
Using the Filter Controls
The Filter Controls window provides you with versatile options for globally selecting the "Keeper" in every Dupe Group.
Once the Dupin window is filled with Dupe Groups, activate the Filter Controls window by clicking on the "Filter..." command in the File menuor by pressing Command-F, or by clicking on the "Filter" toolbar icon.
Adjust the settings to your liking and then click the "Filter" buttonor press Command-F again or Return. In a few moments, each Dupe Group will be filtered and a single track in each Dupe Group will be designated as a Keeper.
Note: By default Keepers are designated by being checkmarked. However, if you prefer the opposite configuration whereby a Keeper is designated by being un-checkmarked, you can toggle this behavior in Preferences. In any case, the text color of non-Keepers is always lighter than the text color of the Keepers. Throughout this help book, tracks will be referred to as Keepers and non-Keepers as often as possible to avoid any confusion with what is "checked" or "un-checked".
The Filter Controls window also displays the status of Dupin's bit rate rounding and Keeper designation Preferences settings.
The Filter Controls can be re-set and you can re-filter the Dupe Groups as many times as you wish.
The Filter Controls window can be closed or zoomed to a smaller size when not in use. Also, you can set its transparency and whether or not you want it to remain on top of other Dupin windows in Preferences.
You can choose to filter tracks automatically while Dupin is getting dupes in Preferences.
Filter Controls Option Settings
You can only choose one of the following settings:
Oldest Date Added/Newest Date Added
Select the one track in the Dupe Group whose Date Added is oldest or newest. This is calculated to the second so it is doubtful more than one track could meet this criteria.
Oldest Date Modified/Newest Date Modified
Select the one track in the Dupe Group whose Date Modified is oldest or newest. The Date Modified of a track is updated whenever a change is made to one or more of its tags or changes are made to its file.
Most Played/Least Played
Select the one track in the Dupe Group whose Play Count is highest or lowest. If it happens that more than one track in a Dupe Group has the same Play Count, all other things being equal, only one of them will be selected.
Most Recently Played/Least Recently Played
Select the one track in the Dupe Group whose Last Played is most recent or least recent. This is calculated to the second so it is doubtful more than one track could meet this criteria.
Highest Bit Rate/Lowest Bit Rate
Select the one track in the Dupe Group whose Bit Rate is highest or lowest. If it happens that more than one track in a Dupe Group has the same Bit Rate, all other things being equal, only one of them will be selected.
Largest File Size/Smallest File Size
Select the one track in the Dupe Group whose File Size is largest or smallest. This filter may be handy if artwork is embedded in one or more otherwise similar tracks. If it happens that more than one track in a Dupe Group has the same File Size, all other things being equal, only one of them will be selected.
Folder Location
Only select a track in the Dupe Group whose file path contains the parent folder path you select in the popup. If it happens that this applies to more than one track, all other things being equal, only one of them will be selected.
iTunes Match "cloud tracks"tracks stored in the cloud with no associated local filewill be ignored.
The default folder path is the path to your current iTunes Music folder as set in iTunes > Preferences > General. To select a different folder path, choose "Other..." from the popup.
Shortest Filename
When iTunes adds a duplicate file to its Library, it will append a number to the filename to distinguish it from any other similarly named files, ie: "In the AIr Tonight 1.mp3". Select this option to choose the track whose filename is the shortest; that is, has not had a number appended to its filename. Of course, the filenames of the tracks in the Dupe Group must be otherwise identical.
iTunes Match "cloud tracks"tracks stored in the cloud with no associated local filewill be ignored.
If the length of each of the filenames in the Dupe Group is the samethere is no shortest filenamethen the tracks will remain Keepers.
Single Arbitrary
All other things being equal, select any single track in the Dupe Group.
Additional Options
In addition to the setting selected above, a Keeper must also meet these qualifications if checked:
Always Keep this Kind:
If checked, a Keeper must be of the Kind that is selected in the popup.
("Cloud tracks" are iTunes Match tracks that are stored in the cloud and have no corresponding local file. They stream when you play them. If you have iTunes Match enabled then you may have one or more of these "cloud tracks" in your iTunes library.)
If no tracks in the Dupe Group match the selected Kind then the Keeper is selected without consideration of its Kind.
...with this Bit Rate:
If checked, only select a Keeper if its Bit Rate is the same or, if bit rate rounding is checked in Preferences, within the ABR range of the one selected in the popup. (This setting applies only to AAC and MP3 audio.)
Don't keep tracks which don't meet this criteria
If checked, when a Dupe Group does not contain at least one track that meets the above criteria for being the Keeper no tracks in that Dupe Group will be designated as Keepers.
You can refresh the Keeper status of all tracks in current Dupin window by clicking on "Checkmark All/Clear Checkmarks" (one or the other option will be displayed depending on how you designate Keepers in Preferences) in the View menu or by pressing Shift-Command-X. Then you can run Filter again using different settings.
Your Filter Controls settings will be saved between uses of Dupin.