Export/Create Playlists 4 Child Nodes 4.0 (2013-07-10)[MM2+]

[ZvezdanD]

it looks like I cannot replace the parts of the "file:///" prefix, is that right?

That's right, if you choose the URL option, it will add the "file:///" automatically. I believe that that is the correct syntax for URL paths of files on local disks. Did you try Y:/ instead of localhost/Y:/ for with: string?

EDIT: OK, here is what wikipedia says:

Here are two Unix examples pointing to the same /etc/fstab file:
file://localhost/etc/fstab
file:///etc/fstab

Here are some examples which may be accepted by some applications on Windows systems, referring to the same, local file c:\WINDOWS\clock.avi
file://localhost/c|/WINDOWS/clock.avi
file:///c|/WINDOWS/clock.avi
file://localhost/c:/WINDOWS/clock.avi

Here is the correct URI as understood by the Windows Shell API:
file:///c:/WINDOWS/clock.avi

So, its seems that the replacement with Y:/ should work fine in your case.

[rerickson]

OK, looks like I'm all set (at least with the right syntax that iTunes can deal with). Thanks a million!

Now, if only MM would support iOS5 then I could quit going through this iTunes stuff. Man iTunes is a real POS.

Thanks again.

[titanfan]

I just came across an issue with foreign characters in playlists that aren't read correctly by Logitech Media Server (LMS). I installed the "Export M3Us/Create Playlists for Child Nodes" script and have it set to output UTF-8 with BOM. Here's an example of the output producted by the script that doesn't work with LMS :

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:282, M├╢tley Cr├╝e - Kickstart My Heart
..\M├╢tley Cr├╝e\Dr. Feelgood\05 Kickstart My Heart.flac

I can edit this playlist with wordpad and write it back out as a text file, and wordpad writes the correct characters that work with LMS:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:282,Kickstart My Heart - M÷tley Crⁿe
..\M÷tley Crⁿe\Dr. Feelgood\05 Kickstart My Heart.flac

Note that wordpad does not write the BOM. I had to use a DOS command shell and type the files to see these characters. The differences are also clear when I do a hex dump of the files. Both the MediaMonkey native and the "Export M3Us/Create Playlists for Child Nodes" script produce the output in the first example.

The foreign characters were created correctly by MediaMonkey version 3, but not so in version 4. I don’t believe the script has changed behaviour, as it also didn’t write the foreign characters correctly in MediaMonkey version 3.

[ZvezdanD]

I don’t believe the script has changed behaviour, as it also didn’t write the foreign characters correctly in MediaMonkey version 3.

Could you send me both files, made with my script and made with WordPad? Also, it would be nice if you could upload your database file packed with Zip to some file server like Mediafire, so I could try to reproduce your problem.

[titanfan]

okay, I've uploaded to; www.megaupload.com/?d=AVUMGAAR

The zip file contains:

MM.DB
MediaMonkey-playlist.m3u - playlist written by plugin script
wordpad-playlist.m3u - playlist written by wordpad (edit MediaMonkey-Playlist.m3u with wordpad and save as text file)

The example is only one song, but my MM.DB has many songs with foreign characters. The example is the first song taken from the playlist (Imported Playlist -> Top 100).

Please let me know if you need any additional information. Thanks.

[ZvezdanD]

Your example is not very good. Mötley Crüe doesn't contain any non-ANSI characters, all of them could be represented with a single byte, e.g. ö is 4D, ü is C3. Your example file which you got with Wordpad is pure ANSI, you would get the same file with Notepad, or even with my script if you choose ANSI option. You could see that in every software which displays encoding of file, for example open those files with Lister of Total Commander and you would see ANSI for your Worpad file and UTF-8 for file generated with my script.

I don't know what settings you had in the Save dialog of Worpad (most probably Text document) and what you would get with it when you import some .m3u file which contains some real Unicode character (I mean, character represented with 2 bytes), but I doubt that you would get any better result with such files in your software. Wordpad (at least the one in Vista, I don't know about Win7 version) could save files only in ANSI or in Unicode, i.e. UTF-16 - it cannot save files in UTF-8. It seems to me that this is a bug of Logitech software when importing UTF-8 files which all normal software/hardware recognizes without any problem.

By the way, did you try it with .m3u files from my script with BOM turned off? Did you try to export files using Unicode option of my script?

[ZvezdanD]

There is the new release: v3.6.1 - 2012-01-09
* Fixed: URL paths in .m3u files option for network drives using UNC.

[titanfan]

I see. My playlists work when I set the option "ansi" in your script. So, I went looking for a two byte entry in my database and found "Dvořák: Symphony #9, Slavonic Dances", which I think is Cyrillic. Sure enough, Logitech Media Server can't read a playlist with Dvořák no matter what setting I try - ansi, UTF8/BOM, UTF8, Unicode, or URL. Editing & saving with wordpad/notepad/notepad++/vim in various formats doesn't work either. This must be a bug in Logitech Media Server (LMS).

Oh, I just remembered that LMS can create it's own playlists, so let's see what it comes up with for "Dvořák: Symphony #9, Slavonic Dances". Okay, this is interesting. The playlist created by LMS looks like this (and it plays just fine!):

D:\Music FLAC\Kurt Masur; New York Philharmonic Orchestra\DVOK_S~1\01DVOK~1.FLA

I don't know why this works, but LMS must somehow connect that playlist line to:

D:\Music FLAC\Kurt Masur; New York Philharmonic Orchestra\Dvořák; Symphony #9, Slavonic Dances\01 Dvořák_ Symphony #9 In E Minor, O.flac

When I look at the LMS album title entry in it's database, it shows this: Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%3A%20Symphony%20%239%2C%20Slavonic%20Dances

Again, looks like very strange behavior for LMS. I now believe MediaMonkey is working correctly and LMS is at the very least showing abnormal behavior.

[ZvezdanD]

The playlist created by LMS looks like this (and it plays just fine!):

D:\Music FLAC\Kurt Masur; New York Philharmonic Orchestra\DVOK_S~1\01DVOK~1.FLA

I don't know why this works, but LMS must somehow connect that playlist line to:

D:\Music FLAC\Kurt Masur; New York Philharmonic Orchestra\Dvořák; Symphony #9, Slavonic Dances\01 Dvořák_ Symphony #9 In E Minor, O.flac

It works fine because it stored folder and filename containing non-ANSI character in Short DOS format (8.3). It would be interesting to test such .m3u file under Linux or MacOS. It seems that the "Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k%3A%20Symphony%20%239%2C%20Slavonic%20Dances" entry in the Logitech database is URL encoded. Did you try URL option of my script with ANSI file format? Anyway, this is obviously the Logitech bug with UTF-8 encoded files. Why don't you post that bug report in their forums?

By the way, Dvořák was a Czech, they are not using Cyrillic.

[titanfan]

I tried ANSI/URL - nope, LMS can't read it.

Yes, Logitech seems to have a bug regarding utf-8 format playlists. I will report it, but I think their software has worked this way for a long time.

Good point about testing under Linux. One of the things on my TODO list is to move my music server to Linux, so I will be able to test this in the next few months.

[ramble-bumble]

I am referring to an old message:

I wanted to install it, but get the error
#error 424 VBS runtime error
Object required SBD Objects

on which you replied

Thanks for the report, the install package was not updated properly. You could take the updated version from the download page now.

But today - i.e. with your latest version - I am getting a most similar error:
"Error: Object required 'SDB', Code: 800A01A8; Source: runtime error in Microsoft VBScript"???
(translated from german origin)

By the way: Can you confirm that Child Node is suitable just to transform "simple"- to "extended"-m3u.playlists?!
Even new edition 4.0.5 of MM is not able to do so, but my Cowon J3 do not recognize the songs in the "simple" format (although they are in).

Byebye!

[ZvezdanD]

But today - i.e. with your latest version - I am getting a most similar error:
"Error: Object required 'SDB', Code: 800A01A8; Source: runtime error in Microsoft VBScript"???
(translated from german origin)

Do you want to say that you have problem only with the latest version, but not with the previous one? I think that most probably you have some problems with Windows and its script engine. Because of that you wouldn't be able to use any MM add-on, not only this one. In that case you could try suggestions described here:
- Script Error: ActiveX component can't create object
- All Scripts Fail to Work
- Error message: 'A script for the specified language can not be created'
- Error message: 'There is no script engine for file extension'
- Error message: 'Can't find script engine ...'

By the way: Can you confirm that Child Node is suitable just to transform "simple"- to "extended"-m3u.playlists?!
Even new edition 4.0.5 of MM is not able to do so, but my Cowon J3 do not recognize the songs in the "simple" format (although they are in).

I am not sure that understand your question. This add-on cannot "transform" one existing .m3u playlist file into another, but you could generate new .m3u files based on your nodes in whatever format you want (simple or extended).

[ramble-bumble]

Many thanks for your prompt reply and the many links: I will process them one by one as soon as I have time for that.

My difficulties with my MM playlists are that - all of the sudden? - they are transferred (send to => m3u.playlist) in "simple" m3u.format only:
>>>
M:\Music\Disco\ABBA\Ring Ring - 1973\Ring Ring - 01 - .mp3
<<<
which the Cowon J3 cannot read ("no file"), whereas in the past the playlists have been generated in the "extended" version obviously:
>>>
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:303,Verve, The - She's A Superstar
..\Music\Pop\Verve, The\The Verve [EP] - 1992\She's A Superstar [Edit] - 03 - .mp3
<<<
My suggestion was that your script solves that problem somehow, am I wrong?

[ramble-bumble]

I forgot to mention that I tried the latest edition of your add-on only,
3.6.1, just as per the link on your page
http://solair.eunet.rs/~zvezdand/Export ... bNodes.htm
I did not try any other version.
Cheerio!

[ZvezdanD]

My suggestion was that your script solves that problem somehow, am I wrong?

Yes, my script solves that problem. Instead of "send to => m3u.playlist" you just need to use "Export As .m3u Playlist..." or some another command of my script depending of what you want to export (selected tracks, selected node, selected node and its subnodes...) - just read the Usage section of the first post of this thread. Of course, previously you should turn on the "Extended .m3u format" option in the Options dialog box. However, first of all, you should make your Windows script engine functional.