Suggestion to avoid mandatory steps when browsing

[winxi]

Hi, i would like to suggest to omit the mandatory steps when browsing the library. An example would be if there is only one album by a certain artist available (and the other tags of the album titles like year and genre do not differ). If i choose this artist, it would be nice to come directly to the album view without the step to choose this album before, which would be the only choice anyway.

Just a thought, maybe there is a specific reason for the current handling.

[simoncn]

(14-08-2012 14:56)winxi Wrote:  Hi, i would like to suggest to omit the mandatory steps when browsing the library. An example would be if there is only one album by a certain artist available (and the other tags of the album titles like year and genre do not differ). If i choose this artist, it would be nice to come directly to the album view without the step to choose this album before, which would be the only choice anyway.

Just a thought, maybe there is a specific reason for the current handling.

This is working for me. Perhaps I don't understand the scenario correctly. You should see a single complete album with no other selections. Are you asking for the album to be opened automatically and show you the album contents?

[winxi]

(14-08-2012 21:47)simoncn Wrote:  Are you asking for the album to be opened automatically and show you the album contents?

Yes, that was my intention. It would save the one mandatory step to choose the only album available.

btw, i noticed that if files from one specific album reside in different folders, MinimServer shows two or more instances of the very same album. the tags of all the album files are identical except for the 'Title'-tag. the files are mp3s with embedded album art.

[simoncn]

(15-08-2012 13:09)winxi Wrote:  

(14-08-2012 21:47)simoncn Wrote:  Are you asking for the album to be opened automatically and show you the album contents?

Yes, that was my intention. It would save the one mandatory step to choose the only album available.

Yes, I think I can do this. I'll try an experiment and let you know.

Quote:btw, i noticed that if files from one specific album reside in different folders, MinimServer shows two or more instances of the very same album. the tags of all the album files are identical except for the 'Title'-tag. the files are mp3s with embedded album art.

MinimServer doesn't automatically combine albums with the same album name in different folders. This is a feature, not a bug.

If you want to do this, you need to change the names of both these folders to include the string '[part]'. For example, if the folders are named 'My Album 1' and 'My Album 2', you should change the folder names to 'My Album 1 [part]' and 'My Album 2 [part]'.

[winxi]

(15-08-2012 13:38)simoncn Wrote:  Yes, I think I can do this. I'll try an experiment and let you know.

Great!

(15-08-2012 13:38)simoncn Wrote:  MinimServer doesn't automatically combine albums with the same album name in different folders. This is a feature, not a bug.

If you want to do this, you need to change the names of both these folders to include the string '[part]'. For example, if the folders are named 'My Album 1' and 'My Album 2', you should change the folder names to 'My Album 1 [part]' and 'My Album 2 [part]'.

I see. I came across this with compilations, as my folder structure provides different folders for each artist (which is clearly not ideal). I will consider changing my folder structure for compilations.

Many thanks for your continuing and outstanding support!

[psme]

(15-08-2012 13:38)simoncn Wrote:  

Quote:btw, i noticed that if files from one specific album reside in different folders, MinimServer shows two or more instances of the very same album. the tags of all the album files are identical except for the 'Title'-tag. the files are mp3s with embedded album art.

MinimServer doesn't automatically combine albums with the same album name in different folders. This is a feature, not a bug.

Disagree! A TAG reading server shouldn't care any folder structure! I can put all song in a single folder, or place each song in a separate folder, and still get the same browsing content as long as TAG values are correct. The actual folder structure is only for user's file management. IMO

[Briain]

(15-08-2012 13:52)winxi Wrote:  I see. I came across this with compilations, as my folder structure provides different folders for each artist (which is clearly not ideal). I will consider changing my folder structure for compilations.

Many thanks for your continuing and outstanding support!

If you have a good few compilations, it would be worth considering using the AlbumArtist tag as that provides an ideal way to deal with compilations. I now use that tag for all albums (i.e. including non-compilations) and thus use AlbumArtist as my main selection route (I very seldom need to use the artist container; I only use it only if I am trying to find a contributing artist).

Bri

[Briain]

(15-08-2012 17:50)psme Wrote:  

(15-08-2012 13:38)simoncn Wrote:  

Quote:btw, i noticed that if files from one specific album reside in different folders, MinimServer shows two or more instances of the very same album. the tags of all the album files are identical except for the 'Title'-tag. the files are mp3s with embedded album art.

MinimServer doesn't automatically combine albums with the same album name in different folders. This is a feature, not a bug.

Disagree! A TAG reading server shouldn't care any folder structure! I can put all song in a single folder, or place each song in a separate folder, and still get the same browsing content as long as TAG values are correct. The actual folder structure is only for user's file management. IMO

This was a Twonky feature (err, bug) that I have moaned about for many years, but they eventually told me they just could not fix it (which actually meant 'would not fix it').

You do need to consider using something to disambiguate same named albums. I've had to deal with this problem in Twonky (for years) where, for example, I had two albums called Red (Black Uhuru and King Crimson) and Twonky showed them as one big album called 'Red' (with all the tracks mixed up). I had to rename them Red (BU) and Red (KC) to separate them into two albums. There were many instances of this in my collection - even one or two triple examples - and it took me ages to sort it all out.

After sorting out the above, I always had to check there wasn't another album with the same name before adding a new one to my collection; it is one of the things I'll most certainly not miss about Twonky!!

[simoncn]

(15-08-2012 17:50)psme Wrote:  

(15-08-2012 13:38)simoncn Wrote:  MinimServer doesn't automatically combine albums with the same album name in different folders. This is a feature, not a bug.

Disagree! A TAG reading server shouldn't care any folder structure! I can put all song in a single folder, or place each song in a separate folder, and still get the same browsing content as long as TAG values are correct. The actual folder structure is only for user's file management. IMO

It *is* a feature, in that it was designed to work that way and has involved writing a lot of extra code compared with the lazy Twonky way of combining all tracks with the same album name. You might not like the feature, but that's a different matter.

If albums are combined incorrectly across different folders, the only way to uncombine them is to give them different names (as Bri has explained). This means you're unable to use the correct names for your albums. In my opinion, this would be a bug.

The MinimServer approach gives complete flexibility with album naming and also provides complete flexibility with folder structure by allowing the user to combine album tracks from different folders (or not) as desired.

[simoncn]

(15-08-2012 13:38)simoncn Wrote:  

(15-08-2012 13:09)winxi Wrote:  

(14-08-2012 21:47)simoncn Wrote:  Are you asking for the album to be opened automatically and show you the album contents?

Yes, that was my intention. It would save the one mandatory step to choose the only album available.

Yes, I think I can do this. I'll try an experiment and let you know.

Unfortunately, I've been unable to make this work. This is because of a limitation of the UPnP architecture and protocol.

Let's take the simple case of browsing to an Artist who has exactly one album in your collection (for example, Pink Floyd and The Dark Side of the Moon). The container hierarchy is:

(root)
--Artist
----Pink Floyd
------The Dark Side of the Moon
--------Speak to Me
--------Breathe
--------etc.
----other artists
--other tags

When you open the Pink Floyd container, you get a UPnP albumContainer titled The Dark Side of the Moon, and when you open this albumContainer, you get all the tracks.

You're asking for MinimServer to make opening the Pink Floyd container show you all the tracks from The Dark Side of the Moon. Thie would require MinimServer to create the following container hierarchy:

(root)
--Artist
----Pink Floyd
------Speak to Me
------Breathe
------etc.
----other artists
--other tags

or alternatively this hierarchy:

(root)
--Artist
----The Dark Side of the Moon
------Speak to Me
------Breathe
------etc.
----other artists
--other tags

With the first of these, the control point doesn't receive a UPnP albumContainer for The Dark Side of the Moon, which means it won't group the tracks together into an album (I tried this with Kinsky). With the second of these, the user doesn't see Pink Floyd in the list of artists, but sees The Dark Side of the Moon instead.

However, it would be possible for the control point to implement what you want. When it receives the Pink Floyd container from the server, and sees that it contains exactly one container (an albumContainer titled The Dark Side of the Moon), it could automatically open this albumContainer for you.