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Author Topic: Make per field search fuzzy(er)  (Read 1353 times)

Pho3NiX

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Make per field search fuzzy(er)
« on: April 01, 2014, 11:14:37 am »

MC have a nice arrow in the artist and album field, to get more from same artist / more from same album.

Except as configured by default they really means "more from *exactly* the same" so

-> "Edith Piaf" won't match "Édith Piaf"
-> "Paco de Lucía" won't match "Paco de Lucia"

And probably worst

-> "Artist" won't match  "Artist feat. Another"

So in album view by clicking the arrow next to an artist name, I have a nice list of album by that artist (and it fit my intended usage).  However by clicking on an album sometime I only have tracks 1, 3, 5, 7 because track 2,4,6,8 have "ft xyz" and that really drive me crazy because I've spend last few days trying to fix incomplete album.

I know I can click on the arrow to complete the album however:
 a) I lose the result of the previous search I was really interested in
 b) The lower pane is now closed, I have to reopen it by double clicking the album
 c) Sometime the albums have naming inconsistency, I want to go and fix it, but the exact match nature of the arrow hide them from me.

I believe the search autocomplete "SomeName (Artist)" act like the arrow "-> SomeName "

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So what I would like:
1) Allow per field search to make fuzzy match on that field (and maybe related field like artist<-> album artist)

2) Have some quick way to expand search result (and arrow redirection) to full albums. Maybe emphasis matching track (or de-emphasis non matching)

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Overall I want to say thank you for such a useful program, and they are more irritant that impossibilities, but browsing for track / album is probably the activity I do the most so at the end it add up.
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MrC

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Re: Make per field search fuzzy(er)
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2014, 11:55:28 am »

As an FYI, the best results current for fuzzy matching are found via the Search box.  If you are looking for glyph or character variations, enter your name there, and view the results.  Then you can copy from a good field value and paste into an incorrect one.
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Pho3NiX

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Re: Make per field search fuzzy(er)
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2014, 10:46:37 pm »

Thank you MrC.

However that is not the point. I mean I can click on the arrow next to an artist name. I see the result for that artist. The name of the artist is even copied to the search box. In all aspect it look like a normal search. However it's not a normal search... it's an *exact* search. You can upgrade to the default fuzzy search by typing an extra letter then deleting it.

Can't we agree the interface is a bit confusing ? I'll even argue it make things a bit clumsy.

CASE STUDY: Try to list all album by one artist, play two of those albums (all tracks of them)

Suppose the artist is Hans Zimmer. I type "Hans", autocomplete propose "Hans Zimmer (Artist)"
Select album1 and album2, rigth click>play. Missing Songs !!

(It would work perfectly if all track artists where exaclty "Hans Zimmer". However about half of them are "Hans Zimmer & Someone Else")

Now suppose, I skip the autocomplete. I type "Hans Zimmer". I now have full fuzzy search and whole album are matched. Select album1 and album2, rigth click>play. Works !

Explained like that, it almost looks like a bug. It's not usual that accepting search suggestion make the result dramatically different. I can understand the search is now limited to a single field in parenthesis. But the difference in search behavior (exact vs fuzzy) was a surprise.


I beleive one problem I have with the interface is that when I interact with an album thumbnail, I think I interact with a whole album, rather than matched tracks, grouped by album.


Anyways that is the proper way to solve the case ? Supposing you landed on the exact artist search because of autocomplete or arrow "->"

double click album one,
click arrow next to album name,
right click on album > play
navigation back,
double click album two,
click on arrow next to album name,
right click on album two > More play option > Add Play now.

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Am I the only one bothered by how hard it is to manipulate full albums from inside search results ?
Did I miss some clever trick ?
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MrC

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Re: Make per field search fuzzy(er)
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2014, 11:02:05 pm »

Since I can't change the program, all I can do is give any workaround that I know about that might help you and others.  You're free to use them or not.
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