Topic: Theater View display question (Read 6880 times)

Denti · « **on:** January 20, 2012, 06:08:04 pm »

It took me forever, but I finally got the display view to show artists first name then last name, but to sort by last name. That required changing album artist to last name, first name, setting the artist tab to display according to album artist and changing the thumbnail text to 'artist'.

But in Theater View, which I prefer, the artists are sorted AND displayed last name then first. How can I change the text for each artist in the Theater View?

MrC · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2012, 06:48:04 pm »

Hi Denti.,

Change it to what?

One method of doing what you want is to leave Artist alone, and create a second field such as Artist (sort), which you set to be the desired sort order:

For example:

Artist: Etta James
Artist (sort) James, Etta

Assigning Artist (sort) can be pretty much automated, so that you don't have to spend so much time doing this manually.

Denti · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2012, 07:19:13 pm »

Now it shows last name, first name (e.g., Cohen, Leonard). But I want it to display "Leonard Cohen." note, though, that in Display View this isn't the case, because I can change the "thumbnail text."

How do I set up the new field to sort automatically?

MrC · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2012, 08:50:10 pm »

Ok, got it.

Typically, Album Artist would be used to override the MC automatically generated "(Multiple Artists)" value that is filled into a field called "Album Artists (auto)". Views tend to use "Album Artist (auto)". This allows them to show either the various artists for an compilation album, or a single album artist. If you're not concerned about any of this now, you can just configure Theater View to use Artist instead of Album Artist (auto):

Tools > Option > Theater View > Items To Show

and select Artist. On the right under Details, you'll see Album Artist (auto). You can replace that with Album Artist and Theater View will then use it for the Artist roller.

But you probably don't want to use Album Artist as you're doing now in the long term. Try out to above first to see if this gives you want you want. Then reply here if you want to proceed with a better long term solution.

Denti · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2012, 09:46:17 pm »

Thanks, but tha doesn't do it.

When I'm browsing by Artist in Theater View I see a bunch of album covers that correspond to the records by a whole series of different artists. Great. And those groups of albums are sorted alphabetically by artist. Great. And those artists like John Coltrane can be found under C. Great. Except that the name under tha group of albums is not "John Coltrane," but "Coltrane, John." Not great.

How can I get it to display the name here the first way: first name, then last name, EVEN THOUGH it is being sorted by last name?

I've done this in the Standard View no problem. But I prefer to browse in the Theater View setting.

MrC · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2012, 11:00:44 pm »

What you see in Theater View are Categories. The default Artist categories in Theater View are:

Album Artist (auto) (and sorted in ascending order)
Album (and sorted in ascending order)

The Categories shown are based upon the rules setup in the customize theater view options. You can sort a given category either by ascending or descending. But I don't believe you can sort by some other arbitrary field.

Denti · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2012, 02:00:36 pm »

So there's no way to have it display artists "First Name Last Name" but to sort by "Last Name, First Name"?

MrC · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2012, 04:14:07 pm »

Not that I'm aware of. It would be perhaps confusing to have a category list that was sorted by something other than ascending/descending order for that category.

rick.ca · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2012, 09:45:25 pm »

Quote

It would be perhaps confusing to have a category list that was sorted by something other than ascending/descending order for that category.

That depends on how the user's mind works. I prefer to stick with 'first name - last name', as that's how most artists (music and video) are known. Nevertheless, some are used to names being sorted by surname, and it takes some effort to look for 'John Coltrane' under 'J' rather than 'C'.

If you have a field with individual artists in 'last name, first name' format, that field can be used as a sort preset, and the preset used as the sort setting for the [Artist] category in a view. 'John Coltrane' is then sorted as 'Coltrane, John'. The sort field, of course, must also include non-individual artists (as [Artist]) in order that it can be used as a sort key for all artists.

To create a sort preset, use a Group by or Sort by menu on the tab menu of a view in Standard View. Use the 'Custom' item at the end of the menu to set (what I call) [Artist.Surname] as the sort field, and then select 'Preset' to give that a name (I named mine 'Artist.Surname'). Then that preset will appear in the list of sort options available in the Category dialog of the Theatre View configuration (shown in screenshot).

MrC · « **Reply #9 on:** January 22, 2012, 01:16:30 am »

Well, darn it. I knew this. And I blew it. I looked at the sort order and saw Ascending/Descending and nothing more.

Good catch. Sorry Denti.

Denti · « **Reply #10 on:** February 16, 2012, 05:45:40 pm »

I didn't notice this reply until now. But I'm confused. I have "Album Artist" set to Last Name - First Name for artists where this is an issue. Walk me through the steps to getting this as a sort feature in Theater View. Thanks/

rick.ca · « **Reply #11 on:** February 16, 2012, 07:54:00 pm »

Quote

I have "Album Artist" set to Last Name - First Name for artists where this is an issue.

The purpose of [Album Artist] is to override [Artist] in [Album Artist (auto)]. In other words, [Album Artist (auto)] is [Artist] or 'Multiple Artists' unless there's a value in [Album Artist]. Presumably, then, the category you want to use in your view is [Artist], and you want those values sorted by [Album Artist (auto)]. So create a preset for that—as described in my previous post.

Denti · « **Reply #12 on:** February 16, 2012, 08:11:10 pm »

Ok, got it. But now I'm getting ALL artists, including those on compilations that I would rather have under ,Various'. How do I get it to show that way, which is how it appears in Standard View?

rick.ca · « **Reply #13 on:** February 16, 2012, 08:47:06 pm »

Normally, [Album Artist (auto)] would be used. That's what it's for—to keep multiple-artist albums together. But you've used it as an alternate sort-key, so you'll have to continue being creative...

You don't want to use [Artist] as a Category because some albums have multiple artists. You don't want to use [Album Artist (auto)] as a Category because it has some artists in 'Surname, First name' format. What you want is [Artist], unless there are multiple artists, in which case you would prefer '(Multiple Artists)'. So define the Category as an expression that does that...

If(IsEqual([Album Artist (auto)], /(Multiple Artists/)), /(Multiple Artists/), [Artist])

Denti · « **Reply #14 on:** February 16, 2012, 09:05:18 pm »

I can switch the display function in Theater View to Album Artist (auto), but then it goes right back to Last Name, First Name.

Where can I use that code, or are you just throwing out an example of how I need to think through the configuration?

rick.ca · « **Reply #15 on:** February 16, 2012, 09:10:36 pm »

Change the Category Type to Expression.

Denti · « **Reply #16 on:** February 17, 2012, 08:39:08 am »

That didn't work. Any other suggestions?

rick.ca · « **Reply #17 on:** February 17, 2012, 06:02:20 pm »

Quote

That didn't work.

It does. Configure it as illustrated in the screenshot.

Denti · « **Reply #18 on:** February 17, 2012, 06:21:36 pm »

Cool, thanks. It was that last step of selecting the preset that I had neglected. And I got it to work in WebGizmo, too, which is gear. Now if I could figure out how to make the font size slightly smaller in both Theater View and WebGizmo so that artist names aren't cut off so much...

JimH · « **Reply #19 on:** February 17, 2012, 06:36:59 pm »

Theater View has an adjustment in percentage. I usually run mine at 140%, but that's on a TV. It's in options for Theater View.

Denti · « **Reply #20 on:** August 16, 2013, 07:29:13 pm »

I'm resurrecting this thread, because I messed up what I had accomplished and can't get it back.

Under sorting the option of my preset (artist (auto)) is gone. How do I get it back?

MrC · « **Reply #21 on:** August 16, 2013, 07:47:24 pm »

Quote from: Denti on August 16, 2013, 07:29:13 pm

I'm resurrecting this thread, because I messed up what I had accomplished and can't get it back.

Under sorting the option of my preset (artist (auto)) is gone. How do I get it back?

See Step 2 here:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=82717.msg564438#msg564438

It shows how to setup custom sort presets.

Denti · « **Reply #22 on:** August 16, 2013, 07:51:08 pm »

Thanks, but I don't remember adding this in the first place. I can't figure how it appeared there the first time.

MrC · « **Reply #23 on:** August 16, 2013, 09:43:49 pm »

Sorry, but I really have no idea what issue you're having. You've made clear "it" doesn't work. But what is the "it", specifically.

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