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[ounal]

Hello All;

I just would like to built a column that includes all artists in the album in alphabetical order. Suppose we have three tracks in an album with the artists C;D for the first track, B;A for the second one and F;E for the third. The problem is to build a column that shows A;B;C;D;E;F

If building an alphabetical list is hard, getting a column that shows the combination of all artists (like C;D;B;A;F;E) may also be satisfying.

If you could help about the above point I would appreciate.

Thank you. All the best.

[rick.ca]

You could aggregate [Artist] for an album using global variables, but that doesn't seem worth the bother. In a Panes View, just add an 'Artists' pane using [Artist]&DataType=[List]. That will show an alphabetical list of all Artists in the currently selected files.

[ounal]

Thank you Rick but I think I have kinda diffferent problem.  I just want to write a custom expression that builds a column by tracking all of the composers (or artists)with a loop in an album and writes down all of them in that column for each track. Of course each track will have the same list. An example of what I want to do may be expressed as follows:

Track name    Composer      Custom field
Track 1      Mozart; Beethoven    Beethoven; Chopin; Mozart; Stravinsky
Track 2      Chopin; Stravinsky         Beethoven; Chopin; Mozart; Stravinsky

Therefore the detailed album view will also show all of the composers or artists instead of just showing [Varies].

I know that combinations may be obtained by using ListCombine() function but I just could not find a loop function for the tracks that works album by album basis.

I hope this better clarifies what I would like to do.

Thank you for your help. Best.

[rick.ca]

I know that combinations may be obtained by using ListCombine() function but I just could not find a loop function for the tracks that works album by album basis.

There is no such loop function. As I said, it probably could be done with global variables, but it wouldn't be pretty. And it seems pointless when there's such a simple solution. A Panes View is perfect for this sort of thing. A pane always shows the values applicable to whatever files are selected. Your 'Artists' pane can include as many fields as you like...

[Artist]; [Composer]; [Featuring]; [Band]; [Members]; [Whatever]&DataType=[List]

[ounal]

Thanks but I'm afraid I really do not understand the point of your suggestion. My goal has nothing to do with the panes view. When generating a detailed album catalog by means of "copy and paste" if there are different composers or artists of whatever in an album the software just shows [Varies]. So if you have a record including, for instance, both Mozart's and Haydn's works  there is no way to indicate this in the catalogue. It just shows  [Varies] which is extremely boring.

Just wanted to find a solution to this unfortunate situation.

[MrC]

Can you clarify what you mean by Catalog and what you are ultimately attempting to do?  Are you trying to export to another piece of software some data from MC?

MC shows [Varies] only when varying data is displayed in a single cell (e.g. tag action window, a header).

[rick.ca]

Thanks but I'm afraid I really do not understand the point of your suggestion.

You hadn't said anything about creating a 'catalog', and a Panes View would be the most sensible way to view such information within the program. If the values of [Artist] vary for an album (or any set of files), the only correct value to display is '[Varies]'. If you want to show all the artists contributing to an album, you would display a different field or expression for that. Hence my suggested alternative of using global variables to aggregate unique values of [Artist] by [Album]. I don't have the time or interest to demonstrate that, but I'm guessing it would just be a matter of using ListBuild() to aggregate [Artist], [Composer] and any other artist fields, and Save()ing that to an 'Artists.[Album Artist (auto)]' global variable.

[ounal]

Thank you both.

Yes I am trying to export a catalogue which means a list of my albums along with the artists, composers etc. information to an external software, say Excel. If you have more than one composer in an album it just gives you the value '[varies]' which is really unfortunate. Nobody would understand anything about this kind of album list, if the composer (or whatever) field is just '[varies]'. I need all composers to be listed instead of '[varies]'.

Listbuild(), I think, will not do the job since it works track by track basis by just taking a delimiter into account. I need some kind of loop to sweep all tracks in an album, collect the composer information and write this down in a column.   

To tell the truth, I am actually a bit disappointed about JRiver. Such a fundamental feature should have already been implemented in the software and any custom functions should not have been necessary.  Furthermore, nobody can find a solution. Strange....
 

[MrC]

You can export this just fine.  (How are you currently doing it?)

Select your files, and use Export Playlist and select Text File (CSV delimited).

Then, import into Excel using CSV importing, with comma as the delimiter.

[ounal]

Exporting procedure is not a problem. The point is to get rid of the value [varies].

[rick.ca]

If the values of [Artist] vary for an album (or any set of files), the only correct value to display is '[Varies]'. If you want to show all the artists contributing to an album, you would display a different field or expression for that. Hence my suggested alternative of using global variables to aggregate unique values of [Artist] by [Album]. I don't have the time or interest to demonstrate that, but I'm guessing it would just be a matter of using ListBuild() to aggregate [Artist], [Composer] and any other artist fields, and Save()ing that to an 'Artists.[Album Artist (auto)]' global variable.

If you choose to be disappointed, that's your business. It has nothing to do with the capabilities of the program.

[ounal]

I said

Listbuild(), I think, will not do the job since it works track by track basis by just taking a delimiter into account. I need some kind of loop to sweep all tracks in an album, collect the composer information and write this down in a column.  

and also I said
Such a fundamental feature should have already been implemented in the software and any custom functions should not have been necessary

And it seems nobody can solve it including yourself...

[MrC]

Exporting procedure is not a problem. The point is to get rid of the value [varies].

It is hard for me to follow where the issue is for you.  You mention you see [Varies] in the same discussion as Exporting.  I do not see [Varies] in any export list.  This is why I asked where you are seeing this, and how you are exporting.  Once exported, it is rather trivial to combine fields, esp. in Excel.

If this discussion has nothing to do with Exporting, and all about wanting to see a combined list of values for any given field across some selection of tracks, rick.ca's suggestion works well, as it produces the list.

If you'd state what you're ultimately after, there may be solutions available.

[ounal]

OK. Let us forget about exporting. Just give me a solution that replaces [varies] with all of the composers (or whatever) in an album. Please describe the solution step by step or give an example.

As I said before it should have been included in the software without requiring any additional custom function or like.

[rick.ca]

As I said before it should have been included in the software without requiring any additional custom function or like.

What is a 'custom function'? The problem here is your insistence something is missing from the software—even after I've told you several times Save() and Load() are the functions you require.

Please describe the solution step by step or give an example.

I'm not going to waste time explaining something you've repeated shown contempt for.

[ounal]

First the replies were for Mr.C, not for you. I would not ask anything from you after your improper and rude replies.

Second, who are you? Are you the developper of the software or the company's advocate? Yes something is missing. This is my idea and you have to be respectful. One should not use any function to perform such a simple operation. This is just a media center not, Matlab, Fortran or C.

By the way I like the software. But I do not have to like it the way you like it and do not have to prove anything to you.

I am not gonna waste my time for writing replies to you, from now on.