tagUpdate enhancement

[simbun]

I'm trying to help someone transition away from foo_upnp (bubbleguuum's UPnP server within foobar2000 which has been deprecated for years), but one of the sticking points is foobars ability to use PATH (to separate content), so I was wondering if it would be possible to introduce #PATH into MinimServer's tagUpdate facility?

Ideally it would be a "startsWith" match rather than a full string match just to make it more powerful and concise (relative to the parent of the ContentDirectory root I assume), something like:

Code:

@#PATH=/Podcasts
+CONTENT=Podcasts

@#PATH=/Music/Classical
+GENRE=Classical

@#PATH=/Music/Pop Rock/Fleetwood Mac/1988 - Greatest Hits
+ALLMUSIC_URL=mw0001452888

It would also make some of my instructions much more concise as in some instances I'm altering TrackNumbers for which I currently have to use:

Code:

@TRACKNUMBER=01
&ALBUM=Brit Awards 2015
&ALBUMARTIST=Various Artists
&DISCNUMBER=02
=TRACKNUMBER=21

It may also help some of those users stuck using folder view because they prefer their definition of Genre to the online databases, to benefit from using tag view too.

[simoncn]

It isn't possible to do a "startsWith" match because of how tagUpdate is implemented. This would require all paths to be specified in full, which would rule out your first two examples.

Also, tagging programs such as Mp3tag allow bulk tagging of a selection of files, making it very easy to add GENRE=Classical to everything under the /Music/Classical folder or to add ALLMUSIC_URL=mw0001452888 to everything under the /Music/Pop Rock/Fleetwood Mac/1988 - Greatest Hits folder.

Regarding your comment about Genre, it should be no more difficult to create custom Genre tags when ripping an album than to create custom Genre-specific folders.

From a number of forum posts, I have the impression that people who use folder view do so either because their tags are in a poor state and they don't want to invest time in fixing this and/or because they have put a lot of time into creating a folder structure that exactly meets their needs. This would mean there is little prospect of getting these people to move to tag view.

[simbun]

(06-08-2023 20:32)simoncn Wrote:  It isn't possible to do a "startsWith" match because of how tagUpdate is implemented. This would require all paths to be specified in full, which would rule out your first two examples.

That's a shame, but I understand.

(06-08-2023 20:32)simoncn Wrote:  Also, tagging programs such as Mp3tag allow bulk tagging of a selection of files, making it very easy to add GENRE=Classical to everything under the /Music/Classical folder

Given he's mostly happy with the old software and there's no real urgency to change, retagging his 130k+ files is a little too much to ask, but I'm confident MinimServer could have mostly handled the rest (apart from defined drill hierarchies).

(06-08-2023 20:32)simoncn Wrote:  ... or to add ALLMUSIC_URL=mw0001452888 to everything under the /Music/Pop Rock/Fleetwood Mac/1988 - Greatest Hits folder.

I know these things can be automated, but updating, verifying and then backing up over 1TB of music isn't a trivial matter, whereas writing out a tagUpdate file is.
If the information is directly attributable to the release then I do generally push them to tags, but any enhancements generally go into tagUpdate, and I've found very little reason for them not to.

I think the tagUpdate functionality is a hugely powerful tool in the MinimServer arsenal, and one which is generally unknown/underappreciated.

[simoncn]

I understand that retagging a large library can be a large operation.

The tagUpdate facility was developed as a quick and convenient way to try out the effect of tag changes before applying these changes permanently to library files. It was not intended as a substitute for having a library tagged correctly.

Over time, tagUpdate has been enhanced in various ways and is now more powerful and more complex than the original design. At this point, it has been stretched about as far as the internal implementation will allow. Some users (generally those with an IT or technical background) are able to exploit its power and handle the complexity. Many other users would find creating a textual configuration file containing processing instructions to be an insurmountable barrier but would be able to use a tagging program. The current direction for MinimServer is to provide new features in ways that are accessible to all users.