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...
- FormatDate([Date Imported,0], yyyy-MM-dd) (descending)
- [Artist] (ascending)
- [Released] (custom field—optional)
- [Album]
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...
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.