.

[greenone]

The LMA also asks for md5's because that's how they generate their failure messages if an upload is incomplete or corrupted. They're not necessary - the upload will still go through without them as long as the files are ok - but if there's a problem in the process, having the md5 is the only way to get notified that something's wrong, and with which track.

[John Kelly]

to include, as a courtesy, for a file set that is torrented - it allows a one click (right click if using mkw) wat to quickly check to verify download...

thanks again.

Not only is it overkill because the md5 is built into FLAC, but checksum verifying is also built into bit torrent.  Your download wont show 100% until it has verified every bit is there.

[JasonSobel]

i would like to see a graphical interface that runs on windows for shntool.  for everything else, I think there are other programs that easily do what I need.  but shntool without having bring up a DOS prompt would be nice

[macroint]

last i checked, traders little helper was not completey functional...

Yeah, I'm having problems making shns with mkw, so I downloaded the Little Helper...unfortunately, encoding (in any format) is not an available feature right now. So it's not really a little helper at all...

[macdaddy]

to include, as a courtesy, for a file set that is torrented - it allows a one click (right click if using mkw) wat to quickly check to verify download...

thanks again.

Not only is it overkill because the md5 is built into FLAC, but checksum verifying is also built into bit torrent.  Your download wont show 100% until it has verified every bit is there.

not entirely true - we are talking about two different fingerprints - you refer to the shntool md5 (same as the ffp), and i refer to what md5sum generates...

and while i know that the torrent checks the files, that doesnt mean that the files that are supposed to be in a torrent are there. the outside md5 helps verify that...

i dont mean to start an argument about what is overkill and what is not. as someone who has downloaded and seeded more torrents than one could possibly count, i do know what makes it easier to verify. the extra md5 is technically overkill, but its usefulness in regards to the LlaMA has already been expressed. as far as torrents are concerned, the flac md5 is a quick and easy checker, that is all - not necessary, but with all of the horrible sloppy seeding that goes on these days with torrents, it is refreshing to get one where all the files are laid out for you, and for the paranoid, like me, a double-check verification is just a click away...

not mandatory, but it is certainly a nice and convenient luxury. if you dont want to add the functionality to xACT, that is fine, but dont tell me there is no reason to make and to include the extra file, because there definitely is...

also remember that in windows, if you verify flacs in the frontend you have to watch - the screen does not show all the verified OK messages - they scroll up, so you have to sit and watch, rather than sclicking the md5 and waiting for the message to pop up...

and there is no windows program to double click the ffp and have it verify (like a md5 in mkw) - so you have to do it on sight. just another reason why the md5 i am talking about is convenient. i never said it was mandatory...

again, many thanks scott - xACT is the best program to use, on any platform (and i have used them all)...

[krebsy]

also remember that in windows, if you verify flacs in the frontend you have to watch - the screen does not show all the verified OK messages - they scroll up, so you have to sit and watch, rather than sclicking the md5 and waiting for the message to pop up...

This is one of the things I like about traders little helper. It tells you at the end of verification if there were any errors, so you don't have to sit there and stare at a dos window.

[Simp-Dawg]

mkwACT has given me problems before, so i like shorten http://www.softsound.com/Shorten.html
but having one tool would be great.  if you could add an md5 and ffp verifier that would be tits, and integrate it with azureus bt client

[scb]

>>and while i know that the torrent checks the files, that doesnt mean that the files that are supposed to be in a torrent are there. the outside md5 helps verify that...<<

the ffp file's purpose is to check if every file that's in the fileset is there..


>>not mandatory, but it is certainly a nice and convenient luxury. if you dont want to add the functionality to xACT, that is fine, but dont tell me there is no reason to make and to include the extra file, because there definitely is...<<

i didn't say there was no reason, i just asked what that reason was

[scb]

ok i'll have a working shntool GUI for windows tonight

[Brian Skalinder]

>>and while i know that the torrent checks the files, that doesnt mean that the files that are supposed to be in a torrent are there. the outside md5 helps verify that...<<

the ffp file's purpose is to check if every file that's in the fileset is there..

(Forgive me if this already exists in xAct, I've not yet used it.)  But AFAIK there's currently no programmatic way to check the fileset against the FFP - it requires one to manually open the FFP and visually scan through each filename in the FFP to confirm its existence in the download directory.  I think the ideal solution:  don't bother with MD5s, but instead create an "FFP checker" feature one may use to select the FFP and target directory, and then programmatically check that each file in the FFP <1> exists in the target directory and <2> passes checksum verification.  Include a real-time, scrolling result set (no limit on viewable results, in contrast with FLAC Front End's limited log display) with a visual calling out of errors, and...excellent.  Add a context menu (pop-up) option to "Check FFP" without having to designate the FFP file or directory (assume FFP file right-clicked to access the context menu, and the current directory of the FFP file) and...woohoo!

Not only is it overkill because the md5 is built into FLAC, but checksum verifying is also built into bit torrent.  Your download wont show 100% until it has verified every bit is there.

True, but only if you're d/ling via BT.  Not all recordings are shared via BT.

[MattD]

I swear someone wrote an FFP checker ... I think it was Kevin (blu666? on here).

[John Kelly]

>>and while i know that the torrent checks the files, that doesnt mean that the files that are supposed to be in a torrent are there. the outside md5 helps verify that...<<

the ffp file's purpose is to check if every file that's in the fileset is there..

(Forgive me if this already exists in xAct, I've not yet used it.)  But AFAIK there's currently no programmatic way to check the fileset against the FFP - it requires one to manually open the FFP and visually scan through each filename in the FFP to confirm its existence in the download directory.  I think the ideal solution:  don't bother with MD5s, but instead create an "FFP checker" feature one may use to select the FFP and target directory, and then programmatically check that each file in the FFP <1> exists in the target directory and <2> passes checksum verification.  Include a real-time, scrolling result set (no limit on viewable results, in contrast with FLAC Front End's limited log display) with a visual calling out of errors, and...excellent.  Add a context menu (pop-up) option to "Check FFP" without having to designate the FFP file or directory (assume FFP file right-clicked to access the context menu, and the current directory of the FFP file) and...woohoo!

FYI, it is in xACT.

Not only is it overkill because the md5 is built into FLAC, but checksum verifying is also built into bit torrent.  Your download wont show 100% until it has verified every bit is there.

True, but only if you're d/ling via BT.  Not all recordings are shared via BT.

Yes, but the statement specifically referred to torrented files.

[mmmatt]

ok i'll have a working shntool GUI for windows tonight

big T scott.  this is very cool!

As for the md5 on flacs issue.  With my multitrack files I often span 2-3 dvds so I md5 the whole file set and then each backup disc individually.  I allso include cue files and txt files and sometimes even pictures in my backups so the flac test feature is only part of the battle for me in my verification.  I also perfer the bennefit and ease of a 1 click backup/test

Matt

[scb]

(Forgive me if this already exists in xAct, I've not yet used it.)  But AFAIK there's currently no programmatic way to check the fileset against the FFP

yes it exists in xact, and it now exists in the xact for windows that i made