About Collections and Volumes
Introduction to Collections and Volumes in Helium Music Manager
Collections and Volumes in Helium Music Manager are a central part of the database model in Helium Music Manager. It forms a hierarchical structure which you can use to organize your Music collection.
Please note that you don't have to use Collections and Volumes, unless you have a need for it. By default, Helium Music Manager automates this process by creating one default Collection containing one default Volume.
What is a Collection?
A Collection can be seen as a data container which can hold one or more Volumes (read more about Volumes below).
You can create as many Collections as you like, but generally one or two will be enough for the most users. By default, one Collection will be created when you create a new database.
What is a Volume?
A Volume is another form of data container which is always connected to a parent Collection. Volumes in Helium Music Manager are the containers that hold your files.
There are a few things that are important to know about Volumes. This is especially important for users who have used Collections and Volumes in earlier versions of Helium Music Manager:
1. Root folders are stored for each Volume and must be unique for each Volume.
A root folder, for example “C:\My Music”, can only exist in one of your Volumes. By not allowing root directories in multiple Volumes you never need to worry about keeping duplicates in your database, because Helium Music Manager will automatically prevent it.
2. Child folders of the root directory must reside in the same Volume that the root directory is held in.
If you have the root directory “C:\My Music” in Volume “A”, you cannot add files from “C:\My Music\Album 1” to Volume “B”. This system will help most users to arrange their music more logically, both in the database and on disk.
These two rules may seem strict, but they will make it easier for you to arrange your music. Most users will never need to think about them, because it will “just work”.
Automated handling
Helium Music Manager always ensures that these two rules are followed. If for example you accidentally violate them during an Add Files operation, Helium Music Manager informs you about that and stops the operation.
If you are moving files using the Send To | Folder (Move) function, available from the main menu and the context menu, the Volume for the resulting files may need to be changed. Let’s clarify this a bit with an example:
1) You have an album, “Album 1”, stored in Volume “A”. On disc, this album is stored in “D:\My Music\Untagged\My Album”.
2) You have a second Volume, Volume “B”, in your database. One of it root directories is “F:\Music\Tagged Music”.
3) Select all the files in “Album 1” and then Send To |Folder (Move). Select “F:\Music\Tagged Music” as the destination folder.
Helium Music Manager automatically figures out that the Volume for the destination folder (Volume “B”), is different from the source folder’s Volume (Volume “A”).
Therefore, Helium Music Manager, won’t just move the files and update the database with the new path, it also updates the Volume for the files.
The same logic applies to other move related features such as the File Rename Wizard. In the File Rename Wizard you have the possibility to preview which Volume the renamed files will be moved to. This can be achieved by check marking the option Show destination Volume column in Tools | Options | File Rename Wizard.
When this setting is active, an extra column is shown to the very right in the File Rename Wizard’s preview step, showing which Volume the files may be moved to.
The File Rename Wizard will of course ensure that the two rules mentioned above are followed. If they aren’t, Helium Music Manager will warn you about that.
Using Collections and Volumes
As mentioned earlier, usage of Collections and Volumes is fully optional. Use them wisely to create logical groupings of your music in your database. For example you can create the following Volumes inside a Collection:
• Volume “Untagged Music”
This Volume can contain all your untagged music which you are storing on disc in the folder “F:\Music\My Untagged Music”.
• Volume “Tagged Music”
This Volume can contain all your tagged music which you are storing on disc in the folder “F:\Music\My Tagged Music”.
Each time you tag an album from your “Untagged Music” Volume, you can create a File Rename Wizard template that automatically will rename the files as you prefer, as well as moving them to “F:\Music\My Tagged Music”.
When performing the rename operation from the File Rename Wizard, the files will be automatically moved to the Volume “Tagged Music”.
Collections and Volumes can of course be used in different filters, Smart Playlists, Advanced Queries and much more. This can help you more easily select the required music for the current situation.
Other Volume related functions in Helium Music Manager
Move to Volume
The Move to Volume function is available from the Volume Properties dialog. It can quickly move all files for a specific Volume Root in one Volume to another Volume.
Split Volume Root
Also available from the Volume Properties dialog is the Split Volume Root tool. The Split Volume Root tool enables you to replace an individual Volume Root by multiple Volume Roots. Splitting a Volume Root is required if you wish to move subfolders into different Volumes. Let's clarify with an example:
The following directory structure exists on your disc and in your database:
F:\mp3\
Albums\
Compilations\
Singles\
When these files and folders were added to the database, they were added from the F:\mp3\ folder, thus a Volume Root with "F:\mp3\" exists in the current Volume.
To be able to move all subfolders into own Volumes, the Volume Root must be split up info the following Volume Roots:
F:\mp3\Albums\
F:\mp3\Compilations\
F:\mp3\Singles
To quickly perform this split follow the steps below:
Select the Volume root "F:\mp3" from the list of Volume Root Paths from the Volume Properties dialog.
Click the
Split Volume Root
button to start the Split Volume Root tool.Select any of the folders on the 2nd level (Albums, Compilations, Singles). Please note that the new Volume Roots will be shown in the list to the right.
Click OK to replace the old Volume Root with the three new generated Volume Roots
When the new Volume Roots are created, they will be shown in the Volume Properties window. Now you can use the Move to Volume function to quickly move all files from a specific path (F:\mp3\albums for example) into a new Volume.
This technique can be used on several folder structures, the example above is just a very simple example to show what's possible.