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[zzeitg]

As I don't like to use the Library function, I'm used to add new music to MC by right-clicking the folder with album in Win-Explorer and chosing Media Center -> Add To Playing Now.

The problem is that the songs are usually not sorted in a proper way according to track number.

Is there a way how to force MC to sort the added album correctly?

(This is a real pain. Of course I can order the songs manually by clicking the song list header, but next time I add another album, this setting (Album 1; Track# 2) is forgotten and I have to order the tracks again, but this mixes also the albums sequence.)

I guess it should be not problem to force the track order of the added songs based on tag track# or even filename (01-song.mp3, etc.). So why MC is not acting like this - or is there something wrong somewhere in my MC settings?
 

[MrC]

Some Windows programs will accept the sort order that Windows Explorer uses when it passes the files list.  And in fact, some will even use that order, plus set the index to be the file actually clicked within the group.  But most programs do not, so its generally not behavior to expect.

[6233638]

I would suggest learning to use Media Center's library management features - it's one of the best features that MC has, and a lot more customizable than Explorer.

[zzeitg]

Some Windows programs will accept the sort order that Windows Explorer uses when it passes the files list.  And in fact, some will even use that order, plus set the index to be the file actually clicked within the group.  But most programs do not, so its generally not behavior to expect.

Well, imho this explains why MC doesn't use filenames to sort, but why not to use the MP3 tags (track number) and order the songs accordingly when they are sent to Playing Now?

It simply seems me as behavior which should be implied for the Playing Now function (and probably not so difficult to program ?).

Same situation when I try do drag&drop an album/music files to a Playlist. It's also not imported in proper track# order.

[MrC]

I suppose MC could do this.  I suppose also that the software that adds drag/drop (or play from explorer) items to Playing Now is independent from the software that adds files to Playing Now as a group (which uses MC's database tags, and not the tags directly from the file).

[glynor]

I don't understand.  When I drag-drop files from Windows Explorer into Playing Now, they're added in-order by filename:

https://vimeo.com/85408174

That's exactly what I'd expect it to do.

If you are using the tag fields in Windows Explorer to manage sorting, and not MC's Library, that's ridiculous, because MC can do everything Windows Explorer can and much, much more with a tag-based workflow.  And if you already have the tags in the files (which you'd need to use those headers in Windows Explorer), then MC probably already has the tags, and you just need to set a view up how you like it.

This is the problem:

As I don't like to use the Library function

[glynor]

If the question is:

I don't like the default Views in Media Center, and would like to make some that are more to my liking.

Then I'd say: Yeah, I don't like the default views either (I don't even remember what they look like, largely). The point is you can make your own however you'd like.

That's what MC is for, by and large. So, you can replicate what you have in Windows Explorer now (with prettier artwork), but you can have a bunch of different "versions" of what you have now too.  With many different hierarchies of files, however you want them, completely disconnected from the order of files on the filesystem.  Sometimes you want to browse by Genre, and then Artist, and then Album, and then a list of songs by track number.  Sometimes you don't want them split up by Genre, and you want just a full alphabetical list of your Artists.  Or, you want to see only the Artists and Albums that you've gotten in the last 6 weeks?  Sometimes you might want files in two folders at once (maybe two different Artists, or two different Genres), or you might want to only see files of a particular type.  You can even view and sort them one way, optimized for a mouse and keyboard, and another, optimized for a mobile device or TV.

You just need some help getting it set up.

[MrC]

I don't understand.  When I drag-drop files from Windows Explorer into Playing Now, they're added in-order by filename:

Actually, they are not doing what you think when you use the context menu. You're being deceived.  They are based on the order of the selection and the last item actually clicked in that selection when you initiate the playback.

When you drag&drop into Playing Now, they go in the sort order of Explorer.

[glynor]

Actually, they are not doing what you think when you use the context menu. You're being deceived.  They are based on the order of the selection and the last item actually clicked in that selection when you initiate the playback.

It works when I do it on the whole folder (in my video above), and I tested it all sorts of ways... Control-A without selecting an item first, and whatnot, in other "takes" and tests I did tonight.  I don't know that I went out of my way to select them in an odd order, but...

It didn't seem that way.  I could use the Context Menu to right-click and Add to Playing Now with a whole hierarchy of files (way down in a folder tree) and they all got added in [Filename] order.

[MrC]

See the following:

   https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87189402/Context-menu%20MC%20Play.mp4

[glynor]

Ahh, yes.  I see it now.  That is actually kind of neat.  It remembers what order you clicked on them.  I didn't notice in my recording above because I was using Control-A, picking whole folders, or just right-clicking on the top one out of "habit" (without thinking about it).

Windows does that?  I've never had to deal with that kind of clipboard data before, and never really thought about it much.

[MrC]

Yeah, that's what my reply #1 was trying to say.  Adobe Reader adheres to the order as well, as do many Microsoft programs.

[glynor]

In any case, I guess, with this...

to MC by right-clicking the folder with album in Win-Explorer and chosing Media Center -> Add To Playing Now.

It seems like he is right-clicking on entire folders, which I did, and which adds them in Filename ascending order, which I'd say is certainly expected.  Right?  Or did I bung up my tests and not realize it somehow?

[MrC]

When adding by folder, the contents will go in ascii-betically.

Note how Track 1 is last in the sequence, because the filename is missing the leading track #.

[glynor]

Right.

I said Filename ascending order (ascii style alphabetical, as you pointed out).  I'm saying that's what I'd expect it to do.  You're explicitly adding them from the filesystem.  It would make sense to use that sort order, in that case.

If you want a View in MC that let's you browse by the filesystem, but which sorts tracks by the [Track #] field, you can.  I wouldn't, because it makes more sense to browse by tags and [Artist] and whatnot, but you can, right?

Add a Category-style View, add Location (possibly rooted) as the only category.  Set sort order in the search (or save Details list header clicks). If you need additional root folders for different drives or whatever, copypasta it and make another one with a different root.

[zzeitg]

https://vimeo.com/85408174

Well, this looks like it should be. So I'm wondering what might be wrong with my settings that the track order is simply mishmashed.
(Also I'd be glad to find out if there's a way how to exclude folder.jpg, so that it wouldn't be loaded to the MC tracklist.)