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Topic: [Library Management] - CUE vs. unitary media files (Read 1002 times) previous topic - next topic
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[Library Management] - CUE vs. unitary media files

I've some free time, lately, and I'm leveraging it to do some tidying in my musical collection.

Mainly I have two data schemes for my audio files:
  • Rips : ~1 file/CD => "*.cue" files, each with dedicated containers (as flac & ape, and well also with a *.log and a *.jpg, but those files are irrelevant to the current problematic)
  • Tracks : 1 file/track => "*.ogg", "*.m4a", "*.mp3", etc unitary media files

In foobar library I'd like to import and monitor accordingly two folders. One dedicated to "CUE structured" music, and another one dedicated to "track files" music.

However it seems now the "File Types /restrict-to /exclude" settings in the library are now global (foobar 1.5.x), whereas I remembered them to be independant for each declared repository.

Currently I'm facing many albums doubled (when foobar finds both *.CUE & containers for the same albums)...

What would be the neatest way to handle that?
 

Re: [Library Management] - CUE vs. unitary media files

Reply #1 –
Hi there,

Well, one way, you can always filter any type of file in the library viewer using title formatting. You did not mention which UI / library viewer you are using?

It might be more effective with a tree style library viewer (Album List, Library Tree), seeing you can have a top level branch for each type ("CUE Files" / "Media Files"). With a column style library viewer (Facets, Columns UI), you could use tabs for each type with a second library viewer instance under each tab. I guess the usefulness of that depends on your layout. (Or mix both, use tabs with trees)

For example, if using Album List, putting this at the beginning of any view pattern (Preferences > Media Library > Album List) should divide the top branch into the two types -

Code: [Select]
$if($stricmp($ext(%filename_ext%),cue),CUE Files,Media Files)|

(Not that I've tested this specifically with CUE files because I do not have any :D )

If using Facets, that has a built in filter button that uses query syntax. You could toggle either type using that button drop menu (Preferences > Media Library > Facets > Filters) -

"CUE Files"
Code: [Select]
"$stricmp($ext(%filename_ext%),cue)" PRESENT

"Media Files"
Code: [Select]
"$stricmp($ext(%filename_ext%),cue)" MISSING

Alternatively with column library viewers, have a filter column for extension / codec that includes CUE Files -

Code: [Select]
$if($stricmp($ext(%filename_ext%),cue),CUE,$upper(%codec%))

I guess another way would be to just use playlist grouping. You could add the above extension / codec code to the grouping, so when selecting in the library, the playlist would show the same album in two separate groups if both are present - one for "CUE", one for "FLAC". (Probably not ideal...)

Cheers

Re: [Library Management] - CUE vs. unitary media files

Reply #2 –
Of course it now occurs to me the above "Media Files" would still show the referenced FLAC / APE files. Perhaps foo_cuefixer would help there? If not, I suppose you could filter them out by filesize or path or something...

Re: [Library Management] - CUE vs. unitary media files

Reply #3 –
Thanks for those detailed and documented answers.

Indeed, I just tested cuefixer with success and so far this is the neatest solution. Cheers!

Re: [Library Management] - CUE vs. unitary media files

Reply #4 –
Aside from that component, I'm also using a mix of cue files/m-tag files and faced the same problem.
I tried this component but found it not usable in my situation since I still want to be able to access the actual audio files and it doesn't work with m-tag files.
One method I'm using is a filter for the Album List Panel to view my library in a folder like structure

Code: [Select]
$if($not($or($stricmp($ext(%path%),'cue'),$stricmp($ext(%path%),'tags'))),'audio',$ext(%path%))|$replace(%path%,\,|)