REQ: Devs, please add ability to edit TCMP / Compilation status in files

[MrSinatra]

Devs, DrO, Egg, et al,

since winamp is going thru getting heavily worked on, could you please add the ability for winamp to edit Compilation tags?

winamp does not need to change its usage behavior in ANY way, nor use these tags to mean anything to winamp. I am simply asking for the ability to edit and display them in the ML. they would be very useful in smartviews and sorting ML columns. I'd like access via alt+3 and ctrl+e.

they are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to istuff and lots of other apps/devices, which is critical if you use winamp to get the files onto the devices.

1 means it is a comp, 0 means it isn't. 1 and 0 are the only valid values. otherwise the frame/field should be stripped. and really, although valid, (there are in fact unique niche cases where one might need a 0 value; cases dealing with other software), 99.9% of the time a user shouldn't need or have tags stating Comp=0.

for id3, the frame is:

TCMP

for Vorbis (FLAC), the field is:

COMPILATION

for mp4/m4a, the atom is:

cpil

for WMA, the field is:

WM/IsCompilation

for APE, the field is:

Compilation

---

thanks for your consideration!

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=324788

[DrO]

you will be able to query it as long as you provide the correct tag string as needed for the file format being queried (*) (this is not possible currently for most file formats due to how the handling is implemented) and depending on the file type edit it (which can be done already for a number of the formats, just not ID3v2.x tags). i don't plan on adding it to the ui elements for editing files.

(*) so you'd probably need to implement a custom ATF string to do it as needed based on the file type. whether i officially add it as a 'compilation' field for atf query and having it in the library itself will have to wait and be seen.

[MrSinatra]

DrO,

I appreciate the reply. forgive me tho, as I basically do not understand any of it.

you will be able to query it as long as you provide the correct tag string as needed for the file format being queried

I have no idea what this means. how would I query anything?

(*) (this is not possible currently for most file formats due to how the handling is implemented)

again, I don't follow. what makes editing compilation tags and displaying compilation tags different than any other tag winamp does display/edit?

and depending on the file type edit it (which can be done already for a number of the formats, just not ID3v2.x tags).

this I do understand I think. u mean via alt+3, yes? I think someone could manually add COMPILATION to vorbis, but not mp4/m4a/id3/etc. but who wants to manually type that? its a 1 or 0 value, or if null the frame is stripped. seems ideally suited to the ML way of editing and displaying info.

i don't plan on adding it to the ui elements for editing files.

meaning not adding what exactly? and why not? isn't the request valid? why shouldn't winamp display and edit comp status just like it would a rating or BPM or some other field like that?

(*) so you'd probably need to implement a custom ATF string to do it as needed based on the file type. whether i officially add it as a 'compilation' field for atf query and having it in the library itself will have to wait and be seen.

I don't understand this either. are you saying that if some other app edited the tags into the files, that using a custom ATF string is a workaround to get the values displayed in winamp?

I've really never played around with ATF strings, as I don't understand them / know what they are for, outside of some very vague and probably dead wrong [mis]understanding of them being important to the playlist area.

[DrO]

i knew this was going to happen... you've already answered most of your questions with your own comments.

%tcmp% for ID3v2.x files will work via ATF with the changes which have already been made internally. for files with vorbis comments then %compilation% or whatever it is will also work from the internal changes. same for the other big file formats as long as you enter the correct value for the ATF field. whether it comes from Winamp or something else, it would be accessible.

so by using an ATF comparison of the file extension, it's then possible to determine the value as needed and display it in whatever shows the values.

however with the changes already made, it won't work in the library unless the library is specifically altered to support such a column - which seems to be what you're wanting and is the bit i'm not going to make a final decision on for the time being.

and why not add ui elements for it to the alt+3 and shift+e/ctrl+e dialogs, because it's not something i feel is worthy of adding to the default fields shown for files which are displayed.

if it's accessible via the extended alt+3 tag views (subject to tag support) then i think that's the best option without overloading the default view and gives you the means to edit / view what you want in the tags (as has been the case for most of the tag formats other than ID3v2.x currently). and since the rating field somehow needs to be added on the 'basic info' page, there is not the space for also a compilation field (and it's an either or situation as to what gets added), hence it should be an extended tag option only.

[MrSinatra]

I think you think I understand more than I actually do, and I promise you I do not.

when the new winamp comes out, I will need help to alter it to do what you are suggesting can be done. better yet, would be to have it do it by default.

but let me try to be clear as to what I really NEED, and hopefully that helps in your judgment of what will happen:

1. a sortable column in ML tracks pane called "Comp" (or Compilation if u prefer) that displays either a "1" or "0" or nothing at all.

I am NOT requesting the column be seen by default. the user would have to opt in to see it.

2. the ability to select multiple files (using the shift key) in the tracks pane, and then do a ctrl+e to [mass] edit the Comp tag, with either 1 or 0 or nothing/null. (perhaps via dropdown box?)

that is all I truly need. I can forgo alt+3 if u can't do it.

and actually, if you wanted to make it so winamp could only add 1, and NOT 0, (but would display 0 if it pre-existed) I could also live with that. (helpful if u just want to use a checkbox like u do for podcasts)

3. it would be nice to be able to query comp status in smartviews, but again, I can live without it.

I am not trying to be pushy, just trying to help, which is hard b/c I don't understand a lot of what you are saying. I hope what I just said above makes my request more feasible in your judgment. does it?

[edit]
also, just to add one detail, since TCMP is v2.x only, it could go on just that tab, and not on basic info at all, but again I could live without it on alt+3 at all if necessary.

[MrSinatra]

I just want to add another point to consider, which is that winamp is the only app, the one and only, to not display or edit comp tags.

iTunes, WMP, fb2k, MM, dbpoweramp, windows, osx, mp3tag, picard, and pretty much any app of any consequence, (and many of none), does.

the apps also use the comp status to define certain behaviors, but I'm not looking for that. I am looking only to be able to display/sort/query and edit such tags in the ML tracks pane like you would any other normal and widely in use tag, and only in ctrl+e not alt+3. (it could also be done kinda like ratings but simpler, where you simply click on or off a single checkmark, "1" or right click when tracks are in mass select)

the tag is also vitally important when xfering files to hardware devices, including istuff, which winamp still does for some models.

if winamp is concerned with at least matchng basic features of competitors, than this really should be added. if winamp is concerned with interoperability with other apps and standards, as has been cited as a reason to go all in with MB tags, (and I have no beef with that), then again this really should be added.

I don't see the counter argument, except needing the time to do it. its been on the wishlist for years; its addition would be one less excuse someone would have to not use winamp.

[DrO]

the more you bang on about this, the more i'm going to resist considering adding it to the list of things to actually implement (which is limited by time and it's an ideal one to let slip for another time / just not bother with it).

the request has been noted and that is all that will be said on the matter. and there is no need to keep bumping this thread trying to keep pushing the massive importance of it in your opinion.

[MrSinatra]

idk why you make it personal, I'm not making it personal, I am simply adding my thoughts to the issue, which I meant to do earlier and I simply forgot them. I have no desire to annoy you in any way. I'm glad you had a vacation.

this is a lot like ratings [in tags] imo, where they are important to a lot of people, (which the forums have made clear), but not to you apparently, and so even though its a rather obvious need, it creates an uncomfortable situation where the user has to grovel via a tightrope on the one hand to convince the dev[s] of the need, but on the other hand not push them, or annoy them too much, lest the request be denied, mainly for reasons not germane to the worth and validity of the req itself.

I have tried to be helpful, by making the case, so you can see the importance, and also providing the frame info. idk honestly if devs are aware that winamp is the only app that does not tag compilations? forget me for a moment; whether or not I'm annoying, certainly I represent other users who may feel even stronger than I do? users who might not even use winamp at all b/c of this one lack?

I def agree with you, its not the most pressing need atm, the code replacement of AOL is, I get that and agree. I just thought I'd bring this up now, just like the alt+3 apply button, b/c I thought it would be easier to implement now, while that similar stuff is happening, esp since I believe MB marks compilations. (I could easily be wrong)

I apologize profusely for rubbing you the wrong way, I simply wanted to state the case. that now is done, and hopefully it will be appraised on its merits and not on a personal level. thx.

[ryerman]

@MrSinatra
Well said.
DrO is out of line here.

[DrO]

i've acknowledged the request, but constantly bringing it up comes across as nagging and as the sole dev (who is aware of everything you're saying as i've already everything you'd posted about it), there is a limit to what i can do and i will take it personally as i hate being nagged at to do things.

so if i'm out of line, so be it, but that is the reality of things in that i can only do so much and as i've already noted, there's a hell of a lot more important things to work on implementing before this would even be gotten around to on my already extensive todo list.

and i don't want to add it currently until other aspects of how things with tagging, supported library fields, etc have been reviewed as just because something looks simple to add (a tick box here and there, things need to be directly supported in the library and input plug-ins to make things work consistently and rushing in things as has been done in some cases causes more hassle than it's worth in the long run. hence the request is noted on the list of things and once other aspects have been decided on, whether it makes it for the first public build or not will have to be seen.

[MrSinatra]

I thought Egg was a dev? you're the sole dev now? is radionomy going to keep it that way?

that is tough.

just fyi, if I had had the ability myself to add that post via editing the post, rather than making a new one, I would have.

[DrO]

Egg has never been a developer, he's always been support and customer service types of things. currently it is me, if that changes, we've yet to see (though it's easier to break / change a lot of things i'm having to do compared to someone with zero knowledge of the code base). maybe it is tough, but whilst things are being sorted out with people, i'm having the most fun coding than i've had in a few years and isn't it better i'm at least getting on and doing something rather than we wait for a new dev team to be sorted and loose even more time on getting a new public release?

[Juanus]

maybe it is tough, but whilst things are being sorted out with people, i'm having the most fun coding than i've had in a few years

If you are having fun, then I know that the next version is going to be awesome. Keep up the great work!