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Pick-list of previously-used rename strings in Batch Edit dialog.

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    Requested Pick-list of previously-used rename strings in Batch Edit dialog.

    I described my usage situation in emails with Irfan, who seems interested in the idea. But I'll post it here for others to nose about.

    I regularly carry out a fairly stereotyped set of operations on a lot of files. (You guessed it - labelling all the images from the digital camera.) My overall procedure is :
    1) Using IFV's Thumbnail viewer, set appropriate comments on all images (often using the "Append" option) ;
    2) Batch rename every image using the "rename control string" "$E36868(%Y-%m-%d %H-%M-%S) $C -$N" ; (I won't go into ISO 8601 date formats, Markus Kuhn at Cambridge has done an adequate polemic at http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-time.html).
    3) Then, batch convert all the files to reduced-size images, using a different "rename control string" of "$N -small". That gives me images that are appropriate for emailing, posting on websites, etc.

    Given that I've done the commenting appropriately, searching on file names should get me the photos I'm looking for. (Note : yes, I know there are ways of searching inside JPEGs to look at the comments directly ; maybe I'll get some decade soon. But for the moment, in a heterogeneous environment, filename-based searches are the lowest common denominator I assume. And I've got a 10-year investment in long names on 30,000-odd technical papers too.)
    Now, that workflow isn't too hard. But in particular remembering (then cross-checking!) the first set of codes is time consuming and irritating. And I can well envisage someone with longer workflows, or producing multiple sets of images, who would need more than just two "rename control strings".

    What I've proposed to Irfan is to store a user-generated list of (for example) the 5 most-recently-used strings like this in a drop-down. But to fine-tune the suggestion would need wider input :
    - how many strings are you likely to use?
    - are there other places in the system where you could see this functionality being useful?
    - suggestions for strings in the default install ? or just store the user's most-often-used ones ?

    #2
    Why not make shortcuts containing command-line options? The operations would be permanently documented in the target and the name could be the reminder. Plus, the shortcut can be flexible to what needs converting, using drag-n-drop and IrfanView's other great features such as txt files. 4.23 has some very useful new options!

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