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[jabo1961]

I first thought of using JRiver to handle Movies & TV Shows...but I was going to leave all of my music alone on MediaMonkey.  I know, right?  I needed to have a theater view for the house and Kodi started giving me problem after problem, so I figured I'd try this 30-Day evaluation with JRiver.  Now, I've decided to migrate my music library in JRiver for one stop shopping.  My music library was about 130,000 songs (Lots of Bootleg concerts for my favorite bands) and I spent months getting it into shape with MM. 

Migrating my music to JRiver has been a miserably slow process, but it's mostly my fault.  One reason I decided to use JRiver for music was for the .cue/.flac (or .ape or .wv, etc) support.  MediaMonkey doesn't support that natively and I feel like crying when I think of how many .flac files I had to split with CUE Tools so MM could work with the individual tracks - it's the only way it knows how, natively.  I recently learned there was a custom script that would load .cue files, but by time I learned about that I had already made the decision to go with JRiver for my music too.  And we all know there are no takesy backsies allowed. 

I'm starting to come around to the way JRiver works, but there are a lot of things I don't care for and/or have not gotten used to.  Also, I have read so many posts on this forum here and elsewhere and people are talking about how powerful JRiver is and how you can do so much...but unfortunately, I can't seem to find any examples of these wonderful possibilities.  I was hoping to find some videos on YouTube for Mid-Skilled and Advanced-Skilled usage of JRiver.  The only videos I found were 15 minute videos explaining how to import music files or some other very basic functions that most people would have no trouble figuring out in 5 or 10 minutes.

I do believe that in time I will come to love JRiver.  I know that it's hard to make major software switches.  15 years of MediaMonkey usage in a bit different than 15 weeks of JRiver.

I feel your pain , I've been almost exactly where you are . I had a mountain of bootleg concerts on cds and on my hard drive and tried various methods of cataloguing . I came across JRiver media jukebox but quickly changed to MC17 as I also had hundreds of dvd and video files. It's quite a daunting process and very time consuming transferring physical media to what I now have as multiple hard drives each with a backup (but that's a different issue) I also found it a fun process , jriver quickly started to arrange my files into what it thought was the correct categories . Through time I've come to modify and tweak things to my liking with advice via mostly the forum and less so the wiki . A lot of the fun is just trying different settings , just remember to make constant library backups so if you make a mistake or get lost you can always return to where you were. The audio through JRiver is awesome , whatever your filetype is. So stick with it , you will not regret it and don't be afraid to ask.

[Spike1000]

Some videos in my footer. . . Not sure if they are the ones you've seen as they are aimed at getting started, upgrading and configuring.

I'm resigned to fact that JR doesn't have a 'marketing department' or anyone who's interested in using video to promote how powerful MC is to the masses. I did my own as it took me far less time than answering the same questions over and over and it's good to share  Interesting test of my knowledge and understanding and fun too 

Hopefully someone else will have a bash but in my 4 or 5 years on the forum I've never see another video demo or walk through. The irony isn't lost.

Spike

[alb]

Thank you for sharing the links to your videos Spike1000.  Fortunately, I have already advanced past the very basics, but I'm sure your videos will help many people who are starting off.  I'm really trying to get a handle on Expression Language.  I don't think I need anything too fancy, but then again, maybe I just don't know that I could be doing things more easily.

An example that has me pulling my hair out right now:  I wanted to create a Custom View underneath Video.  The title would be Blockbuster Films.  The condition that needs to be met in order to appear on this list is to have Gross Revenue of $100,000,000 or higher.  I know that's not an industry definition, but it's what I wanted.  When I get into the part to make the rules that determine what shall be displayed, I can't figure out what kind of formula I need.  I've been reading https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Expression_Language but there is something I am missing because I can't seem to get that to work.

Any suggestions?

[blgentry]

This particular task of comparing the [Gross Revenue] field to $100,000,000 seems straight forward, but in JRiver land, it is kinda weird and complex.  Let me break it down for you:

First, you need to go into the Customize View dialog for your view and use the Set Rules For File Display dialog.  In Set Rules for File Display, you would normally use the drop down lists to choose a field and then choose what to compare to.  But if you select Gross Revenue, you'll see that it only contains comparisons like "is" and "contains".  That's because [Gross Revenue] is a STRING type field!  Which makes this job much less fun.  But we can still do it.

It means we need a custom expression to manipulate the data into a form that we can use.  So you'll want to use the "import/export" button at the bottom left of the Set Rules For File Display dialog.  This will allow you to enter your custom expression more easily without MC trying to do any formatting for you.

First, we need to make [Gross Revenue] of a format that we can use for numerical comparisons.  Namely it needs to be only numbers.  So let's remove the "$" and "," characters:

Code: [Select]

removecharacters([gross revenue],$/,,0)
Notice the "/" before the "," in the 2nd field.  Comma is a special character for MC, so I had to 'escape' it by putting a "/" in front of it.  It's already weird right?  That's ok, let's move on.

So this leaves us with a bare numerical field which we can use for comparison.  Let's add that comparison:

Code: [Select]

[compare(removecharacters([gross revenue],$/,,0),>,100000000)]
This is comparing our bare value to 100,000,000 and seeing if it is greater than (>).  Great!  We're almost there.  Now it gets really weird.  I could explain this if you'd like, but for just a moment take this syntax on faith.  Any time you need to do a custom field like this, that does a test, you need to add this around it:

Code: [Select]

[=MC_Expression_Here]=1
Kinda weird, but not too bad.  So our final custom expression becomes:

Code: [Select]

[=compare(removecharacters([gross revenue],$/,,0),>,10000000)]=1
Cut and paste that into your import/export box and save it.  It should now work as you expect.

Brian.

[tij]

Be careful ... string (basically text) conversion to numbers relies on specific layout of the string ... so in expresiion providec by @blgentry, something like “$ 200 million” will not pass through ... and there are ofcourse currencies issues like £

It is nearly impossible to write expression to cover all possible thing ppl type as Gross Revenue ... but ... you can modify whats have been dowloaded by scrapers to follow the format that will work with expression that @blgentry provided ... ie manually replace “$ 200 million” to “$200,000,000”

then possibilities expand lol ... can put movies in categories like revenue between 0-1mil ... 1 mil to 10mil ... etc

[alb]

Thanks tij!  And thank you, very much, Brian!! 

I knew that dollar sign ($) was going to require some massaging to get a working expression for listing only movies over $100,000,000.  I just couldn't figure out what it might be.  I learn so much quicker when I can see something specific, like this whacky View I'm trying to make, in a working form.  Now, as I read the expression you've given me it's not nearly as complicated.  It still looks FAR from easy...but, I never expected to become an expert on my first attempt.  To be honest, I don't even know if I'm going to keep that View (Movies > 100000000) but I want to try different things - practicing expression writing is the only way I'll ever truly get it.

The very first thing I tried was using the drop-downs, but as you pointed out there is no Greater Than or Less Than qualifiers.  Fortunately, I quickly figured out that using the Import/Export window would allow for the entry of more complex expressions...so I felt like I was starting to go down the right path. 

One of my first thoughts was that I would need to use the IsEqual(…) Function.  I was getting nowhere, so then I thought I actually needed the Compare(...) Function. 

Code: [Select]

Description Compare(value1, operator, value2)
The Compare() function compares two numeric values value1 and value2 using the specified operator.

Available operator values:

= Equivalence
< Less than
<= Less than or equal to
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal to
Outputs 1 if the comparison is true, and 0 otherwise.

Examples compare([bitrate], <, 320)
Returns 1 when the bit rate is less than 320 (Kbps), and 0 otherwise.I thought, "Perfect!  I can use Greater than or Greater than or equal to and all will be right in the world..."    Yeah, that didn't work so well for me...but then I thought to myself, "Using the example testing for Bitrate being less than 320, it returns a 1 or 0.  How is that going to help me?!"  Oh, my tiny brain started to swell, almost to the bursting point. 

So, once again...Thank you very much for explaining in detail why the expression is what it is.  I'm not one to just ask for help after 3 minutes of failing.  Just asking for the answers doesn't help one learn.  I appreciate your time. 

-Chris

[blgentry]

I'm glad that was helpful.

I was thinking about this 10 minutes later on my way to a meeting and realized that this might seem more useful if this numerical value for [Gross Revenue] was stored in the database and was updated automatically every time [Gross Revenue] was populated or changed.

In MC they call this kind of field a Calculated Data Field.  This allows you to create a new field, that uses a saved expression.  This expression can use one or more existing fields and all of the expression language functions are available.  So in this case, you could take our expression for sanitizing the [Gross Revenue] field and make a new field out of it called something like [Gross Revenue Numerical].

Then your comparison expression would look a little more sane, because it would be less complex and would use your new field.  Something you might play with.  These saved expressions as fields can be pretty useful for various things.

Brian.

[adiebear]

Some videos in my footer. . . Not sure if they are the ones you've seen as they are aimed at getting started, upgrading and configuring.

I'm resigned to fact that JR doesn't have a 'marketing department' or anyone who's interested in using video to promote how powerful MC is to the masses. I did my own as it took me far less time than answering the same questions over and over and it's good to share  Interesting test of my knowledge and understanding and fun too 

Hopefully someone else will have a bash but in my 4 or 5 years on the forum I've never see another video demo or walk through. The irony isn't lost.

Spike

Thank you thank you thank you! I love MC but am a bear of little brain when it comes to 'puters.
Forum posts make the few cells glaze over rightquicksmart!
I will watch, even if I've covered the ground, cos I may not have covered it well. More please, if you please.

[alb]

blgentry -- I know a lot of time has passed, but I have been dealing with a loss in the family.  Unfortunately, that 'Rule for Display' - only showing movies with $100M+ Gross Revenue - isn't working correctly.  For some reason, it's showing films with amounts substantially lower than $100,000,000. 

It's not the end of the world.  To be honest, I wasn't even sure that I would keep that Display View, but I was trying to practice making unique views and I thought of the Gross Revenue idea.  However, I thought it would be prudent to let you know.   

[tij]

can you list some of the "offending" tags that got passed … their exact value … ie "$100million"

[alb]

Here is a screen shot of the Custom View I've been referring to as $100 Million Movies.  I positioned windows so you could see the "Rules for file display..." as well as the Gross Revenue column.  I hope this is what you were asking for.   

[blgentry]

Thank you TIJ for requesting a screen shot!  Thank you ALB for posting it.  The problem is pretty clear from the screen shot.  Your expression is missing a "0".  It's looking for 10 million or greater.  Add a zero and it will look for 100 million or greater. 

Brian.

[alb]

Is there an emoticon for the worlds biggest facepalm?  LOL  Boy, do I feel stupid...  It indeed did fix the issue.  I swore I double-checked that, but obviously I did not.  Thank you for your patience and your help.

There is yet one more strange thing I notice now when I select this view.  First off, I changed it to $300,000,000 grossing movies. $100M was too many.  Anyway, it only shows the $300M movies now just like I had hoped.  However, in my Customize View > Set Rules... I added a Sort By Gross Revenue.  It does, indeed, sort on the Gross Revenue column, however, it lists the $1B movies ascending first and listing the highest grossing movie in my library Avatar @ $2.7B it then lists the $300M movies in ascending order properly.  So, it's sorting based on the very first digit.  It starts with $1 Billion because it IS higher than my $300M rule.  Then it moves on to the movies that grossed $2 Billion.  There are no $3 Billion movies in my library so now it shows the $300M - $999M movies.  Not a huge deal at all.  Just wondering if there is any way to "fix" that.  Sorry to be such a pain...This is helping me understand so many things in JRiver.  I really appreciate it.  :-)

[RoderickGI]

That is because the [Gross Revenue] field you are sorting by is a string field, as mentioned by Brian above. MC sorted a string field character by character, left to right.

The solution is to create a numeric field and sort by that, as per Brian's [Gross Revenue Numerical] example above. Then the sort will work fine.

Or you could create an Expression Column in the View, and use the expression:

Code: [Select]

removecharacters([gross revenue],$/,,0)&datatype=[number]
which would convert the string value to a numeric value for correct sorting.

Although it seems I can't permanently sort a View by an Expression Column. I thought I used to be able to do that. So currently you would need to click on such an Expression Column to sort by it. Maybe the new field is a better idea.


Interestingly, the Compare function only compares numeric values, so MC must be intelligently converting the output string value to a numeric value to complete the comparison. Neat.