[Rejected] Delete source on completion

[Deleted User 28196]

I think it would be great if there was an option to, by default, delete source files on completion of conversion.

[s55]

Given the large number of possible un-detectable failures, seems like an awfully bad idea. The vast majority of people who turn that on, would get caught out with it deleting a source that failed to encode properly.

You can achieve it by running a script as your post-encode option though, although I don't recommend trying that unless your happy to be burned.

[Deleted User 28196]

Could you point me in the direction of the script please?

[s55]

At least on Windows / Mac there is an option to "Send File To" another application. That application could be a script on your system that takes the file and deletes it.

You'll need to Google how to do that scripting for whatever platform your on as there is no scripts lying around to do this: "Delete file with command line script on Mac"

Just be-careful with your commands. Get it wrong and you could end up deleting all your user files.

[Deleted User 13735]

Any means of destructive encoding was seen as a bad idea a long time ago.
People normally want to see the new result before deleting the original.

[Deleted User 28196]

I understand your points but I think giving the user the choice would be best IMO.

[s55]

You can give them a choice, but when they don't understand the consequences the results can be catastrophic for some.

Just imagine if someone lost the video of the birth of their first child because HandBrake wasn't able to encode it correctly and didn't detect the failure. You have no idea how irate that person would be at us. No amount of warnings helps. People do stuff we tell them not to all the time, and when it doesn't end well, they come back and tell us it's all our fault.

[Deleted User 28196]

Fair enough

[Woodstock]

Whenever I see topics like this, I'm reminded of the following office fable:

While walking through the office, I saw the boss's new secretary hovering over a machine with a stack of papers. Obviously confused, I asked if I could help.

"I can't seem to get this to work."

Our office shredder isn't the most friendly machine to operate, so I demonstrated how to set it up for automatic feeding, how many sheets were to be shredded, etc. After a few minutes, everything was operating smoothly, and the stack of papers was dispatched cleanly.

"That's great! Where do the copies come out?"

[Djfe]

[Smithcraft]

That would be a great iDea for when Handbrake has a bad encode, yet thinks it completes it's encode in 10 seconds. Source deleted.

SC