Skip to main content

Improve ROM Filename Cleanup During Import

LaunchBox for Windows

šŸ“‹ Summary

Improve ROM import title detection by filtering common filename tags before matching games to metadata.

ā— Problem

Some ROM filenames include extra information that is not part of the actual game title.

Examples:

  • 7th Sector [01004B200DF76000] incl v1.0.2.xci

  • 88 Heroes 98 Heroes Edition [010006A0042F0000] + (v65536 UPD)

During import, LaunchBox may treat parts like incl v1.0.2, +, title IDs, or update labels as part of the game name. This can cause incorrect titles and failed metadata matches.

šŸ’” Proposal

Improve ROM filename parsing to ignore common non-title metadata during import.

Examples of text to filter could include:

  • Title IDs in brackets

  • Version/update labels

  • UPD, Update, or patch indicators

  • incl v... style text

  • Standalone symbols like + when used as separators

  • Other common ROM release tags

LaunchBox should use the cleaned title for metadata matching while still preserving the original filename.

šŸ§© Use Cases

  • Import Switch ROMs with title IDs and update labels

  • Improve metadata matching for ROM sets with release-group style naming

  • Reduce manual title cleanup after import

  • Prevent games from being skipped or unmatched due to filename clutter

šŸ“¦ Benefits

  • Better automatic metadata matching

  • Less manual cleanup after importing

  • Smoother import experience for modern ROM collections

  • More accurate game titles in the library

āš ļø Considerations

Filename cleanup should be conservative so valid game titles are not accidentally changed. Ideally, users could review or edit detected titles before finalizing the import.

Posted by Mighty_Richman Ā·
2 comments

Log in to comment and vote

Comments2

  • AstroBob

    Teamā€¢

    Jul 18

    Hi, thanks for the report. This looks like a valid filename parsing issue.

    LaunchBox already strips many common tags from ROM filenames, such as text inside [] or (), so the Switch title ID and the (v65536 UPD) portion should usually be ignored. However, strings like incl v1.0.2 and standalone separators like + are outside those brackets, so LaunchBox may treat them as part of the game title. That can prevent the metadata search from finding the correct match.

    For now, the workaround is to edit the title on the final import screen before clicking Finish. For example:

    7th Sector incl v1.0.2

    should be changed to:

    7th Sector

    And:

    88 Heroes 98 Heroes Edition +

    should be changed to:

    88 Heroes: 98 Heroes Edition

    If you can, please provide a few more full example filenames that fail, especially Switch files with update/DLC/version tags in the name. We can use those examples to improve the filename cleanup rules for future imports.

  • Mighty_Richman

    ā€¢

    Jul 18

    Rom importing...

    It isnā€™t quite a bug, but a very annoying thing when importing roms!

    e.g. Switch Roms

    1. 7th Sector [01004B200DF76000] incl v1.0.2.xci or

    2. 88 Heroes 98 Heroes Edition [010006A0042F0000] + (v65536 UPD)

    Launchbox canā€™t recognise the right title nameā€¦because it isnā€™t filtering and adds

    1. ā€œincl v1.0.2ā€ to game name

    2. ā€œ+ā€ to game name

      and thatā€™s why the game isnā€™t recognised properly and left out when fetching metadataā€¦

      I tried lots of other frontends and never had this issue!

      is there any solution?