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***If this is best addressed in the portables forum, I apologize and request a thread move. Thanks!***
---EDIT: Hmm... now that I think of it my most immediate concerns would actually be addressed by simply making Autofill ask if I want to empty the device before filling, or not. So this will be my first and foremost request... no doubt already suggested someplace.---
Sync has problems. Backstory on the back, I'll list my suggestions first. Perhaps needless to say, some of these are more long-haul than others.
This is what I suggest:
*Merge Autofill and Sync in one Sync option which includes player capacity awareness and randomization options
*Since Winamp already includes metadata files on the player, add a database matching files on the player with local files, and perhaps throw in play count at the moment of copying too.
*Use this database to avoid copying transcoded or duplicate tracks to local media, to prune tracks that were deleted on the device from local media (perhaps a toggle to enable or disable that would be good in the preferences), to spot new tracks and to work out the combined play count.
*To make the thing more tamper-resistant and allow on-the-fly tagging on networked devices, a unique identifier (a hash of the audio data stream) could be generated at the time of transfer and attached to both the local library entry and a device-side library entry. That way, even if the filenames or even tags get somehow altered in the device, it would still be possible to work out whether the file is unique (and depending on the settings, perhaps even update tags in the local library).
I'm not sure how computationally intensive the generation of such a hash would be, but USB transfers are generally quite slow, and even netbooks (and some smartphones) nowadays have dual-core CPUs of which the transfer can only leverage one and the hash really doesn't need to be too fancy. The hash could also be updated when the track is played in the local library, avoiding creating it when transferring anything but unplayed songs.
Also, I realize it adds complexity to the already fragile library. But really, as I've come to understand, the library needs an overhaul anyway.
Why I give an arse: Autofill doesn't respect podcast settings (they should be prioritized (or at least possible to): if I want them at all, I want them first and then it can fill the rest with music). Sync is not size-aware, and I want some room for photos, plus I want the music selection to change from time to time.
I really like Winamp. I want to use it. But currently, it forces me to jump through hoops and I'd like to do something about it. Seeing as how I'm not that experienced a programmer and I have no access to the code to boot, I can only suggest and hope that someone likes the thoughts.
... What language is Winamp written in?
---EDIT: Hmm... now that I think of it my most immediate concerns would actually be addressed by simply making Autofill ask if I want to empty the device before filling, or not. So this will be my first and foremost request... no doubt already suggested someplace.---
Sync has problems. Backstory on the back, I'll list my suggestions first. Perhaps needless to say, some of these are more long-haul than others.
This is what I suggest:
*Merge Autofill and Sync in one Sync option which includes player capacity awareness and randomization options
*Since Winamp already includes metadata files on the player, add a database matching files on the player with local files, and perhaps throw in play count at the moment of copying too.
*Use this database to avoid copying transcoded or duplicate tracks to local media, to prune tracks that were deleted on the device from local media (perhaps a toggle to enable or disable that would be good in the preferences), to spot new tracks and to work out the combined play count.
*To make the thing more tamper-resistant and allow on-the-fly tagging on networked devices, a unique identifier (a hash of the audio data stream) could be generated at the time of transfer and attached to both the local library entry and a device-side library entry. That way, even if the filenames or even tags get somehow altered in the device, it would still be possible to work out whether the file is unique (and depending on the settings, perhaps even update tags in the local library).
I'm not sure how computationally intensive the generation of such a hash would be, but USB transfers are generally quite slow, and even netbooks (and some smartphones) nowadays have dual-core CPUs of which the transfer can only leverage one and the hash really doesn't need to be too fancy. The hash could also be updated when the track is played in the local library, avoiding creating it when transferring anything but unplayed songs.
Also, I realize it adds complexity to the already fragile library. But really, as I've come to understand, the library needs an overhaul anyway.
Why I give an arse: Autofill doesn't respect podcast settings (they should be prioritized (or at least possible to): if I want them at all, I want them first and then it can fill the rest with music). Sync is not size-aware, and I want some room for photos, plus I want the music selection to change from time to time.
I really like Winamp. I want to use it. But currently, it forces me to jump through hoops and I'd like to do something about it. Seeing as how I'm not that experienced a programmer and I have no access to the code to boot, I can only suggest and hope that someone likes the thoughts.
... What language is Winamp written in?