I create and hold my master music data on workstation (Leap 42.1 with KDE Desktop) and upload to NAS using LuckyBackup (as gui for rsync) where the data is then served to renderers on the lan.
I am presently editing and improving my tagging (EasyTAG) but am at the stage where only tagging metadata is being changed as file names and directories are OK.
Is there a switch I can set to have these files uploaded as at present they are not seen as changed by rsync.
I assume the files containing he metadata are rsync-ed. Isn’t that true? And isn’t that what to expect? And isn’t that what is needed and all what is needed?
Hi Henk, what is happening is that if only file tagging metadata such as “composer” is changed, the file change is not picked up when running rsync so the revised file is not copied. I believe this is correct with the testing for change that rsync carries out. I recall there was a switch somewhere to avoid the problem. Perhaps in the tagging software. Still working on it.
Budgie2
But the music file itself is not revised at all!. Else rsync would see (and copy) it.
The metadata is NOT in the music file. It is in some “database” file of the tool. And that file (of which you may not even know the name) is changed. And when it is within the range that you rsync call covers, that file will be backed up anew.
And the result is the the backup site will be up to date and consistent:
the unaltered music file is still there, nothing to be done;
the altered “database” file(s) with the metadata is/are renewed.
I use “database” here rather loosely. It hasn’t to be MariaDB or similar (but it is possible it is). It is the (bunch of) file(s) that contain all the data about your collection of music files: where they are stored (filename). who is the artist, who is the composer, etc., etc.
Hi Henk,
Thanks for the comments but afaik the tagging metadata is within the music file, in my case usually a .flac file with tagging data in VORBIS comment.
As for rsync, simply put the algorithm that rsync uses to test for change does not pick up changes to these comments if the file size and date stamp are not changed.
I may be wrong but meanwhile I have solved my problem by allowing the tagging program not to preserve the time and date. This is a slight inconvenience in that I lose the info on when I first created the flac file.
Thanks again,
Budgie2
Well, I understand I misunderstood something. I thought you had music files (like MP3s) and had metadata about those music files (of course somewhere else). But it seems you have files that contain music and metadata about the music (not the files) in one.
The normal case is that when the contents of a file is changed, the modification time stamp is changed. When your application nullifies that, IMHO your application is broken because then indeed backup software (not only rsync) may draw the wrong conclusion. And it is of course also confusing to human users.