Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

--- playing-patches [2021/11/12 14:21] – [Using the Patch Selector] shane
+++ playing-patches [2023/05/13 13:58] (current) – [Incremental vs Full rebuild] shane
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 When you first open the patch browser, the Chooser (bottom part) will show //all patches on your system//, which may run to many hundreds once you have more than a few libraries installed.
-**Note: In Unify v1.7 there is a "..." button to the right of the library-selector menu**; see [[#using_the_library_selector|Using the Library Selector]] below.
+**Starting in Unify v1.7**, there is a "..." button to the right of the library-selector menu; see [[#using_the_library_selector|Using the Library Selector]] below.
+**Starting in Unify v1.8**, there is a second "..." button to the right of the library-selector menu. Clicking this pops up a small menu which allows you to choose which fields (items) in the database are searched:
+{{::browser-2a.png|}}
+  * Choices are //ALL//, //Name//, //Category//, //Tags//, //Author//, and //Comment//.
+  * Check-marks indicate which fields are currently selected for search.
+  * Default selection is //ALL//, i.e., all five fields are searched.
+  * Select any individual field to //select that one, and de-select all others//.
+If you CTRL-click or right-click the "..." button, the //ALL// item changes to //MULTI//, indicating that you can select any combination of fields.
+  * The //MULTI// item itself is just a label; you can select it, but nothing will change.
+  * Select any individual item to //toggle// it (if it's checked, it will be un-checked, and vice versa).
+  * Note if only one field is checked, you will not be able to un-check it; check another field first.
+  * Click the "..." button again to verify the selection, if you need to.
 The controls in the Selector (top part of the sidebar) allow you to narrow down the set of patches in the Chooser, to help you find what you want quickly:
 {{::browser-3.png?800|}}
+**In Unify v1.8**:
+  * The "Genre" list has been removed.
+  * The items in each list will update automatically, to include only items which are relevant to the current library (or library-subset).
+  * Each list will now display a "Clear" button, whenever at least one item in the list is selected.
+  * Clicking the Clear button de-selects all items in that list only.
 The icons at the top-left and top-right are as follows:
@@ Line 51: / Line 72: @@
 ===== Using the Patch Chooser =====
   * **Left-click** any patch-name in the chooser to **load the patch, replacing any previously loaded patch**.
-    * Be careful, as this may discard any changes you may have made and not yet saved.
-    * Unify does not yet have any "undo" mechanism, nor does it yet warn you that changes may be lost in this way.
   * **Right-click** any patch-name to pop up a menu with additional options as follows:
     * **Load patch:** This is the same as left-clicking the patch name
@@ Line 61: / Line 80: @@
     * **Add INST1 layer to current patch** Loads only the patch's first INST layer as a new layer in the current patch.
     * **Load into new Unify layer:** Creates a single new INST layer, using //an instance of Unify itself// as the instrument plug-in, and loads the selected patch into that. See [[embedded-unify|Using Unify itself as an Instrument plug-in in Unify]]
-    * **Unify / No Pitch Shift:** As above, but modifies certain [[midibox|MIDIBox]] settings.
+    * **Unify/drum (No Pitch Shift):** As above, but modifies certain [[midibox|MIDIBox]] settings.
+    * **Copy patch name to clipboard**: Does what it says, without having to load the patch.
+    * **Reveal in Windows Explorer** (**Reveal in Finder** on Mac): allows you to locate the patch file.
 **As of Unify v1.4**, after loading a new Unify layer, if you decide you only need the first INST layer (very common for "unified" patch libraries having only one INST layer per patch), you can click on the layer's operations menu (concentric circles menu at right end of layer) and choose "Replace with embedded INST1".
@@ Line 73: / Line 93: @@
 ==== Patch count and load-options menu ====
-**As of Unify v1.7**, a small "footer" may appear at the bottom of the Chooser area (depending on your settings; see [[settings|Using the Settings view]]):
+**As of Unify v1.7**, a small "footer" may appear at the bottom of the Chooser area (depending on your settings; see [[settings|Using the Settings view]]). This was revised somewhat in Unify v1.8, as shown:
 {{::browser-4.png|}}
@@ Line 79: / Line 99: @@
 The **Count** simply displays the number of patches currently listed in the Chooser.
-The **Patch-load options menu** allows you to choose what happens when you left-click on the name of a patch in the Chooser. The options are:
+The **Patch-load options menu** (labeled "Mode") allows you to choose what happens when you left-click on the name of a patch in the Chooser OR the [[gui-overview#random-patch_button_dice_icon|random-patch button]] (dice icon) in the Header. The options are:
-  * **Load Patch**: selected patch is loaded, replacing any existing patch
+  * **Normal**: selected patch is loaded, replacing any existing patch
-  * **Load Embedded**: same as right-clicking patch and choosing "Load into new Unify layer"
+  * **INST1 only**: the INST1 layer from the selected patch is added to the current patch
-  * **Emb/FixedPitch**: same as right-clicking patch and choosing "Unify / No Pitch Shift"
+  * **Unify layer**: same as right-clicking patch and choosing "Load into new Unify layer"
+  * **Unify/drum**: same as right-clicking patch and choosing "Unify/drum (No Pitch Shift)"
 **Notes**
@@ Line 95: / Line 116: @@
 **Note** random shared patch files might not load perfectly on your system, as they may require additional files such as samples. Unify's [[guru-files|.guru files]] mechanism is a better method for sharing groups of related files or entire libraries. Unify will try to load the patch as best it can, and if you choose to save it, you may need to update some aspects, such as the library name, to match the library folders on your system.
 You can then make any changes you like and save it to (typically) your User Library.
 ===== OOPS, I clicked a patch and lost all my work! =====
 In versions of Unify before v1.5, it was all too easy to lose work by clicking on a patch in the Chooser.
@@ Line 111: / Line 130: @@
 ===== Using the Library Selector =====
+Starting with Unify v1.7, you will see a "..." button to the right of the library-selector menu:
+{{::browser-5.png|}}
+Clicking the "..." button opens the new **Library Subset view**, which allows you to select a //subset of the libraries on your system//, rather than having to see all of them, in order to de-clutter the library-selector menu. Having defined a library subset, you can save it as a named //Library-Subset Preset// for later reuse.
+  * **Power-user shortcut**: Right-click the "..." button (or hold down CTRL while left-clicking) to pop up a menu of available //library-subset presets// (explained below).
+{{::browser-6.png|}}
+The Library Subset view includes the following controls, listed from top to bottom:
+  * The **Close button** returns the sidebar to the usual patch-browser view.
+  * The **current preset name** is shown next to "Preset:".
+  * The **All Libraries**, **Load**, and **Save...** buttons are described in detail below.
+  * The large **library list** at the bottom shows ALL libraries in Unify's patch database, and allows you to select which subset of them you would like to work with.
+==== Defining a library subset ====
+The library list will scroll if necessary. It's a [[shortcuts#multi-selection_lists|multi-selection list]], like others in the Unify GUI, and works as follows:
+  * **Click** (no modifiers) to select an item, and simultaneously de-select all others
+  * **CTRL + Click** (**CMD + Click** on Mac) to toggle an item's selection
+  * **SHIFT + Click** to select a //range// of items (click 1st item, Shift+click last in the range)
+If NO libraries are selected, then they are ALL effectively selected. Clicking the **All Libs** button will de-select all list items and return to this condition. If ANY libraries are selected, the set of selected libraries defines the //current libraries preset//.
+If you select one or more libraries, the current preset name will change to "Unsaved Library Subset", indicating that you have changed the current subset, but haven't yet saved this subset as a preset. This unsaved subset is entirely usable; if you click the **Close** button, the first item in the main library-selector menu will change to "All: Unsaved Library Subset", and when you click it, you will see that this is followed by only the libraries you selected, like this:
+{{::browser-7.png|}}
+(In this case, exactly four libraries had been selected.) Note that clicking the **Reset** button at the top of the patch browser will now revert to showing //only the libraries in the current preset//. If you want to **go back to seeing ALL libraries**, click the "..." button, then the "All Libraries" button, then "Close".
+==== Saving and re-loading library-subset presets ====
+Having defined a subset, you can save it as a named preset by clicking the **Save...** button.
+  * A standard file-save dialog will appear, and should already be prepared to save the preset file (as a ''.txt'' file) in the //Presets/Library Subsets// sub-folder inside the main Unify data folder.
+  * Navigate down into any sub-folder if you wish.
+  * Type a name for your preset as the new file name; Unify will add the ''.txt'' extension automatically.
+  * Click the **Save** button.
+Once you have saved your preset, its name will be displayed above the row of three buttons, and will also be shown instead of "Unsaved Library Subset" when you click **Close** to return to the main view.
+**Unify will remember the last library preset you saved/loaded, and will automatically load that the next time you run it.** Remember, to revert to all libraries: Click "...", then "All Libraries", then "Close".
+  * If the last library subset you were using before closing Unify was //unsaved//, Unify will NOT remember this; it will open next time with all libraries selected.
+To re-load one of your saved library-subset presets, click the **Load** button. This will pop up a menu of all ''.txt' files under the //Presets/Library Subsets// folder, with sub-menus for any sub-folders you may have created, like this:
+{{::browser-8.png|}}
+To load a preset, roll your mouse until the preset you want is highlighted, and then release the mouse button. The current preset name will be updated, and of course also the libraries menu in the main view.
 ===== About the Patch Database =====
@@ Line 130: / Line 196: @@
 When you click the "lightning bolt" icon, Unify performs an //incremental rebuild//. It scans all folders under the main //Libraries// folder, looking for //.upf// or //.unify// files, and checks their "last modification" date/time against the database. If the file is newer, Unify will open it and update the database record. If it does not appear to have changed, it will ignore it and skip ahead. It will also add new records for any files which are not yet in the database, and delete records which no longer have an associated file.
+**As of Unify 1.10.x**, incremental rebuild has been further optimized as follows:
+  * If all libraries are selected, and no library-subset is active, works as described above.
+  * If a library-subset is active, and no specific one is selected, only the libraries in the subset are scanned.
+  * If a library is selected, only the selected library folder is scanned.
 This incremental rebuild method, which can be very quick if few or no files have changed, will be all you need in most cases. If you ever suspect that the database may have errors, you can perform a //full rebuild// by holding down the Option/Alt key while clicking the lightning bolt. Unify will perform the following steps: