Library Switcher Help Wiki - Recently Updated Pages

Product Help

markelsoft — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:25:27 CST

MarkelSoft Wikis

MarkelSoft Library Switcher for iTunes - easily create and switch between multiple iTunes Music Libraries.
Library Switcher allows the user to create new iTunes Music Libraries and switch between your current and new iTunes Music Libraries.
Library Switcher will keep track of all your libraries as well as scan any hard-drives for libraries.

Library Switcher for iTunes is very easy to use and is used to create new iTunes Music Libraries and/or switch iTunes to any iTunes Music Library.
New features include desktop shortcut creation and scanning your hard drive for libraries and library selection from a list or by browsing.

Special options for program startup. Tutorial

For Windows Vista and XP.

Screen snapshot

Let's Switch - click to start the Library Switcher Controller which is used to switch libraries or create a new empty iTune Music Library.
If an iTunes Music Library is selected, then the Library switcher will automatically use the selected library.
New Library - click to create a new empty iTunes Music Library.
If an iTunes Music Library is selected, then the Library switcher will automatically use the selected library.

Enter mini mode - use this View menu option to enter mini display mode, a small less obtrusive screen display.
Scan - click to scan for libraries in your iTunes Music Library directory or any hard drive disk.
iTunes Music Libraries - lists the iTunes Music Libraries found during scanning plus the iTunes Music Libraries you have used. This list is saved.
Switch - click to switch to the selected library. If a library is not selected, then the switcher is started showing available options.
Default- click to switch to your default library. The default library is your original library you were using when you first ran the Library Switcher. If you desire to use another library as your default, then see the .cfg file in the ./cfg directory. e.g. ./cfg/Tom_preferences.cfg and change defaultLibraryITLPath.
Shortcut - click to create a shortcut on your desktop for switching to the selected library.
Remove - click to remove a library selected in the 'iTunes Music Libraries' list.

Note: you may not remove the library currently being used. Once you switch to another library then you can remove the library.

Delete - click to remove a library permenantly from from disk and the 'iTunes Music Libraries' list.

Note: you may not delete the library currently being used. Once you switch to another library then you can delete the library.

The bottom three lines display:

Current iTunes Music Library filename. Actual file ends in .itl (Color coding: yellow)
Current iTunes Music Library XML filename. This is the XML representation of the iTunes Music Library. It is built from the .itl file. (Color coding: yellow)
Displays the iTunes version and Operating System information. (Color coding: white)

Uses:

Create and switch between separate iTunes Music Libraries on the same PC for multiple users.
Organize your music into multiple iTunes Music Libraries.
e.g. one iTunes Music Library for all your music and another with just classic rock music
e.g. one iTunes Music Library with your Beatles music and another with your Led Zeppelin music.
Create an new empty iTunes Music Library
Create a new iTunes Music Library anywhere you desire: an external drive, anywhere you have access to.
The default method is to create new iTunes Music Libraries at the same directory level as your current iTunes Music Library. A new directory using your supplied name is created which contains your new iTunes Music Library.
If your current iTunes Music Library is in the directory: c:\iTunes\music, new iTunes Music Library directories are created at the same level as the c:\iTunes\music directory. c:\iTunes\My New Library1, c:\iTunes\My New Library2, etc...

Tutorial

markelsoft — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:53:49 CDT

This is a step by step quick tutorial on using Library Switcher for iTunes.

Follow these steps (in red) to do the tutorial.

I. Switching Libraries:

Main Screen -

Description: this is the main screen which displays two options:

Let's Switch and View Demo.

Let's Switch displays the switcher option menu from which you can:

select another iTunes Music Library to switch to
create an empty iTunes Music Library.

New Library is used to automatically create a new empty iTunes Music Library.
Scan - used to scan for libraries in your iTunes Music Library directory or any of your hard disk drives.
iTunes Music Libraries - lists iTunes Music Libraries found when scanning plus the libraries you have used.

Note: if one of the libraries in this list is selected (not [No selection - show options when switch])
when Let's Switch is clicked, you will switch to the selected library. Otherwise the switching options
are displayed.
Switch - click to switch to the selected library. If a library is not selected, then the switcher is started showing available options.
Default- click to switch to your default library. The default library is your original library you were using when you first ran the Library Switcher. If you desire to use another library as your default, then see the .cfg file in the ./cfg directory. e.g. ./cfg/Tom_preferences.cfg and change defaultLibraryITLPath.
Shortcut - click to create a shortcut on your desktop for switching to the selected library.
Remove - click to remove a library selected in the 'iTunes Music Libraries' list.
Note: you may not remove the library currently being used. Once you switch to another library then you can remove the library.
Delete - click to remove a library permenantly from from disk and the 'iTunes Music Libraries' list.
Note: you may not delete the library currently being used. Once you switch to another library then you can delete the library.

The bottom part of the window displays:

Current iTunes Music Library filename (.itl)
Current iTunes Music Library xml filename (.xml)
System information such as iTunes version

Step 1: click Let's Switch to switch between your libraries or create a new empty library. When Let's Switch is clicked this window is displayed which is the switcher option menu which displays three options:

Quit, Choose Library..., Create Library...

Quit exits and does nothing.
Choose Library... allows you to choose another iTunes Music Library (.itl file)

Create Library.... creates a new empty iTunes Music Library.
The name you enter for the new library will be used to a new directory containing
the new empty library. Note: The best thing is to put the new directory and library
in your current iTunes Music Library directory.

Options Window Displayed -

Step 2: click Choose Library... to switch libraries.

Description: this is the Choose Library... window which prompts you to select a library to switch to.

Note: If you are starting out with a single iTunes Music Library it is best to create new empty libraries first. Then you can switch between these libraries. See below.

Choose Library Window Displayed -

Step 3: find and select a library to switch to then click Open.

Description: When Let's Switch is clicked this window is displayed which is the switcher option menu which displays three options:

Quit, Choose Library..., Create Library...

Quit exits and does nothing.
Choose Library... allows you to choose another iTunes Music Library (.itl file)
Create Library.... creates a new empty iTunes Music Library.
The name you enter for the new library will be used to a new directory containing
the new empty library.
Note: The best thing is to put the new directory and library in your current iTunes Music Library directory.

II. Creating New Libraries:

Quit, Choose Library..., Create Library...

Quit exits and does nothing.
Choose Library... allows you to choose another iTunes Music Library (.itl file)

Create Library.... creates a new empty iTunes Music Library.
The name you enter for the new library will be used to a new directory containing
the new empty library. Note: The best thing is to put the new directory and library
in your current iTunes Music Library directory.

Options Window Displayed -

Step 2: click Create Library... to create a new library.

Description: this is the Create Library... window which prompts you for the new library directory name.

New Library Window Displayed -

Step 3: enter the directory name for the new library then click Save.

Note: The best thing is to put the new directory and library in your current iTunes Music Library directory.

New Library

markelsoft — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:06:55 CDT

Clicking this selection prompts the user for a new library directory name. The new directory name is used to store the new empty iTyunes Music Library.

Enter a new unique library name. If the library name already exists, the process will exit.

Once a unique library name is entered, Library Switcher will display the controller and automatically creates the new library.
Once the new library is created, iTunes is started.

Enter mini mode

markelsoft — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:57:14 CDT

Mini mode switches to a smaller display and moves the window to the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
This is useful when you want the Library Switcher on the screen but in a smaller less obtrusive size.

To exit mini mode, use the View menu 'Exit mini mode...' menu.

Special Options

markelsoft — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:00:38 CDT

Available special startup options:

1. To run silently: pass the argument -silent. This mode will launch the application silently (no main display window) and show the library switcher controller window:

To add this option do the following:

Right-click on the Library Switcher for iTunes desktop icon and click on properties.

Go to Target and add -silent to the end of the target. Make sure you add after the double quoted application exe path and name:

e.g."c:\Program Files\LibrarySwitcher\LibrarySwitcher.exe" -silent

2. To run silently and select from available libraries: pass the argument -list. This mode will launch the application silently (no main display window) and display a list of available libraries to choose from.

3. To run silently and use a specific library filename: pass the argument -library {library .itl filename}. This mode will launch the application silently (no main display window) and use the supplied library filename (.itl file).

Let's Switch

markelsoft — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:13:27 CDT

Clicking this selection displays the Library Switcher Controller. The controller displays options you have which are:

Quit - quit the controller and iTunes.
Choose library - click to select another library (.itl extension file). Note: .itl files are the actual iTunes Music Libraries and the associated .xml files are created by iTunes from the .itl file. Note: once you switch the library, iTunes will use that library when it is running.
Create library - click to create a new empty iTune Music Library in it's own directory.

Choose library displays:

From here browse for the iTunes Music Library you want to switch to. iTunes Music Libraries use the extension .itl

Create library displays:

from here create a new iTunes Music Library by entering the folder (directory) name the new empty iTunes Music Library will be created in.