Version after version, SONAR's "Clean Audio Folder" is still useless. It insists on searching your entire computer, even though it asks for the audio path you want searched. I, like so many others, use separate folders for each project, under the simple Projects folder. Selecting that does me no good. It goes on and does what it wanted to do in the first place, like a disobedient child. :)
 
Before you suggest I use CWAF, that's equally backwards, or worse. Why waste my time selecting every drive and folder other than the single one I want to clean? Isn't that sort of... silly?
 
Two tools, neither of which is truly 21st century like the DAW is. Please bring them up to par before the next iteration of SONAR.

Put in a feature/fix request if you want Cakewalk staff to see it. There is a forum for discussing new features/fixes you would like to see implemented.

I also added a feature request for this last week.
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3163725

I agree with Mike.  This sounds like something broken.  If you can select options that end up ignored, write up a recipe and submit it:
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/S...Contact/Problem-Report

pencilartist
Before you suggest I use CWAF, that's equally backwards, or worse. Why waste my time selecting every drive and folder other than the single one I want to clean? Isn't that sort of... silly?

I don't disagree that CWAF could use some updating, but just to clarify: You aren't selecting what to clean, you're telling it where not to look for projects that might use the audio, and you only have to do it for the drive(s) you want to "clean". Unlike Clean Audio, it doesn't search outside the chosen drive(s).
 
If you only store projects on one drive, and have that drive halfway decently organized, it takes a couple minutes to tell SONAR what root folders to ignore, and then you never have to do it again unless you're constantly adding new paths off the root of your project drive, which would not generally be the case in a well-organized DAW.
 
I keep projects on two local drives (not including the external backup that is always "clean"). One of them has three directories excluded, and the other has four, including the "CWAF Excluded WAVs" folders (one on each drive) that I use to temporarily store discarded audio files after each "cleaning". I took very little time set that up, and I haven't had to touch the setup it for over a year. CWAF may look clunky, but I find very simple and effective to use.
 
Sure a checkbox to "Only search this directory and subdirectories" would simplify the setup even more, but it would have to come with a very stern warning that this they could break projects stored elsewhere. And based on the number of posts over the years indicating that users don't understand that Clean Audio is looking for projects, not audio, I would say that warning needs to be in bright red 24-point caps with at least three exclamation points and a disclaimer that Cakewalk is not responsible for lost audio.
 
 

I still see no reason why I should tell SONAR where NOT to look, when it only needs to look at one folder. This isn't logical.
 
BobF, nothing is being ignored. That isn't what I have said.

pencilartist
I still see no reason why I should tell SONAR where NOT to look, when it only needs to look at one folder. This isn't logical.
 
BobF, nothing is being ignored. That isn't what I have said.

OK, my bad ... I misunderstood this:
"Version after version, SONAR's "Clean Audio Folder" is still useless. It insists on searching your entire computer, even though it asks for the audio path you want searched."
 
 

pencilartist
I still see no reason why I should tell SONAR where NOT to look, when it only needs to look at one folder. This isn't logical.
 

You might not need or like this safety feature, but the Bakers have a responsibility to protect less knowledgeable users from themselves.

I always SAVE-AS to a new name.  Great Project 0215 a.cwp   b.cwp,...
 
Regularly I review and delete old project files.
 
Every time I have attempted to clean files that are not connected to a project, I delete the identified files, and LOTS of needed files have to be retrieved from the backups.
 
And I should be able to select the folder to search.

Are you talking about Clean Audio or CWAF? I've never had either make a mistake, but that's why I moved orphaned files to an excluded folder and re-run CWAF to make sure it doesn't report missing files before I finally delete them.