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[craigmcg]

I posted this as a "bug" in an earlier build post. I'm not sure exactly when it happened but when playing music within a genre of my library (no playlists being used), the shuffle functionality only shuffles within the same album, then the music stops. Shuffle used to play all the music in the genre which is what I would like it to do again. If this is not a bug, how do I achieve this?

[glynor]

We need more information to help, but shuffle works basically like it always has, as far as I know.  Can you answer some questions for us?

1. How is the view you are using structured?  Is there any grouping involved?  Are you using Panes and Details, or Tiles?
2. How are you starting the shuffled playback?  There are lots of ways to play things from within MC, from double-clicking a file to right-clicking and using the Send To menu to Theater View and WebRemote.
3. What shuffle mode are you using, if any, ON or AUTO?

Question #1 is particularly important.  If you "drill down" into a set of "tiles", and double click on a song within a view showing only the list of songs on the album (because that's how you get to the list of songs), then it will only play songs within that album.  If you want to shuffle play a full genre with a view set up this way, you need to either click Play on the Genre itself (using the pop-over controls), or you need to customize the view and turn on the "Always Show Files" option.

Double clicking a file (with the default double-click behavior enabled) will always play all of the files showing in that view, but not any others that you've already filtered out.

[rick.ca]

I think the confusion likely comes from the recent change in the double-click behaviour—as it applies to files. It used to result in all files in the view being sent to PN. Now, just the files in the group the selected file belongs to are sent. Note "group" is usually "Album," but could be anything.

I'm finding the new behaviour difficult to get used to, but it is more logical. And it's forced me to realize there are better ways to play a broader range of files. In a Categories view, I can navigate to the applicable level and start play (by double- or right-clicking) the desired object (e.g., a particular genre). In a Panes view, it's much easier. I can do the same with any selected value in any of the panes. The action will apply to all the files currently displayed in the view.

So, far from a bug, it's an intentional change that gives us more choice in how files are selected for play.

[glynor]

I think the confusion likely comes from the recent change in the double-click behaviour—as it applies to files. It used to result in all files in the view being sent to PN. Now, just the files in the group the selected file belongs to are sent. Note "group" is usually "Album," but could be anything.

I'm sure that's what it is.  I didn't notice the change because my main views generally don't use Grouping.

[craigmcg]

I use panes. I have tried Shuffle on and Auto. At this time of year, I click on genre Christmas then double click something within  that genre (all are FLAC files). It used to play everything within that genre shuffled; now it doesn't. What do I have in panes view to do to make it work that way again?

[rick.ca]

What do I have in panes view to do to make it work that way again?

There's nothing you can do to make it work that way again.

Right-click on "Christmas" in the Genre pane and select Play (shuffle).

[glynor]

Or, disable Grouping for your view.  Go to the Pane header (the little down arrow next to where it says Reset Selection above the panes), and select Grouping -> None.

[craigmcg]

Thanks rick.ca and Glynor. I was pretty sure that I was missing something. Right clicking and selecting play works perfectly. I won't disable grouping since that could be useful, now that I know how MC15 now works.

[rick.ca]

Or, disable Grouping for your view.

True, but this just removes a choice otherwise available (to play the group, or all files included in the view). And I think most people would rather group or not based on what they want to see, not on the play behaviour. Generally, I like to see my music grouped by album, but I usually like to play a number of albums. That's why I got so used to the old behaviour. I would use panes to filter what I wanted to play, and then double-click a track to start playing. Once I retrain myself, I'm sure I'll be happier just double-clicking my last pane selection—or a track to play just one album.

[glynor]

Agreed, Rick.  I just thought I'd mention the alternative.

[Alex B]

There's nothing you can do to make it work that way again.

I wonder why the change wasn't originally implemented as an option.

E.g.

Double-click:
- Replace Playing Now (all)
- Replace Playing Now (all or only the group if grouped)

Play button:
- Play visible files
- Play visible files (only the group if grouped)

Personally I don't normally use grouping in my views and I want to preserve the existing queues in Playing Now lists. I.e. my options are set to: Double-click: Add to Playing Now (to end), Play button: Play Playing Now .

However, in case I would like configure MC to imitate the iTunes/foobar behavior (= by default all files in the view/playlist are played without a separate playback queue), playback would need to continue from one group to another if the view is grouped. I.e. I would need the old MC behavior.

[rick.ca]

However, in case I would like configure MC to imitate the iTunes/foobar behavior

Do people really use MC for it's ability to mimic inferior programs?

I wonder why the change wasn't originally implemented as an option.

But seriously, I'm sure there's a desire to limit the already mind-boggling array of available options. It makes sense to exclude the one where the alternative function is already available and readily accessible.

[Alex B]

I have explained a couple of times how MC can be configured to "mimic the inferior other players" when that has been asked/demanded/requested. It might have lowered the learning curve in some cases. Seems like one useful option was removed.

[rick.ca]

I was only answering your question...

I wonder why the change wasn't originally implemented as an option.

The developers have to consider whether the benefit of a suggested option will outweigh the confusion (including distraction from the better method) it will create. Even though I struggled with the change, I think their choice was a reasonable one.

If the only way someone can use the program (or any particular aspect of it) is if it's configured to mimic iTunes (or WMC or Winamp or...), then all is lost. There's no way this person is ever going to figure out how to change all the options so anything works the better MC way. How would they even learn which are the "better" options?

[Matt]

We're going to tune this in a coming build.

We were trying to avoid the case where double-clicking a file would add every single file in your library to Playing Now.  We didn't feel that was completely intuitive, and it could have performance implications with huge libraries.