Author Topic: Dot Field for managing multiple tracks (and some other features wishlist)  (Read 24873 times)

Steven

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the reason the extra command is not included is to keep the number of items on the menu down (and its confusing seeing 2 very similar commands) - as you say its only one extra step and i dont plan to change it.

@greb, there is a wiki that has been started if you search the forum topics for the link. Its still too immature at this stage to advertise it for now.
Also anyone can already add posts to the how-to section

Greb

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@greb, there is a wiki that has been started if you search the forum topics for the link. Its still too immature at this stage to advertise it for now.
Also anyone can already add posts to the how-to section

It looks like I'm only asking things that have been actually done!!!

HHM

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the reason the extra command is not included is to keep the number of items on the menu down (and its confusing seeing 2 very similar commands) - as you say its only one extra step and i dont plan to change it.

I think I found out what can be done to  keep current number of new RM menu commands (2) + get more functionality I was thinking about:

"Tick/Untick all files" should be replaced with "Reverse ticking" :)
Last Edit: August 03, 2012, 06:08:33 AM by HHM

HHM

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I think I found out what can be done to  keep current number of new RM menu commands (2) + get more functionality I was thinking about:

"Tick/Untick all files" should be replaced with "Reverse ticking" :)


or another way of making it more functional would be if checkboxes were UNCHECKED ON DEFAULT (especially when ticking is not combined with skipping of a unpicked track)

Zak

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General feedback after testing:

1.
I would have assumed that ticking a track was an alternate means of selecting a track. This is the behaviour in Windows Explorer with checkbox mode enabled and other programs I have seen. Having to the pre-select the tracks that I want to then really/properly select seems very counter-intuitive/productive.

2.
Tracks should be unselected by default.

3.
I keep clicking the checkmark column header expecting it to toggle all/no selected tracks. Again, this is the usual behaviour in other programs.

4.
Failing #3, I keep right-clicking the column header looking for the Toggle/Select ticked files options, then remember that they're in the tracklist context-menu. That might be just me though.

5.
Other programs typically include an "Invert selection" option which can be useful (especially if you've just spent five minutes selecting files only to realise you've selected the ones you wanted to ignore).

6.
i decided to include this field in the now playing panel as well, and if its included you can untick to skip tracks (like iTunes), but to be clear that behavior only exists for the now playing panel and is independant of ticks for files displayed in the main panel
That's very confusing. New users will be asking why the "Select ticked tracks" menu option doesn't appear on the now playing list so they can perform operations on the tracks they just ticked.
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Steven

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i think i am in agreement with 1-2,5
for 3, it was intentional for sorting purposes but it is probably more useful as a toggle

6 - i dont know what the right answer is here. For the now playing list i think the expected behavior from itunes (and AIMP?) users would be how i have implemented it ie. to indicate a track is skipped when unticked. So by default all items a ticked and if people used it as a way of selecting files for some operation then that would interfere with playback. I was tempted to not implement it for the now playing list for the reason it could cause confusion. But also if its not implemented then i will only get people asking why its not there. I think i will leave it as-is in the now playing list unless someone has a bright suggestion.

edit:
does anyone have an opinion about:
- whether the items ticked should be remembered on restart (current behavior is yes, but now i'm inclined for it to not remember)
- remembered after an operation (I would think yes)
- remembered when navigating between panels eg. tick a couple of files in a playlist, navigate to the library and they stay ticked (I would think yes)
Last Edit: August 07, 2012, 12:29:31 PM by Steven

Steven

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thinking about this some more i can see advantages to the way its already done eg. you have ticked a couple of files and then want to play another one using the right click/ Play Now (or edit to view the tags). You dont want that action to be applied to all the ticked tags.
So by keeping the file selection a separate action (as is the case now) then you can play the selected file, tick it if required then choose the select menu item to select all the ticked items/ apply the file operation you wanted

Steven

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http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
has the following changes:
- click the tick box column header in the main panel ticks/ unticks all
- defaults to no ticks
- ticks are not persisted on restart of MB, but are remembered while MB is open
- right click menu now has 2 commands:
  - Invert Ticked Files
  - Select Ticked Files

so the operation is unchanged, where you tick the files you want then select them and apply the command you want to the selected files
the now playing list remains as showing ticks for tracks that will be played/ skipped

Zak

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I think i will leave it as-is in the now playing list unless someone has a bright suggestion.
Changing the image in the Now Playing list would help indicate it's performing a separate function than in the tracklist/playlist views.

I was going to suggest a little speaker icon instead of a checkmark but just realised the playing track already uses a speaker. Um...

-edit-
It also seems odd that there are now two opposite ways to display which tracks will be played or skipped:
* Without the checkmark column shown, tracks to be skipped will have the boxed S in the leftmost column.
* With the checkmark column shown, tracks to be played will have a checkmark.

It might be easier to forget about the checkmark for the Now Playing list and just make it so that clicking the blank space in the leftmost column toggles the S/skips the track.
Pros:
* provide the same functionality as iTunes to quickly skip unwanted tracks
* avoids the UI inconsistency described above
Cons:
* it wouldn't provide quite as strong a visual cue as unticking a song you don't want to play (a little cross next to skipped tracks might be clearer)

- click the tick box column header in the main panel ticks/ unticks all
- defaults to no ticks
Nice. That feels a lot more intuitive and consistent with other programs now. :)

- right click menu now has 2 commands:
  - Invert Ticked Files
Not sure if it's intentional, but inverting checkmarks also selects the newly checked files.
Last Edit: August 07, 2012, 08:54:23 PM by Zak
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Steven

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HHM

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Maybe I have a good idea how to make ticks in Main Panel & Now Playing list consistent:

Ticking column, both in MP & NP, instead of 2 positions (ticked/unticked) could have 3:
1. ^ [ticked] : with behavior as it is now
2.     [unticked]: for file operations (deleting etc.), NOT CONNECTED with skipping
3. S  [skip]: to skip tracks from playing (the "S" icon could be in red colour for more clarity. or it could be a reddish "X")

Of course ticking in one panel would have the relevant result in the other - unticking or skipping in Main Panel would untick or skip in Now Playing and vice versa.

For being functional, this would require all tracks TICKED ON DEFAULT.

As for me I think remembering positions is a good idea. With the triple ticking functionality it could be especially useful for permanent skipping/excluding particular tracks on the album you never want to listen to (but you will always see the one that are skipped as they have S/X mark).
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I guess right now the permanent skip/"exclude from playing" function is available only by clicking "edit (shift+enter) menu + settings tab + ticking to exclude" combination. So not only it is much more complicated, but also you don't see the excluded tracks as they become invisible in the Main Player view , which in my opinion is a disadvantage.

Cons:
- I think "Invert ticking" function might get a lil' confusing. I'd suggest that with the triple ticking functionality implemented, inverting should apply only to Ticked/Unticked tracks and NOT to the skipped ones. But this is a bit inconsistent, isn't it?

Pros:
- Consistency of behavior and display in MP and NP
- Possibility to get rid of "Skip Track" position in Right Click menu in Now Playing. It would make RCM slimmer. Same with "exclude from playing" in track edit panel's settings tab.
- Easy-&-clear-to-use permanent skipping of unwanted tracks.

Let me know guys what you think about this idea.

ps. I'm satisfied with the way it works right now as well:)
Last Edit: August 18, 2012, 04:07:23 PM by HHM

Zak

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Maybe I have a good idea how to make ticks in Main Panel & Now Playing list consistent:
I don't think the Main Panel and the Now Playing list should be consistent, hence my request to make them look different to reflect their different functions.

I feel strongly that the Main Panel should be used for managing and searching your music collection, while the Now Playing list should be used for managing, well... what is now playing. Introducing too much overlap between the two just confuses things.
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Steven

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i have changed it so the Now Playing panel has this field unticked and displays the Skip Track icon when ticked.
The Skip Track icon has been changed as well (now has a "-" sign rather than "S")
Additionally the behavior is changed now so even without displaying the tick field in the Now Playing list, you can click the left-most column to toggle the Skip Track status (it makes the tick field redundant in the Now Playing list but i will leave it there)

Vinyl Wiper

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I definitely like the idea of remembering ticked tracks, regardless of which view they are in.

I guess it can get confusing when you compare SELECTING tracks with TICKING (or marking) them. Selections are always temporary (but see note below), ticks or marks are always permanent.

I generally use selections to move and edit bunches of tracks/albums, and ticks/marks to modify playback (either play only ticked, and/or normalise ticked, etc). I hope that kinda makes sense.

A note on selections : I started <A HREF=http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=7158.0>this wishlist thread</A> a while ago regarding the behaviour of selections. The problem for me (and this is what makes me interested in a permanent marking option) is that when a bunch of tracks is selected (multiple selections, that may be contiguous or not), when a column header is clicked to re-sort the view, all but the first selected track is immediately unselected. This can be really frustrating, but given that there haven't been many suggestions to that, I can heartily second the ticking option, as long as any/all file operations (renaming, converting, rating, copying, moving, deleting, combining into playlists, etc) are able to work with ticked tracks.

Zak

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I've just started trying the latest changes after being away for two weeks, and so far I really like how this works in the latest version. It's much more intuitive.
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