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Topic: How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b (Read 1584 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

My buddy who introduced me to foobar and I both have the same problem with Album List when in 'view by album' mode; it doesn't seem to recognise that all the tracks of an album belong together, and may list the same album title several times with a few tracks in each. I've tried looking with MP3Tag, and even where the tags look OK, Album List can still be faulty. *BUT* changing to 'view by folder structure' fixes this entirely and Album List appears perfectly ordered.

At the bottom of Album List I have a drop down menu box to change 'view by' options, and 'view by folder structure' appears in it . My buddy doesn't have this drop down menu box. And, 'view by folder structure' doesn't appear as an option in Preferences:Album List:Views on either of our machines. We are both running V1.2.2.

My questions are 1) why doesn't my buddy have the drop down menu box at the bottom of Album List?
2) can 'view by folder structure' be added to the Preferences:Album List:Views box, if so, how?

Many thanks, Paul.

How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

Reply #1 –
Quote from: vomer on
My buddy who introduced me to foobar and I both have the same problem with Album List when in 'view by album' mode; it doesn't seem to recognise that all the tracks of an album belong together, and may list the same album title several times with a few tracks in each. I've tried looking with MP3Tag, and even where the tags look OK, Album List can still be faulty. *BUT* changing to 'view by folder structure' fixes this entirely and Album List appears perfectly ordered.

My guess is that the album and/or artist tags differ in some way. That difference can be something as simple as a space at the beginning or end of the tag's value. If the values of the artist tag have different values, you'll need to ensure that all the files in that album have an album artist tag with the same value for them to group together as one album.

Quote from: vomer on
At the bottom of Album List I have a drop down menu box to change 'view by' options, and 'view by folder structure' appears in it . My buddy doesn't have this drop down menu box. And, 'view by folder structure' doesn't appear as an option in Preferences:Album List:Views on either of our machines. We are both running V1.2.2.

That view is coded in, and as such, does not appear in the list and cannot be modified.

Quote from: vomer on
why doesn't my buddy have the drop down menu box at the bottom of Album List?

He is likely using "Album List Panel" which can only be used with Columns UI. It lacks the dropdown that is visible with "Album List". For him, he'll need to right-click on an empty space within the album list panel and choose View > by directory structure in the context menu.

Quote from: vomer on
can 'view by folder structure' be added to the Preferences:Album List:Views box, if so, how?

It's already present but not visible, but it can be re-created using foobar's title formatting; however, that would be needlessly redundant.

How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

Reply #2 –
Thanks Ben.

Quote from: BenB on
He is likely using "Album List Panel" which can only be used with Columns UI. It lacks the dropdown that is visible with "Album List".


I thought this might be the case, and you'll have to excuse my learning curve here, but I didn't know how to distinguish Column UI. I looked in Preferences and only saw Default UI.

Quote from: BenB on
For him, he'll need to right-click on an empty space within the album list panel and choose View > by directory structure in the context menu.


I recall trying this but it didn't have the desired result. This was last week and I'll see him again tomorrow so I'll have another look. Thanks again, I'll post how I get on tomorrow.

How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

Reply #3 –
Try populating the "Album Artist" tags for the entire album, with the contents of the "Artist Name" tag or, if it's a compilation, use something like "Various Artists".
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  ;~)

How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

Reply #4 –
Thanks 2tec, but I was hoping to avoid having to change lots of tags, hence my questions about 'view' rather than tags.

How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

Reply #5 –
Quote from: vomer on
... having to change lots of tags ...

Well, tags don't hurt your beloved files. If you have decided to continue using foobar2000, you'll sooner or later realize that proper tagging of all your audio files is the (only) way to go. Inconsistent/improper/missing/etc. tagging (and sticking to 'Folder view') is nearly the same as waving goodbye to much of the player's functionality. Not to mention confusing results in your playlist views.
A lot of the tagging can be done rather quickly in foobar2000 itself; from time to time Mp3tag is of great use as well.
As 2tec suggests: Compilations with different artists should (must) have Album artist = Various Aritsts or Various or VA.
A little tip: When looking at an album's properties (Alt+Enter) you can right-click on a given value and then for example choose Edit to bring up a lot of editing possibilities.

HTH (and that I'm not sounding like a 19th Century schoolmaster).
 

How to find 'view by folder' if it doesn't appear at the b

Reply #6 –
Thanks Pete & 2Tec, useful advice. I saw my friend's foobar again yesterday. As I thought, he does not have Column UI. Then I had a "Doh!!" moment. Because I was looking at a list of albums, I assumed it was Album List. Yes? No. He had populated one Playlist with his entire music collection. I set up an Album List and Playlist for him, with everything working OK now.

Many thanks for the help, the learning curve continues    .