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[AracornRed]

I've been thinking it would be nice to be able to specify custom fields and format for your playlist text file exports.  So for example in the Export Playlist dialog, when you select Text File for the format, under the Included Files section there would be an option for "Custom", where you could enter in an expression using MC's expression format, the same as the file rename functions and what not.

For people who export playlist information for example to publish on web sites and blogs it'd be a really useful addition over the simple CSV export.

[MrC]

Can you clarify this?  There's info on the suggested implementation, but not enough on what you are trying to accomplish.

[AracornRed]

OK so currently the only options when exporting a playlist as text are a comma delimited list showing either all fields or visible fields in the current view.  For example
4,Time,The Dark Side of the Moon,Pink Floyd,7:01,flac,....

I'd like to be able specify exactly what fields to export and what formatting via MC's expression format.  So using a custom expression like:
Track [Track #] "[Name]" (from [Album] by [Album Artist])

...I'd get:
Track 4 "Time" (from The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd)

Hope that makes it clearer. 

[MrC]

I see.

Probably the best way is to setup an Export View that includes the columns you want, and use that view exclusively for your exports, selecting the Visible Fields option.

[AracornRed]

That's what I've been doing actually.  It would just be useful to be able to export in a customized format instead of plain CSV.  Since so many parts of Media Center use the expression system it seems like it wouldn't be that hard to implement here as well.

[MrC]

It is more complicated that you might be anticipating.  How would large fields such as Lyrics, with its embedded newlines, be handled?  And what about fields that contain the double quotes you want to use as part of your output template syntax?  There has to be an encoding standard.

What's most important is that the data inside MC can be output reliably.  It is not difficult to write converters that convert from a well-known, documented format (such as CSV, or XML) to the format you want.

Ask if you need help with such a conversion...

[AracornRed]

It is more complicated that you might be anticipating.  How would large fields such as Lyrics, with its embedded newlines, be handled?  And what about fields that contain the double quotes you want to use as part of your output template syntax?  There has to be an encoding standard.

I think it could work pretty much the same as such fields are handled when naming files.  As for double quotes and what not since it's a custom expression it would be up to the user how to deal with that.

What's most important is that the data inside MC can be output reliably.

I was thinking of this more in terms of readable text output (again for publishing and sharing) than for data export, for which the current CSV export works fine (though it would be nice to be able to at least choose the delimiter).

It is not difficult to write converters that convert from a well-known, documented format (such as CSV, or XML) to the format you want.

Ask if you need help with such a conversion...

Yes I know, it's just that given how feature-heavy MC is this is another feature that I think would be nice to have.  Thanks for the offer to help though.