Author Topic: Auto-playlist update does not behave as expected  (Read 1205 times)

kriegstinte

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I FINALLY ... man, I was sick of itunes bloatware but just couldn't find a replacement ... switched away from itunes. YAY!

So, forgive me, but, itunes behavior is the only reference point I have.

With autoplay lists, I expect the list to be culled from the library based on the rules. In this case (see xml below), I expect 4 songs to be listed and played. All the songs I have in MusicBee are the "least played" because it has never played any of them.

The behavior I am seeing is that any files save (edit meta data or data changes on the list) or if I click on the list, it updates. I'm not sure if this is a bug or not, but I certainly wouldn't not call it good behavior. In fact, the only time the list updates is when that happens. Auto-refresh or not, if nothing changes with the MusicBee UI, the list never updates.

In a case where the play list is playing and I click on the list, the song list completely changes, but the old list continues to play. New songs are displayed. Old songs play. That is definitely a bug.

There also was no refresh when the list finishes. The same files keep playing. Even though they are no longer least played. If I turn off auto refresh, the list becomes static. No update or change when looping back to the top or clicking on it or anything. That also seems bug-like. It does update if I close MusicBee and restart it. So there is that.    ;D  

Perhaps something in the rule is set wrong. But, I don't think so.

I guess my expectations would be that with auto refresh on, as each song finishes, a rule check occurs. Just played songs would fail the check and get replaced on the list. In itunes, updates are realtime. Song finishes playing so the song gets replaced on the list, as it is no longer "least played".

With auto-refresh off, perhaps the refresh should happen when the list loops.

I don't think I would ever expect it to happen solely based on selecting the list because then how would I play one list and look at another without affecting the list.

Playlist:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<SmartPlaylist SaveStaticCopy="False" LiveUpdating="True" Layout="4" LayoutGroupBy="0" ShuffleMode="None" ShuffleSameArtistWeight="0.5" MinimumArtistGap="0" GroupBy="track" ConsolidateAlbums="False" MusicLibraryPath="C:\Users\Mike\Music\MusicBee\">
  <Source Type="1">
    <Description />
    <Conditions CombineMethod="All">
      <Condition Field="Rating" Comparison="GreaterThan" Value="70" />
    </Conditions>
    <Limit FilterDuplicates="False" Enabled="True" Count="4" Type="Items" SelectedBy="LeastRecentlyPlayed" />
    <SortBy Field="32" Order="Ascending" />
    <Fields>
      <Group Id="TrackDetail">
        <Field Code="20" Width="16" />
        <Field Code="65" Width="390" />
        <Field Code="32" Width="293" />
        <Field Code="30" Width="268" />
        <Field Code="75" Width="75" />
        <Field Code="14" Width="75" />
        <Field Code="88" Width="65" />
        <Field Code="12" Width="174" />
        <Field Code="59" Width="149" />
        <Field Code="61" Width="137" />
      </Group>
    </Fields>
  </Source>
</SmartPlaylist>

hiccup

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Welcome to the forum and to MusicBee kriegstinte.
It's probably me, but after reading your post twice, it is still not clear to me what verifiable bug you believe you have discovered and are reporting here.
Hopefully brighter minds are able to solve the issue, or move your post to 'Questions'.

kriegstinte

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I think I meant to put in steps to reproduce and forget. Damn me.

This is definitely a bug:
1) Create a playlist with "least played" (see example above)
2) Start playing the list
3) click on the list name and the songs will change

The old list of songs will continue to play and the new list of songs are displayed.

This really seems like a bug:
1) As above and make sure auto-refresh is set and start playing
2) Turn on loop
3) Enjoy the same 4 songs all day

The songs never change, update, refresh or get tired of playing. Though you might get sick of them.

There is more to the problem, as I see it, but we'll start with those.

Steven

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Nothing you have said sounds like a bug to me. What MB plays is whats on the Playing Tracks list of files which will from the way you described it be the initial set of files from the auto-playlist. The Playing Tracks list will not automatically be kept in sync with an auto-playlist.
If you dont want the auto-playlist to refresh when you switch tabs/ restart MB etc, then untick the 'refresh tracks' option in the auto-playlist settings

kriegstinte

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There is some "currently playing" list of songs that I can only see one, the currently playing song? A list that does not change unless some user action is taken to updated it and get told to play? Basically the current play list is static and filled with dynamic or static or it doesn't matter what because it goes to a static list.

That would make the limit to 10 least played, and in fact dynamic lists, almost pointless. I would need to intervene any time a shorter list finished. The way to get a long list of many hours of music would be to select a long list and shuffle it, or just play it in order.   :(

frankz

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When you start playing from a playlist, those songs are added to the play queue (essentially a temporary static playlist).  That play queue doesn't change until you reinitiate playback from the original playlist (if it has changed) or another playlist.

I don't use it, but maybe auto-dj could do something similar to what you want?  Someone more knowledgeable about it would have to chime in.
Last Edit: January 31, 2022, 12:10:58 AM by frankz

psychoadept

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Yes, I think auto-dj might be helpful. If you let the playlist update automatically, and set auto-dj to draw from that playlist, it will continually pull new songs as the playlist updates (as long as the playlist doesn't run out of matching songs).

I think the separation of the "Playing Tracks list" from specific playlists is one distinction between MusicBee and iTunes.  Changes made to the playling tracks list don't affect the source playlist, and vice versa (unless you're editing the tracks themselves in a way that changes their playlist inclusion).  And yes, auto-playlists which match more tracks than are inlcluded in the playlist will randomly refresh each time you load them.

To update a playlist which has auto-updating turned off, you have to open the playlist settings and press the button to refresh it.  You might find it helpful to browse around the wiki (see my sig) to learn more about MusicBee's behavior with playlists and playing tracks.
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