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Topic: Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5 (Read 192618 times) previous topic - next topic
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Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Step By Step Guide To Use Ratings with Foobar v 9.5 beta 4

I had to find these items in multiple threads so I've tried to pull all of the sections mentioning ratings into just one "how-to" file.  Hopefully, this will help people who would like a rating feature in Foobar.  All of these steps use the existing features of the most current Foobar beta version with just one additional component "Quick Tagger", which is officially supported by Foobar.

Step 1: Get Quick Tagger which is needed to update "Rating" tag
Download: Quick Tagger from http://foobar2000.org/components/
Then add this to the foobar2000 /components directory on your hard drive.

Step 2: Set Up Rating Field for PlayList
Open Foobar Preferences -> Display -> Default User Interface -> Colors And Fonts
You will need a Unicode font for this. I used Arial Unicode MS which comes with MS Office. 

Open Foobar Preferences -> Display -> Default User Interface -> Playlist View
Under Custom Columns, Click "Add New" button
Set Name To:        Rating
Set Pattern To:    $pad($repeat(★,%rating%), 5,✩)

Foobar does not use the default font for display so if you cut and paste this into the pattern, you will see that the stars turn into boxes, but it still works in the playlist window.  If you just want to display the number instead of stars, then put %rating% into the pattern.

Step 3: Add "Rating" to Preferences box
Open Foobar Preferences -> Advanced -> Display -> Properties Dialog -> Standard Fields.
Add "Rating=RATING;" to the end of the string
Now when you open the properties field, you can change the rating for single or multiple files, just like you can for other properties.

Step 4: Set Up Quick Tagger for "Rating" tag
Open Foobar Preferences -> Tools -> Tagging -> Quick Tagger
Click "Add New" button

Field Name   Values (semicolon-separated)
Rating      0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5

I've used 0 as an easy way to clear a rating.  Under this you'll see another box:
Require confirmation before processing more [ ] tracks

Set this to 1 if you don't want confirmation for single updates. Set to a very high number if you never want confirmation on multiple file updates.

Now that this is done, you can <right click> on your song to change the rating.  Choose "Tagging -> Quick Tagger -> Set <Rating> To -> 0 through 5.

Step 5: Set Up Quick Keyboard Shortcuts To Update Tags
Open Foobar Preferences -> General -> Keyboard Shortcuts
Click "Add New" button

Action:
Filter List by: Rating
You'll See: Tagging -> Quick Tagger -> Set <Rating> to
         Underneath are the Values set in Step 3 (0 to 5 for this example)

Key: Press the key you want:
I've used Ctrl 0->5 to set 0 to 5 as my rating when I do single file updates.

Now Click "Save All" button when done

<Added 11/24/2007>
The one problem I've noticed since my original posting is that I can consistently use the keyboard shortcuts for single files, but haven't always been able to use the keyboard shortcut consistently when tagging multiple music files.  This happens even though I set:
Require confirmation before processing more [ ] tracks
to 10000 in Step 4 above.

I can get around this, by using the 2 other options:
1.) <right clicking> then Properties and setting the rating in the property window, or
2.) <right clicking> then Tagging -> Quick Tagger -> Set Value To -> then picking the number for the rating.
<End Edit>

For more detailed problems, you'll need to check with other regular forum members.  This has been working fine for me.  Thanks to the Foobar developers for making a great product.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #1
nice guide thanks, for some reason my arial unicode was missing so i copied it over from my other pc... both have the same setup no idea where it went..

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #2
thanks

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #3
Hi, thanks for the guide.

I'd prefer to have two shortcuts "Rating up" and "Rating down". I have found the code I need to use :

Rating Up  : $if($greater(6,$add(%rating%,1)),$add(%rating%,1),5)
Rating Down : $if($greater(%rating%,0),$sub(%rating%,1),0)

Unfortunately, I don't know how to define those shortcuts !!! 

I go to Preferences > General > Keyboard shortcuts > Add new, but then what Action must I select in order to be able to enter the scripts somewhere ? I don't understand. Some help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance. 

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #4
I quickly checked whether you could add your two equations into the values list and this did work, but I didn't bind it to a key to see what happens.  You may want to try this out.  If it doesn't work, then post this as a separate message to get one of the developers attention.

I checked Preferences -> Tools -> Tagger -> Quick Tagger

I added your two equations into the Values (comma separated) list after 0 through 5

0; 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; equation1; equation2

I saved this, then went into:

Preferences -> General -> Keyboard Shortcuts

Your new values did show up here.

I would still put in 0 through 5 since it would be better when you right click on the field you could just enter the number directly.  However, you could use your equations when you bind the keyboard shortcuts.
=================================================================

The one problem I've noticed since my original posting is that I can consistently use the keyboard shortcuts for single files, but haven't always been able to use the keyboard shortcut consistently when tagging multiple music files.  I can get around this, by using the 2 other options:
1.) clicking properties and setting rating or
2.) <right clicking> then Tagging -> Quick Tagger -> Set Value To -> then picking the rating.

Hope this helps.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #5
Hi jayjo.

I'm close to it, but I still can't get it to work. I've done as told, added both equations :

Code: [Select]
1; 2; 3; 4; 5; $if($greater(6,$add(%rating%,1)),$add(%rating%,1),5); $if($greater(%rating%,0),$sub(%rating%,1),0)


Then I've assigned shortcuts, etc.

Code: [Select]
Shortcut 1 (Ctrl +) : Quick Tagger : Set <Rating> to : $if($greater(6,$add(%rating%,1)),$add(%rating%,1),5)
Shortcut 2 (Ctrl -) : Quick Tagger : Set <Rating> to : $if($greater(%rating%,0),$sub(%rating%,1),0)


Then I select one file in the Playlist view and I press the keyboard shortcut. The rating field is modified, but what I find (Properties) is just the equation, not the real rating.

e.g. : <RATING> $if($greater(6,$add(%rating%,1)),$add(%rating%,1),5)
instead of <RATING> 1

What's missing ?

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #6
There's not much documentation with Quick Tagger so I don't know how to get it to evaluate the expression.

You may want to start your own topic by cutting and copying your last message and using a title along the lines of "problem using expressions in Quick Tagger".

Sorry I couldn't help.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #7
Quick Tagger does intentionally not support titleformatting expressions.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #8
You know Frank, telling people what a component doesn't do is great, thank you very much. But that's a bit short if you understand me.

Telling people why the component doesn't do that is better. You said "intentionally", so there must be some valid reason that "common people" may not be aware of. You seem to know that reason, so please share it so that we can all benefit from it.

And telling people how they can find a workaround (e.g. with another component) is even better. I suppose there are people with working keyboard shortcuts for rating up and down (I didn't invent those two scripts), so how do they do ? I installed Quick Tagger because people told me to do so, but all I want is a solution to rate files efficiently, with quickly-accessible ratings and working shortcuts related to scripts like the ones above. Is that so difficult ? 

I know, it must be harassing to always answer people's questions. But believe me, it's also harassing to beg for answers when we only get bits of information. Despite what some people may think, foobar is not a complicated software : what's complicated is getting the right answers from people like you, just because besides the foobar wiki there doesn't seem to be a complete manual, or some equivalent FAQ with really useful answers, or some nice up-to-date tutorial, etc, etc.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #9
I understand reasons for one to use +rating and -rating with a 0-100 rate system. But with 1-5? I'd suggest using nootropics if you have troubles remembering what does each number mean for you.

Actually I don't know frequent operations that really need titleformatting. For non-frequent you have Properties window.
Sharing delusions since 1991.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #10
Slotos, with a 0-100 rate system, +rating/-rating woudl't be practical at all, because you'd need to press 100 times the +rating key to get a rating of 100. With a 1-5 rate system, +rating/-rating becomes very practical, because you only have two shortcuts and you don't have to go into a sub-sub-sub-menu to find the rating you want. Try it and you might even like it. 

I hope you understand this simple reasoning. But if you don't, I kindly suggest you use nootropics on yourself before trying to impose your own personal conception of ergonomy. Thank you. 

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #11
Jose,
The functionality you are looking for could be achieved with the now deprecated masstagger component. If you right click on a file and go to Tagging > Manage Scripts and then click Add under the Actions to perform window. Choose Format value from other fields... and enter RATING in the destination box and your code in the pattern box. Finally save this as a script and you should be able to assign a keyboard shortcut to it (the script name should be in the Tagging > Scripts context menu). Do this once for each of the two operations you want (i.e. rating up and down).

I believe the masstagger is deprecated because when performing operations such as this you are not provided with a preview of the changes which will be made so only use this solution if you are happy with that.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #12
Jose Hidalgo, 0-100 system is moody. So you can set +1 for every time you enjoy music or -1 for every time music is a bit annoying. And in half a year you'll get quite precise picture of your music taste. Such system doesn't need setting exact value. In opposition 1-5 (1-10, 1-12) system derived from school ratings is based on exact values due to the fact that every mark has its own meaning.
Sharing delusions since 1991.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #13
Thanks aphasia, I appreciate and I'll look into it if there's no other solution.

@Slotos :

in half a year you'll get quite precise picture of your music taste

How many songs do you have Slotos ? I have about 18.000 legally-bought songs (1000+ albums). Even in several years, I'm not sure I'd be able to listen ONCE to every one of them... So moody ratings are definitely not for me, thanks.

Besides, please don't try to impose me your own personal point of view (which I respect of course). I have my own tastes, I believe in +1/-1 ratings, and I'm not the only one (like I said, I didn't invent the two little scripts : someone else wrote them).

If only you could try +1/-1 ratings, you'd see that they are a lot faster than menu ratings of course, but also a lot faster than having 5 different shortcuts. Yes, you have to try it to believe it, but that's true.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #14
Jose, if moody ratings are not for you AND you have huge collection AND you want precise ratings, why bother with +1 and -1 rating in 1-5 rating system? Setting global ctrl+alt+(1-5) shortcut is not bothersome in any way, I was using rating system myself for quite a while and I know what am I talking about from my own experience.

But still if you want to use +1/-1 ratings get masstagger component. It is not hard to understand or use itself. It is said to be problematic but I never had any problems with it. And if you'll find yourself frequently(!) using bunch of really useful scripts with titleformatting you can always make nice post with examples to get good amount of people here to support your request.

Also you can use foo_custominfo component to store ratings without changing your file data. I was using it when I was addicted with ratings. By the way if I remember correctly those two little scripts comes from foo_custominfo "ancestor" foo_quicktag. Though I always thought those were feature examples, not rating system proposition.
Sharing delusions since 1991.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #15
Why bother with +1 and -1 rating in 1-5 rating system? Setting global ctrl+alt+(1-5) shortcut is not bothersome in any way, I was using rating system myself for quite a while and I know what am I talking about from my own experience.

Of course ctrl+alt+(1-5) is not bothersome. What I say is that, for me personally, ctrl+("+" or "-") is better, and yes, I dare say it's even faster, and I know what I'm talking about too. Like I said, if people were able to try it, there's no doubt that they'd find it really useful (and not bothersome either).

Slotos, you certainly have your own experience, and I have mine. I respect your tastes, but please be kind enough to stop asking "why" my personal tastes are what they are. I wouldn't dare discuss your own tastes, so don't discuss mine. I hope this is the last time I have to tell this. Thank you. 

Also you can use foo_custominfo component to store ratings without changing your file data. I was using it when I was addicted with ratings.

That's a great idea (thanks !), but not for the reasons you expect.  In fact we're several friends with internet-synchronized audio storage servers. This way we can have fault-tolerance (our files are duplicated within our friends' servers) AND we can also access our friends' files that are duplicated within our own servers. But we still want to be able to give files (our files or our friends' files) personal ratings or comments, without imposing them to our friends. So foo_custominfo looks like a great solution for that.  I only hope that it's not been abandoned by its developer (the DL link is broken...).

One last question : does foo_custominfo support titleformat like Quick Tagger should ? 

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #16
I wonder if those custom ratings have any affect on the shuffle play mode ?

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #17
I wonder if those custom ratings have any affect on the shuffle play mode ?


None at all.
Ignorance is bliss.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #18
I have test the TS solution, but it not works

When i change the rating, it sets into foobar (it's okay) but in de mp3 file (windows explorer) my rating is gone.

Did i do something wrong?

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #19
I have test the TS solution, but it not works

When i change the rating, it sets into foobar (it's okay) but in de mp3 file (windows explorer) my rating is gone.

Did i do something wrong?



Not sure what "TS" means, but if you use a component (Custom Info) that writes to a database instead of tags you will get that result.

If you use a Tagger (Quick Tagger, mass tagger) that writes tags, it will write the info to the mp3 file.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #20
TS=Topic Starter

I use Quick Tagger, but it writes a zero rating to the mp3 file. In foobar, i see the correct rating, but not the one i give before with windows explorer.

it looks that he writes in a database.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #21
AFAIK Windows explorer doesn't support APE tags. And IIRC rating tag is written into APE tag.
Sharing delusions since 1991.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #22
thanks for the guide

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #23
good guide, helped me quite a bit.

kind of expanding on the topic starter solution, i am curious if anyone is aware of and/or can think of a way to display a half star?

I'm basing my ratings on 0 - 5 in .5 increments (All Music Guide's system).

this is what i've come up with so far for my album rating column:
Code: [Select]
$if($greater(%album rating%,1.0),$repeat($char(9733),%album rating%),)$if($strstr(%album rating%,.5),$char(9734),)


this basically shows a filled in black star for each full number and if there is a .5 it adds a white star, this also means i can't use the white star as a padding character.

btw, for anyone curious you can replace the actual stars above with $char(9733) - black & $char(9734) - white, this just references the unicode char code.

Step by step guide to use ratings with foobar2000 0.9.5

Reply #24
Thanks for this guide.  How can I stop tracks without ratings from showing stars though?  Right now they're dimmed.

Also, I'm guessing that it's impossible to make stars clickable?