Looking for help configuring second grouping for files in Artwork view

[xylltch]

TL;DR: In the Artwork view for files in the main panel, is there a way to group tracks first by format (.flac or .mp3) or path (/music/flac or /music/mp3) and then group again by disc number?

Background:
I essentially have two duplicate libraries; a large .flac collection (stored in /music/flac) that has also been converted to .mp3 (stored in /music/mp3).  In MusicBee, I have a filter set up based on path so I can have stuff from /music/flac and /music/mp3 in separate tabs, as well as a third tab which combines everything from both paths.

I use the Artwork layout for the files in the main panel, with tracks grouped by disc number.

Previously, in the tab for the combined filter, a given album would have each track in the list "duplicated", such as Track1 (mp3), Track1 (flac), Track2 (mp3), Track2 (flac), etc.



For now, I've settled on adding "Path" as one of the global criteria for grouping (in Preferences > Sorting/Grouping), so that the .flac and .mp3 albums simply appear next to each other.



What I would like to do is be able to remove "Path" from the global grouping criteria so that each album is displayed a single time in the Artwork view, but add an additional grouping criteria before Disc# to group by path so that the track listing is separated properly, first by format and then by disc (see quick mock-up below).



I've played around a bit with different virtual tags/sub-grouping options for the Artwork view, but haven't come across something that will work for what I'm trying to achieve.  I'd appreciate any help/advice that any of you folks are able to offer.

Thanks!

[The Incredible Boom Boom]

Does not putting the .Ext tag in the track sub-grouping dropdown under your panel layout not work?

[xylltch]

There's only one field available for sub-grouping; if I change it to .ext, discs (which I currently have it set to sub-group by) are no longer grouped properly, and this is the result anyway:

[psychoadept]

It might work to add .ext to fields that define an album in Sorting/Grouping preferences

[xylltch]

It might work to add .ext to fields that define an album in Sorting/Grouping preferences

Right now I have Path as the third criteria that defines an album (after Album Artist and Album Name); with my setup that behaves the same as .Ext.  

In my "combined" view (with no filters based on path for the library to separate out the .flac and .mp3 directories) that results in what is shown in the second screenshot; the .flac and .mp3 albums appearing as separate albums next to each other.  I'm trying to see if there's a way to have them show up as a single album (which they do when Path/.Ext is not one of the criteria for defining an album) but with the tracks grouped first by Path/.Ext and then by Disc#.

[psychoadept]

I don't think you're going to have much luck doing that in this view, the sorting options are pretty minimal within an album. If you switched to Tracks view or the list version of Album & Tracks you might be able to force it with the sort order. (You mentioned virtual tags, but I assume it didn't work for something like <Disc#> - <.Ext>.)

[The Incredible Boom Boom]

What I would like to do is be able to remove "Path" from the global grouping criteria so that each album is displayed a single time in the Artwork view, but add an additional grouping criteria before Disc# to group by path so that the track listing is separated properly, first by format and then by disc (see quick mock-up below).

I get it now. Create a Virtual Tag with <Disc#> and <.Ext> (or whatever the tag is) and set your track sub-grouping to that. Something like...

Code

$IsNull(<Disc#>,<.Ext>,"Disc "<Disc#>" "("<.Ext>")")

EDIT: And remove <Path> from defining an album.
EDIT 2: Do you have all files from each disc in one folder, or are they split between disc folders? If so, ignore the above.

[hiccup]

I get it now. Create a Virtual Tag with <Disc#> and <.Ext> (or whatever the tag is) and set your track sub-grouping to that. Something like...

I am curious if that is going to work.
In my mind the order for the tracks in the extended panel is always dictated by the track numbers and there was no way to overrule that.

[xylltch]

I get it now. Create a Virtual Tag with <Disc#> and <.Ext> (or whatever the tag is) and set your track sub-grouping to that. Something like...

Code

$IsNull(<Disc#>,<.Ext>,"Disc "<Disc#>" "("<.Ext>")")

EDIT: And remove <Path> from defining an album.
EDIT 2: Do you have all files from each disc in one folder, or are they split between disc folders? If so, ignore the above.

I think there's an error with the syntax or something; here's the result.
I do have all files from each disc in one folder with filenames such as 1.01, 1.02, 2.01, etc.

I am curious if that is going to work.
In my mind the order for the tracks in the extended panel is always dictated by the track numbers and there was no way to overrule that.

Yeah, I think that must be the issue I've run into with trying to make a virtual tag work before.

[xylltch]

I think there's an error with the syntax or something; here's the result.

Must have been a copy/paste issue on my end or something; I think I have it fixed now.  Anyway, same result as previous tries I've made with adding Path as a second criteria in a virtual tag:

[psychoadept]

Must have been a copy/paste issue on my end or something; I think I have it fixed now.  Anyway, same result as previous tries I've made with adding Path as a second criteria in a virtual tag:

Yeah, that was my concern, for the reason hiccup mentioned.  The only other thing I can think of is incrementing the disc#, like if it's a 2-disc set make the FLAC version Disc 3 and 4, etc.

[The Incredible Boom Boom]

I'm at a loss, then - sorry.
I don't really use that view, so I'm not familiar with its rules.

What's the reason for duplicate albums in different formats? Maybe we can simplify your music library so the MP3 one isn't needed?

[hiccup]

Something you could do (but it may be a bit of a weird solution):
Give the mp3 album version a much higher disc nr. than the flac version.
Then you could have them together in the expanded panel but grouped separately.

E.g. a flac album containing two discs: disc 1 and 2
The mp3 version: disc 101 and 102



But I could imagine it you have reasons you would not like this solution.

[The Incredible Boom Boom]

Something you could do (but it may be a bit of a weird solution):
Give the mp3 album version a much higher disc nr. than the flac version.
Then you could have them together in the expanded panel but grouped separately.

E.g. a flac album containing two discs: disc 1 and 2
The mp3 version: disc 101 and 102



But I could imagine it you have reasons you would not like this solution.

And then (make sure all your tracks are named stating with "Disc#. Track#"), use a Virtual Tag with the following code in the track sub-grouping and it should show the above, but Disc # (ext) in place of (ext)

Code

$IsNull(<Disc#>,<.Ext>,"Disc "$RxReplace(<Filename>,"(\d+)\.","$1")" ("<.Ext>")")

[xylltch]

Thanks for the help folks; I appreciate your efforts to try and figure out a solution.

It looks like it's just not quite possible at this point with the way I have the rest of my library/application set up (and I'm gonna be a little picky about keeping some stuff they way it is), which isn't the end of the world.