RANT: Extensions driving me nuts

GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
So, one of the dumbass radio jocks somehow managed to get the production computer confused so that it thinks MP3s have a .wav extension. In Adobe Audition, now, when you create a new sound file and try to save it as an mp3 (mp3PRO (FhG)), the default filename is Untitled.wav and it will add a .wav extension to whatever you enter unless you EXPLICITLY also type the .mp3 at the end of the filename. Naturally, since DJs are lazy people, they don't waaaaaanna have to type the whole .mp3, and they whine about the .wav file extension.

I'm going out of my mind trying to find a solution for this. 7 years ago a condescending asshole named Steve on the adobe forums said "this happens when somebody accidentally saves an mp3 with a manually entered .wav extension" (which is conceivable given how my idiot coworkers function) "and it should go back to normal once you manually save something as .mp3 again."

WELL GUESS WHAT STEVE, YOU'RE WRONG. AND EVEN THE PEOPLE IN THE FORUM TOLD YOU YOU WERE WRONG BUT YOU KEPT POSTING YOUR BULLSHIT ANSWER IN EVERY THREAD DEALING WITH THIS SO THAT NOBODY ELSE ANSWERED.

Save file as mp3, .mp3 extension, done. Create new file, hit save as, boom, untitled.wav staring me in the face again.

Even the stupid file type on the pulldown now says "mp3PRO (FhG) (*.wav, *.mp3)" when it used to just end in "(*.mp3)."

I've gone over the registry with a fine toothed comb, and can't find it. There was one guy who said he fixed it in the registry, but the keys he list don't exist in my production machine's registry. Everything I find deals with "what opens a file with this extension when you double click it" not "what extension goes on this file type when you save."

Ordinarily I'd just throw up my hands at this point and say "look, just type the .mp3 every time" but we've got 50/60 year old technoilliterates using this thing who often have to e-mail files to people, and I know they'll save mp3s with wav extensions and it will just cause confusion for all involved. ARGLEBARGLE.

Is there no way to fix this other than a format and reinstall of windows?! That would be extremely inconvenient because this machine also has an emergency copy of our automation software installed (so it can hot swap out for a station's workstation if one dies), and that takes the engineer all day to set up.

Fucker fuck fuckity fizzidyuck.
 
Denbrought

Denbrought

If conventional solutions do not work, can't you write a short batch that uses `ren *.wav *.mp3` aimed at the directory(ies) they save at?

Alternatively, write a small utility in your language of choice with a passive filewatcher that does the above automatically, and set it to run at startup.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
PatrThom said:
Is this what you're looking for?
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-change-file-associations-in-windows-2624477

--Patrick
Click to expand...
Nope, that's the "what program launches when this is double clicked" part, not the "what is the default extension for this file format" thing.[DOUBLEPOST=1485203290,1485203219][/DOUBLEPOST]
Denbrought said:
If conventional solutions do not work, can't you write a short batch that uses `ren *.wav *.mp3` aimed at the directory(ies) they save at?

Alternatively, write a small utility in your language of choice with a passive filewatcher that does the above automatically, and set it to run at startup.
Click to expand...
Nope. Too many directories, and often we actually do need to save wav format for other purposes. So we can't just make all waves MP3's.
 
strawman

strawman

No, he needs to find where adobe file save dialogue chooses the extension.

If the software is old enough you might actually need to poke around the software directory for an ini file. Otherwise it's probably buried in some arbor key in the registry somewhere.

I'd be interested in uninstalling the software and reinstalling it. Another thing to try is set up a new user account in case it's a preference tied to the user rather than the computer or installation.

But if all else fails, make sure they always put them in the same directory and make a batch file to rename *.wav in that directory to *.mp3. The batch file would start the software then on exit would rename the files. Then change the program icons to use the batch file instead of the program directly, and tell them have to exit the program before dealing with the file.

You could also have automation of some sort watch the directory and rename files a few seconds after they show up.

Or you could have automation look for the save dialogue from this program, and when it appears find the file name text box and change ".wav" to ".exe".[DOUBLEPOST=1485203595,1485203540][/DOUBLEPOST]Took too long to type. Guess none of these will work for your either.
 
Denbrought

Denbrought

GasBandit said:
Nope. Too many directories, and often we actually do need to save wav format for other purposes. So we can't just make all waves MP3's.
Click to expand...
Hmm... This one would annoy them (but hey, they're annoying you first): a filewatcher that pops up a "should I convert this to .mp3?" window on every new .wav file saved anywhere (other than places like %temp%).
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
I hadn't thought to look for an ini, as audition's predecessor, Cool Edit Pro 2.0, which we also have, used the registry for such things. In fact I found the registry entries for Cool Edit Pro 2.0 that I would have had to change had this problem happened in Cool Edit... but the entries for audition 3.0 are simply not there. I'll have to have a look around for configuration files.
 
Eriol

Eriol

stienman said:
No, he needs to find where adobe file save dialogue chooses the extension.

If the software is old enough you might actually need to poke around the software directory for an ini file. Otherwise it's probably buried in some arbor key in the registry somewhere.

I'd be interested in uninstalling the software and reinstalling it. Another thing to try is set up a new user account in case it's a preference tied to the user rather than the computer or installation.
Click to expand...
I like these suggestions from @stienman. As others have said, the "global" settings for extensions have nothing to do with what comes up in a dialog box when trying to save a file inside of a program. Yes it's the windows save file dialog, but that's just a framework call that you pass your own information into. Hence why the dropdown for type of file is populated a certain way. That's all the programmer's doing, not windows and/or registry. It's almost-certainly program settings.

I like the suggestion for trying it on a fresh account. In the search for settings (especially user-specific ones) also try the directories under "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData" and try in there. It's a hidden directory btw. Most likely in the "Roaming" directory, but could be in the others too. That's much more popular than settings inside of the program directory these days, though that happens.

I trust you've scoured the registry enough if you say you have, but don't forget that depending on the bits you are running on for windows and the program, they can actually see DIFFERENT registries. A 32-bit program running on a 64-bit OS sees a different registry than a 64-bit program. It's all there in regedit, but where in the tree is different, and what the program "thinks" it is accessing also is different than the actual path.

Good luck Gas. You'll need it.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Only the stuff that is absolutely 100% mission critical. The salespeople all have late model budget Dells with windows 7/8/10
 
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