Relative path names inside m3u playlists : possible ?

[Andre Gosselin]

(22-10-2016 18:16)DavidHB Wrote:  @Andre Gosselin

Just a couple of points from my end. Firstly, I have not understood why you would wish to duplicate a playlist that is indexed and referenced by MinimServer (I assume of course that by 'duplicate', you mean 'produce another playlist that references the same set of tracks'), or why you need such a large number of playlists. MinimServer will put all the lists in the same place in its browse tree. What is the sequence of actions that requires a duplicated list?

Secondly, you might like to read (or re-read) the Microsoft Guidelines on path naming, which contains the following:

"A file name is relative to the current directory if it does not begin with one of the following:
- A UNC name of any format, which always start with two backslash characters ("\\") ... ;
- A disk designator with a backslash, for example "C:\" or "d:\";
- A single backslash, for example, "\directory" or "\file.txt". This is also referred to as an absolute path.
If a file name begins with only a disk designator but not the backslash after the colon, it is interpreted as a relative path to the current directory on the drive with the specified letter. Note that the current directory may or may not be the root directory depending on what it was set to during the most recent "change directory" operation on that disk."

So the point is that your system works because it happens to create valid relative paths. Using ".\" or "..\" as appropriate can also help you to ensure that relative paths remain valid when files are copied or moved.

David

David,
I get your point about the "current directory". I was just confused about what constitutes the current directory in the context of a playlist contents. Now I understand that, with MinimServer, the current directory is the one where the playlist file resides. Sorry for having been a bit slow to understand ...

I use playlists to manage compositions-by-artits (works). This explains the large number of playlists I have (> 1,000 for J.S. Bach, same for Telemann, etc). This number does not create problems, as long as the playllists are organized in a multi-level hierarchy, which can be navigated easily with minimserver through the [folder view]. I know that minimserver also serves all the playlists as a "flat" list in its top "Playlist" index, but the length of the list makes it unmanageable and painfully slow to browse.

The possiilyty offered by MinimServer to hierarchically oganize playlists is of an immense value for me, as this lets me manage and quickly browse a composer catalogue, and create all sorts of meaningful groupings of composers works. In my humble opinion, MinimServer shows here one of its best strengths.

Regards,
André