indexArtwork : feature request

[simoncn]

Thanks for these suggestions. See below for my responses.

(02-04-2025 11:38)eseb63 Wrote:  Would it be possible, if a picture is not found for an index value, to get the index entry one ? the index entry picture would be the default picture for its values, overrided by the tag value picture if any.

This would be possible and I think it is a good idea. I will put it on my to-do list.

Quote:I use artist tag as LastName, FirstName [instrument]

I use also an instrument index tag, but since it is not possible to get the list of artists playing a given instrument, you suggested that I create index tags pianist, violinist etc... which I did on the form lastName, firstName (see https://forum.minimserver.com/showthread.php?tid=7475)

So i would need that picture searching ignore the suffix if any, to avoid having to duplicate artist images (one with suffix, one without).

This ties in with the request you accepted in this thread to ignore the suffix for reverseName (https://forum.minimserver.com/showthread.php?tid=7466)

Quote:Endly, it would be handy that a picture would be shown, regardless the name form. lastName, firstName vs firstName lastName : it would avoid having to rename all pictures if changing reverseName option.

When designing the index artwork feature, I considered various options for how artwork files should be named (original tag value, tag value as modified by tagOptions/tagValue/tagFormat, etc.) The chosen approach was that the artwork filename must match the index entry shown in a control point when browsing. This is simple for the user to understand and enables MinimServer browsing and searching to perform efficiently.

Allowing alternatives for image filenames and describing in the user guide how and when these alternatives can be used would add significant complexity for users. It would make the implementation more complex and impact browsing and searching performance because of the need to parse every index entry for characters such as comma, parentheses and brackets and look for an alternative image filename. It would also require inverting the reverseName mapping, which isn't possible in some cases (Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Eliot Gardiner, Josquin des Prez).

For all these reasons, I don't think it would be a good idea to change the current design and implementation.

As you have pointed out, the current design means that with some tagging and indexing schemes it might be necessary to create multiple files containing the same image. Perhaps it would be possible to do this with a script that automates making copies of image files as required.