Load Individual tracks error while in 'T' (track) search mode

[Calibrator]

Hi Peter,

another day ... another bug to squash

I felt the urge to listen to "Fanfare For A Common Man" this morning and couldn't remember which of the ELP albums it was on so used the 'T' (track) search function. When the search results were presented I realised it was on "Works Volume 1", so brought up the context menu to "Load Individual Tracks in playlist area", but when the resultant "Select Tracks" window popped up it was showing track listing from another album. The album listing shown was the PREVIOUS one I had used that "Load Individual Tracks in playlist area" function for, but while in the 'A' (album) search mode.

I tried this a couple of times and the results were consistent. I summise there is a residual array somewhere that isn't getting cleared.

Still works fine while in the 'A' (album) search mode

Hopefully you can replicate it there.

Cheers,

RGB ( Russ Gets Bugs )

[Calibrator]

hmmm .. I've just realised I may be using the above track search function in a way it wasn't designed for !

I rarely use this function ( track search ), and didn't realise the results list showed the individual tracks that contained the search text, as the end of the full track pathing was truncated to fit the gallery display panel.

All i really needed to do was dbl click on an entry and that track would be loaded ... no need to enter the 'Load Individual tracks ... ' function at all.

Who says you can't teach an  dog new tricks .. hehe

Still, would be nice to have the ability to load additional tracks for the same album should you wish.

Cheers,

Russ

[PeterSt]

Solved for the next version (0.9y-4).

Btw, clicking the Load button also works (which is more convenient when you have selected more than one item in the Library Area).

[Calibrator]

Thanks Peter .. will look forward to that.

While I have your attention, would you consider making a couple of mods to the way the artwork gets drawn in the 'Library' tab ? I've been spending many an hour now systematically going through my artwork ( updating, rescaling via Photoshop and adding 'back's etc ) and one annoyance keeps hounding me.

When you are working on an artist well down the alphabet ( eg. Little Richard ) and have the artwork for his albums in the central library pane showing, when you've finished updated his albums and want to continue with the next missing folder.jpg entry, the only ways I can figure out currently to show the continuing 'L' entries, is to use the " < " button at the top right of the explorer panel on the left, or press the 'folder name' one level higher, THEN, scroll through the middle panel until you see 'Little Richard' entries appearing. Once at that point you can then continue your viewing of coverart entries until you see the next one that needs correction or addition.

If that " < " button functioned in a manner that would remember the artist position you were on just prior to pressing it, and then adjusted the centre pane artwork to have that same artist showing following the button press, it would save me a HEAP of time in the longrun as I progress through the daunting task of updating my artwork.

Hope that makes sense. If not I will flood you with screen captures

A second mod would be the addition of a "reload cache" button, that, when pressed, would, as the names implies, rebuild your library display with any updates made to the gallery data. Currently, to see those updates, you have to exit XXHE and restart again, then click on the Library tab to get back to where you left off.

BTW .. I'm still getting my head around the "Remove selection from gallery" and "Delete all x-reference files from selection". It's bringing up some warning messages but it may just be the way I'm using it. Will discuss later after further playing.

Thanks as always,

Russ

[PeterSt]

Well, first of all I sure do recognize the need for something like a "back" (to where you were before) button,  generally meaning : you've changed the contents of the Library Area by whatever means (could be Search at the bottom), and now want to  go back to the contents it had before. Remember, my focus is on the Library Area, while yours might be on the Embedded Explorer merely;
Actually when I introduced the Saved Library Results, I was just working on that, but made these Saved Results" instead and never got around to that other thing. Only yesterday, me too, found myself again in lack of such a thing. So I guess it will be in soon now ...

Note : functionally this will do what you talk about, but, (as said) you seem to focus on the Embedded Explorer. Not sure though. If so, I think I need a little more explanation. Of course I know that using the Embedded Explorer "mangles" with the Library Area too, so all may come down to "my" solution (coming down to just going back to the Library Area contents from "before" (possibly as many times as you changed it during a session).

Quite another means I have in my mind for maybe two years now - and which seems much more powerful to me, is using something like "remove what you dealt with" from the Library Area. Just think of applying Galleries to Library Items (just because it has to be done), and each one you dealt with, disappears from the Library Area. When that is empty, you are finished. This just takes one set On / set Off button, and all what you apply (whatever that is, could even be loading for playback) gets removed while in the set On state.

A second mod would be the addition of a "reload cache" button

I guess it depends on what you did to imply the contents changed, because that just should be in there. Also, I am not sure whether you explicitly talk about that cache (from the latest version) not wanting to refresh, or that you may be talking about something which has been in there like it is for always. Note that the literal refreshing of the cache has been applied to all the functions I could think of needing that (like renaming to Folder.jpg), but I didn't test them all. So, maybe things are not working properly, or I forgot a few (or it never worked for the function concerned).
If you talk about changing things behind the back of XX, yes, then such a button is needed.

BTW .. I'm still getting my head around the "Remove selection from gallery" and "Delete all x-reference files from selection".

What I found the other day, is that I seem to have made the first with the prerequisite of having loaded *Gallery* items in the Library Area, while the second requires original data in the Library Area. There may be more of these functions (Show Original Location comes to mind) which were made for either of those two very different environments, while I never thought of "the other environment" existing at making it. Now, when you are coincidentally in the "wrong" one, you won't understand anything of it, because the purpose might even nog be there. Example : applying the removing of XX references to Gallery data a. makes no sense, b. will destroy the structure (the latter because it will just do its work I guess, while it was not made for *that*). The other way around, it *is* useful when applied to original data (like whe you just deleted all your Galleries), was indeed made for that, but if the "connected" Galleries are there, they stay, but won't be part of the deal when you after this removal start to rename coverart etc.
All 'n all I have been creating some functions which may be nice, but require the knowledge of their purpose, while checking for the correct application is not being performed, and often not even is possible.
I guess it needs an explicit work through from my side, adjust Tooltips where needed, and build in the checks where possible.

Anyway, don't hesitate to bring forward whatever seems strange or wrong, so we can put that behind us fast.
Peter

[Calibrator]

I guess it depends on what you did to imply the contents changed, because that just should be in there. Also, I am not sure whether you explicitly talk about that cache (from the latest version) not wanting to refresh, or that you may be talking about something which has been in there like it is for always. Note that the literal refreshing of the cache has been applied to all the functions I could think of needing that (like renaming to Folder.jpg), but I didn't test them all. So, maybe things are not working properly, or I forgot a few (or it never worked for the function concerned).
If you talk about changing things behind the back of XX, yes, then such a button is needed.

Hi Peter, sorry for the delay in getting back on this one.

Perhaps if I outline my workflow when progressively adding or updating my cover art it may give you a better idea of what I'm experiencing.

I start by having two explorer windows open .... one showing the contents of the Galleries, the other showing the contents of the actual music files that resides on my data drives.

I also have Photoshop open and Firefox.

After starting XXHE I click on the 'library' tab, then, in the left panel, choose the high level 'grouping' name. This could be the 'genre' name as used by others, but I keep it simple here and is just a reflection of the actual harddrive volume I reference. In this case they are called 'M1, M2, M3 etc'. Under 'M1' I have the folders laid out by artists, then underneath them the album names. Pretty standard affair.

So, clicking on 'M1', brings, a short moment or two later, all the folder art showing in the middle panel. Using the vertical scroll slider control ( on the right side), or clicking in the middle and using my mouse wheel, I move down until I see the first gap in the folder art I need to add ( or alter for that matter if I see something amiss).

Having identified the album that needs work, I will find that folder in the second of the explorer windows and look at the contents. The necessary artwork may be there already but incorrectly named, or may be in an incorrect subfolder, or simply missing altogether. If it's the former I will make the necessary changes, if it's the latter I will jump to the Firefox window and type the artist/album name into the Google toolbar and see what results come back. By clicking on the 'images' link at the top of the Firefox page I normally see many examples of the cover art I am seeking, and then choose the one larger than 500x500 pixels if that is available. A tip for those who are unaware ... you can drag and drop that image from your internet browser window into your album folder and you will have a copy of it ready for use.

I am aware of the 'Get Data from Internet' option within XXHE but I find the above method yields better results.

At this stage I may choose to further edit that image in Photoshop.

Knowing I will need to update that album's 'gallery' entries at some stage, I go to the first explorer window I referred to and delete the entire contents for that album from the 'Galleries' subfolder. I do this primarily to remove the 'x-reference ......' entry as it is my understanding that having multiple entries of those is not a good thing. In a similar light, I also remove the 'x-reference...' from the corresponding data folder. I realise there is a menu option to do that in XXHE but I find it easier to remove that file while having the explorer window open anyway.

I now need to rebuild the gallery data for the album I've just amended, so I then click on the [...] button at the bottom of the library panel. This brings up a 'Browse For Folder' window, and I then navigate to the artist's folder, and click OK. The path name is inserted into the search field, and I then click the 'Search' button. This brings up the albums for that artist in the middle panel as expected, which now includes the new additions or alterations. I then select the appropriate amended entries and use the 'Add to Gallery' function.

Having corrected the albums for that artist, I now want to move onto the next, so I click on the 'M1' entry in the left 'explorer' panel and a few moments later the centre panel fills up again , starting at the first entry. I then scroll down till I see the artist I just amended, and it is here that I notice the folder art is not showing the amendments, as the folder cache has not been rebuilt. If I exit XXHE and restart, then click on the 'library' tab, it will then show the new amendments.

Note: If the 'Thumbnail Cache Size' is set to zero on the 'Settings' tab, then the folder art gets shown in it's updated form immediately.

To my mind, any function that involves rebuilding part of the gallery, should also trigger a reload of the folder cache. Perhaps this could be made an option with a tickable box alongside the folder cache parameter.

I have assumed for some time now that those 'x-reference...' files should only appear singularly. If that isn't the case could you highlight that point please Peter.

One final question .. when you use the 'Add to Gallery' function, do you purge the entry already there ( if it exists ), or simply add the corresponding references from the actual data folders? Again, I would think it wise to check for the presence of an entry, and if so, delete it before rebuilding to make sure the gallery structure mimicked the data structure.

Suggestions of a better workflow practice to get my folder art completed would also be welcome from anyone.

As always, thanks for your help.

Russ

[PeterSt]

G'day Russ !

I will focus on a workflow like yours, which functionally could be anyone's. I may change the physical way of working, but the net result should be something which is 10 times faster. Well, or something like that.

I have assumed for some time now that those 'x-reference...' files should only appear singularly.

Well, a couple of things here;

First off, I don't see what it exactly is you want to see (or thought it should be) singularly ? Also, in order to understand what is going on with those files, they are just 1:1 representatives of (ever !) existing folders, or IOW their names are unique to that (which you can't see much, but it is so).

Next, it may depend on where you see "non sigular" references (reference files) because you have them at the Original Location and you have them in the Gallery Entries themselves. Now :
If there are more x-Reference at (in) the Original Location, this just means you have made more than one Gallery from that particular "location". Like Jazz and Drums for a David Weckl album. These two x-Reference files exist for the technical reason of XXHighEnd being able to find the Gallery Entries at adding or renaming CoverArt (so it will update both Jazz and Drums).

On the Gallery side things may look confusing, because there too, in Jazz as well as in Drums you will see the both x-Reference files for Jazz and Drums. This time, this acts as information to you, because since these files appears in the CoverArt (rightmost, third) pane, wherever you come from (even the Original Location) you will see the album denotes Jazz and Drums. The x-Reference files in the Gallery folders are (momentarily) not used by the system (but the x-Reference files in the Original Locations are !!).
Do not get confused by the fact that the contents of the files seem to denote wrong stuff, because it is not used (and you shouldn't look in there haha).

Allright. This is from the "work within XXHE only" point of view. This view, sadly, is not much practice, as your own workflow describes. Even more sadly, such a workflow is nothing wrong with, and the more things can be done from within Windows or whaver means, the better I would like it; just do what you're used to or what you feel the most confortable with. Btw one of the reasons I chose for the Gallery (physical) folder structure as how it is, instead of using a database for it (which would be a 100 times more easy and comfortable for myself).
The whole point of course is : this is about redundant data, and everything you do outside of XXHE won't update it. And, everything you do from withing XXHE is not what you (or me or anyone) want(s), besides that it all has to be made, and "all" never is all of course. However :

At working like this (outside of XXHE) you run into an additional problem : maintaining that redundant structure, which even comes down to maintaining the (proper) x-Reference files, while you yourself never use them. Yeah, but renaming one single xxx.jpg to Folder.jpg already won't work *if* you indeed don't maintain the structure. And in the end it is about some features within XXHE are really powerful and can't be done better/quicker otherwise.

In the very end it comes down to somehow me getting smarter and make the redundant process invisible, and although you perform everything from within Windows, the redundant structure is still maintained. Maybe I can make something for it ...

Peter

[Calibrator]

Thanks for the clarification Peter

One point I had overlooked ( due to my gallery structure being quite plain ), is the inclusion of an album in multiple 'groupings', and that would facilitate the need for multiple entries of those x-reference files, unless the text within those files contained the multiple pathings. That however, might go against your design logic as to how XXHE accommodates the seemingly endless combinations possible when creating the galleries.

I've just had a revelation though that is speeding up my workflow

By opening two XXHE sessions, I leave one pointing to the main grouping I'm progressing through, and use the other to do the navigating to the actual artists folders, and then use that same session to do the gallery creation function. The first session maintains its position from the list i'm working my way through. Seems to work quite nicely!

You can teach an dog new tricks after all

Cheers,

Russ

[PeterSt]

A tip for those who are unaware ... you can drag and drop that image from your internet browser window into your album folder and you will have a copy of it ready for use.

Another tip for those who are unaware ... you can drag and drop that image from your internet browser window into the Coverart Pane and you're done.

It took me a while to "disover" this myself, because I always tought images from the internet couldn't be dragged and dropped. However, since Russ pointed this out I now sat down to check it again, and found out that :

Only images which are not links can be dragged and dropped as an image; when it is a link it can be dragged/dropped also, but as a link (to the page it points to), which is usually no image at all. The difference between an image being a link or just an image can be seen easily by the cursor; when it is a hand with pointing finger it is a link, and when it is the normal arrow it is an image.

And I myself never saw this difference and obviously back then tried a link, which most images are.
E.g. the "most deep" shown images at Amazon are images indeed.
Btw, each type can always be downloaded by means of rightclick - save picture as, but this is a most awkward means because the default destination is determined per web site (domain) and never goes to your last used destination from a previous website.

Peter

[Calibrator]

A tip for those who are unaware ... you can drag and drop that image from your internet browser window into your album folder and you will have a copy of it ready for use.

Another tip for those who are unaware ... you can drag and drop that image from your internet browser window into the Coverart Pane and you're done.

Nice find there Peter !

I tried it with Firefox and it didn't work, so I loaded up Internet Explorer ( bleugh ! ) and that seemed to work OK. Used the 'Rename to Folder.jpg' context menu following the drag/drop.

This will speed up things immeasurably

Cheers,

Russ

EDIT: This is working GREAT !! So much easier now

[Calibrator]

I noticed it copied the folder.jpg into the gallery folders as well (  ), but there wasn't the usual folder.jpg.mta present. Is this likely to cause a problem later ?

Russ

[PeterSt]

I tried it with Firefox and it didn't work, so I loaded up Internet Explorer ( bleugh ! ) and that seemed to work OK.

But now you are saying that dragging from Firefox into an Explorer folder does work, and drag it into the XX Coverart Pane does *not* work ? That seems odd to me.
Does this small plus (+) appear when dragging over the Coverart Pane ?

I noticed it copied the folder.jpg into the gallery folders as well (  ), but there wasn't the usual folder.jpg.mta present. Is this likely to cause a problem later ?

No. In fact, the folder.jpg.mta files are surrogate metadata files, used nowhere. They can (or will) be created at creating a Gallery entry, but are not much maintained because they are just not used. The coding creating them in the first place should be deactivated (I think this may count for a few more file types).

Peter

[Calibrator]

But now you are saying that dragging from Firefox into an Explorer folder does work, and drag it into the XX Coverart Pane does *not* work ?

Yep .. that's what happens here. Firefox allows me to drag/drop onto an explorer window, but NOT onto the rightmost panel in XXHE. It brings up an error message ( see attached )

Does this small plus (+) appear when dragging over the Coverart Pane ?

A get a little symbol with a '+' sign on it appearing as soon as the mouse moves to any portion of that panel.

No big calamity .. I will just use Internet Explorer for this task. If you can figure out why Firefox is refusing to co-operate that would be great but don't spend too much time nutting it out.

Russ

[PeterSt]

Puh, maybe I pass this on to a(n ERP) customer of mine who works on Firefox.

Now let's see where my MS friends are ...
hehe

[PeterSt]

One other thing :

I have been working all day on the Library Area in conjunction with Embedded Explorer to create a sort of intuitive "going back to where you came from" via the Back button (the one denoting <). Whether this helps you with your Ozzy Workflow (now changed) I can't tell, but I do know I have been longing for such a thing myself for a long time. When you have it (0.9y-4) : this is based upon the last "set" Saved Result List, whichever that is. Now, at clicking the last level of "back" it always returns to that list and at the position you left it.

Of course this makes good use of the Saved Result Lists feauture itself, so no matter you'd have all your tracks in the Library Area (what is that ? some 200,000 ?), your'e back in a fraction of a second where you where.

I think I'll add to this an easy reachable button doing something like "Save Current Result under a temporary name", so when you want to step aside but know you want to come back later wherever it was you were, you will be back there at using the last level of <.

Maybe there even comes a time I like it myself !