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[Mike Foran]

I'm trying to figure out if there is an expression that can be used for a "Disc # of" Library Field that can automatically set to the number of discs that share the same album name. So, for instance, if my "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" has 5 discs tagged in the set, the "Disc # of" tag would set to 5. If I added a new disc to the set, the "Disc # of" tag would automatically update to 6 without any intervention.

I feel like the expression is on the tip of my tongue but I don't quite have the knowledge to pull it off. Expression gurus, do you have some advice?

[Awesome Donkey]

Total Discs field is probably what you want.

[Mike Foran]

Answering my own question, I found an answer here that appears to be working: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=85233.0

[Mike Foran]

Ok I guess I was presumptuous. Something isn't working and I can't figure out what. In the post I linked to, MrC suggested this expression to determine the number of discs:

firstnotempty([Disc #,0],1) of load(v_discs_[album artist (auto)]_[album])

When I first used this expression in the Total Discs tag, it seemed to work. However, when I attempted to add a new disc to a album set, it did not update. Even weirder, after I closed JRiver and reopened it (thinking it might refresh), not it doesn't report any value for the total number of discs. So I just get "4 of" as the reply for the 4th disc instead of "4 of 4."

Confused.

[ferday]

Where did you "save" the variable?

Variables can operate strangely.  I usually "save" in a smart list, then load in a maintenance view, where I transfer the value to a standard field. 

Then normal views have no calculations and are much faster.  this can mean some small amount of manual intervention, but then it always works.

also, check that your [album artist (auto)] are indeed the same, since you've set it in the variable they need to be precisely identical.

[Mike Foran]

I had actually created a new library field and set it be 'expression' and then pasted the expression in there. Is that not a good way to do it?

Edit: And yes, I checked the Album Artist (Auto) to make sure it was all the same.

[ferday]

Try saving in a smartlist, and loading in a library field

[Mike Foran]

I'm honestly not sure how to do that. Researching the "load" command though, it seems it's made to load a global variable, which wouldn't apply properly to the individual albums as it would be global. I'm not sure I'm understanding that right though?

[ferday]

what expression(s) are you pasting? 

forgive my confusion.  a variable requires two parts: save and load.  IMO it's best to save in a smartlist (easily refreshed) and loaded in a field or view.

there are really only global variables. 

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Global_Variables

[Mike Foran]

Ok sorry, I wasn't quite understanding what was going on. Yes, I had not set up the 'Save' part of the function, and thus my 'Load' was not working. After researching this I found this thread (https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=79763.0) that walked through the steps. I'm still not entirely sure of the context, but I do understand that the View is setting the global variable which the Library Field can then pick up and parse. This appears to be working now. Thanks for your help.

[ferday]

FYI you don't need all the underscores

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,108605.msg752346.html#msg752346

this one has some explanations on what is happening with variables...they are still a bit of mystery though

[Mike Foran]

LOL yeah a mystery indeed. I hope to figure it out someday. Thanks for all your help!