Removing default preset ratings in Alchemy

[Jordi Torres]

By default, all presets in Alchemy have a rating consisting of three blue stars. (Update: As of Logic Pro 10.2.1, the default star rating for Alchemy presets now shows as three light gray stars.) This basically means that a preset has not yet been rated by the user. The moment the user rates a preset, the stars change to a golden color. One of the problems of having this 3-blue-star rating as default, is that it will actually count as a 3-star rating when sorting:

 

 

This situation can be overcome by replacing the 3-blue-star rating with a 5-gray-star rating by means of SQL queries.

 

Unlike the default blue-star rating, this gray-star rating does count as zero when sorting:

 

 

To make the change, download, install and open SQLiteStudio (freeware).

 

(The same can be achieved with other SQLite editors such as sqlitebrowser and SQLite Manager, but I've chosen this one for this tip)

 

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STEP 1: Opening and connecting to the database

 

From the Database menu, choose "Add a database" (Command-O) to open Alchemy's preset ratings and tags database.

Click the folder icon to browse and select the database (/Users/your username/Library/ Application Support/Logic/ Alchemy_Preset_Ratings_And_Tags.db), then click OK:

 

 

 

Double-click Alchemy's preset ratings database in the "Databases" window to connect to it:

 

 

 

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STEP 2: Populating the USER_RATINGS table

 

In order to be able to change the ratings, the database's USER_RATINGS table must be populated with records related to the ones in the items table. The records in the items table are basically all presets available in Alchemy in your system. The total number of records on the items can change from user to user, mostly depending on whether you have legacy Alchemy libraries installed.

 

To populate the USER_RATINGS table, open the SQL editor from Tools > Open SQL editor (Option-E) and paste the following code:

 

INSERT INTO USER_RATINGS (ITEM_ID, LOCAL_RATINGS, UPLOADED) 
SELECT ITEM_ID, SERVER_RATINGS, MINE 
FROM items 
WHERE ITEM_ID NOT IN (SELECT ITEM_ID FROM USER_RATINGS);

 

Execute the query by clicking the button I've outlined in red, or use the key command F9:

 

 

This will create records related to the ones in the items table, ignoring any records for which an entry already exists in the USER_RATINGS table. In other words, if you've already rated some presets, they will already have an entry in the USER_RATINGS table, so there's no need to re-create records for them.

 

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STEP 3: Update the USER_RATINGS table

 

Now, to change all 3-blue-star ratings to 5-gray-star ratings, paste the following code in the SQL editor and run it:

 

UPDATE USER_RATINGS 
SET LOCAL_RATINGS = 1 
WHERE LOCAL_RATINGS = -1;

 

 

This will change all default 3-blue-star ratings to 5-star gray ratings,

while leaving any ratings you may have already entered yourself untouched.

 

 

 

That's it! You may now quit SQLiteStudio and open Alchemy (although it's actually OK to have Alchemy open while you do all this, but ypu may need to close and re-open the plug-in window to see the changes)

 

 

BONUS QUERIES:

 

To check the contents of the USER_RATINGS table:

 

SELECT * FROM USER_RATINGS;

 

To check the contents of the USER_RATINGS table, in conjunction with the corresponding preset name from the items table:

 

SELECT I.ITEM_NAME , U.* 
FROM USER_RATINGS AS U 
INNER JOIN items AS I ON U.ITEM_ID = I.ITEM_ID
ORDER BY ITEM_NAME;

 

To delete all user ratings and go back to the default 3-blue-star rating:

 

DELETE FROM USER_RATINGS;

 

Hope you find this useful!

 

J.

[Eric Cardenas]

Wow! Thank you so much for this Jordi.

This is phenomenal information.

[Jordi Torres]

You're welcome Eric!

 

J.

[Eric Cardenas]

I did not now that you were such a table wizard!

[Jordi Torres]

I had to learn this stuff for my current job. I like it, actually!

[Eric Cardenas]

That's great!

I'm happy for you and I'm even happier that you can assist us with these underpinnings.

[David Nahmani]

Awesome, thanks so much for providing this super useful tip Jordi!

[Jordi Torres]

You're welcome David!

 

J.

[Atlas007]

Thank you very much!!

[zambra]

Thank YOU Very Very Very Much for This too Jordi ¡¡

[Jordi Torres]

You're all welcome, I'm glad you find this useful!

 

J.

[Jordi Torres]

New in Logic Pro 10.2.1:

 

The default star rating for Alchemy presets now shows as three light gray stars.

 

J.