[X] Launching MP3Tag with file does not automatically select it

Consider the following scenario: You open a file or folder via the context menu integration in Explorer. The first file is now shown with a dashed focus rectangle, but its tags are not loaded automatically into the panel on the left hand side. So if you start editing the properties in the panel, you can actually not save them, and as soon as you click on the file in the right hand panel, the edited tags are lost.
There are two possible solutions:

  1. Grey out the left panel, just like the save button is greyed out. This option is less preferrable.
  2. Actually load the tags of the first file into the left panel so that it's ready to use without an extra click. This is the preferrable solution. Since the file already has a focus rectangle, this also seems like the expected behaviour.


Have you tried it with the option to automatically select the files in:
File>Options>General

Well, it looks ok, when one can modify track data only when the track has been selected before, so apply "[Ctrl+A] [Ctrl+Tab]", to select all files and step into the open Tag-Panel window.

Note the Tag-Panel is a separate window and not part of the main Tracklist window.

DD.20170828.0907.CEST

blobber: Thanks, that does the trick. It seems like this option really should be the default.

No, this is misleading and frustrating. Consider you have a freshly rendered MP3 file (or just any file that has no tags yet). You right-click the file to open it in MP3Tag, you start writing your tags, assuming that you are in fact editing this file which doesn't have any tags yet. But you actually aren't editing this file! The fact that you can type something into these edit fields while no file is selected is very unfortunate in this case.

I would consider MP3tag's behaviour as consistent: with the set option all files are selected, without they are not and you have to do it.
So I cannot see any buggy behaviour. The function is there even though not implemented the way you favoured it.
And if you look closely: the single file is not really selected. You see that clicking on the (single?) file changes colours and other stuff so that what you interpreted as "selection" was actually none.
I understand your frustration but no way was MP3tag's behaviour misleading (on purpose).

The filelist is the main Mp3tag window, the tag panel is an additional dialog window.

The tag panel get the data to work on after selecting one file in the filelist.

As long as there is no file within the filelist selected to be edit, then the tag panel does not know of any existing data from a file resp. which file should be manipulated.

When starting Mp3tag, an empty focus rectangle shows the user that there is a dialog selection tool, to move the line cursor to select a file, ... but a file is only ready to be edited, when the cursor line is really selected.

Note: an empty focus rectangle is not a valid selection.

Therefore the entire tag panel should be greyed out, in case of there is no selection within the main filelist.

DD.20170830.0840.CEST

It is misleading because once again, the input fields are editable but there is no file selected that can be edited! I will accept this answer if you can explain the purpsoe of editable tag fields with no selected files, but otherwise your answer is simply invalid (in that case you just defend the behaviour as "it's like this because that's the way it is"). If there is no purpose for those edit fields, then either the first (not all) file should be selected by default, or as DetlevD says, the panel must be greyed out.

MP3Tag is a very user-friendly tool but being able to input data that in the end cannot be saved because no file selected is the exact opposite of user-friendlines. Please just accept that this is maybe a very non-optimal behaviour that needs to be fixed.

The "save" icon is disabled when you have a constellation like the one you describe as bug.
So, in a way, you are still not mislead into thinking that you can save something ... this is not as elegant as disabling the tag panel but the information is there, somewhere.

But yes, disabling the tag panel as long as it has no function just like the Convert functions, actions or web sources would add to the usability.

Until then, you can enable the option to select all files, when loading them for the first time. This should avoid the irritation.

I have the same problem; but in other circumstances

I use Mp3ag for years and even now every couple of days of weeks during my workflow, when I somehow click / un-click [select / un-select] file, I am in a situation when I think that I am writing something and will be able to save it- only to discover after the work is supposedly done that it is not such so

A clear indication in form of greyed tag fields in the Tag Panel would throw in my face a message "you will not be able to save this - do this properly if you do not want to repeat all of that writing"

The indication is there - we could discuss now if it is a real obvious indication - but it is there: the "save" icon in the toolbar gets disabled if you have not selected at least one entry in the files list.

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