Suppose you have the same rackspace in two different gig files. Then you updated/edited the rackspace in one gig file and now you want that edit to be updated in the other gig file? When I import the updated rackspace it creates a new rackspace with an added #1 next to the name, since another rackspace with the same name exists. I could just delete the “old” rackspace, but that creates some extra work if that rackspace was used in a setlist, now it has to be chosen again, the name has to be edited to remove the #1, perhaps I had the rackspace in a particular position in the list which now has to be redone. Isn’t there a way to update the older existing rackspace with the newer exported (from the other gig file) rackspace?
It is more a “replace Rackspace from file” option that you are requesting rather than an “upgrade Rackspace” operation, don’t you think so?
In principle a good idea.
But what to do with a song when the imported rackspace has a different amout of variations?
Then you would have to correct your song also.
And technically it might be not possible:
The Rackspaces are identified internal with a unique ID and not by the name.
So the same rackspaces with the same name do have different ID’s in the different gig files.
best and proven way is import the rackspace and (sorry to say) rebuild your song.
Good point, but that’s why I prefaced saying “same rackspace”. By that I meant identical in every way, including variations. In my case, that is the case for the most part. Even if the song variation is the only extra you’d have to do, its still less steps b/c you still have to do that if you import a new rackspace, PLUS a bunch of other settings.
As far as techincally… I think having a unique ID is actually all the more reason why it should be possible. I want all settings and associations to remain, so that unique ID would help with that. I just want the tweaking I did in the first gig file to be reflected in the 2nd gig file as well.
I didn’t say “upgrade”. I said “update”. I don’t want it to be replaced with just any imported rackspace, I am specifically talking about the SAME rackspace existing in different gig files. Same plugins, same variations, etc…I just want the tweaking/settings to be updated in the other gig files as well, rather than importing it as a new rackspace and losing buch of other associations.
So, you would like to have Rackspaces saved to files which would be shared by several gig files?
Rackspaces are already saved to files when you export a rackspace. We don’t need another file format that’s shared across everywhere (although that’s not a bad idea), but at least the option to be able to import or some way bring the edits made (to the same rackspace in another gig file) if I’d like those edits to be applied here also.
I still don’t really understand. You want a specific Rackspace to be shared across several gig files, i.e. if you change it in one gig file it is changed identically in all gig file where it is used ? Or you want to be able to do it manually by importing an exported Rackspace in a gig file where there is already a Rackspace with an identical name ? 
manually
In this scenario, what are the sort of changes you are making? Is it just parameters within existing plugins, or only changes to those mapped to widgets?
So, what you would like is to be able to replace a Rackspace in a gig file by another one you previously exported. You talked about updating because the Rackspace you would replace and the one you exported are of the same kind and at least have the same name. But the operation could apply to any very different Rackspaces.
For us to understand your exact use case: do you need this to work with gig files arranged like set lists rather than using one gig file which would make use of the same Rackspace several times in different set lists within a unique gig file?
I guess, what @ztones is talking about is the following:
He has built a rackspace and saved/exportetd it to be then imported and used later on in one or more gig-files.
Then when he makes some changes/additions to this very special rackspace and saves it under the same name to the same location (folder), he wants to be able to re-import this rackspace into the gig-file (where it is already present), but only the changes between the older and newer version of this rackspace should be applied, so all the existing connections and assignments within the gig-file won’t be affected. I think this is what it’s meant by “updating”.
The idea behind it might be quite cool, but what if the filenames for the rackspace get messed up somehow - if there would be diffrent rackspaces with the same name but diffrent content on diffrent locations?
What if you try to import/update a rackspace and the actual rackspace in the gig-file is newer than the the one you choose to import? What should be done with widgets (and their connections) that exist in the actual rackspace but that are no more there in the “new one”. Should they be deleted?
What should happen if there was some scripting evolved that referenced those widgets?
What should happen to any overridden variations that contain the “lost” widgets within the songlist?
I don’t think that this option of “updating a rackspace” can be handled in a proper way right now.
It had to be provided that all rackspaces are unique and they would only exist at one single place.
Maybe if all the GigPerformer’s contents were stored within a database and the rackspaces and other assignments where only ‘referenced’ from data sets… but is this really what we should want? 
Hummm… I am afraid this would be a programming nightmare which could possibly bring more troubles than benefits. 
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When I’d want to re-import the same rackspace I already have in a particular gig file, I’d want it to completely overwrite the existing rackspace. Not merge only the charged parameters, but completely replace and (most importantly) to retain it’s position or usage in every song where that rack was used. That is what’s lost when you import a new rackspace that doesn’t replace the existing one with same name.
You can do exactly that in song mode, with the ‘Bulk Reset to new rackspace/variation’ option. Just import your new rackspace, and select the above option to replace every reference in every song of the old rackspace you’re looking to replace.
It’s not an overwrite option, its a ‘use this instead of that’.
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That’s a really cool feature I didn’t know about. That does take care of easily replacing all the songs with that rackspace. It’s still not as smooth as it could be with the overwrite. The newly imported rackspace still has to be dragged into position (if the racks are organized a certain way) and renamed (remove the #1), plus the actual step of bulk replacing the rackspace in the songs window, but at least it’s a good work around for the most laborious part of the process. Thanks for the video!
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