Question about updating playlists

[NicoHades]

Hi folks,

i got a bunch of playlists here that i am updating (overwrite m3u file on harddrive) regulary.
Problem is the saved playlist is not updated in the playlist section of the library. i got to delete all playlists there and reimport them from the harddrive folder to have them updated. Is there a way to avoid this annoying reimport?

Bests,
Nico

[Aminifu]

In addition to user NicoHades' question, I've noticed that even after the playlists are deleted and re-added from their folder(s), the updated list IS shown in response to the main player's right-click menu option "Play - Playlists from Media Library", but it IS NOT shown in response to the playlist editor's "Manage Playlists" button's right-click menu option "Open playlist from Media Library" option.

To get the playlist editor to shown the updated list of playlists, I have to close and reopen WA. Is this normal behavior for classic skins?

Maybe an option is needed to control whether new and/or updated playlists should be automatically added to the media library and the right-click menu listings. Is there a plug-in to handle this? If not, DrO would you consider adding this to your "Jump To File Extra" plug-in?

[DrO]

Originally Posted by NicoHades

Problem is the saved playlist is not updated in the playlist section of the library. i got to delete all playlists there and reimport them from the harddrive folder to have them updated. Is there a way to avoid this annoying reimport

the original question comes down to media library playlists (ML playlists) being a separate copy of the playlist vs the external playlists which appear to be being created. the ML playlists are really just meant to be a repository to hold things (how i've been told it's meant to be from many years back).

it is possible to make the external playlists be the actual copy but that involves changing the 'filename' entry in %appdata%\winamp\plugins\ml\playlist.xml to point to the external files. there is no simple way otherwise to do it (and i think it needs to be done when Winamp isn't running) and would need to be done for all existing playlists and repeated when adding a new playlist.

otherwise known as a way but it's a pain in the bum and really the only way to expose a way to manually change that behaviour is in ml_playlists.dll directly.

Originally Posted by Aminifu

In addition to user NicoHades' question, I've noticed that even after the playlists are deleted and re-added from their folder(s), the updated list IS shown in response to the main player's right-click menu option "Play - Playlists from Media Library", but it IS NOT shown in response to the playlist editor's "Manage Playlists" button's right-click menu option "Open playlist from Media Library" option.

that would be a bug as the playlist editor menu is meant to update when the change happens as is meant to happen with pretty much all of Winamp's menus. so there's no need for anyone to make another plug-in or hack something in when it's a legit bug.

there's also a similar issue with Bento where the 'stored playlists' info view isn't updating as well but that's likely to be a bugger to fix since it stems from aspects of the modern skin engine (which i despise working on or with), the menu updating is likely something that's a simple thing to fix.

-daz

[Aminifu]

Hi DrO,

Thanx for the quick response. I understand about the lack of auto-updates of the playlists stored in the media library is the result of early design decisions and not likely to be changed. I can live with it (don't think NicoHades will be happy).

I was not sure that the update issue in the right-click menu was a bug (with the various quirks in the classic skins). Is it a known issue (sorry, did not do a search)? I assume it will be fixed in time.

[DrO]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

I was not sure that the update issue in the right-click menu was a bug (with the various quirks in the classic skins). Is it a known issue (sorry, did not do a search)? I assume it will be fixed in time.

i've not been aware of it though Winamp has been notorious for quirks with dynamically inserted menus and have done a number of such fixes over the years, as i've just sorted out for this one. it was due to ml_local.dll and ml_playlists.dll not correctly paying attention to the items each other added (since they're effectively inserted into the menu at the same place) which meant the ml_playlists menu essentially got ignored and caused the ml_local one to be double-created - just needs a specific id for the menu items and that's it sorted.

-daz

[Aminifu]

Cheers!!! Another bug bites the dust!

[NicoHades]

Originally Posted by Aminifu

don't think NicoHades will be happy

Well actually i am very happy since the hint of editing the xml file to point on the right file on my drive does the job perfectly. Sure it's a little bit handwork once per playlist but i generally spend a bunch of time in my music collection either way, so i am perfectly fine with that. Thanks alot DrO!

greets from Berlin

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by DrO

i've not been aware of it though Winamp has been notorious for quirks with dynamically inserted menus and have done a number of such fixes over the years, as i've just sorted out for this one. it was due to ml_local.dll and ml_playlists.dll not correctly paying attention to the items each other added (since they're effectively inserted into the menu at the same place) which meant the ml_playlists menu essentially got ignored and caused the ml_local one to be double-created - just needs a specific id for the menu items and that's it sorted.

-daz

This fix is in version 5.63.