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[Spike1000]

I've discovered odd behaviour when editing tags in the 'New' Tag editor. MC 22.0.79.

EDIT: Hold down the shift key when clicking "Tag" in the action window to enable (ie toggle) the 'New' tagging window.

Under some circumstances a tag highlighted in the new tag editor is not updated (refreshed) to reflect the selection of tracks. It is the first time but if the selected tracks are changed it's not refreshed and things get out of 'step' and don't work properly. (eg edits can't be saved).

Here's an example to demonstrate with an edited Artist on one track:

Highlight track 1 with the edited Artist. (capture 1)

Left click in the Artist Tag twice to have the Artist Tag Highlighted (capture 2)

Select another track (Artist Tag changes to reflect new track) (capture 3)

Here's the problem: Select another track and the Artist Tag is NOT refreshed this time (It should say The The Edited) (capture 4)

Select all the tracks, Artist Tag is NOT updated once again, it should say [Varies] now. (capture 5)


Subtle, but reproducible. Hope it's not too nasty to fix.

Spike

[marko]

I don't know what triggers this, but any time I've seen it (not for some time now), MC will crash very shortly afterwards.

I thought you might have found a way to reliably reproduce, but, either I'm misunderstanding the steps, or we are seeing different behaviours.

For me, when I get to your 'step 3', and select a different track in the list, the field in the tag window exits its 'edit' state and updates to show the newly selected artist info.

[aviateur]

Spike, Hi:

For the sake of comparison only, I am unable to reproduce this error (I even used the same album and track) with MC 22.0.77 after multiple cycling (change/unchange) attempts.

Cheers,
Lawrence

[Spike1000]

Interesting,

I never see a crash with MC at any point relating to this 'tag refresh' issue.

I've never seen it drop out of 'tag edit mode' at stage 3 or later, once it's in there it stays there. You did left click twice? The first click enables 'edit mode' but with the text highlighted, the 2nd click un-highlights the text but keeps the box active. Exiting from the tag edit state does resolve the issue however, but that doesn't happen (for me) by itself.

I can reproduce it every time (now I've worked out what steps trigger it). I can even get Artist = Varies with just one track selected. Once it's 'tripped over' and got itself out sync it stays there. You have to exit from having a tag field in edit mode before it gets back to normal.

I've seen other strange behaviour relating to this but I think it's all related to the open tag edit box not being refreshed consistently and so gets out of 'sync'.

For the record it's Windows 10 fully patched, current public version, MC 'master' server ver 22.0.79 rather then from a client.

I wonder what's happening. Hopefully a few more people will try the little experiment and report back.

Edit: Rebooted and tried different skins. Same problem. One new thing I did see is that my Tag edit window is middle to bottom left on the screen. When I select different tracks with a tag in edit mode and have tripped the problem I see a little window displaying the two artists names I'm using to test (The The Edit and The The) flash up at the very top left corner of the screen for a split second Strange, but something isn't right.



Spike

[aviateur]

Spike, Hi:

My system environment is Windows 7 and MC 22.0.77.

I have tried multiple times to duplicate your problem but I cannot. Yes, I did left-click twice (and not in quick succession because that just plays the track). Several times, I moved off of track 1 while it was the text was selected (highlighted with an all blue background) and unselected. I also tried to change Artist in the Tag window for a different perspective. All attempts have behaved in a predicable, proper manner. If I make the change, the Artist name is updated and displays correctly: for track 1 (The The edited) or all album tracks [Varies].

Here is one situation where I thought I was duplicating your problem but it was an illusion to the casual observer (see image). The Tag window Artist value displays [Varies] while it appears that I have selected track 1. In reality, if you look at the subject album above, that is what is selected. And as such, that is why the Album value displayed in the Tag window is [Varies]. If there is some other scenario you would like me to test, just let me know.

Cheers,
Lawrence

[marko]

A couple of things here...

Here is one situation where I thought I was duplicating your problem but it was an illusion to the casual observer (see image).

In your image, you are using the mainstream tag window. The problem Spike is describing is with the "new, experimental" tag window. Hold down the shift key when clicking "Tag" in the action window to open it. The new tag window will now always open for you. Hold down the shift key when clicking "Tag" in the action window to switch back to the mainstream tagging window.

Yes, I did left-click twice (and not in quick succession because that just plays the track).

Spike's steps for reproduction instruct to left click twice on the tag in the tag window, not the file list.

[MusicHawk]

As I've reported a few times, this and other issues with New Tag Window are real, frequent, ongoing problems, even if difficult to reproduce on-demand. When I switch back to Old Tag Window the problems don't happen. I run two MC databases, on two PCs, one for audio files, the other for photos and videos. The same behavior happens on both PCs, both MC installations, both libraries.

Some of the problems seem to be instability of field positions when viewing a tag, vs. trigger its edit mode. Screen position and focus gets off, the field itself jumps around (especially long list-type fields when scrolling way down the long list). There is sometimes odd interaction between the field in the Tag Window and the field in the adjacent View, they both enter edit mode and while I seem to be typing in one, the other changes instead. Sometimes I get stuck, as OP describes, with a field showing data from a different record but navigating away doesn't change it. Restarting MC is sometimes necessary. However, MC does not crash on its own.

How to experience this? Don't know, except maybe my library is more of a challenge for New Tag Window:
-- Lots of fields, including several custom fields
-- Many multi-value fields
-- Several list-type fields, some with hundreds of values, often multiple values selected
-- A few fields with long-ish text (Comments and similar)
-- Lots of database records, about 100 thousand
-- New Tag Window has been customized, showing just certain fields, in certain order, in two Sections.

Also, I typically intermix keyboard and mouse actions (prefer keyboard cuz I'm super-fast at it, but must use mouse for some actions); I sometimes feel this confuses MC.

Until these issues are understood and corrected, I can't image New Tag Window will be ready for default use.

[aviateur]

Marko /Spike:

Marko, thanks for the 'steer' in the right direction. I was able to recreate (I think) Spike's problem (see Images). But I have another problem. Notice that all the field are whited or greyed out. If I move the cursor over the desired field I am able to see the contents of the field such as Artist but the overall display is unacceptable. I tried a different skin. It does not appear to be related to that. I'm using 'Black On Black'. Am I causing this somehow?

Cheers,
Lawrence

[aviateur]

Also, like MusicHawk indicated, both tagging behavior and the related display return to normal when I return to the normal Tag window.

Cheers,
Lawrence

[Spike1000]

Notice that all the field are whited or greyed out. If I move the cursor over the desired field I am able to see the contents of the field such as Artist but the overall display is unacceptable. I tried a different skin. It does not appear to be related to that. I'm using 'Black On Black'. Am I causing this somehow?

The 'new' tag window didn't display well in some skins. (It looked all 'washed out'). I moved to a modified skin that fixes that issue. I'd forgotten about that issue to be honest, but it's still there as you've discovered.

I also thought that the 'new' tag window was also now the default. Looks that's not the case. Once you've made the switch to the 'new' one you can't tell which is the default any  more

Spike

[aviateur]

Spike:

Generally speaking, why is a new tag window component being implemented? Are there new features or are there problems / limitations with the normal (current) tag window processing or is some functionality being phased out? The normal tag window appears to address my simple needs. Again, I would like to know from the general perspective of the developer.

Cheers,
Lawrence

[MusicHawk]

Why is New Tag Window being added? Don't know all the reasons, but for me it is very helpful to choose which Fields to edit, and in which order.

In Old (default) Tag Window, the fields and order is determined by the current View, OR by allowing MC to present the fields it thinks are important, or fields that happen to already have data, or to select various desired fields but in a way that is not fun to work with. For those who do lots of tag editing, the practical solution is to create a custom view with the columns/fields and order that is desired in the tag window. This is essentially a work-around, so I think JR is recognizing that tagging one record and viewing a list of records are distinct actions that shouldn't be so intertwined.

With New Tag Window, the displayed fields and order are independent, not tied to the View or anything else, just whatever custom list the user creates and arranges. Fields that are not needed for tagging can be omitted.

There are other tag-window wish-list items that are not yet addressed, and perhaps a floating window mode But for now, the New Tag Window is an excellent improvement, just need to work out the bugs.

[Spike1000]

I do prefer the New tagging window for the reasons mentioned by MusicHawk, the fact it can be tailored/customised it a great benefit.

I'm surprised that just creating a new tag editing window is as tricky as it is. MC is cross platform so has its own window/list/input handling routines and it looks there are issues with these at the moment. These might be difficult to resolve as they are part of the core of MC. 

Spike

[MusicBringer]

Thanks for introducing me to the new tagging window. Like you I prefer to have my own customized order.
I agree it looks b awful. And I do wish it worked properly.

@MC, Come on pull yer finger out. Please.

[aviateur]

Spike / MusicBringer:

Thanks for the replies. I now see where grouping similar tags by category(i.e. Stats) would be a benefit. I also agree that a floating window option would be ideal. Right now with the OLD tag window, I maximize the window when needed and have 'Show All Tags' selected. This keeps the vertical scrolling to a minimum. I suppose when the NEW tag window 'settles down', I will take another look at it new features. For now, I get the all-white background, which is a bit of a challenge with which to work. Thanks again.

Cheers,
Lawrence

[leezer3]

Haven't got time to try fiddling around with this just at the moment, but a thought:

Both of those who can reproduce this appear to be running two commonalities:

• Album thumbnail list view
• The artist column is linkable

The second of these is somewhat more suspicious than the first.

[Spike1000]

Thanks for introducing me to the new tagging window. Like you I prefer to have my own customized order.
I agree it looks b awful.

Some Skins handle the 'look' better than others. I use this one with the 'fat' scroll bars.

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,98476.0.html

I'm not sure why it still looks washed out in the stock skin is been like that for ages now, I'm not sure why it hasn't been fixed.

Spike

[Awesome Donkey]

Most skins haven't been updated to support the experimental tag window. I'd update the ModernCards skins myself, but I have very little time right now.

[MusicHawk]

Both of those who can reproduce this appear to be running two commonalities:

• Album thumbnail list view
• The artist column is linkable

Nope, these are not factors in my ongoing encounters with the New Tag Window bugs. I don't use either of these, almost never use a view that lists Album thumbnails, and have Linkable column feature disabled. (My main views have as first column a very tiny album thumbnail, just to indicate that track has cover art, but my library's focus is not on albums so don't use any album-oriented views.)

I've tried New Tag Window from various views, and don't see that the (bad) behavior is related to whatever view is also on-screen. Probably the new code that implements the new tag mode is simply not yet buttoned down. But since not everyone seems to experience the problems, there might be extenuating circumstances. In my case, I am suspicious of list-type fields that many existing values, therefore must be scrolled/jumped. That is almost always visibly broken once I try to move past the first dozen or so items, so it could be a clue for MC developers.

ALSO, I am right this moment viewing another recurring bug. In a view clicked on a track that has a Comment that is longer than the display area in New Tag Window. In the Tag window I clicked the Comment field to verify that it auto-extends to show more of the text. It did, BUT at that point the Comment field became STUCK. As I  moved to other tracks in the view, the Comment field continued to be highlighted and extended and showing the ORIGINAL TRACK's text. This is repeatable, happens to other tracks that have long-ish text in Comment or other fields.

This time, I could break loose by clicking a different field in Tag Window. Then I could navigate to other tracks and see their Comment data. But again, once I clicked the Comment field, that text got stuck, but at other times even this has not helped and I've had to restart MC.

The good news is, even though another record's Comment field data would show in another track's window, pressing Enter did not result in the text being added. And, when I get into this (repeatable) situation, the "stuck" field text appears even for tracks that have their own different text in the same field. So this seems to be a display-only bug (at least, this time).

But the long-list/scrolling bug is quite different, the list box jumping around on-screen, in both displayed position and portion of list being shown. Scrolling the entire list seems to require mixing up mouse, scrollwheel and cursor/keyboard actions. Plus the lower portion of a long list seems difficult to get to. Getting to the Add window at the very bottom can be painful.

ALSO, editing a field directly in a view via F2, some, especially a long-list field, behave differently (and better) than in New Tag Window. It would be ideal if editing a field is consistent, with the same appearance and behavior no matter how or where the field is accessed. That's not now the case (yet).

[JohnT]

Please try build 22.0.81 or above when it's available, we think we have this particular problem fixed.

[Spike1000]

Nice work! Look forward to trying it when that version is released to the public.

Spike