Setting "Select directories to scan"

[steak]

I am trying to figure out how useful "Settings>General Settings>Database>Select directories to scan" can be...

Once in this menu, you browse through directories and each directory can be displayed as follows by pressing Enter successively :

1- preceded by "directory" icon
2- preceded by pointer or highlighted with bar
3- preceded by "+" (only when directory has sub-directories)

As far as I understand :
1- means "current directory and all sub-directories" will NOT be scanned
> when selected, no sub-directory can be (un)selected

2- means "current directory and all sub-directories" WILL BE scanned
> when selected, no sub-directory can be (un)selected

3- means current directory WILL BE scanned AND sub-directories WILL BE SCANNED until 1- or 2- is selected

I find this menu confusing and restrictive : once 1- is selected, ALL sub are unscanned AND once 2- is selected ALL sub are scanned
It is not possible to get something like : folder scanned/ sub-folder unscanned/.../ sub-...-sub folder scanned/.../ sub-...-sub-...-sub folder unscanned/...

Also when you browse through your port folders (in usb mode) nothing tells you how folders have been configured
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It seems to me that using "database.ignore" / "database.unignore" files placed in folder tree is way more flexible and useful
So far this option is still available along the new setting. I hope it will remain so

[steak]

One more thing :
"Select directories to scan" also seems to have flaws. While testing it in order to understand it I noticed :
Most of the times after I had changed the status of a few directories, rockbox would initialize the database (rebuild it from scratch) AND database menu would not be available without reboot or even not be available after re-re-...reboot !!

I am not sure my english is clear there but all I am trying to suggest is : use "database.ignore" / "database.unignore" : much simpler and more efficient.

[gevaerts]

database.ignore is not practical in all cases, especially for the application targets such as android.

That said, it's not going away.

[steak]

database.ignore is not practical in all cases, especially for the application targets such as android

I rarely use rockbox in android (unstable) but still...
Why is it not practical ? Maybe confused with ".nomedia" ?

... and of course "Select directories to scan" probably is practical when directory structure is simple (mine is not because I always keep sorting my music collection while listening). What's not practical though is the fact that one has to guess how to use it.

[gevaerts]

Why is it not practical ? Maybe confused with ".nomedia" ?

For the simple reason you don't have write access everywhere you want to put it.

[AlexP]

One method works well for some circumstances, the other works well for others.  Neither are going away, use whichever you prefer.

[steak]

Why is it not practical ? Maybe confused with ".nomedia" ?

For the simple reason you don't have write access everywhere you want to put it.

Ok. Baring this in mind could one work around it by draging_&_droping music files in directories which have write access...

I would guess that's what I did because I can't remember having "practical" issues. Then of course as I wrote above, I did not use rockbox in android a lot : freezes too often and drains battery (not sure about the last point, android smartphone battery life is a pain anyway)

One method works well for some circumstances, the other works well for others.  Neither are going away, use whichever you prefer.

That's why we love the dev team