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Topic: Request: Two essential features for network stream playlist organization (Read 1968 times) previous topic - next topic
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Request: Two essential features for network stream playlist organization

Hello everyone,
since I am loving and using foobar2k almost exclusively for listening to online radio I have been hoping for years that s.o. might eventually add network stream playlist organization features. Long story short, it didn't happen - hence I will request these features now! :D

First, I am going to describe the problems I am having:
1. Network streams have dynamic titles (depending on what is transmitted from the stream ressource), which is very useful as long as the stream is playing. If the stream isn't playing, the title will sometimes show the stream URL or some random information and sometimes even nothing at all (but hardly ever the real name of the actual radio station), which makes it very hard for the user to identify or chose a specific online radio when it's not playing. The user has to guess where the desired stream is likely to be found in the playlist and then try a few streams until he finds the right one. And of course.. the larger a playlist the bigger the problem. (By the way: I have tried the 'custom columns' option and it is impossible to save them permanently for network streams.)

2. I have not found any option that allows me to organize network streams in categories like you can do with audio files. My network stream playlist gets bigger and bigger and there is no help to separate stream groups into musical genres or user defined groups.

That is why I am asking you guys for help and requesting the following 2 features, that will (in my opinion) be very handy to a lot of foobar2k users:
1. The option to put permanent user-defined name-tags on network streams that are visible if the stream is playing or not.
Example a):
The online radio URL http://stream.srg-ssr.ch/m/rsc_de/aacp_96
shows the following dynamic title when not playing: /SwissClassic_Room1.aac
>> It would be nice to be able to put the permanent name-tag 'Radio Swiss Classic' under a customizable playlist column like 'stream name'

Example b):
Online radio URL: https://allclassical-ice.streamguys.com/ac128kmp3
shows the following dynamic title when not playing: ac128kmp3
>> desired permanent name-tag: 'Radio All Classical Portland'

2. The option to create cascading collapsable playlist categories wherein the online radio name-tags (see 1.) can be found, moved and organized.
Example:
- Classical Music
-- Opera
> stream name-tag 1
> stream name-tag 2
> stream name-tag 3
- EDM
-- House Music
--- Deep House
> stream name-tag 1
> stream name-tag 2
> stream name-tag 3
--- Detroit House
> stream name-tag 1
> stream name-tag 2
> stream name-tag 3

.. etc.

Every help to solve these problems would be very much appreciated.
Thank you very much and please consider my request.
Tangram

Re: Request: Two essential features for network stream playlist organization

Reply #1
1. The option to put permanent user-defined name-tags on network streams that are visible if the stream is playing or not.
For the first question, I use this component: m-TAGS.
I put the name of the radio on the .tags file name and not in the metadata, so that the dynamic title continues to be displayed when the radio is played.
Here is an example for one of my radios.
File name : Phaune radio.tags
Spoiler (click to show/hide)
I made a button in the toolbar to open the web page of the radio, with the Run Services component (foo_run). In the service properties, I put $meta(FILE WEBPAGE URL) .

Re: Request: Two essential features for network stream playlist organization

Reply #2
1. The option to put permanent user-defined name-tags on network streams that are visible if the stream is playing or not.
For the first question, I use this component...

Dear Terence,
thank you very much for your help and the description of your workaround component addon. I will try this workaround method to bridge the time until this becomes a basic native feature in foobar2k as requested above.

greetings
Tangram



Re: Request: Two essential features for network stream playlist organization

Reply #4
@Tangram you might as well take a look on the footuner skin (see here, here or here) from @zeremy which is using m-Tags. I am using footuner to categorize radio streams (however not cascading collapsable). Has a lot of great additonal features like m3u conversion or recording.