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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: dloneranger on February 06, 2003, 01:19:39 pm

Title: What i'd like for the library
Post by: dloneranger on February 06, 2003, 01:19:39 pm
i'd like an improvement in the way the media library sorts files
Specifically i'd like a way to sort items that doesn't generate an additional '+' item to open in the media library

Lets take my tom waits collection as an example

I've got all the released albums here, but the sorting is not adaptable enough
My file list preference's is
artist, year, album, track number, track name

The hassle is that on the right hand side everything is fine, all the albums are in the correct order - but on the left, everything is still in alphabetical album order

I know i can make a different view sceme, but if i do that i end up with a load of folders called '1985, 1986' etc, and in each one there is only one actual album

Do you think it's be easier if we could just have an option for how things are sorted ?
Or if that requires too much work, how about an option to not show tree items with only 1 item in ?

Or, am i the only one who'd like to be able to sort albums by year without having to expand the year to see what album's there ?
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: dloneranger on February 06, 2003, 01:27:05 pm
Further on this

After a bit of thinking, the 'don't show x if there is less than TWO items' sounds the easiest to do

If this was implemented then i could have a nice list on the left hand side that looks like
Closing Time
The Heart Of Saturday Night
Small Change
Live In Hamburg
Blue Valentine
Heartattack And Vine
Swordfishtrombones
Rain Dogs
Asylum Years
Franks Wild Years
Big Time
Early Years Vol 1
Bone Machine
Early Years Vol 2
The Black Rider
Alice The Demos
Live In Firenze
Mule Variations
Live In France
Live in Seattle
Alice
Blood Money

instead of

Alice
Alice (the demos)
Asylum Years
Big Time
Blood Money
Blue Valentine
etc.....
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: NoCodeUK on February 06, 2003, 01:54:31 pm
I have been pushing for this for a long time.  This is my only bug with the existing MC.  Everything else I want it to do it does (apart from maybe a few hairstyle suggestions ;D)  but I cannot see any logical reason to sort albums alphabetically.  To me sorting by release date seems the most logical.  This is how I have my CDs sorted on the shelf...

Adam
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: JimH on February 06, 2003, 02:43:43 pm
Adam,
Hairstyle is only half done.  

Sorting by release date.  Can you create a new view for that?

Jim
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: NoCodeUK on February 06, 2003, 03:02:55 pm
Hi Jim,

I know Hairstyle is only half done.  I had a few ideas but I didn't want to mention them until things got out of the bug stage.

As for the sorting thing, it would be nice to be able to have a view scheme like Artist Album but sorted by Year.  I could have artist/year/album but like was said above this adds extra clicks which are unecessary ...

For me the ideal view scheme would display like so
Pearl Jam
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: MachineHead on February 06, 2003, 03:40:51 pm
I'd like to second NoCodeUK's comment. My only b itch with the tree is this(*). I sometimes get caught offguard when looking at an artist with more than one album. In the tree it is alphabetically sorted, in the list it is chronologically sorted. So I'm thinking,'now what'? Wait a minute, it's that tree thing.

User configurable would be a very nice thing indeed.

(*) And the fact that multiple artists' has parenthesis' to add even more contempt for non configurable tree views. MJ8 at least let you say 'Various'.
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: NoCodeUK on February 06, 2003, 04:01:03 pm
Hi Machinehead.  I get a feeling of deja vu like we have had a similar thread to this before ;D

Adam
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: V-Man on February 07, 2003, 06:19:35 am
I don't know if this would help, but maybe you could add an extra custom tag, "YearAlbum" which would hold the combined contents of Year and Album, eg "2001 - Justified". By a cunning set of Rename From Properties and Fill Properties commands you could fill the YearAlbum field for all existing files.

What would help is a new addition to the View Schemes feature in MC. So rather than having a scheme like:

Artist
Year
Album

It would let you set up:

Artist
Custom: [Year] - [Album]

That would be C 8) 8) L!
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: NoCodeUK on February 07, 2003, 07:42:48 am
I just tried that and it kinda works in a way but is not exactly what I want...  I dont actually want to see the year I just wanted the albums sorted by year.  And I couldn't find an easy way to copy across the data meaning it would it be a pain to do this for my whole collection...

Adam
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: Ballerina on February 07, 2003, 07:49:49 am
I started a thread for this last week too, so I'll chip in my $0.02 to say this would make the library by far the best of any jukebox app I've seen and would create much happiness. :D
Title: Re: What i'd like for the library
Post by: nila on February 07, 2003, 09:49:32 am
I'm still begging to be able to create view scheme's like this:


Artist
- [Album] - [Year] - [bitrate]

so that the node can display lots of info instead of having to go into that tree to view it.

That way I can see while still in the tree which year an album was released. It'd be such an AMAZING feature.