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[haggis999]

I have several batch files similar to the example below and I've just realised that if MC27 is currently playing some music when I activate one of these batch files, the media files it contains are simply added to Playing Now. The current playback is NOT stopped and the previous Playing Now list is NOT cleared. This behaviour does not match the information provided at https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/The_Command_Line, which states that the /Clear command "Removes all files from Playing Now and stops playback".

I also have a similar problem if I use the /PlayReplace command. Is there some subtlety I am missing here about these command line options?

Code: [Select]

MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Clear
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\01 - I. Adagio.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\02 - II. Adagio.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\03 - III. Scherzo. Allegro.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\04 - IV. Presto.dsf"


[haggis999]

Almost a week has now passed without any response 

Surely there is someone out there who understands how to make these commands work as advertised? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. 

[JimH]

Maybe the zone isn't the right one?

[haggis999]

Maybe the zone isn't the right one?

In addition to the zone called Player that came as standard, I created a zone called Idagio dedicated to WDM for the Idagio classical streaming service and another called Zoom Zone for sharing music over a Zoom connection. There are also several zones whose names are prefixed with 'There'.

I deliberately ensured that all these zones had something listed under Playing Now, but none of these were cleared by my batch file. My default zone setting at the moment, for testing purposes, is the Zoom Zone and my batch file successfully played all four DSF files in that zone.

[Matt]

Clearing remote zones will work better in a coming build.

[haggis999]

Clearing remote zones will work better in a coming build.

I assume you are referring to my zones whose names begin with 'There'. Those zones were created automatically and are seldom used (two of them relate to Naim network players that I normally access via the Naim app).

It's good to know that you will be making such a change, but my current problem is with clearing a local zone.

[haggis999]

When I posted earlier today that my batch file successfully played my four DSF files, I should clarify that this was only made possible by adding a /Stop command at the beginning. The original problem of the /Clear command not stopping music already playing and not clearing the Playing Now list is still present.

Has anyone else tried testing this recently?

[RoderickGI]

I haven't used these commands, but I did notice an error in your batch file. Maybe that is just a typo for the post.

MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Clear
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\01 - I. Adagio.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\02 - II. Adagio.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\03 - III. Scherzo. Allegro.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "\\NAS\My Music\Beethoven\String Trios Op.9\String Trio No.1\04 - IV. Presto.dsf"

Matt has done some work on clearing Playing Now for Zone controlled by a Client instance. It is possible that those changes will fix your issues with local Zones as well.

Oh, why not. I have some of those changes, so a little test. I built a similar batch file:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Clear
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

Without "Options > General > Behaviour > Start playing when files added to Playing Now" set, and starting with content in Playing Now, and MC closed, all that happens is that MC is opened in Mini View and the four tracks are added to the end of Playing Now.
With "Options > General > Behaviour > Start playing when files added to Playing Now" set, playback starts at the first track in the batch file, even though previously the first track in Playing Now had been played and stopped, and so was still selected.

So the "MC27.exe /Mode Mini" is working.
The "MC27.exe /Clear" is not, but it may be getting applied to the wrong Zone. However, I was using the default Player Zone, so that is unlikely. More like it was being applied to no Zone. Also adding "|Zone=0" to the commands didn't fix the issue.
Also, the "MC27.exe /Play" command did add the files to Playing Now, but playback did not start. Also, adding "|Zone=0" to the commands resulting in the tracks not being added to Playing Now.

Changing the /Play command to a /Replace command resulted in only the last track being in Playing Now, and playback started, even though I had turned off "Start playing when files added to Playing Now". So something is working.


A batch file of:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Clear
MC27.exe /Replace "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"|"F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"|"F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"|"F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

Added all four tracks to Playing Now and started playback of the first of the four tracks. If the Wiki is correct, that would indicate that MC thought the play state was Playing, not Stopped.


"MC27.exe /PlayReplace" didn't work though. Also, omitting the /Play commands, as per the Wiki, gives the same result as including it.

The Clear command wasn't doing anything though, even on its own as:
MC27.exe /Clear
or
MC27.exe /Clear|Zone=0

So I agree, /Play and /Clear aren't working. Zone selection also didn't work, and broke the <playitems> list when added to the four track list batch file above, adding only two tracks to Playing Now. The longer version, "/Command Play" also failed the same way as /Play.

[haggis999]

I haven't used these commands, but I did notice an error in your batch file. Maybe that is just a typo for the post.

So I agree, /Play and /Clear aren't working. Zone selection also didn't work, and broke the <playitems> list when added to the four track list batch file above, adding only two tracks to Playing Now. The longer version, "/Command Play" also failed the same way as /Play.

Hi Roderick,
Many thanks for taking the time to check this out. The extra backslash was just a typo I made when posting here. The only things that the /Play command does for me are to play the specified file if nothing else is currently playing and to target playback to specific zones by adding |Zone=n at the end of the command (where n is the zone index number).

It's good to know that I wasn't making a stupid mistake but I guess we now have to wait for the powers that be to fix the problem...


EDIT:  Actually, the /Play command appears to be working as advertised. It's just /Clear and /PlayReplace that are failing to work properly.

[RoderickGI]

The /Play command definitely isn't working for me. We could have different settings, which could make a difference. I still have the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting turned off.

Note: I am always closing MC before running the batch file.

I removed the /Clear command from a couple of batch files, and tried first with:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

That just added the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th tracks to Playing Now, but didn't start playback. The first track is lost.

Adding "|Zone=0" to the end of the /Play commands resulted in no tracks being added to Playing Now.

I am seeing the same result with the batch file:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"|"F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"|"F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"|"F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

In both cases, if I emptied Playing Now before running the batch file, the sequence of tracks was also loaded incorrectly.

I added the /Clear command back in, and the four tracks loaded in the correct sequence again.

I changed the batch file to:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

And the four tracks loaded in the correct sequence, but didn't play.

When I turn on "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" with that last batch file, all four tracks are loaded correctly and playback of the first track starts.


I'm running the latest Beta software. Which build of MC27 are you running?

[haggis999]

Having "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" turned ON is probably the default, as I wasn't even aware of that setting. However, turning it off resulted in the /Play commands in my batch files no longer starting playback. I therefore agree with you that /Play is also broken.

I prefer to avoid using beta software, so I'm running 27.0.26 (64-bit). It doesn't matter whether or not I close MC before running my batch files, as they all now start with the /Stop command to get over the failure of /Clear to stop the current playback.

[Matt]

The clear command didn't seem like it was working right to me.  It required a parameter, so I don't think your example would have worked.

I'll change it for the next build:
Changed: The /Clear command line option no longer takes a required parameter.
Changed: Optionally you can specify MC27.exe /Clear LeavePlaying to leave the playing file.

[haggis999]

The clear command didn't seem like it was working right to me.  It required a parameter, so I don't think your example would have worked.

I'll change it for the next build:
Changed: The /Clear command line option no longer takes a required parameter.
Changed: Optionally you can specify MC27.exe /Clear LeavePlaying to leave the playing file.

Hi Matt,
Many thanks for tracking down the cause of my problem with the /Clear command. At present, the only parameter for this command mentioned in https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/The_Command_Line is 'DontRemoveCurrent'. The effect of using this parameter would have been to leave the current file playing, the opposite of my requirement. It never occurred to me that the command might require a non-existent alternative parameter to run as normal!

What about the reported issues with the /Play and /PlayReplace commands?

[Matt]

Using the build 26 this batch works perfect:

Code: [Select]

MC27.exe /PlayReplace "D:\Data\Media\Music\APE\10,000 Maniacs\MTV Unplugged\10,000 Maniacs - MTV Unplugged - 13 - Stockton Gala Days.ape"
So I need more information on that problem.

[haggis999]

Using the build 26 this batch works perfect:

Code: [Select]

MC27.exe /PlayReplace "D:\Data\Media\Music\APE\10,000 Maniacs\MTV Unplugged\10,000 Maniacs - MTV Unplugged - 13 - Stockton Gala Days.ape"
So I need more information on that problem.

Are you saying that that command stopped the current playback and cleared Playing Now before playing the specified file? 

[Matt]

Are you saying that that command stopped the current playback and cleared Playing Now before playing the specified file?

Yes.  I wonder if some setting could change this?

[haggis999]

Yes.  I wonder if some setting could change this?

That seems likely. RoderickGI has already reported what I assume is an unintended interreaction with the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting, but I think some other setting(s) must also be getting in the way.

[haggis999]

I've discovered the cause of my problem with the /PlayReplace command. It was preceded in my batch files by the non-functional /Clear command. Removing /Clear from one of these batch files made /PlayReplace work correctly.

[Matt]

Great.  And clear will work next build.

Thanks for your help.

[haggis999]

Cancelled post

[haggis999]

Great.  And clear will work next build.

Thanks for your help.

What about the interaction between /Play and the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting? Surely /Play should do what it says on the tin, regardless of that setting?

[Matt]

What about the interaction between /Play and the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting? Surely /Play should do what it says on the tin, regardless of that setting?

Could you provide a step-by-step?

I see it working normally.  It replaces if stopped, and adds to the end if playing.

[RoderickGI]

I see it working normally.  It replaces if stopped, and adds to the end if playing.

But if Stopped it doesn't start playback unless the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting is on. I would expect it to start playback regardless, given the name. That is what the Wiki says it will do.

Also note my Reply #9, where I removed the /Clear command, but noted that not all tracks were added to Playing Now.

Also, the addition of "|Zone=0" broke the commands. Nothing was added to Playing Now. Although I just saw item added to Playing Now once with the Zone parameter, the first time I tested today. But not after that, no matter what I did.


Then this batch file:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /PlayReplace "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /PlayReplace "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /PlayReplace "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /PlayReplace "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

Loads all four tracks and starts playback if MC is running already, but only loads the last three tracks and still starts playing if MC isn't already running. This is a clarification of what I said in Reply #9. It seems the cause of the first track not being loaded wasn't the addition of a command, but whether MC was already running or not. NOTE: The "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting was on for those tests. Oops. I'm just checking some more.

I would actually expect only the last track to be found in Playing Now when using /PlayReplace, because each command (separate line) should replace what is in Playing Now.

I'll let Haggis write up the step by step. 


PS: If I add "MC27.exe /Start" to the beginning of the above batch file, all four tracks are loaded into Playing Now, whether MC is already running or not. I guess because this command starts MC first.

[Matt]

But if Stopped it doesn't start playback unless the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting is on. I would expect it to start playback regardless, given the name. That is what the Wiki says it will do.

I can't reproduce that.  I have that option off and it starts when stopped if I issue /Play.

[haggis999]

Could you provide a step-by-step?

I see it working normally.  It replaces if stopped, and adds to the end if playing.

Hmmm. I'm confused now. It was Roderick who originally raised an issue with the /Play command in relation with the "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting and I thought I had made a brief test at the time that confirmed his findings. However, I've just run another batch file test that resulted in /Play always clearing Playing Now and immediately starting playback of a new set of files. The "Start playing when files added to Playing Now" setting made no difference to this behaviour.

Matt's test results appear to match the description in https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/The_Command_Line, while mine don't. Roderick's results are different from both of us. It's all rather puzzling.

[RoderickGI]

I can't reproduce that.  I have that option off and it starts when stopped if I issue /Play.

Okay, I did get this working, and found that the difference was whether MC was already running or not.
If MC was running, four tracks loaded and playback started.
If MC wasn't running, four tracks loaded but playback did not start.

I was using the batch file:
MC27.exe /Start
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

Using the /PlayReplace command instead of the /Play gave the same result.

Except, of more concern, was that on some tests when using /Play, only three tracks were loaded when I ran the batch file without MC already running. This was inconsistent. I thought for a while it was related to the time between tests, but multiple attempts still weren't consistent.

[RoderickGI]

Okay, I took out the /Start line and just used:

MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

The result was that only three tracks were loaded, very consistently.

So I changed the batch file to:
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
Timeout 1 /nobreak
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\01 - Dreamlover.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\03 - Anytime You Need a Friend.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\06 - Never Forget You.flac"
MC27.exe /Play "F:\JRiver MC AMINTHA Local Media\Music\Mariah Carey\Music Box\10 - All I've Ever Wanted.flac"

Running that batch file with MC closed consistently loaded all four tracks, but did not start playback.

So I conclude the missed first track is related to MC not being ready when the first /Play command is issued, and the command is lost. I think that can be ignored as not a MC issue.

[haggis999]

I'm resurrecting this thread as the MC commands are still not working properly   

This had escaped my notice, as since last November my batch files have all been triggering playback of either single playlists or a single media file. A playlist works fine via a batch file but I recently decided that I would prefer to avoid cluttering up MC with new playlists, so once again returned to putting a set of media files in a batch file, such as the following example.

The problem is that this batch file only loads the first two files into Playing Now. It does this every time, whether or not MC is already open. Changing the Play command to Append gave exactly the same results. Playback starts immediately, but only for those two files.

Code: [Select]

@echo off
MC27.exe /Mode Mini
MC27.exe /Play "G:\....\01 I. [Chorus] 'O ewiges Feuer, o Ursprung der Liebe'.dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "G:\....\02 II. Recitativo 'Herr, unsre Herzen halten dir' (Tenore).dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "G:\....\03 III. Aria 'Wohl euch, ihr auserwählten Seelen' (Alto).dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "G:\....\04 IV. Recitativo 'Erwählt sich Gott die heilgen Hütten' (Basso).dsf"
MC27.exe /Play "G:\....\05 V. Tutti. Friede über Israel.dsf"

[haggis999]

I've now tracked down the root cause of this problem. The MC Commands don't like accented characters in media filenames!

As this is diverging from the original topic, I will now create a new thread about the handling of accented characters.