File > Open Folder of Files/Media

Using folders of files as a data source

Omniscope can treat any folder (and related subfolders) containing files as a data source using the File > Open folder of files/media connector. Omniscope asks for a starting folder, and will scan all files within the folder, representing each file as a record within the resulting data set. When Omniscope opens, you will see fields and corresponding filters realting to all the attributes of the files in the folder(s) - filenames, extensions, category, size, date, etc. 

All supported media files will have not only their filenames but also their tags imported as additional columns. For example, the ID3 tags of an MP3 file, such as Artist, Album and Track Number will be imported, as will the meta data in a JPG photo file, including camera model, date taken, and geo-location (if available in the file). Tag fields will be available as Sidebar filters where commonly useful.

After import, Omniscope will show default Pie and Tile Views illustrating the types of files you have (such as audio and image), and a Table View showing the data, including colour-coded table headers for tags. The Tile View will also display the images for any image files.

Advanced options 

Include subfolders - by default, this is ticked, meaning all subfolders and sub-subfolders (etc.) of the selected scan folder will also be processed. If unticked, only files directly in the selected folder will be processed.

Include files without extensions - by default, files that do not have a dotted extension such as ".txt" or ".jpg" are excluded. If ticked, files without any extension will be included. On Windows machines, most files already have extensions.

Customise which file types are included - by default all files are included. Tick this option to provide a comma-separated list of extensions to permit such as "jpg,mp3".  All other files will be skipped.

Tags in filenames - you can also choose to include "Tags in filenames" from in the file chooser when browsing for a folder. This will prompt you to define the "Filename structure", which is the format of the filename as a series of delimited values, typically using a hyphen to separate them. Omniscope will then read each filename tag as an additional column. For example, you might standardise on naming your photo files according to the convention "1983-Paris-Jim's wedding", in which case you would use the format "YEAR-LOCATION-DESCRIPTION" and Omniscope would then create 3 editable fields accordingly.

Editing and applying tags 

You can edit the tag columns (shown in the Table View using colour-coded headers) like any other values in cells. Then, use File > Export > Apply tags to files  to save your changes back to the individual files where they are stored. All filename tags will be applied (which will physically rename your files), but only supported media tags such as MP3 Artist will be applied. A comprehensive list of supported media tags for reading and writing is shown in each table column header's tooltip displayed by hovering your mouse over the column header.

Examples using File > Open folder of files/media

Warning: The following text/screenshots apply to earlier versions of Omniscope and may be slightly out of date.

Opening a folder of files is similar to opening a folder of images. For example, Omniscope can be used to explore folders of files on part or even all of your PC or connected servers' hard disks. You can also use Omniscope to manage media file libraries (Audio, Video and related Images) including powerful options to modify and harmonise Tags as well as file naming conventions.

Opening View

Choose File > Open folder of files/media. Browse to the top-level folder you want to explore (for example your entire C:/ root) and click Select. After a few moments, depending on the number of files scanned, you will see a Pie View on the left, a Tile View on the right and the right-hand Sidebar with filter/query devices showing both file attributes like Extension, Category and Size, as well as Tag: values. The Pie View is initally set to show the distribution of files by Category, whereas the Tile View represents each file as a tile, initially grouped by types of files (System files, Video files, Music files, etc.) and sized according to the size of the file. On opening, colour is used to show the date of each file. A green tile represents a recently modified file; red represents older files.

This view allows you to see at a glance where the space on your hard disk is allocated (by the size of the tiles), what sort of files they are (by the grouping) and how old the files are (by the colour). 

Filter and Group by Folder

The smallest tiles/files might not be clearly visible if they are much smaller than the biggest files. Use the Side Bar query devices on the right to filter and search for relatively smaller files. For example, on a Windows machine, certain very large system files have very old dates.  Filter them out by excluding System files in the Side Bar. You may want to do the same for Video files.  Now set the 2nd Group option to Enclosing Folder, enabling you to see the exact locations of your larger, older (non-system) files:

Grouping by Levels and Extensions

You can change the primary grouping (using the Group drop-down in the Tile view) to show Level 1, which groups the files according to the first level of folders in your directory structure. You can also change the 2nd Group option to Extension to gain an overview of your files by file type. After you have analysed your Images, for example, exclude them using the Side Bar filter to focus on other types of files which tend to be smaller.  Instantly you will see the relative size of each top-level folder, excluding System, Video and Images.

Browsing Documents (.PDF)

By filtering out all files that are not documents, you can use Omniscope as a document browser. For example, the Web View can display any Acrobat .PDF document. Saving this configuration as a Report Page with the filter set to Documents only permits any recipient of the file to browse the documents in a defined location (any network-accessible file server, not just their local machine as in this example).