Add New Torrent dialog enhancements

[ajones81]

Ok, my problem is that I had some torrents with a huge number of files in each of them. Since I was running a bit low on disk space, I selectively downloaded high-priority files from the torrents to the extent of filling up my available disk space.

Now I have more space available, but on a different drive. Meanwhile however, someone deleted the torrents from uTorrent so I have no idea from among the 100s of files in the torrents, which ones I have and which ones are remaining.

Since I want to download just the remaining files to a different location, the feature I'm looking for is something like the following:

1) I load a torrent, the Add New Torrent dialog pops up

2) I set the download directory to the one where some of the files have already been downloaded

3) uTorrent checks the files and selects (ticks the checkboxes for) the ones already present on my drive in the Torrent Contents section

4) Along with the Select All and Select None buttons, the dialog has a Invert Selection button as well which I press

5) Now that the remaining files (that I haven't downloaded yet) have been selected, I simply change the download directory to point to the drive where there is empty space available

6) I repeat the above steps for every torrent and start downloading the files

I think this would be a fantastic feature to have and improve torrent file management so much so can this be implemented please?

[Ultima]

IMHO, checking the files from within the add new torrent dialog is not a reasonable solution. The only time µTorrent should check the files is if, and only if, the user has actually decided where he's gonna be saving the files to. Any time before that is a possible waste of time/resources, as the user may easily flip-flop his decision.

[ajones81]

I'm not saying a complete hash check should be done. A simple file name check would be sufficient just to cut down on the time taken to manually compare back and forth what files have been downloaded and select the rest - an extremely time-consuming and boring process that's naturally liable to leave out some files.

Then the Invert Selection button could be used, which would anyway be a good feature to have IMO.

================= OR =================

Another way to simplify matters could be to have the ability to export a simple ASCII list of files selected and downloaded in a torrent. Then in future one could open the same torrent and import that list in the Add New Torrent dialog so that the files already downloaded would be selected. After this, the Invert Selection button could be used as usual.

[Ultima]

If you're gonna export your list of files, you might as well just back the entire resume.dat up.

As for hash checking vs. checking if the file exists, it's still a waste of time checking and unchecking stuff over and over each time someone selects a directory. What happens if the user manually changes the directory without using the selection dialog? What happens if there are a LOT of files to be checking for? What happens if some files just happen to have the same filenames, but not the same data? The potential pitfalls just don't outweigh the utility. You could just as simply let it download all files, recheck, sort the file list descendingly by the % column, go to the last 100% file, and press Shift+Up and set them to not download. It isn't that much more work, considering how your request wouldn't have made it much more automatic. This is all IMO, by the way. At any rate, an invert selection button has been requested before

[ajones81]

Ultima, backing up the entire Resume.dat is not what I was looking for. The case I was talking about involved somehow exporting the state of the torrent i.e what files have been already downloaded etc. so it can be imported later.

However, you're absolutely right about selecting all files, re-checking, skipping the ones at 100%, then changing the download location to the different drive etc.

Problems:

1) Since the torrent was removed and the partfiles went into digital oblivion, pointing the torrent at the same directory as earlier would cause uTorrent to re-download a lot of stuff I already have (we've already discussed this issue before)

2) The Add New Torrent dialog shows the proper directory structure so it's easier to decide what needs to be downloaded based on the classification in the torrent itself. The Files tab on the other hand shows a flat file list which makes it much more difficult to select files as the classification is no longer discernible.

That is why I wanted a simple export/import file list function so that right at the outset while selecting files one can make out at a glance what one has already downloaded, and even what one has already downloaded and deleted after checking the contents. Thus one will never mistakenly re-download stuff one has already checked out and deemed not worthy of keeping.

For example, it so happens that some people keep updating their torrents on a regular basis. Now if I have already downloaded some files, checked them out, rejected and deleted some files and renamed and kept the others, there's no way a force re-check will work. In such a scenario, importing a simple list of files that says what I have previously downloaded from that torrent will enable me to easily decide what else to get now and not reduplicate deleted/renamed files.

Hope I've made myself clear. No data re-checks required now and no file name checks even. Just a simple ASCII text file, possibly named <torrent_name>.ufl (uTorrent File List) that can be saved along with the torrent. When one loads the torrent (same or newer version) called File.torrent in future, one can choose to load/import File.ufl along with it which will simply/blindly select the checkboxes in the Add New Torrent dialog for those file names that're there in the .UFL file.

[Ultima]

*shrug* Importing/exporting files just for selecting items in the Add New Torrent dialog makes things more complicated than they really should to be :| Of course, the decision isn't really up to me anyway, I guess.

The reason I brought resume.dat up is because backing up the file lists would require a certain level of foresight for you to know to back them up. It'd also require that you back the file lists up for each and every torrent you want to remember. If it's all to prevent a possible loss of the torrent queue and selected file settings (skipped, already completed, moved, renamed, or what have you) due to the clearing of the resume.dat file anyway, I'm not sure why you wouldn't back resume.dat up directly instead.

As for those problems...

1) Redownloading the stuff you have isn't a problem. It's not as if you're wasting much more bandwidth anyway (if at all), as edge cases will always cause more data to be downloaded than necessary. As long as you've skipped files, something is bound to be put into the partfile, regardless of whether it deletes a part of an existing file, or downloads a part of a non-existing file (and stuffs the already-existing, unrequested part into the partfile).

2) Being more organized or not for selecting/deselecting other files wasn't really the problem, as the only problem was selecting the already-existing files (in which case the Files tab is even more organized, considering the fact that after the hash check, it'll actually allow you to sort the file list by the % column).

[ajones81]

Yeah, the Resume.dat file can be saved of course, it's true. But seeing as how I'd need to save multiple copies of the file and keep a note of what torrent states have been saved in each copy, I'd much rather have a simple text file.

Meh... Anyway, I'm not gonna pursue this any further. If the developers find merit in it, they should implement it, otherwise it'll just get added to the pile as yet another brilliant idea that never saw the light of day!

Of course, the decision isn't really up to me anyway, I guess.

Off Topic (Sorry!): Do the developers ever find time to scan this forum and decide which features to pick up and which to discard? 'Cos it'd be great if there was some sort of acknowledgement tacked on to the end of a feature request or bug post confirming/denying it definitively.

Some requests are of course denied outright by admins/moderators such as yourself and Firon, but what about the rest that lie in limbo, without a firm yay or a nay? If a user has thought of a request, however silly or frivolous, and bothered to register and post here, it means (s)he's invested some time, thought and energy into it and supports uTorrent and want to see it improve.

I know it's not easy, but it'd certainly provide some sort of closure and as an added bonus, stop people from posting about the same things over and over again. If need be, I'd be happy to help out in any way required to the best of my capacity, though I must say you guys are doing a bang-up job right now! Thanks!

P.S. Hope ya don't mind, but how did you guys get to be moderators anyway? Is it that you held these non-profit honorary posts back when Ludde was in charge and you just continued, or have you been appointed by BitTorrent Inc.?

[Ultima]

They do check the forums, but they don't always reply. If we don't give a firm answer, then the decision's up to the devs -- lol that's all I can really say about it, as that's all it really is xD

Just as a guess, an official answer might not be given because committing to adding a feature and then not adding it later would be bad (which can happen if they're wishy-washy about adding it).

I've been a moderator since before BitTorrent Inc acquired µTorrent. I suppose I was given the position because I've been here for so long, and maybe because Firon trusts me? XD The same goes with the other moderators as well

[Firon]

I became an admin back in the ludde days (pretty early on, though), and I appointed more moderators and an admin since because it was people that contributed a lot and were people I could trust with their powers.

As far as features go, I often deny requests myself and add them to TRAC to be implemented in the future, but the developers do it themselves too. I can't say they browse the forums a whole lot of their own volition; they often do it because someone points them to a thread.