manual/include/playlist-operations.html

<p>
  In the <a href="@@audio-track-controls">track header</a> (editor window, left pane) is a button labelled <kbd
  class="menu">p</kbd> (for "Playlist"). A click on this button displays the
  following menu:
</p>

<table class="dl">
  <tr>
	<th><i>(Local Playlists)</i></th>
	<td>Shows all of the playlists associated with this track, and indicates
	the currently selected playlist</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
	<th>Select&hellip;</th>
	<td>Allows switching playlists, either for this track or multiple ones (more about that later)</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <th>Rename&hellip;</th>
    <td>Displays a dialog to rename the current playlist</td></tr>
  <tr>
	<th>New Playlist&hellip;</th>
	<td>Creates a new empty playlist, and the track switches to the new playlist</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
	<th>Copy Playlist&hellip;</th>
    <td>Creates a new playlist that is an independent copy of the current playlist; the track switches to the new playlist</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
	<th>Clear Current</th>
    <td>Removes all regions from the current playlist</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
	<th>Advanced</th><td></td></tr>
	<tr>
	  <th class="sub1">Copy from &hellip;</th>
	  <td>Creates a new playlist that is an independent copy of a playlist from this track or another one; the track switches to the new playlist</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	  <th class="sub1">Share with &hellip;</th>
	  <td>Uses a playlist from this track or another one; any edit to this playlist will be reflected on the other track(s) that use this playlist</td>
	</tr>
	<tr>
	  <th class="sub1">Steal from &hellip;</th>
	  <td>Uses a playlist from this track or another one and removes it from the local playlists in the "robbed" track. Otherwise, behaves like "Share with &hellip;"</td>
	</tr>
</table>

<p class="note">
  When <em>Stealing</em> a playlist, it does not remove the playlist from the
  robbed track. The playlist now belongs to the current track, and the robbed track
  uses the playlist as a shared playlist with the new owner. Hence, this playlist
  won't be in the <i>(Local Playlists)</i> list from the robbed track anymore, but
  will now appear in the current track's local playlists.
</p>

<h2>Sharing vs copying Playlists</h2>
<p>
  It is entirely possible to <dfn>share playlists</dfn> between tracks. The only
  slightly unusual thing that should be noted when sharing is that edits to the
  playlist made in one track will magically appear in the other. It is an
  obvious consequence of sharing. One application of this attribute is parallel
  processing, described in <a href="@@playlist-usecases">Playlist Use Cases</a>.
</p>
<p>
  To avoid this kind of behaviour, and nevertheless use the same (or substantially
  the same) playlist on two tracks, the desired playlist must be copied and not shared.
  This generates an <dfn>independent copy</dfn> of it for that track, which can
  then be edited without affecting the original.
</p>

<h2>Select menu</h2>

<figure>
	<img src="/images/playlist_select.png" alt="The Select playlist menu"/>
	<figcaption>The Select playlist menu.</figcaption>
</figure>

<p>
  In its most basic use, the <kbd class="menu">Select &hellip;</kbd>
  menu allows:
</p>
<ul>
	<li>
		to switch from one playlist to another (with the added benefit,
		compared to switching directly from the <i>Local Playlists</i>
		list, to see the creation date and time),
	</li>
	<li>
		to create a new, empty playlist, with the <kbd class="menu">New
		Playlist(s)</kbd> button,
	</li>
	<li>
		or to create an independent copy of the current one, with the
		<kbd class="menu">Copy Playlist(s)</kbd> button.
	</li>
</ul>
<p>
  When used for <kbd class="option">Only this track/group</kbd>, in the
  selector below, it is the same as using the <kbd class="menu">New
  Playlist &hellip;</kbd> and <kbd class="menu">Copy Playlist &hellip;</kbd> from the
  Playlist menu.
</p>
<p>
  But the selector also allows to apply these operation (changing
  playlist, creating an empty new one or creating an independent copy)
  for <kbd class="option">Rec-armed tracks</kbd> or <kbd
  class="option">ALL tracks</kbd>. This can be useful in a recording
  situation with many microphones and multiple takes to deal with.
</p>
<p>
  These playlist operations, on multiple tracks, are also available
  directly on the secondary toolbar in <a
  href="@@recorder">Recorder</a> mode.
</p>