Support additional ID3 fields for sorting

[msteelefl]

It would be nice to be able to use the 'album artist' or 'artist sort' ID3 fields to sort the music database. I want to keep the 'first name - last name' for the display of the artist field and use 'last name, first name' for sorting and searching.

Mark

[hvs69]

I second that. Actually I would like to be able to access all ID3 tags from Xlobby. On quite a few albums I have composer & lyricist fields populated but cannot access them in XLObby

[stevenhanna6]

msteelefl I could not find the 'artist sort' tag, please send me an mp3 with this tag.

mailto:steve@xlobby.com

[a06lp]

i'd really really appreciate support for the "occasion" (sometimes called "situation") field.
i use it to specify which mp3's my wife likes.

[dgemily]

I second that. Actually I would like to be able to access all ID3 tags from Xlobby. On quite a few albums I have composer & lyricist fields populated but cannot access them in XLObby

you can do it with "xscan", it's a tool from the french team, but I didn't post about it, ( need some time....) anyway, with this tool you can build a lot of databases for xlobby by scanning files.
it's like the internal scan of xlobby but it have more fonctionalities, like for pictures, it can scan the Metadatas IPTC of every pictures....
for movies, it scan your files on hdd, cd and dvd in the aim of building a database for ant movie catalog.

for your request: xscan can scan your audio files, by using tag (ID3 V1 or V2)
it will build an audio database for xlobby and use the following tags :

* Artist,
* Album,
* Genre,
* Track number,
* title name,
* year,
* Comments,
* URL,
* Bitrate,
* Lyrics,
* track time
* cover

the second interest to use xscan for our audio database is that you have more choice to sort your database: you can sort it by:

* Album>track
* Artist>track
* Artist>Album>track
* Genre>track
* Genre>Artiste>track
* Genre>Album>track
* Genre>Artiste>Album>track

you can also use xscan by command line to use it with an usb dongle or mp3 player:
so you can scan the files on your mp3 player, copy them on your pc, delet files, or copy files from your hdd to your mp3 player.....

here is the tool :
Xscan_V1.0

later

[a06lp]

but what about "situation"/"occasion" field?

[dgemily]

but what about "situation"/"occasion" field?

not supported yet....

[a06lp]

but what about "situation"/"occasion" field?

not supported yet....

I wish XL would natively support ALL ID3 tags. I don't know how hard it would be to allow this, but most Media Center programs read them all...

As a Meedio convert, I am saddened to see that Meedio has something that XLobby doesn't support.

[wholesome]

dgemily - i can't seem to get xscan to work.

after downloading, i clicked on Install.bat then run Xscan.exe, but receive a "Run-time error '13': Type mismatch" error message.

After clicking on OK, the program opens, but nothing seems to work! I click on the buttons and nothing happens.

Please help!

[dgemily]

sorry can't help you....
I haven't seen this error on the french forum....

[Marbles_00]

A06lp,

but what about "situation"/"occasion" field?

not supported yet....

I wish XL would natively support ALL ID3 tags. I don't know how hard it would be to allow this, but most Media Center programs read them all...

As a Meedio convert, I am saddened to see that Meedio has something that XLobby doesn't support.

Why don't you set you "Wife" setting on the URL or Comments tag or one of the other slightly used tags that Xscan does support, while you wait for the occassion tag to be supported natively? If you have some sort of music management software like Tag&Rename or others, it could help cut down in the time it would take to convert.

A06lp, one thing you have to remember, unlike the Meedio development, Steven is a one man show, and he is very good at responding to individual's interest, in the same breath, he is very good at prioritizing his responsibilities. Rest assured, if you want that tag, he will give it to you. 'Patience my young Skywalker'. Up until now, there has been very little demand for all these extra tags, so Steven has been responding to other things such as bugs and the sort.

Hey, if this is the only thing that Meedio has over Xlobby, then I would say that Steven has done a tremendous job...especially for doing everything on his own. What other media center program can lay that claim?

Hope this was helpful.

David

[a06lp]

@Marbles_00:

Thanks for your response. Obviously, that would be a possible workaround. However, that said, I think full id3 tag support is a feature that is important - my style of tagging, or not.

I DO appreciate the work Steven has done. From what I read around here, it seems XL has HUGE potential - which is the main reason I'm sitcking it out right now.

Meedio was a good idea, but unfortunately, even with it's "staff", it very rarely is updated. Even when it is, the updates rarely address the issues I have.

XL is my beacon of hope. So far, I've learned some stuff, and set up some portions of my HTPC. As I get further along the development of it, I hope to fully embrace the power that is in XL.

So, all in all, I hope Steven implements this feature, and I do realize that he is overwokred and underpaid (as this is a free software!).

[davdev]

dgemily - i can't seem to get xscan to work.

after downloading, i clicked on Install.bat then run Xscan.exe, but receive a "Run-time error '13': Type mismatch" error message.

After clicking on OK, the program opens, but nothing seems to work! I click on the buttons and nothing happens.

Please help!

I just tried this and the same thing happened to me. Is there anywhere in particular this should be installed?

[msteelefl]

msteelefl I could not find the 'artist sort' tag, please send me an mp3 with this tag.

mailto:steve@xlobby.com

Steve,
After doing a little more research, I realize that the artistsort field I spoke of is implemented only in ID3V2.4 tags. I use ID3-TagIt and it supports this as the 'Artists sort name'. According to http://www.id3.org, there are actually three new sort fields in addition to many others:
TSOA Album sort order
TSOP Performer sort order
TSOT Title sort order
I got this from http://www.id3.org/id3v2.4.0-frames.txt
If it's going to be a hassle at this point to add v2.4.0 version tags to XL, I suppose the next best option would be to utilize one of the v2.3 fields since this seems to be the most prevalant format supported by most tag editors and ripping tools. I feel adding support for the following tags (or some equivalent) would substantially enhance the sorting ability:
TOPE Original artist(s)/performer(s)
TORY Original release year
These are taken from http://www.id3.org/id3v2.3.0.txt
I'm thinking I could populate the Original artist field with 'John, Elton' or groups like 'The Beatles' would be 'Beatles, The'. This would be used for sorting purposes. However the regular artist field is what would actually be displayed - 'The Beatles' or 'Elton John'.
I know others have requested that all ID3 tags be supported, and this would certainly give us the greatest flexibility. But since only you and perhaps a few others know the time and effort this would entail, I would be content with a couple of extra fields at this time. If you are going to consider this, perhaps you might post a poll thread giving a handful of choices and having users pick two or three. Just a thought.

Thanks again,

Mark

[rembetis]

after downloading, i clicked on Install.bat then run Xscan.exe, but receive a "Run-time error '13': Type mismatch" error message.

I get the same error. I'm guessing it has to do with the settings in the .ini file, which points to a number of folders not likely to be present on an English-speaking Xlobby user's computer. Someone was kind enough to create a English language file for Xscan... hopefully that same person can translate the help file, 'cause Google just made a mess of it