INTERACT FORUM

More => Old Versions => Media Center 17 => Topic started by: HTPC4ME on May 09, 2012, 03:25:41 pm

Title: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 09, 2012, 03:25:41 pm
I'm having problems trying to figure out how to setup recently imported for my audio views. It shows the recently imported, but it does not keep the artist and there album together see screen shot. notice how the infected mushroom is split up?

Many times when i want to play new music that was imported. the artists and there albums are all scattered so i have to take time to ctrl click to select those items, due to the fact they are not in order.

Any suggestions please?
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/Capture-4.jpg)

How it looks like in playing now when i chose to play recently imported (the files are all scattered
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/Capture2-2.jpg)
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: Alex B on May 09, 2012, 03:37:33 pm
I wonder if a view like my "CD shelf view" would work for you. It shows my albums in the import order (the latest are displayed first).

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=59513.msg434503#msg434503

(http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd212/AB2K/MC/CDshelf_small.jpg)
Click to enlarge. (http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd212/AB2K/MC/CDshelf.jpg)
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: preproman on May 09, 2012, 03:39:59 pm
I had this same issue when I imported my library from iTunes.  

There is a tag field named "Album Artist"  High light all the tracks on that CD go to the action window > go to Tags > go to "Album Artist" > insert the Artist name - All selected tracks will come together.

This field does not come over in 17 - even if it's a populated field in iTunes.
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 09, 2012, 03:47:40 pm
thanks guys, will look into suggestions
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 09, 2012, 03:54:22 pm
well album artist doesn't change anything still all mixed up, did a refresh, and also went to different view in tree, then went back to recently imported. and there still all the same as capture above.
will read over your post Alex.. hope it works:)
one would think my view would work.. sort by keywords date imported z-a, then by artists date z-a... infected mushroom is tagged as dance, and silversun pickups is tagged as rock. so by the rule i made silversunpickups shouldn't be in between the infected mushroom being it's not of the same keywords... also shouldnt be mixed up because the artist name is different as well.. infected/ silversun.
same goes for bruce springsteen. thats bruce, and i have it tagged as keyword rock, all years are the same throughout the albums
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: rick.ca on May 09, 2012, 05:26:47 pm
First, just to be clear, although your view has the same name as the stock smartlist, this is a normal view. It's sorting and grouping are set in the same manner as any other view.

Quote
one would think my view would work.. sort by keywords date imported z-a, then by artists date z-a...

If you display [Date Imported], you'll see it's actually the date-time, not just the date. That's likely why you're not seeing the sort order you expect. If you want to sort by day imported, you'll have to use an expression field that converts [Date Imported] to a day using something like FormatDate([Date Imported,0], yyyy-MM-dd) or FormatNumber([Date Imported,0], 0]. With FormatDate(), you have some other options, like using the week instead of the day.

The first thing you should decide is if you really need to sort albums by date, or whether it's sufficient to restrict the view to albums imported during some period. You could just add an expression pane that presents a nested list of time periods (e.g., Week\Day or Year\Month\Day), or a search list pane of any specific time periods you might want to use (e.g., today, yesterday, in the last 48 hours, this week, last week, etc.). Having selected a time period, the view could be a normal one grouped by album. You might not even need a view dedicated to recent imports.
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: Alex B on May 09, 2012, 06:11:35 pm
The reason for the odd sorting becomes more obvious if the Date Imported column is added to the view. The files system doesn't necessarily introduce the album tracks exactly in the "album > track" order when MC imports them.

I think my "CD shelf view" would do exactly what xtacbyme wants and more. I have used it for years with great pleasure.

The top split shows the album covers in the Date Imported order (the individual track "Date Imported" values are averaged) and the bottom split shows the track details of the selected album(s) -- a bit like when you flip the CD case and read the details on the back.

It is easy to use ctrl-click, shift-click, lasso, and shift-lasso on the top split to select a few albums and send them to Playing Now. (Be default the lasso selection feature works by pressing down & holding the right mouse button, but it is possible the activate this feature also for the left button in the options: Tree & View > Advanced > Allow list lasso with left mouse button.)

The thumbnail size is adjustable and the divider can be dragged up and down. The bottom split can also be hid completely when there is no need to see the track list.
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 09, 2012, 06:19:19 pm
Hi Rick,

Basically what i was hoping for was to have a recently imported of all files (in audio, images and video) that would sort by date imported (newest on top) but keep the artists, albums together in order of when they were imported... that way if someone wants to see the recently imported they could see the whole list of all files as they were imported. so if i wanted to play recently imported of today, last week, last month, 6 months etc. i could just goto recently imported under audio. then just click and shift click as far down as i want to, and it would load all those albums in order of recently imported into the playing now in order. by date imported/artist/album/then the track number(so if its a full album it would play the full album in order.... like pink floyd -  the wall, or queensryche - operation mindcrime where one needs to listen to the album in track order, because that's how it was made to be listened to)

Could you guide me in tackling this type of setup if it's possible?

Ironically i just checked my theaterview and gizmo, and those recenlty imported views are scattered as well :(  (And those bring up an expression error)
In screen below i'm in... Audio/Recently Imported/All Keywords/All artists/
The one above the highlighted item (silversun pickups) is the infected mushroom album... it should have 13 tracks, but the remaining 7 tracks are below the silversun pick up tracks

(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/Capture-5.jpg)

Thanks guy for helping

Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 10, 2012, 03:16:06 am
Quote
I think my "CD shelf view" would do exactly what xtacbyme wants and more. I have used it for years with great pleasure.

The top split shows the album covers in the Date Imported order (the individual track "Date Imported" values are averaged) and the bottom split shows the track details of the selected album(s) -- a bit like when you flip the CD case and read the details on the back.
Alex i took a look at your instructions. very informative screenshots :)

One question...
Quote
I have created a new calculated library field using [Album Artist (auto)] - [Album] as the templete:
Can i just edit my recently imported that i already have (from screenshots) or does shelf need to be made from scratch? and then i could just rename it to Recently imported?
thanks
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: MrC on May 10, 2012, 11:23:56 am
Recently Imported is a Playlist.

AlexB is suggesting you create a new View.  You can call that what you want.  Probably you'll place it under Audio.
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: rick.ca on May 10, 2012, 04:00:10 pm
AlexB is suggesting you create a new View.  You can call that what you want.  Probably you'll place it under Audio.

He's using a Panes View named 'Recently Imported'.

Could you guide me in tackling this type of setup if it's possible?

This is what I would recommend for an Audio Panes View...


Views for other media types would be similar in structure, but different because they don't necessarily have Artists and Albums.
Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 03:34:21 am
Rick thanks so much for screens and detailed info, ive just spent 3 hours trying to accomplish what you got (this is why i've plead before to make a surefire backup system, for all our views, rules throughout jriver including theaterview) How's a "average user" suppose to ever get there views set back up on new versions? just this recently imported issue i bet i have 20 hours into it. i dont know these expressions, or the language. where to put .0,/,] (,=,& so when i get lucky enough to have fellow users guide me. it would be nice for me not to ever have to ask again how do i accomplish this task, less stressful for the media enthusiast, and those in the forum... On that note if i ever figure this out.. i will be needing assistance (if you will guys) on then getting my recently imported to work for gizmo, and for theaterview. What you have outlined in your screenshot is stellar. and should be a default view for us noobs ( in my honest opinion)

Enough ranting. just frustrating knowing that all these views/rules are not set in stone. and during upgrades everything will need to be re-entered, and figured out to ones liking again.. i've yet to start my theaterview views since i'm on new the server system where jriver library is stored . i've still got the old pc sitting here from over a month ago, so that i can cross reference how it use to be. Not looking forward to it... but at least i won't have to ask for assistance on re-doing all those. jriver should setup paypal system for jriver helpers. rick's already posted the answer, and i have no clue how to get this to work. instead of him him trying to walk me through for 50 hours. paypal him 10 bucks, and he could just send me the view and it would work and stick, and i could save that view in backup folder. and save myself hours.


Anyway, Here's where i'm at... and i'm stuck
1. i made expression, by going to tools options library and folders manage library fields, chose add new field, typed in the name date imported.x i didnt touch any thing else except calculated data, in there i pasted - FormatDate([Date Imported,0], yyyy-MM-dd then i hit ok
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/1-1.jpg)

2. i right clicked on audio chose add library view, chose empty view named it date imported, then it said  Empty (click here to configure, i chose add category, and i chose expression, and then pasted this - FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], MM • Month)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], dd • dddd)&DataType=(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/4-1.jpg) it shows the year and months under it, but ontop its called expression, leading me to believe i've done this wrong? and if you look at date imported it says 4/13 (but after that first file then there are a bunch of 4/23/2012 files), which is when i made this library on the new server


3. i went to the drop-down menu, set the view to a Details List Style with No Grouping and Sort by: and chose custom, then i chose a-z dateimport.x/artists/album, and they are worse then my original recently imported view? i'm obviously missing some thing important. i dont know why i cannot grasp this! another issue, if i highlight 2012 then they are all a mess,  the files showing first are from 4/13/2012(when i originally set up this machine, and i did a recently imported again tonight, and those files 5/12/2012 are showing up 1/2 way into the list?
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/5.jpg)
then if i click may, they are in order from 5/2/2012, and my files i've imported after 5/2/2012 are further down the last as well. also you will notice Marilyn Manson is split up too.
(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/87.jpg)


thanks again guys for helping!

Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: rick.ca on May 12, 2012, 02:59:20 pm
Quote
How's a "average user" suppose to ever get there views set back up on new versions?

Views are included in backup. The only situation where this is ineffective is when a change is made to how the views work or how the configuration is saved. This last happened to Theatre View configurations (only) on moving from version 16 to 17. For other reasons, I think we need the ability to save and restore individual views (i.e., one Theatre View view or branch of views). If such a thing existed, presumably the routine for loading them would be revised to handle translation of things affected by program changes.

As for your current difficulties...

Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 04:00:15 pm
Quote
Views are included in backup. The only situation where this is ineffective is when a change is made to how the views work or how the configuration is saved. This last happened to Theatre View configurations (only) on moving from version 16 to 17. For other reasons, I think we need the ability to save and restore individual views (i.e., one Theatre View view or branch of views). If such a thing existed, presumably the routine for loading them would be revised to handle translation of things affected by program changes.
what would be stellar, and i'd pay for it, is a paypal system in jriver. where i can come and say hey i just cant get this view to work, will some one help me/or do it. and then i can pay that user via paypal. I would have paid 50 bucks just for this recently imported to be done with. it would have been a drop in the bucket over the time i've spent/am spending.  It benefits both parties. Me by just having it done, you because you have already done it, you've posted how to do it, and i don't have to try and decifer how to accomplish what you've proven is possible. after the jriver professional is payed, then that professinal could just PM or email that user the saved view, that user could goto jriver click import somewhere, and load that view, and be done with it.

1. user error again.. i didnt even notice that.. TY rick!
2. ok.. got that renamed to date imported.. ty!
3. Ok... it's working for month and top category YEAR!!!! TY TY TY! And i have done a jriver 17 backup!
Quote
4. Add an 'Album' pane that will list the albums included in the view in the same order as they appear in the file list: [Artist] • [Album] (year [Released] shown in illustration omitted); Set Sorting to the preset used in step 3.
album pane meaning right click next to date import, and chose add category to the right?

Quote
5. Add an 'Artist\Album' pane for selecting specific albums: [Artist]\[Released] [Album]&DataType=
    artist pane meaning right click next to album, and chose add category to the right?
    you will notice from screenshot that date imported is set up properly, and the list is showing everything as date imported.x but shouldnt the (artists, album, keywords also be sorted by date imported.x? there is not option to chose that?

    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/ab.jpg)

    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: Alex B on May 12, 2012, 04:27:06 pm
    My "CD shelf view" would work. You could also set the top part to show details if you don't want to see album thumbnails.

    That view is actually just a bit tweaked version of the current Recent Albums view which is available by default. This default view would also work just fine.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 04:34:17 pm
    hello alex, well to be honest with you if this is similar to the default view, then i have larger issues... i've never EVER (been with jriver since version 10) had my recently imported look this nice, be as specific, and work as this new view/expression i've had help making. it's always looked like a tangled mess as in my first screenshots... think i may have other problems?
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: Alex B on May 12, 2012, 04:43:19 pm
    The default Recent Albums view can be set to always show the file list and also to show details on the top split. See the attached screenshots. They are from a small test list library. As you can see, the Céline Dion album has varied import dates and still the tracks are listed in the correct order (I reimported some of the tracks to demonstrate this). I have my Windows date format set to use the ISO style, but that shouldn't affect the sorting.


    Log in to the forum if you can't see the attachments.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 12, 2012, 04:51:00 pm
    Quote
    album pane meaning right click next to date import, and chose add category to the right?

    Yes.

    Quote
    you will notice from screenshot that date imported is set up properly, and the list is showing everything as date imported.x but shouldnt the (artists, album, keywords also be sorted by date imported.x? there is not option to chose that?

    You skipped the one 'tricky' part...

    3. From the drop-down menu, set the view to a Details List Style with No Grouping and Sort by: [Date Imported.x], [Artist], [Album]; save this sort as a preset for use in step 4.

    4. Add an 'Album' pane that will list the albums included in the view in the same order as they appear in the file list: [Artist] • [Album] (year [Released] shown in illustration omitted); Set Sorting to the preset used in step 3.

    The purpose of the 'Album' pane is to present a list of albums in the same order as the file list (where you can see only a few albums at a time). It also provides a convenient way to select an album or group of albums in the (reverse) order they were imported.

    I don't think you want to do the same thing with the Artist\Album pane, even if it were possible. It's purpose is to provide a way of selecting or finding an album you may know is in there somewhere, but you can't find it because you don't know exactly when it was imported.

    I included a 'Genre\Style' pane in my view to illustrate yet another purpose for a pane—to display information about the selected files (e.g., those in the particular time period selected in the first pane) that otherwise might be difficult to see in the file list.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 12, 2012, 05:50:25 pm
    The default Recent Albums view can be set to always show...

    So there ya go...Completely specified Panes and Category View alternatives. Ready for Theatre View? ;)

    This works well, BTW, as a top-level menu that includes all media types. It can serve as a "What's new in Theatre View" sort of thing. 8)
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 06:22:43 pm
    almost ready.. i've been tackling standard and theaterview at same time.. standard view i have setup like this.. BUT i dont understand why keywords isnt displaying correctly when all keywords is highlighted? artist/album/year, and album show correctly..Ex first in the list is Lyrics Born everywhere at once, album is everywhere at once,(if you look on bottom view it says that its rap, but in keywords on top it says it's an oldies?
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/likedview.jpg)


    Another thing to note.. this view is REALLY slow.  will this speed up in time the more we use it? example. when i click audio in theaterview, then recently imported, then 2012 it takes (I timed it) 14 seconds before it will show 04-april 05-may. (i'd like to avoid the months/years but just curious if it will speed up in time?)

    theaterview... these are my screens from what i've tried doing on my own by cross comparing how we set up standard view...

    this is the first view when choosing date imported (can we just have it bring all the artist/album/years up immediatelly? instead of clicking on audio 2012, then all date imported?)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/tv1.png)
    so that it would look like this right when you chose recently imported?
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/tv1a.png)
    And last problem i've run into is expression error again :( the files look like they are in order, but not text is available? also please note in center of screen the name cakewalk.. thats the song name. but it's not lined up neatly with the other tags on the right, and the tag name is missing as well (Name)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/tv3.png)









    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 12, 2012, 06:55:16 pm
    Quote
    i dont understand why keywords isnt displaying correctly when all keywords is highlighted?

    AFAICT from your screenshot, it's correct. The pane shows all values present in the files currently in the view (as determined by the first pane). If Lyrics Born is only tagged with the Keyword 'rap', then selecting one of their albums in the second pane will result in only 'rap' showing in the Keywords pane.

    BTW, I had recommended an Artist\Album nested pane, but what you've done is fine if that's what you prefer.

    Quote
    Another thing to note.. this view is REALLY slow.

    It seems to me you have a huge library—probably an order of magnitude greater than mine, but I don't know why it would be slower than other views. Maybe others with similar libraries can comment on the impact of using expressions in views. I don't know if it would make any difference, but you might try saving the expression used for the 'Date Imported' pane as an expression field, and then use that field to define the pane.

    Quote
    this is the first view when choosing date imported (can we just have it bring all the artist/album/years up immediatelly? instead of clicking on audio 2012, then all date imported?)

    No. That's how categories in Theatre View work—one level at a time. If you don't want a category/level, remove it. In this case, that may mean changing the expression so it produces only one level (e.g., year OR month instead of both). And since the items are presented in the order imported, I find a list view style is more appropriate than thumbnails.

    Quote
    And last problem i've run into is expression error again...

    There's an error in your File Caption (under Advanced in the Theatre View configuration). You must be seeing the same thing in all your views.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 12, 2012, 07:39:18 pm
    For a possible speed increase, try replacing your FormatDate() expression:

       FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], MM • Month)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], dd • dddd)&DataType=[list]

    with this:

      FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year\MM • Month\dd • dddd)&DataType=[list]

    FormatDate() is expensive, so running 3 times may be noticeably slow with large libraries.  The expression above runs it once, formatting the entire output string.  You could also use listbuild() instead to do this.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 12, 2012, 08:25:20 pm
    FWIW, I can't detect any difference between the original expression, the regex and using the regex in an expression field—with my puny 10K file music library. Regardless of method, it takes a second or so to update the screen after a selection. It will be interesting to see if it makes a difference to xtacbyme. Who, BTW, must be really impressed with how simple we're making this for him. ;D
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 09:04:08 pm
    Quote
    BTW, I had recommended an Artist\Album nested pane, but what you've done is fine if that's what you prefer.
    yeah i tried copying what you did identically, but it doesn't exist. all i had was Artist - Album (year) in fact i would actually prefer is ArtistS - album. but i won't worry about it now in hopes someday Artist - album works as ArtistS does.
    Quote
    There's an error in your File Caption (under Advanced in the Theater View configuration). You must be seeing the same thing in all your views.
    Unsure how there could be an error here? this file caption i've been using since at LEAST version 10 on all jriver machines (i believe it was you who originally helped me make this caption)
    [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2),★,if(isequal([rating],2,2),★★,if(isequal([rating],3,2),★★★,if(isequal([rating],4,2),★★★★,if(isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★,)
    This i've not changed yet... but the issue is still there once i get as deep in as theaterview will let me go.. in this view(date imported, All Artist - Album (years) (66902)

    Quote
    For a possible speed increase, try replacing your FormatDate() expression:

       FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], MM • Month)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], dd • dddd)&DataType=
      with this:

        regex(FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year::MM • Month::dd • dddd), /#^([^:]+)::([^:]+)::([^:]+)$#/,-1)
    [R1]\[R2]\[R3]&DataType=
      FormatDate() is expensive, so running 3 times may be noticeably slow with large libraries.  The expression above runs it once, and captures the components into segments and uses those.  You could also use listbuild() instead to do this.
    thanks for jumping in Mr.C.. this turned out much much slower each screen loaded doubled/tripled in load times when trying this.

    Well being i have no clue what i'm doing i took FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], MM • Month)\FormatDate([Date Imported,0], dd • dddd)&DataType=(http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/dateimported1stscreen.png)
    Now i just need to figure out how to get rid of this screen inbetween the audio date imported, and all date imported. so they all load instantly as (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/tv1a.png)

    Quote
    It will be interesting to see if it makes a difference to xtacbyme. Who, BTW, must be really impressed with how simple we're making this for him.
    at least i have some assistance, and again ty guys :) i'd be completely lost.




    [/list][/list][/list][/list]
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 12, 2012, 09:17:07 pm
    this turned out much much slower each screen loaded doubled/tripled in load times when trying this.

    Oh, interesting!  That's good data - thanks for testing it out.  I'll run some tests here, and see what I come up with.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 12, 2012, 09:27:06 pm
    Ugh, I was being a total chucklehead.  Simplify even more:

       FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year\MM • Month\dd • dddd)&DataType=[list]

    This eliminates two FormatDate() function calls from the first version, and the Regex() entirely from the second, by placing the separators within the FormatDate() call itself.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 09:47:42 pm
    Quote
    Ugh, I was being a total chucklehead.
    had to look up definition (took a break and posted that on my friends chuck page. he got a kick out of the definition...Chuck'sVery Smart)
    chucklehead - definition of chucklehead by the Free Online ...
    www.thefreedictionary.com/chucklehead
    chuck·le·head (ch k l-h d ). n. Informal. A stupid, gauche person; a blockhead. [Possibly from chuck.] chuck le·head ed adj. chucklehead

    Quote
    FormatDate([Date Imported,0], Year\MM • Month\dd • dddd)&DataType=
      This eliminates two FormatDate() function calls from the first version, and the Regex() entirely from the second, by placing the separators within the FormatDate() call itself.
    You messin with me now? lol.. that one locks her up reeeal good. i clicked audio/recently imported popped up after 26 seconds, then i chose 2012 (only 11 seconds) then i clicked on all date imported (18 seconds) if at ANY time you click back, or anywhere lese she locks instantly and then you get windows spinning (not responding) gif/swf.. what ever it is) if you stop trying to move let jriver catch up. then ya can stop from total crash, and it will catch up and you can then move again.[/list]
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 12, 2012, 10:00:25 pm
    Mark Twain liked that term.

    Something is very wrong if the latest expression is even slower than the original.  It should be about 1/3 the time (unless there is a serious problem creating strings within MC).  It is about 2 seconds for ~46,000 items here in a panes view with already 7 columns full of expressions, and each click is almost instantaneous.

    I wonder if your banging against your AV software?  Try disabling it, or providing exceptions for MC and its workers.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 10:03:50 pm
    another Why.. ohh what a day. lol
    why do all my recent posts in Since reply 23 (which has 4) have
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 12, 2012, 10:12:37 pm
    Because you are posting expressions that have the BBCode [list] in them.  To post these, you must surround the sequence [list] with [nobbc] and [/nobbc] so that you post this:

        [nobbc][list][/nobbc]

    Otherwise, the forum sees [list] and thinks you meant to create a list sequence, forgot the ending [/list], so adds it for you (erroneously).
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 10:14:27 pm
    well now my last post.. didn't have [list in it] lol...

    I've went to server where jriver is installed, and disabled real time protection for microsoft security essentials. and no change in speed/load times of views.

    i don't know how this works, But in theory (from the little i know bout computers)
    if you have a view/folder(jriver, windows, opus directory...) and all your files are in there(say 800,000)
    then "usually" load times of all that data is much slower.

    Now if you have "steps" or sub categories/sub folders, and go in and that total number of 800,000 gets broke down by each step.. then load times are faster.
    the chop job i did on rick.ca's post took out i believe 2 steps (sub folders/view) Making jriver have to load many more files sooner, due to not having a lower amount of folders.. and that route screamed.
    so why when jriver needs to (do the math if you will) is it falling on it's face? it should be even faster.. less files to have to sort/figure out etc.? correct?[/list]
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 12, 2012, 10:26:42 pm
    When you quote someone's code that includes [list], it will also be part of the problem.  Hence, you get extra [/list] items ending your posts automatically added.

    Btw: you can use these for MSE exceptions (see attached).

    800k items is large.  But we were trying to learn about the speed differences in three expressions which produce identical output, yet produce that output in three different ways.  I believe the last one should be the fastest, but your experience is saying otherwise, so I'm curious why it could be the case.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 12, 2012, 10:42:51 pm
    sorry i mislead you ( i was just throwing  a number out there due to speaking from experience when i use to have all pictures in just one album.. that list was 800,000, and when it would try to load the thumbnails it took for ever.. but once i started sorting them into subfolders. load times were near instant (hundreds of folders, subfolders)
    for the audio section we've been talking about.. it's 221,188 (lots of soundclips for our business)

    I need to take a few here for the Fam. will come back to this later tomm. as i sit..
    the fastest route so far  is    FormatDate([Date Imported,0], dd • dddd)&DataType=
    but i cannot get rid of first view..allowing me to see all date imported instantly.

    thanks guy for soldiering through on this.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 13, 2012, 01:46:37 am
    Ugh, I was being a total chucklehead.

    Guess that makes me the original hoople head (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hoople%20head). (a particularly wonderful term considering those Swearengen used for everyone else). :D

    Quote
    yeah i tried copying what you did identically, but it doesn't exist. all i had was Artist - Album (year) in fact i would actually prefer is ArtistS - album. but i won't worry about it now in hopes someday Artist - album works as ArtistS does.

    [Artist]\[Album]&DataType=[List] should work. If you want to see [ArtistS], add another pane with [ArtistS]&DataType=[List].

    Quote
    Unsure how there could be an error here? this file caption i've been using since at LEAST version 10 on all jriver machines (i believe it was you who originally helped me make this caption)

    After recent improvements, the expression engine is less tolerant of parentheses that are not closed (i.e., each '(' must have a matching ')' ). Your expression is missing four ')' at the end.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 13, 2012, 12:06:09 pm
    Quote
    After recent improvements, the expression engine is less tolerant of parentheses that are not closed (i.e., each '(' must have a matching ')' ). Your expression is missing four ')' at the end.
    well i've tried all these. nothing changed
    [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2),★,if(isequal([rating],2,2),★★,if(isequal([rating],3,2),★★★,if(isequal([rating],4,2),★★★★,if(isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★,))))
    [Name] if(isequal([rating]),1,2),★,if(isequal([rating]),2,2),★★,if(isequal([rating]),3,2),★★★,if(isequal([rating]),4,2),★★★★,if(isequal([rating]),5,2),★★★★★,)


    these ones changed but def not what we're looking for
    [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2)),★,if(isequal([rating],2,2)),★★,if(isequal([rating],3,2)),★★★,if(isequal([rating],4,2)),★★★★,if(isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★,))
    [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2)),★,if(isequal([rating],2,2)),★★,if(isequal([rating],3,2)),★★★,if(isequal([rating],4,2)),★★★★,if(isequal([rating],5,2)),★★★★★,)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/expressions.png)
    This one's closer but still not right - [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2),★),if(isequal([rating],2,2),★★),if(isequal([rating],3,2),★★★),if(isequal([rating],4,2),★★★★),if(isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★,)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/expressions2.png)
    Also the name title is still missing, and the name is really enlarged.

    I wish there was a book/cheat cheat to learn this stuff. sorry for being a pain.

    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 13, 2012, 12:16:12 pm
    i got the name thing figured out. i had it at title not standard. grrr... lol
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 13, 2012, 12:16:19 pm
    You need to Count the number of opening and closing parens - they need to match pairwise.  One opening must eventually be followed by one closing, with proper nesting.

    This statement:

    [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2),★,if(isequal([rating],2,2),★★,if(isequal([rating],3,2),★★★,if(isequal([rating],4,2),★★★★,if(isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★,))))

    has 5 If() statements; there are 5 opening parens for the If() statements, but you can see there are only 4 closing parens.  The inner IsEqual() statements are all correct, which you can readily see.

    This is one reason why you should use IfElse instead of If() for nested If() statements - the nesting is much easier to follow:

    [Name]
    ifelse(isequal([rating],1,2),★, isequal([rating],2,2),★★, isequal([rating],3,2),★★★, isequal([rating],4,2),★★★★,isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★)
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 13, 2012, 01:20:25 pm
    you guys are amazing. this is mind boggling to me... i just cant wrap my head around it!
    it worked.TY

    i have my old one in word pad, and your new one.
    so i understand. ifelse in the beginning now replaces (takes care of) all if statements throughout the whole rule?
    Quote
    After recent improvements, the expression engine is less tolerant of parentheses that are not closed (i.e., each '(' must have a matching ')' ). Your expression is missing four ')' at the end.
    this i finally see, but i have no clue where "the end is" for the 4 rick speaks of.
    red= the start and end of the whole rule
    blue = the start and end of the rating rule (1,2,3,4,5 OF 5 total stars)
    green = the start of ? and the end i have no idea where it would be placed. (lol obviously from my chop jobs i did)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/old.jpg)

    Quote
    has 5 If() statements; there are 5 opening parens for the If() statements, but you can see there are only 4 closing parens.  The inner IsEqual() statements are all correct, which you can readily see.
    I don't see it sorry.
    to me after highlighting my old which use to work, and your new one the only thing diffrent is the ifelse, are gone, and one is used in the beginning
    basically instead of you adding the 4 missing rick told me to do, you removed them (no green highlights)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/proventowork.jpg)
    This may just be one of those things that's beyond me... but i tried.
    Ty for making it work again.
    i still have no progress on my recently imported but still chippen away
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 13, 2012, 02:10:29 pm
    Here's the way to think about it, using a counting method.  Read your expression from start to finish, from left to right:

    1) Start your count at 0.
    2) Every time you find an opening paren, add 1 to your count.
    3) Every time you then find a closing paren, subtract 1 from your count
    4) If at the end of your expression the count is not 0, you have missed a paren (> 1 means too few parens, < 1 means too many parens).

    I use line breaks with formatting when showing examples generally, because humans are not good at the method I just described (and we shouldn't have to be).  So your old statement:

    [Name] if(isequal([rating],1,2),★,
                   if(isequal([rating],2,2),★★,
                      if(isequal([rating],3,2),★★★,
                         if(isequal([rating],4,2),★★★★,
                            if(isequal([rating],5,2),★★★★★,))))

    is missing a closing paren for the red If(), and it is so hard to spot.

    With IfElse, and formatting, its easy - one opening and one closing paren, with each of the test / results following in line:

    ifelse(
      isequal([rating],1,2), ★,
      isequal([rating],2,2), ★★,
      isequal([rating],3,2), ★★★,
      isequal([rating],4,2), ★★★★,
      isequal([rating],5,2), ★★★★★
    )
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 13, 2012, 02:36:18 pm
    that i understand! much easier to comprehend when broken down. (easier to determine each rule and there breaks)
    Ty:)
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 13, 2012, 03:34:57 pm
    ive put the recently imported subfolders on hold. and have started tackling the recently imported artists in order dilemma.

    while looking into it i realized in standard view my top pane. isnt sorting them properly either (so my cross comparing won't work.) for setting up theaterview recently imported by artists.

    As you can see from screen. when i chose top folder 2012, there are artists missing(Lyrics Brown, Sixx Am were imported after ty stone, but they do not show up at all in my top view screenshot as being imported before) in comparison to how i set it up on the bottom view (which is correct, thats how the artist were imported)
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/artistsmissing.jpg)

    and the cross comparing shows that i did the steps correctly (theaterview/matches top view of standard view of 2012 highlighted), it's just that my top view is wrong when selecting the whole year in standard view and theaterview.
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/artistsmissingtheater.jpg)

    so i guess, my standard view isnt completely setup correct yet. i have to get the top view to display the artists, and album, and keywords as it does in bottom pane.


    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 13, 2012, 03:45:45 pm
    For the Artists pane column, what is the Sorting set to be?  The categories Sorting dictates the order of the items in that column.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 13, 2012, 03:49:57 pm
    to get the answer to your question in standard view on top pane, i right clicked on artists, then chose edit

    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/artistSsorting.jpg)
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 13, 2012, 04:29:26 pm
    while looking into it i realized in standard view my top pane. isnt sorting them properly either (so my cross comparing won't work.) for setting up theaterview recently imported by artists.

    I don't understand what purpose this pane serves, but...

    It seems what you want is the list of artists in the pane to be sorted in exactly the same order as their albums are presented in the file list. In order that albums are not split up because of the exact time their tracks were imported, we sorted the file list by the day imported, then by [Artist] and [Album]. Now you've added an [ArtistS] pane and sorted it just by day imported. They should be sorted by the same preset you used for the Album pane.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 14, 2012, 02:02:35 pm
    honestly Rick, in standard view it's isnt  abig deal.. would i want it that way? yes... it would make more sense. when one clicks on date imported, the top view should show all panes as they are imported. but artists, and keywords do not do that for me... the reason i brought up the comparison between standard view's top pane and theaterview. is because as screenshot show my theaterview isnt showing everything in recently imported order. And being i dont knwo code. i thought i would just cross compare what we worked on so hard to accomplish, and try to figure it out on ym own.. but i'm having no luck... i just want recently imported to work. when i goto recently imported i'd like all albums, artist to show up as they were imported.

    Quote
    I don't understand what purpose this pane serves, but...
    well for me, it makes sense. if i click date imported field in tree, it would be nice to see those artists next to date imported, when you click on 2012, then you wouldn't have to go down to the bottom view, and scroll to see the list of artists. it would just be much quicker.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 14, 2012, 02:36:07 pm
    If the sorting for the Artists column is not correct, then your sort Preset is likely not correct.  I see from this thread that you had trouble creating that.  Have you verified it?
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 14, 2012, 02:47:44 pm
    im getting so confussed.. I thought my screens would help?
     in standard view, on top pain in post 42. you will notice i have date imported, artists, album and keywords.

    if i click on 2012 in date imported then the artists is not correct (if you look below in bottom pane, lyrics born is before ty stone, as well as sixx am.  now if i click on 2012/then chose May. then it will show up... this is the same problem in theater view....
    theaterview i'd just liek to be able to click on audio/ recently imported and all artistS will show up in order of how they were imported. but they are not, they show up identically to post 42's top pane.

    Sorry if im not explaining myself clearly. lol i just want all recently imported to show up in standard view top panes, and theaterview as they do on bottom pane in standard view. (bottom pane is correct)
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 14, 2012, 02:56:26 pm
    Do you want some Remote help?
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 14, 2012, 03:00:15 pm
    now we're getting some where.. how much?
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 14, 2012, 03:06:48 pm
    No cost.  Send rick.ca some cookies.

    Go download TeamViewer QuickSupport:

       http://www.teamviewer.com/en/download/index.aspx

    Launch it, and it will give you a user id and a password.  PM those to me when you're ready for me to connect.  I'll connect remotely, and we'll take a look.  You can cut the connection at your will.  I'll explain what I'm doing via Chat as we work.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 15, 2012, 12:11:23 am
    honestly Rick, in standard view it's isnt  abig deal...

    I wasn't really interested in why you want it that way. I did, however, go on to explain exactly what you missed and how to fix it...

    In order that albums are not split up because of the exact time their tracks were imported, we sorted the file list by the day imported, then by [Artist] and [Album]. Now you've added an [ArtistS] pane and sorted it just by day imported. They should be sorted by the same preset you used for the Album pane.

    If the sorting for the Artists column is not correct, then your sort Preset is likely not correct.  I see from this thread that you had trouble creating that.  Have you verified it?

    MrC, if he hasn't done anything to it in the meantime, there should be nothing wrong with the preset. He just hasn't used it as instructed.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 15, 2012, 12:45:40 am
    We worked out the issue.

    There was some confusion about how a category is a single bucket, which cannot be used as a multi-bucket sort.  By adding the imported date to the end of the category, sorting by import date is then effective.

    As an aside, we created a [Date Acquired] field, initialized it with [Date Created], and modified some views to utilize this field.  This allows xtacbyme to maintain a permanent, yet modifiable date for organizing newly imported media, independent of Date Created and Date Imported.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 15, 2012, 03:11:04 am
    Quote
    We worked out the issue.

    :o 8)

    Quote
    By adding the imported date to the end of the category, sorting by import date is then effective.

    I don't follow. It seems to me the import day needs to be added to the beginning of [whatever] for the resulting list to be sorted by import date. The Album pane in my suggested view, for example, where the sort is...


    ...for the result (I assumed) xtacbyme wanted.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 15, 2012, 10:04:53 am
    So long as there are distinct categories, the sort criteria can work.  The problem was that, an Artist X, had two different albums Y and Z, each with different import dates.  So it was not possible to sort an Artist category by Import Date.  By adding a date anywhere to the Artist category name, it splits the Artist category into X (Dy) and X (Dz), sorting the entire category list can work (there is now a 1-1 match with the sort buckets and the number of categories).
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 15, 2012, 12:27:18 pm
    Rick i sense a little frustration having to deal with me, and i apologize for that. i was trying my best... it's just a bit overwhelming.
    MrC spent a couple hours explaining, and remoting with me. which although overwhelming as well, did shed some light.
    I always knew the options within jriver were quite extensive. But from what MrC had accomplished it really blew me away. he managed to help setup my recently imported as a recently acquired. which i've been hoping for for some time. ( i never asked for this in this topic. but it came about in passing during our remote session) He also explained to me grouping, and how "not to think "Abstractly" (which was one of my huge issues... i was thinking like a human, not  a computer) once i get all my recently imported (acquired) (5 star'd) re-set up for all views.. this will be perfect for our family.

    Thanks again guys.
    And MrC thank you for your time, explanations, and above all great patience with me.


    Rick i would like to offer cookies as MrC suggested. (if you would pm me your paypal address, I'd be happy to send over some $ for your time and help. (this issue of mine took alot of your time)

    MrC I'd still like to reimburse you for your time and efforts as well, And if you have more time in you. I would love to tackle these other views (standard view images, video's all set to acquired and tackle this 5 star view) once i have these completed.. i think i can accomplish the theaterview, and gizmo views by cross comparing our steps. (and would actually like to tackle those on my own so that i can hopefully learn these expressions, and how to handle these views and rules on my own for future additions i may need) and who knows maybe be able to help lighten your guys loads, and help others in the community :) There really is this sense of gratification when you can get jriver to sort to your liking.
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 15, 2012, 12:45:56 pm
    i would like to ad one more thing...
    A request. to have an auto date aquired field. For us less advanced. this view is REALLY cool!
    if our systems, crash, or we have to redo our libraries... it remembers when items were written to disk, so that our recently imported is always upto date.. I've been battling this issue for some time. and i always hear it from the family. well how come nothing is set up as recently imported? you just redid everything now all the files are mixed up again (i'm seeing files in recently imported that ive seen years ago, where is the order chris)

    I know jriver gets lots of requests. But i think this would be one feature that would really benefit us less advanced. (from what MrC has explained as long as i tag all new files with date aquired... any crashes or new installs. those files will show up in my library as when they were written, not when they were imported into jriver. allowing friends, family, and myself to go back a month, year if need be (even though system was just installed) and see what was imported then.

    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 15, 2012, 04:50:02 pm
    MrC.. i think i understand now what you mean by acquired will work until files have moved from one drive to another. i managed to get all video files sorted by date acquired ( but starting 4/6/2012 while looking at All Files in order of date acquired) all my personal, family, self help, and funny vids from around the net videos are showing up in the list right away at the 4/6/2012 date location... This is due to increasing the size of that family drive to a 3 tera drive...so therefor creation (acquired) starts from that copy..correct? I looked at the properties of one of the files in question, and the earliest date for it is 4/6/2012

    but now that we have acquired in place. as long as i fill in =FormatDate([Date Created,0],Date) for all new imports. if there is a crash OR i upgrade my drives to large ones then jriver will read that sidecar file of Date Acquired. and i should be good from here on out?

    I think i may get lucky on all these videos because (for some reason the date/time is showing correctly in jriver, even though they are no longer in the file properties!) maybe it's possible to use those dates/times to save that whole Tera and a 1/2  of Date/Time Dates?
    Notice the file highlighted says date Acquired, and Date created 4/6/2012, but the Date says the Correct date of 12/4/2004
    (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c36/Xtacybyme/Forum%20Comment%20Pics/familyvids.jpg)

    I think I should be able to open up all files in jriver, chose sort by filename, then goto the family HDD, and select those folder years, then maybe chose move date to date created? then follow that up with a =FormatDate([Date Created,0],Date) in date acquired?

    this seems a tad risky to jump into on my own... But from the looks of it.. i may have gotten lucky :)



    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: MrC on May 15, 2012, 05:19:31 pm
    We created the Date Acquired field so that you can manage and maintain a date that is distinct from Date Created and Date Imported.  It means:

       "What date did xtacbyme acquire this file?"

    Date Created is the date that Windows (or other OS) sets on the file's properties when the file is created.  This date can change when you copy the file from one location to another.  So it isn't reliable for your purposes of ensuring the actual date when you acquired the media file.  MC captures this initial date when it imports a media file, or when you update properties from a file.

    Date Imported is managed by MC, and doesn't change.  It is the date that MC imported the file into the current library.  A new library means a new Date Imported.  So it too is not reliable for your purposes.

    With your own Date Acquired, you initialize it once per media file.  You can use any date you want, but we used the Date Created to prime the pump.  From here on out, you don't need to change this date for a given file (unless you want to).  For new media file imports (e.g. new files you acquire), set their Date Acquired field either manually, or via the method we worked out yesterday (which you describe above).
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: rick.ca on May 16, 2012, 01:20:21 am
    So long as there are distinct categories, the sort criteria can work.  The problem was that, an Artist X, had two different albums Y and Z, each with different import dates.  So it was not possible to sort an Artist category by Import Date.  By adding a date anywhere to the Artist category name, it splits the Artist category into X (Dy) and X (Dz), sorting the entire category list can work (there is now a 1-1 match with the sort buckets and the number of categories).

    OIC, I think. This sort of detail often doesn't stick with me, and I suppose my recently imported files don't illustrate the issue well. But I've run into a strange issue in trying to change my view. I can't find it now, but it seems to be the same thing xtacbyme ran into at one point. That is, I'm unable to save the revised sort in a preset. As stated above, the preset I used was...


    So based on your explanation (although I'm not completely sure this how to do it) I replaced (2) with the expression field [Artist] [Date Imported] (which I later changed to [Artist] [Date Imported, 0]). Each time I attempted to do so, (2) reverted to [Artist] (descending). I tried everything I could think of to make it stick—deleting the preset and starting from scratch, saving it with a different name, changing views (to force it to be saved) and restarting the program at various points in the attempt, attempting to save it in a different view—nothing worked. Further testing indicates the problem is with (2) alone—it doesn't matter whether the other fields are included or not.

    This really seems like a bug, but I wonder if I'm missing something obvious. :-\

    Rick i sense a little frustration having to deal with me, and i apologize for that. i was trying my best... it's just a bit overwhelming.

    Sorry if that showed. Instead of cookies, I'll accept your indulgence in considering my unsolicited advice... :-X

    Frustration is the first step to nowhere. Declaring yourself stupid means you're there and unlikely to return.

    I know these things are frustrating (like whatever it was I just experienced and could not resolve), but I suggest you try this. When you ask for, and someone offers help, try to use that as an opportunity to let the frustration go. Try to forget the outcome your hoping for, and let the helper worry about that. Your job it to focus all your attention on following the instructions as carefully as you can, and then reporting the outcome. The helper is not going to mind if you did your best, but didn't get the same result. If you can calmly report what you did and what happened, we can usually zero in on what went wrong. The problem might be ambiguous instructions as likely as how you followed them. Neither is perfect.

    You might also get the result the helper intended, but that's still not what you want. It's okay to say so. But the helper needs to know you were able to do what they suggested, and now are now trying something, or need more help to do so.

    As for the stupid thing, you're not. No one who manages a computer network and a massive media collection with MC is stupid. You might think differently than me, but that doesn't make me smarter. In fact, I don't have a high IQ. I'm just stubborn and enjoy learning how to do things. Hopefully, I can use that to my advantage, and sometimes help others. And of course, it works both ways. I can't regex my way out of a wet paper bag. But I don't need to—I've got MrC for that. ;)
    Title: Re: how to get recently imported to keep artists together?
    Post by: HTPC4ME on May 29, 2012, 03:49:10 pm
    i just wanted to touch base with both of you.. I've had to put this on the back burner for the time being.
    Mr.C, Rick.ca thank you for all the time and help.
    I will revisit this hopefully in the upcoming weeks.
    Rick.ca thanks for advice.