Manage filters window

[romney_yw]

Hi,

I'm not sure whether this is a topic for the wishlist or actually a bug report.

I use a lot of filters to help check my files for consistent and missing tags - I've currently got 28 filters defined. I prefer filters to auto playlists because I'm never going to 'play' the results of my filters - just examine the tags (although I do use auto playlists as well in some circumstances).

On my system, the Manage filters window is not sizeable and does not have any scroll bars, which makes it difficult to work with more than about the current 28 filters I have set up. Good housekeeping means that I can sometimes delete a filter I've "finished" with, but I'm close to the point where I won't be able to define a new filter when I need to.

Is it possible to make the Manage filters window and sizeable and give the filters list a vertical scroll bar?

Many, many thanks for MusicBee. I'm constantly amazed by the features it supports. If I want to do something, a little investigation usually finds the necessary features. - it's just awesome!

[hiccup]

+1

There have been many requests for resizable windows that will remember their size and position.
For reasons unknown Steven seems to be disinclined to deliver this.

[Zak]

For reasons unknown Steven seems to be disinclined to deliver this.

At a guess, it's because they're a pain in the butt to implement.

Some screens definitely need it though.

[romney_yw]

Ah, well I'm quite sympathetic to avoiding of pains in the butt!

Still - filters are massively useful and it seems sad to limit their use in this fashion.

An alternative approach might also work - though I had assumed it was less simple than just putting a scroll bar on the existing list.....

I have filters shown permanently under my library in the left hand pane. A right-click on any filter could take you to an edit dialog which allows that particular filter to be modified individually. Also an "Add New" command would be required to open a similar dialog allowing the new filter to be created.

An additional feature which might be nice to have would be to group filters into user-defined categories so that a very long filter list is easier to manage. A text box on the filter edit dialog could allow the user to enter a category name, and the box could prompt as you type with existing values already added - just like many other fields throughout MB. (But I'm not sure how easy this would be to implement .....)

If such an approach was adopted, the original Manage filters window would probably become redundant ....... no scroll bars required!

The Edit and Add New commands might appear in place of the current Manage filters command on the context menu?

Thanks for the feedback.

[romney_yw]

I guess a command to delete an unwanted filter would be pretty useful too - or perhaps a delete button on the edit dialog (if a little less convenient).

[Zak]

A right-click on any filter could take you to an edit dialog which allows that particular filter to be modified individually.

Yep. Nail/head, right there. That's how the playlist settings are managed and from a UI perspective how filters should be too.

I'm not sure why filters have their own management screen, but it may be a left over remnant from how it was first implemented in a very early version.

[redwing]

+1 for implementing the same UI for managing filters as auto-playlists.

That said, although there's no written rules on what to use filters for, I'd never use filters for managing tags. That's the job for auto-playlists. I have a playlist folder named "Manage", and it contains all sorts of auto-playlists for checking, managing and converting tags. Then why not for filters?

- Not enough room in left navigator for such a big number of filters. Also no folders available that could hide them neatly.
- Auto-playlists are much easier to backup than filters for future use.
- You can utilize filters in defining auto-playlists for managing tags by selecting a specific music track source.

[psychoadept]

+1 for implementing the same UI for managing filters as auto-playlists.

+1

[Steven]

for now i have added a scroll bar to the manage filter dialog:
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_4/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip

[Steven]

http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_4/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip

you can now directly edit/ rename/ copy/ delete a filter from the right click context menu (if filters are set to be displayed, otherwise its the same Manager Filters dialog). I haven't had a lot of time for testing but it should work ok.
Not done in this update but for the next update i will also add support for drag/dropping filters to the playlists node and auto-playlists from the playlists node to the filters

[redwing]

Thanks for the update! Would be great if there's "New" command to add a new filter when filters are displayed.

[Steven]

http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_4/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip

New filter supported and drag/drop operations:
- copy from playlists (auto-playlists only) to a filter
- copy from a filter to the playlists node
- from a filter to any panel (drops the files in the filter)

[redwing]

Working great. Thanks!

[romney_yw]

Thanks for the scroll bar on the Manage Filters window. I still find this window useful, as it shows the filter rules as well as the filter name - in its place, this can be very helpful when housekeeping, or looking for a filter when you cannot remember what you called it ....... 

The additions to the right-click context menu are superb, and are mostly how I will be working with my filters in future ......

I hesitate to push my luck  - but I would like to ask for a further addition to the context menu commands. In the discussion above, redwing mentioned the facility to group Playlists into folders, which makes working with a large collection much easier. I think it would be a significant enhancement, if a similar folder facility could be added for use with filters (i.e. create/rename/delete folders and drag/drop filters into the folders). I guess this could cause issues with the Manage Filters window - but perhaps this could still display the simple flat view and ignore the folders completely?

Apologies for the delay in responding in this topic - I've been busy writing playlists to CD following the recent changes to that functionality. Thanks again for such rapid implementation.

PS: Redwing - thanks for your comments. I've learnt a lot over several years from reading your posts on the forum. (My playlists are now grouped tidily in folders .....)