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[locust]

I like the rating system but it would be nice if it were spiced up a bit like in the image..

If each each rating were given a different colour, it would add an extra visual cue to how good a song is. I think it would make it easier to spot good songs.. I think it could also be beneficial for people with dyslexia although I am not an expert & could be completely wrong or even worse it could be detrimental for dyslexia sufferers. If this is the case and the J River team still wished to implement it for people without dyslexia, it would have to be optional.. If it could benefit everyone it could be compulsory. I don't know in's and out's of colour blindness but I think that if this were to be implemented the colours used would have to be chosen carefully.

It would be cool if it could also extend to the main display at the top as well..




Thanks

[bunglemebaby]

For whatever it is (or isn't) worth, I think that I would want to be color blind if the ratings were colored as you have them in that picture... -Jon

[locust]

For whatever it is (or isn't) worth, I think that I would want to be color blind if the ratings were colored as you have them in that picture... -Jon

I know lol, those colours were just filled in from the generic Windows paint program.. I would probably suggest using web safe colours, I think it would be going too far to let people choose their own, no need for extra complication.

How are the current colours for the stars implemented anyway?? Is is through the J River themes?

As far as I know I don't think colour blind means you can't see colour, I think it means that some colours change in different lighting.. I remember watching a program about the man who discovered the phenomenon. He noticed it because a blue flower turned extra blue once he took it indoors..

I honestly don't know how you could do this while taking into account people that are colour blind. I know there are people who have deficiencies in the red spectrum of light and I am assuming you can have deficiencies in every other primary colour spectrum as well.. I don't know if anybody can be deficient in multiple spectrums', if this is the case it would compound the consideration required for which colours to use..

[MrHaugen]

I admit that ratings need some work in MC, but I don't know if coloring them would be the time spent. I would much rather see those half star ratings now, so I can skip the double rating system I have today. Also some standard relational fields for Artist rating, Album Rating, TV Show rating and so on would be great in my opinion.

[locust]

You can already make an album rating with custom fields.

Just make a custom field called Album Rating, make it relational to albums and make the edit type Five stars. Then add the column in whichever views you want. Although I admit it isn't pretty because if you mark an album every track gets marked as five stars..

Ideally you'd want the five stars to appear right next to the album name at the top.

I still think it would be a nice touch, I don't think it would be time wasted, the developers could do that in a flash. I don't know how they programs J River but I think it would only involve a few If statements..

[MrHaugen]

I do, and I use it extensively. I'm using more than 5 steps, so I have to use a 0-10 integer field with it. So, that means 6 total fields for rating (track, album and artist). Just for music. I think it would be wise to add built in fields for some of this. As it will be more appropriate and used once we get metadata scraping possibilities (?). Critic ratings, User ratings, IMDB rating etc. Not all of them is best used with stars though. At least not now when we only have 5 (6 counting 0) steps possible.

[locust]

Critic ratings, User ratings, IMDB rating etc. Not all of them is best used with stars though. At least not now when we only have 5 (6 counting 0) steps possible.

If you could get ratings from all these places I'd probably make an average rating fields, So I could still only use one for tracks, one for albums. It would be more reliable, although it could potentially slow J River down a bit..

[MrHaugen]

There's a lot of ratings. I don't really know how one should handle all of this, or if all is needed. You can add your own when needed. I just feel like there is something missing here when it comes to relational fields, and their presentation on info panels. Before we can think of such we have to have a way of getting the actual info for things like Artist, Album and TV Shows though. Not just at the bottom level. I'm talking of the Theater View now. Standard view is only a management interface for me

[locust]

I never use theatre view, probably because I have my computer in my back room.. Sometime I wish to make a dedicated media center, with a touch screen (possibly 3d as well), I want a nicer sound system first I wonder if there is a way to turn an old XBox 360 into a media pc for J River??

Sorry, I don't know what info panels are??

I know there have deep divisions concerning scrapers collecting metadata... And that the devs don't want to waste time on stuff that may get nuked out of existence due to legality issues etc..


There one way I think of it. I think there are two camps, the users that are happy with the current metadata setup and the people who want the devs to implement a scraper.. Maybe the users that want this functionality wouldn't mind paying an annual bill for it.. That way the legality issue could probably be ironed out with royalties.. Or they could make an external program laced with advertisements that would pay to keep it legal and free.

There must be a way to do this, especially if Apple is serious about this mp3 amnesty, that looks hight illegitimate. I mean I don't understand copyright law but who gives Apple the right to basically hand music over for free? and all people want here is metadata... It is a strange world we live in..

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/cloud/367876/music-industry-split-over-icloud-piracy-amnesty

[rick.ca]

Ideally you'd want the five stars to appear right next to the album name at the top.

You mean like in the screenshot?

[a.Rating] is an Album-related field scraped from AllMusic. The stars in the Album caption are created with the expression...

If(IsEqual([a.Rating], 0.5, 2), /(unrated/), Mid(★★★★★, 0, If(Compare([a.Rating], <=, 2.5), 0, Math(([a.Rating]-2.5) * 2)))

...mapping 3 to 5 stars in half-star increments to 1 to 5 full-stars. I try to avoid albums rated less than 3, and use "0.5" to indicate unrated albums. Not ideal, but will have to do—until I find a font that includes half-stars. Or the colour can be set. If I could do both, I would display the Album rating in half-stars, and indicate the quality (probably based on [Bitrate]) using colours.

[BryanC]

I wonder if there is a way to turn an old XBox 360 into a media pc for J River??

Nope. You can stream via DLNA to it, however.

[bunglemebaby]

The stars in the Album caption are created with the expression...

If(IsEqual([a.Rating], 0.5, 2), /(unrated/), Mid(★★★★★, 0, If(Compare([a.Rating], <=, 2.5), 0, Math(([a.Rating]-2.5) * 2)))

Taking a step back here... how do you go about changing what is displayed in the Caption/Grouping area to begin with? And how long has this been possible at all?

[rick.ca]

how do you go about changing what is displayed in the Caption/Grouping area to begin with?

Create an expression field for the caption you want, bearing in mind this will also determine how the resulting groups are sorted. Mine is...

[Album Artist (auto)]If(IsEmpty([Released]), , / ● [Released]) ● [Album]  [a.Rating.x]

...where [a.Rating.x] is the expression for the star rating mentioned above. (I could have put it all in one field, but I thought I might use [a.Rating.x] elsewhere.) On the tab context menu, use this as the Group By field.

And how long has this been possible at all?

You would have to consult one of our MC historians.

[locust]

If(IsEqual([a.Rating], 0.5, 2), /(unrated/), Mid(★★★★★, 0, If(Compare([a.Rating], <=, 2.5), 0, Math(([a.Rating]-2.5) * 2)))

Very cool 
I'm definitely going to have to use this. Everytime I think I've got J River sussed, something surprising happens ., sometimes it makes what I have been doing before a complete waste of time, but I don't mind that's how I learn.. Can you tell me how you manage to scrape the data from AllMusic? I'm only aware of scraping, I've never tried it myself...

[SkGe]

Create an expression field for the caption you want, bearing in mind this will also determine how the resulting groups are sorted. Mine is...

[Album Artist (auto)]If(IsEmpty([Released]), , / ● [Released]) ● [Album]  [a.Rating.x]

...where [a.Rating.x] is the expression for the star rating mentioned above. (I could have put it all in one field, but I thought I might use [a.Rating.x] elsewhere.) On the tab context menu, use this as the Group By field.

You would have to consult one of our MC historians.

I try it your expression but i think i do something wrong
my field is [a.rating] data type: string; field relation: album; values: 1;1,5;2;2,5;3;3,5;4;4,5;5
when i select the expression and ad at the caption is not appear the star and it appears in number, some help if you can

[gappie]

I try it your expression but i think i do something wrong
my field is [a.rating] data type: string; field relation: album; values: 1;1,5;2;2,5;3;3,5;4;4,5;5
when i select the expression and ad at the caption is not appear the star and it appears in number, some help if you can

the difference is the a.rating field. rick uses an expression. you can find that expression a bit further up in the thread. the expression makes that the stars are used instead of the numbers. a star is just a character and it needs an expression to be shown the way you like it.

 
gab

[locust]

Would it be possible to make an a.rating.2 field, that you can enter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then make some sort of expression for a.rating working down from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 that would translate those numbers into 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3 and place them in a.rating??

[rick.ca]

the difference is the a.rating field. rick uses an expression. you can find that expression a bit further up in the thread...

Thanks, gab. Maybe it would help for me to put the two together, and assume others do not have a half-star [a.Rating] field filled by an external source. To get exactly the same Album caption shown in my screenshot, set Group By to the expression field [Audio.Grouping] (or whatever you want to name it) using the expression...

[Album Artist (auto)]If(IsEmpty([Released]), , / ● [Released]) ● [Album]  Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])

[a.Rating] is still an Album-related field, but Integer Data Type with acceptable values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. There's not much point making it a Five star Edit Type, since it's going to be displayed as such in the heading caption. Just enter the number of stars you want to assign to an Album to any of it's tracks.

Would it be possible to make an a.rating.2 field, that you can enter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and then make some sort of expression for a.rating working down from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 that would translate those numbers into 5, 4.5, 4, 3.5, 3 and place them in a.rating??

If I understand correctly—you don't need to do that. Hopefully the above clarifies why. I convert from a half-star rating to a full-star rating only because that's the form my data is in. If you don't have such data, just use a 5-star/point rating.

Can you tell me how you manage to scrape the data from AllMusic?

It's a custom/personal solution described here. I'm afraid I don't know of any other practical means to get the data and get it into MC.

[locust]

Oh I get it know... Suppose I am happy with a 5 star system for now, maybe later..

I try to avoid albums rated less than 3, and use "0.5" to indicate unrated albums. Not ideal, but will have to do—until I find a font that includes half-stars.

You could possibly copy the font you use out of the C:\Windows\Fonts folder, mines uses Segoe Script..

With the following program you may be able to hack the font file, pick a character that is unlikely to be used and replace it with a half star yourself.. The place the edited version back in the fonts folder with a different name..

http://www.high-logic.com/font-editor/fontcreator.html

[locust]

Rick how do I alter you code so that I can just use a normal 5 star system using 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

If(IsEqual([a.Rating], 1.5, 2), /(unrated/), Mid(★★★★★, 0, If(Compare([a.Rating], <=, 2.5), 0, Math(([a.Rating]-2.5) * 2)))

[rick.ca]

You could possibly copy the font you use out of the C:\Windows\Fonts folder, mines uses Segoe Script.

Just to clarify—although I've never fully understood how fonts work in Windows—it seems a character from a different font from that the application is set to use can be used. That might be done by finding the character in Character Map and copying it to the application (e.g., there's a ★ in "Batang"). It never can be entered directly (e.g., Alt-2605 for a ★), but it can be copied & pasted. That's why I use ★ for so many different things—I can't be bothered looking for different symbols.

With the following program you may be able to hack the font file, pick a character that is unlikely to be used and replace it with a half star yourself.

It won't do it in demo mode, and $79 is a hefty price for one half-star. Maybe some angel with such a tool can do that for us.

Rick how do I alter you code so that I can just use a normal 5 star system using 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

That's what I attempted to clarify above...

Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])

...which means "the first [a.Rating] characters of '★★★★★'."

[bunglemebaby]

Create an expression field for the caption you want, bearing in mind this will also determine how the resulting groups are sorted. Mine is...

Always looking past the obvious, I am... Thanks Rick.

That might be done by finding the character in Character Map and copying it to the application (e.g., there's a ★ in "Batang"). It never can be entered directly (e.g., Alt-2605 for a ★), but it can be copied & pasted.

Another of the basic questions... How exactly can this be done? I used the exact method you described here (copying from Character Map and pasting into an MC expression), but I only get the little "not recognized rectangle".

[locust]

Ah I get it, my head feels like it is stuffed with cotton wool tonight..

I'll see if I can edit an existing font.. I've have to do some research on that one.. It may take a while.. I think I'll trawl the internet to some other tech forum, I'm sure there will be somebody out there that can do this no problem..

[rick.ca]

Another of the basic questions... How exactly can this be done? I used the exact method you described here (copying from Character Map and pasting into an MC expression), but I only get the little "not recognized rectangle".

Like I said, I'm not sure how this stuff works. Since my last post, I reminded myself Windows has a Private Character Editor. I thought that would be the perfect tool for the trivial task of creating a half-star. And I suppose it is. But both the original star in Batang and the half-star I made from it end up vertically squished and smaller that the star I'm using. I don't remember which font I got it from, but maybe that makes a difference. Word said it was MS Mincho, but I tried that got the same thing. If I try to post that here, I get  too. I thought I solved the mystery by finding this...

In the interest of obsession, I continued my quest for a font that includes the traditional five-pointed black star (Alt-2605). I finally found it in Malgun Gothic Bold. (A font designed for Korean—I wonder who decided us Westerners don't need stars.) That looks nice too, although the stars might be a tad too large/bold (especially for a list of highly rated items).

But that doesn't help either. I'm stumped. As for your specific question, have you tried copying this ★ directly to the MC Expression Editor?

[bunglemebaby]

As for your specific question, have you tried copying this ★ directly to the MC Expression Editor?

Yes, that was where I started. The thing is, I'm fairly certain that I've done just that previously. It was a little musical note symbol instead.
...
After far too much playing around, I've gotten the Private Character Editor tool to work for me. Now if I can just manage to create a semi-symmetric star I'll be on my way.

Helpful instructions for the Private Character Editor:
http://www.rawcomputing.co.uk/windows7/win7tips27.html

If anyone has any knowledge about how to do this without resorting to creating custom characters, I'd certainly still be curious to know.
-Jon

[rick.ca]

After far too much playing around, I've gotten the Private Character Editor tool to work for me. Now if I can just manage to create a semi-symmetric star I'll be on my way.

I assume you got as far as I did. The Private Character Editor works, but I can't get it to produce characters in the aspect or size I want. I don't understand how fonts work, but it seems the parent font transforms the raw bitmap created with the editor. And even if I were happy with what I was able to create with the editor, I'm still left with the problem of how to get that to display. I assume that's due to my lack of understanding, as I was able to do so originally with the ★.

If anyone has any knowledge about how to do this without resorting to creating custom characters, I'd certainly still be curious to know.

I had a quick look at Type Light 3.1, but it can only be used to create font's from scratch. I feel too ignorant about fonts in general to waste hours figuring out how that works. So, yes, some advice from someone who understands these things would be appreciated...

[locust]

I think I may have thought of a solution.. why not use outlined stars, instead of half stars? ☆ or a half moon ☾ lol

Just think of them as half empty or full depending on your preference. Technically it still counts as a half star..

[rick.ca]

Just think of them as half empty or full depending on your preference.

That's clever...a rating that changes according to my attitude. Now if we could only fill it with a colour according to mood...

Now, as a test of what you've learned, give us an expression for using the half-empty/full-star.

[bunglemebaby]

And even if I were happy with what I was able to create with the editor, I'm still left with the problem of how to get that to display. I assume that's due to my lack of understanding, as I was able to do so originally with the ★.

I think I figured out a relatively straight forward way to do this.

Now to see if I can explain it:
1) Open Private Character Editor.
2) In the dialog that appears, pick the top left rectangle and press OK. (It can be any one really, but top left is easiest.)
3) Go to Edit > Copy Character
4) Go to Font... (bottom right)
5) Choose any font listed at this link: http://www.fileformat.info/info/unicode/char/2605/fontsupport.htm Press OK.
6) In the box labelled "Code" type in 2605.
7) Select the black star that appears, Press OK.
Go to Edit > Save Character.
9) Exit Private Character Editor.
10) Open Character Map. Under "Font:" select "All Fonts (Private Characters).
11) Choose your character, then press the "Copy" button.
12) Paste it into MC (or where ever else you please, really).

This way you don't need to have magic font creating skills to get the characters you want. You do have the option to edit the ones that you copy though, if you want to improve on a good thing. This should work with any font you are using.

Hopefully somebody else gets some use out of this too.

Also, enjoy this nice picture of my lopsided stars:

[rick.ca]

I think I figured out a relatively straight forward way to do this...

Thanks. I had figured that much out, but was frustrated by not being able to reproduce my big, bold, manly ★. I finally tried creating my own in the editor, only to find they're apparently made small so they can be made bold. I was able to make a bigger one along with a matching half-star—which is the point of the exercise—but it looked bloated in bold. So I've given up on that and decided to go with the little, wimpy, girly star (which I can't show you as text because it still does this: ). It narrowly won out over brian's much simpler solution of using the hollow star. It does look normal, not "lopsided" like yours.

That's clever...a rating that changes according to my attitude. Now if we could only fill it with a colour according to mood... Now, as a test of what you've learned, give us an expression for using the half-empty/full-star.

Time's up! My solution is: Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])If(IsEqual(Right([a.Rating], 2), .5), ☆, )

[locust]

Quote from: rick.ca on Today at 02:15:13 am
That's clever...a rating that changes according to my attitude. Now if we could only fill it with a colour according to mood... Now, as a test of what you've learned, give us an expression for using the half-empty/full-star.

Time's up! My solution is: Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])If(IsEqual(Right([a.Rating], 2), .5), ☆, )

I can't seem to get this to work, I keep making MC crash.. is this formula to replace the previous forumula inside a.rating?

[vagskal]

I can't seem to get this to work, I keep making MC crash.. is this formula to replace the previous forumula inside a.rating?

No! If you do that you will obviously create a circular reference (which is probably why MC dislikes it).

Substitute in the expression the [a.rating] part with the name of your field with the decimal album ratings. (My rating field is called [Album Rating] and since I use comma as a decimal point I had to also substitute the ".5" part with "/,5".) Put the expression in the Thumbnail text, or as part of a custom expression field that you use for Group by.

Thanks, Rick! Your solution is much more elegant/simple than the one I have been using.

EDITed my answer for clarity. And once again..., for clarity and linguistic correctness.

[Matt]

If you find an expression that causes a crash, please post it.  The expression engine should handle circular references, syntax errors, etc.

[vagskal]

The expression engine should handle circular references

Well, that sounds like the best expression engine I have ever heard about...

[locust]

If you find an expression that causes a crash, please post it.  The expression engine should handle circular references, syntax errors, etc.

What is a circular reference? An infinite loop?

I used Ricks expression as the calculated data in a field called [a.Rating]
Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])If(IsEqual(Right([a.Rating], 2), .5), ☆, )

I think I know why it was crashing...

I had a field called [#Test], it's calculated data was also
Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])If(IsEqual(Right([a.Rating], 2), .5), ☆, ),

so when I changed the calculated data for [a.rating] to Mid(★★★★★, 0, [a.Rating])If(IsEqual(Right([a.Rating], 2), .5), ☆, ) they were both calling upon [a.rating] or trying to edit it's contents, or something I can't quite understand it.

I deleted the field [#Test] & it is working fine know.

I don't know if this was a circular reference or not

Thanks Vagskal, I think i get it know..

Which I can't show you as text because it still does this: ).

How about a screenshot??

[locust]

Can anybody help with this one??

If I am going to use half stars for "Group by", I'd like to also use it for thumbnail text.. I can get it to work in thumbnail text but I'd like it to work the same as my current solution for whole stars..



In the image the top 5 albums are rated 1-5 from left to right.. Each rating has a different colour.. The half ratings can just have the same colour of the full rating if it is easier, If it is possible a duller version of the same colour could be applied to half stars.. (I'm not sure if that would look better, maybe it would be better keeping them the same colour)

Anyway here is my code..

Thumbnail Text Expression (In a code box)

Code: [Select]

if(isequal([{Flag: Artist}],Favourite Artist,8),<font color="FFD700"><b>♪ ♬<u>[#Grouping-1]<//u> ♬ ♪<//b><//font>,<b>[#Grouping-1]<//b>)
<font color="00FFFF"><b><u>.<//u><//b><//font><font color="FFFF00"><b><u>.<//u><//b><//font><font color="FF9900"><b><u>:<//u><//b><//font><font color="FF00FF"><b><u>:<//u><//b><//font><font color="FF3300"><b><u>[Disc Type]<//u><//b><//font><font color="FF00FF"><b><u>:<//u><//b><//font><font color="FF9900"><b><u>:<//u><//b><//font><font color="FFFF00"><b><u>.<//u><//b><//font><font color="00FFFF"><b><u>.<//u><//b><//b><//font>
[#Font.album]
[#Font.Rating]
[Year]
<b><i><font color="ADFF2F"><u>[Style]<//u><//font><//b><//i>
<font color="00CC99"><b>[Publisher]<//b><//font>
Field: "[#Grouping-1]" (This isn't neccessary to what I am doing but I'll post it anyway for Clarity

Code: [Select]

Replace([Album Artist], ;,/ & )

Field: "[#Font.album]"

Code: [Select]

if(isempty([{Album Rating}],1),<b>[Album]<//b>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],1,2),<font color="B8860B"><b>[Album]<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],2,2),<font color="0099FF"><b>[Album]<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],3,2),<font color="00CC00"><b>[Album]<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],4,2),<font color="FFA500"><b>[Album]<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],5,2),<font color="FFD700"><b>[Album]<//b><//font>,))))))
Font: "[#Font.Rating]"

Code: [Select]

if(isempty([{Album Rating}],1),,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],1,2),<font color="B8860B"><b>★<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],2,2),<font color="0099FF"><b>★★<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],3,2),<font color="00CC00"><b>★★★<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],4,2),<font color="CF7C00"><b>★★★★<//b><//font>,if(isequal([{Album Rating}],5,2),<font color="FFD700"><b>★★★★★<//b><//font>,))))))
I think both "[#Font.album]" & "[#Font.Rating]" would both have to be altered to accommodate the half stars. I think it is possible by just making the expressions longer with more "if" statements but probably not the most elegant solution

[rick.ca]

I don't know if this was a circular reference or not

It makes my brain crash, so maybe it is.

How about a screenshot??

Attached. Without looking at results in comparison to that with the original ★, it's difficult to see what the fuss is about. These look fine. The rather subtitle difference is these are a little smaller and presented sort of like superscript rather than normal characters. The original ★ looked kinda bold whether it was bolded ★ or not. These ones—as can be seen in the panes, look a little wimpy.

Can anybody help with this one??

Have you considered graphic arts rehab?

Considering your use of expression fields for other purposes already complicates things, it will be easier to use a separate expression field to produce the rating stars, and then use that wherever needed. That would seem to be what your [#Font.album] and [#Font.Rating] are for, but I haven't studied them closely enough to understand why you need both of them.

I think it is possible by just making the expressions longer with more "if" statements but probably not the most elegant solution.

If you want to make them different colours, I think that it probably is. I don't think making the half-stars a different shade is a good idea, unless you need one last indulgence before committing to rehab.

[locust]

Have you considered graphic arts rehab?

Lol at least I'm not as bad as people who do this sorta stuff..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_art

but I haven't studied them closely enough to understand why you need both of them.

I think you are right.. I'll have to rework them..

The half stars look good.. I think I'll stick with the outlined stars since I've allready gone down that route

[rick.ca]

Lol at least I'm not as bad as people who do this sorta stuff.

I don't know about that. I can't remember the last time I found myself viewing a chip with a microscope. Although now I'm tempted...

I think I'll stick with the outlined stars since I've allready gone down that route

They're nice too. I had trouble choosing.

[locust]

Got it working, I made a tweak though..

Every half star is the colour of the next higher rating, making it easier to notice it is a half marking.. 

[MrHaugen]

The colors almost makes me throw up, but other than that it's some pretty impressive work

[locust]

The colors almost makes me throw up

Yeah there're not the best selection..

The only bad thing about this is that once the colours are chosen, they will probably be specific for the chosen J River theme. i.e. I've got a dark theme now and the colours look kind of ok, but they'd look completely out of place in a lighter theme..

Because if have a few expression fields that have hexadecimal colour references in them, in the future when I want to change colours, I'll probably find it quite difficult to remember where and what to change

Can I make a few custom fields (i.e. [Colour.1], [Colour.2] etc and then place these field references inside my expressions, so that when I want to change the colours I just need to change the hexadecimal values in these custom fields?? Does the expression engine allow this? That way it would act more like a css sheet and would be much simpler to change..

EDITED

Never mind it does work..,  This is going to save me a lot of pain in the future.. I've already had to redo them a few times because I edited the wrong ones, by mistake..

[rick.ca]

Because if have a few expression fields that have hexadecimal colour references in them, in the future when I want to change colours, I'll probably find it quite difficult to remember where and what to change.

An expression can also be used to set the colour—so it varies and indicates the value of the variable upon which it's based. In this illustration, the intensity of...

• the [Artist] caption indicates the quality (based on [a.Bitrate]);
• [Release] [Album] the period (based on [Year]); and
• [a.Rating] the rating (using the half-point scale).

Code: [Select]

<font color="20Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, If(Compare([a.Bitrate], >, 320), 15, Math(([a.Bitrate]) / 25)), 1)F80"><b>[Artist]<//b><//font>
<font color="4060Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math(([Year] -1932) / 5), 1)F">[Released] <i>[Album]<//i><//font>
<font color="Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math([a.Rating] * 4 - 5), 1)F2040"><b>[a.Rating.x]<//b><//font>
If the captions were for tracks, there would be more variables this could be done with. What got me going on this was the thought I could map something like [BPM] (which, in my library, varies from 30 to 170) onto 256 shades of any one colour...

Code: [Select]

Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math(([BPM] * 1.5) / 16), 1)
Mid(0123456789ABCDEF, Math([BPM] - Left(Math(([BPM] * 1.5) / 16), 2) * 16), 1)
And I'm sure the developers find this so hysterical they'll keep throwing stuff like this into the program.

[MrC]

I wonder, performance-wise, how a color look-up table field of type list, containing 256 entries and using Listitem() might work out?

[vagskal]

An expression can also be used to set the colour—so it varies and indicates the value of the variable upon which it's based.

Clever! And I see you took a course at the same graphic arts school as Brian.

And I'm sure the developers find this so hysterical they'll keep throwing stuff like this into the program.

Judging from the visualisations with distorted cover art available already in the display view this will probably be the reaction. At least I hope the examples in this thread will not discourage them from implementing this functionality elsewhere.

The ability to use HTML, including line breaks, in custom fields would come in handy.

[locust]

Cool, I'm going to have to try this out,

I'm going to see if I can put expressions like those, still in their own separate fields, Even though they variably change the colour I'd still like them to remain easily editable.

I think I'm going to have to clone my library for this one too much can go wrong..

Btw instead of opening a new thread can anyone tell me, what the better version for encoding mp3 into is?? V0 or 320.. I've heard in a lot of places that V0 is technically higher quality per bit but can produce some artefacts when turned up loud.. I've always preferred 320 just because I though they were better quality..

[rick.ca]

I wonder, performance-wise, how a color look-up table field of type list, containing 256 entries and using Listitem() might work out?

Not sure what this means, but it sounds like something we might need for setting colours based on moods. But first, we need to map AllMusic's 150 moods onto colours using something like this Mood Ring Color Chart. Then figure out how to combine the 10 to 20 moods typically assigned to an album into one representative colour. Somewhere in the process, there must be a role for Regex()...

Clever! And I see you took a course at the same graphic arts school as Brian.

Critics! Perhaps, but *I* passed. But that's no excuse for my sloppy work. I've revised my colours, using a colour wheel to select triads for the base colours of the three items. Still, not much can be done about clashes that still may occur because each of the three varies. But I hope you're happy now.

I think I'm going to have to clone my library for this one too much can go wrong.

There's nothing inherently dangerous about using expressions in MC. If they don't work, fix or remove them. They don't affect your files or data.

[locust]

Quote from: brian0001 on Yesterday at 02:05:17 pm
I think I'm going to have to clone my library for this one too much can go wrong.

There's nothing inherently dangerous about using expressions in MC. If they don't work, fix or remove them. They don't affect your files or data.

I am afraid I'll do something wrong and mess up a large portion of my library (Not the actual data, just the views, expressional fields etc.. There's been a few times I have went in to change the expression of a field and pasted the code in the wrong one.. Having then to sit and remember what the field I changed did and what code was required. I've got a fair few custom fields now & it's getting a little chaotic (hey it would be nice if you could view your own custom fields when managing library fields, completely separate from your own.. That was I wouldn't have to # tag them to keep them all grouped together at the top of the list.)

J River has been a big learning curve for me, I've learnt so much over the past few months. In the beginning I've done many things to my library ad hoc style, now I have a fair few fields (probably not given the best of names either).. Once this is finished I think I'll try & focus on streamlining everything..

[locust]

Btw the mood idea, looks very cool, quite difficult to implement though I think, I don't know where to start with this one..

Would you use two list type fields?? One for the colours and one for the moods and then link them via the row number (I remember reading on J River & it said that it works kinda like excel although I'm not sure if that includes list type fields..

[rick.ca]

it would be nice if you could view your own custom fields when managing library fields

You can restrict the Manage Library Fields list using the drop-down at the top.

Btw the mood idea, looks very cool, quite difficult to implement though I think, I don't know where to start with this one.

Intended more of a geeky thought-game than a practical application. In fact, using one colour to represent all the moods assigned by AllMovies would probably result in rather "mushy" results—tinted shades of grey, perhaps. As for technique, it would be possible to store mood-colour code pairs as a list (e.g., mood1|code1; mood2|code2; etc.). The code for any one particular mood could be extracted from that. I don't know how multiple moods might be dealt with.

More intriguing is the possibility of actually selecting a mood or set of moods based on their similarity. Image a tag cloud of moods, with each mood coloured and placed in the cloud according to some useful psychology or symbolism of colour (i.e., like the Mood Ring Color Chart). The size of the words could indicate its frequency in the library (e.g., the attached Wordle generated by the mood tags in my library), but the colour and placement would indicate it relationship to other moods. Selecting a mood would highlight similar moods around it. It would be a cool way to seed a smartlist, or to put lipstick on Play Doctor.