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[DavidZ]

Hi -- I am a newbie into MC and have a simple goal. I have a hard drive with about 1300 folders on it in Windows Explorer. Each folder is labeled with artist info from a CD, and contains music files in the order they originally appeared on the CD. I would like to move each folder into the JRiver library so that each folder becomes a playlist labeled the same way, and the files retain the same order in the playlist as they did in the folder. I have  tried the Import feature and clicking on a folder that way imports the files, but a playlist must be created manually, and the files must be manually placed in the playlist. Very labor intensive when there are 1300!

I am a refugee from itunes, which was thoroughly useless in this regard. There was however, a 3rd-party utility called ifolderer which did some of what I describe above. To the extent anybody can help accomplish this in JRiver, I will be eternally grateful. -- David

[MrC]

Are you creating the playlists with the belief that you need them to play back albums in a particular order?

MC can fill in the metadata from the folder names, if you have them in a consistent order (e.g. Artist\Album).

Are the track orders present or available in the file name?

MC has a tool to create a track order from the order the files are listed in a list.  More help if this is the way you want to go.

The file list presented in Explorer is entirely controlled by the folder's current sort order, so there is not a single sort order.  MC won't know how Explorer has the files sorted.

If you can provide more specific details, folks here will be able to get you going.

[DavidZ]

MrC -- Thanks. Yes, I would like the playlist to replicate the order in which they played in the original CD. However, I understand what you are saying about how Explorer controls the sort order -- drat! I tried to label my folders as consistently as possible when I ripped them, as you suggested Artist \my catalog code \ Album. As in: Sinatra, Frank -j17 - At the Sands


Unfortunately, the files are not numbered so as to give track order.

>>>>MC has a tool to create a track order from the order the files are listed in a list.

this sounds promising, as does the possibility of filling in metadata from folder names. Thanks again! -- David

[MrC]

Ok, great.  It will be easy enough to grab your album, artist and catalog code from the file paths.  You can import now, and grab the data from the file path all at once.

How did you order the files in Explorer such they played back in album order (or any specific order)?

[DavidZ]

MrC --My albums are grouped simply by category -- Classical, Jazz, Rock. Each folder starts with the last name of the artist or the composer, so it is an alphabetical listing within category. I play folders the way I would play a vinyl side or a CD. Generally I don't just let it play straight from one folder to the next. Is this info responsive to your questions? Thanks! -- David

[MrC]

Let's start with this. 

If you want your catalog ID, you'll want to create a new user field in MC to store it.

Tools > Options > Library & Folders > Manage Library Fields.   Click the Add New Field button.  Name the field as you like (you can't change the name later, so pick a good one).  OK your way out.

To start, select one of your album tracks in MC.  Then, right-click, Library Tools > Fill properties from filename.  Now, select Template, and check Directories.  Enter:

   [Artist]\[your catalog id field]\[Album]

The preview should now show how these fields will be assigned.  You can also select Filename and create a similar template for the data that is contained in your filenames.

Select as many of your albums as you want to complete the remainders.

[MrC]

I may be misunderstanding how your files or directories are laid out. Use the exact characters in between fields if necessary.  Above you said:

   Sinatra, Frank -j17 - At the Sands

So the template in that case would be a Filename template:

   [Artist] -[Catalog Number] - [Album]

I think you'll see the pattern.

[DavidZ]

Mr. C -- Thanks so much for your input. It may be a while before I get to play with JRiver import -- I'll let you know. A friend of mine who's familiar with MC suggested just letting it do its autoscan of the files I want -- that I may be better off than trying to force what I have in mind with folders and playlists. -- David