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[Ton]

Apparently I am doing something wrong or I don't understand something not well enough, but I don't know what.
When I click on "Artists" under Audio in the Tree, several artists are not shown in the Display Pane. I have, e.g., a number of albums by Bob Dylan, but I don't see any of them this way.
However when I choose "Panes" in the tree, I do see all albums by Bob Dylan when I scroll down to Bob Dylan under the Artists column.
What am I doing wrong here ? As far as I know most of my albums are tagged correctly.

[MrC]

In your panes view, add the following three columns side by side:

Artist
Album Artist
Album Artist (auto)

And have a look at :

   http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Album_Artist_and_Album_Artist_%28Auto%29

For albums by Bob, you'll want Artist set, and Album Artist cleared.  Always leave Album Artist (auto) alone - it is set automatically.

[Ton]

Thanks MrC for your reply, but I think I wasn't clear enough in my question.
When I click on Panes now (without having made changes) I get 3 columns in the top side of the Display Pane and one of these is Artists. There I can select, e.g., Bob Dylan and then I see all albums by Bob Dylan in the bottom part of the Display Pane. So that is all o.k.
BUT, when I select "Artists" directly in the Tree (in the left part of the MC window), I don't see all the artist from which I have albums (and only one from Bob Dylan) in the top part of the Display Pane.

[MrC]

For one of the Bob Dylan albums that doesn't appear, select all the tracks in the album.  In the Tag Action Window (set to Show All Tags), what are the exact values for see in each of the fields: Artist, Album Artist and Album Artist (auto)?

[Ton]

Artist = Bob Dylan
Album Artist = (Varies)
Album Artist (Auto) = Bob Dylan

Is something wrong there ?

[MrC]

There's (part of) the problem.

Clear Album Artist for all those tracks.  Select to edit the field in the Tag Action Window, and hit Delete.  Do likewise for Album Arist (auto) just in case you set some value there.  It will repopulate with the correct value.

[Ton]

I did exactly what you said. But it still doesn't work. That is, Bob Dylan with the album I retagged, still doesn't show up in the list Artists in the Display Pane.
However when I expand Artists in the Tree itself, I can select Bob Dylan, expand that and see all the albums.

Btw, I think it is easier for me to browse all the albums in File view. So I can see all the albums as they are stored on my drives in Artists folders in which are the album folders.

[MrC]

Hi Ton,

It would be nice to find the root of the problem.  I'm not yet convinced we're on the same page.

Regarding using explorer view - it is much slower as it is going directly to the file system, and bypassing the MC database.  Can I suggest instead creating a view that mirrors the idea of explorer, that does use the MC database for speed?

[Ton]

Thanks for your elaborate help again MrC.
I think I found the culprit meanwhile. It had nothing to do with MC.
This afternoon I took a look in the folder where the albums should be and it turned out that, somehow, a number of albums had disappeared. I wasn't aware of that until then.
I don't understand how this is possible, although I remember that I had some problems a few weeks ago where I also lost a few video's. Probably the missing albums were deleted by accident then too.

[MrC]

Gremlins.

[Ton]

Gremlins.

LOL 

Btw, I forgot to ask: How could I make a view "that mirrors the idea of explorer, that does use the MC database for speed" ?

[MrC]

Here are some ideas.  Create a new panes view in Audio, call it Disk location.

Pane 1:
   Type: Expression
   Name: Drive
   Expression: left([Filename (path)],2)

Pane 2:
   Type: File path
   Select Path: <your base music or media path here>

Pane 3:
   Type: Library Field
   Select Field: Filename (path)

The next two panes assume you have music stored as Artist\Album\files:
 
Pane 4:
   Type: Expression
   Name: Artist (from path)
   Expression: FileFolder(,1)
 
Pane 5:
   Type: Expression
   Name: Album (from path)
   Expression: FileFolder(,0)

Pane 6:
   Type: Library Field
   Select Field: File type

Pane 7:
   Type: Library Field
   Select Field: Filename (name)

You can re-order however you want, and add/subtract panes that make sense to you.  The key point is that you can use just about any information MC has gathered about imported files to drive your views.  So they are searchable, fast, and allow more internal tools to work.

[Ton]

Thanks again.
Something more to play/experiment with 

[Ton]

One more question.
I searched for it in the manual/wiki, but the info I found there was so overwhelming that it is not clear to me yet.
What is "Expression" ? What does it mean/implement ?
Is it possible for you to explain it in a few simple words ?

[MrC]

Expression: a (typically) small programming language "sentence" that allows you manipulate MC's data for your use:

   http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Center_expression_language

[Ton]

Thanks, that makes it a bit clearer to me.