Problems saving into the correct directory

[Jonathan]

I notice that ever since I upgraded to v26, Finale tends to save files into the wrong directory. I pretty much have to always look at my directories from Windows Explorer to check if the file saved where it should be. This was never a problem in Finale 2010. In addition, when opening a file and not making any changes to it, Finale isn't able to tell that there were no changes, so I have to either keep track of whether I made changes that I want to keep, or else check if there's anything to undo to verify if I made changes.

Has anyone heard whether MakeMusic intends to fix these problems or found any workarounds?


Finale v26 / Windows 10

[zuill]

This has to do with how they set things up upon install. With every new version of Finale, I then go and create my own custom folders for musx files, bakx files, and asvx files (those last 2 go to the same folder). I also create a designated folder for the temp files, and I clean those out very frequently. In addition, I set autosave to create an asvx file every 5 minutes. This occasionally saves me from too much lost work. So I have folders in My Documents for all the versions I have installed (2011, 2012, 2014, 2014.5, v25 and v26). This paradigm has made keeping track of all my Finale files quite easy.

Zuill

P.S.: About the request to save the file after just opening: Finale has always worked this way. I am going to guess that may never change.

[Djard]

Like me, you probably have been spoiled by an earlier version and have created sub-folders in your Finale documents library for individual pieces; so that you can organize your work better.

As far as I can tell, version 26 is not as compatible with Windows 10 as version 2012c. In the older version, if I opened a file in Explorer--no matter how many documents I opened and closed or minimized in the meantime--that fie would automatically be saved in the location from wherein it was opened. Now, whenever saving a document, I must make sure the directory from which a document was opened remains the target location for file saving. Countless times I had to go hunting for a file that got saved elsewhere. The red flag for me now is the absence of a prompt from Windows to overwrite a file, which means the file is being directed to a location other than from where it was opened. Finale v26 is not very intimate with File Explorer.

I would not call this problem a bug...just a step backwards. If enough people requested the basic feature restored, maybe MakeMusic would accommodate us.

[motet]

Are you sure you're not talking about Save As? As far as I know, Save never prompts for overwriting a file. And as far as I know, Finale has never made the folder you opened the file from with a double-click in Explorer the default folder for Save As.

But someone with Finale 26 can confirm or refute your experience.

[Djard]

Yes, that should have been stated, "Save As...".

After upgrading, I did not bother to check where an edited document was being saved as I was so used to my documents being automatically saved in the same location from where they were opened. So, like Jonathan, I initially thought they were misplaced. For me, Finale now saves any document into the last opened folder and not in the directory assigned in Preferences, not that I would want them saved there because I have a folder for each composition, and each of those folders have subfolders, where I store exported parts as WAV files for my DAW projects. I cannot imagine saving all my documents and associated files (musx, txt, jpg, wav, mp3) into one folder, like the one I have designated in Preferences: that would be a jungle through which to navigate, given the number of works I have. I prefer to use Windows Explorer (now File Manager and the best part of the OS) to keep my files organized.

[motet]

I checked, and you're right that when launching Finale by double-clicking in Windows Explorer, it used to set the "current" directory to that directory and no longer does.

If you set your "Music" folder to nothing, like this,

0588.png

then it will use whatever folder you last used (rather than some single hard-wired directory, which as you say is not very flexible). This is handy when you're working on the same piece day after day.

With this setting, if you open your files from Finale rather than Windows Explorer, then that folder will be set as the default, so you get the same behavior as you used to get by double-clicking outside Finale.

When you do a Save As, it's probably a good idea to get in the habit of looking at the address bar at the top of the dialog to see where it's going to write the file.

[zuill]

I had so many problems in the past leaving Finale's default blank slot that I will never use that again. I create my own folders, as I stated earlier. I've never had any problems, as I double-check the chosen folder when saving. Since I have several versions of Finale on my system, I have a designated folder structure for each version.

Zuill

[motet]

I always have Music and Back-up blank, and have never had any problems. I do have a special folder for autosave and temp.

When trying to test the old double-click on a .mus file, the Windows mechanism "always open with this file type" didn't work. In fact, "Open with..." didn't work. I tried to get it to open .mus in Finale 2011, but it stuck with 2014.5 (the newest I have installed). So perhaps this is broken in Windows 10, though you'd think plenty of people would have complained. I was finally able to change it with the Nirsoft utility.

[Djard]

I have the "Music" folder field blank in Preferences. So far, so good.