MediaMonkey 2.2.2 Alpha -- please give us your feedback

[rusty]

MediaMonkey 2.2.2 Alpha (build 772) is available for testing. In light of some of the bugs that have been discovered recently, we've decided to put out a point release that resolves these issues and incorporates low risk fixes that do not affect UI localization.

Although most of the changes are low risk, it's labelled an 'alpha' because it has gone through very limited testing. If you plan on using it, take precautions to backup your data to protect against data loss during installation or usage. Please let us know how it works for you.

What's new in build 772?

• - Added ability to sort AutoPlaylists by Custom fields
  - Added Clean Database should also compact it
  - Added Play command to several top level nodes
  - Added MPC/APE for default file associations
  - Added new masks to allow subsets of a field to appear
  - Added beta support of new functionality to better integrate scripts with MediaMonkey UI:
  • - Create menu items/ pop-up menu items, toolbar items, tray icon menu items & shortcuts
    - Create new dialogs with controls to edit lines, buttons, drop downs, etc.
    - Create any new hierarchy of tree nodes
  - Fixed extended APE2 tags can be deleted on APE or MPC files
  - Fixed APE tracks can be corrupted if tagging previously untagged APE files
  - Fixed M3U playlists sometimes aren't properly processed during scanning
  - Fixed ID3 comments field is occasionally filled with advanced properties and vice versa
  - Fixed ID3 tagging occasionally fails (memory leak)
  - Fixed 'MusicMatch tags' aren't written in a format that is readable by other players
  - Fixed scans sometimes fail partway through an .m3u file
  - Fixed minimize via taskbar doesn't work when 'Minimize to tray' is enabled
  - Fixed popup notifications do not always work correctly
  - Fixed advanced playlist size limitation of 10 GB
  - Fixed MediaMonkey shuts down when it shouldn't in response to some scripts
  - Fixed bitrate field shouldn't be editable
  - Fixed Freedb Unicode support
  - Fixed Audio CD length isn't reported correctly for CDs with data track(s)

Download
MediaMonkey 2.2.2 Alpha: http://www.mediamonkey.com/beta/MediaMonkey_2_2_772.exe

Installation
Double-click the downloaded file and follow the installation instructions. You can install:
a) To your MediaMonkey directory, replacing the current version of MediaMonkey. If you take this approach make certain to back up your database beforehand.
b) To a new directory (e.g. /Program Files/MediaMonkey_alt), preserving your existing MediaMonkey installation so that you can use one version or the other.

Testing Note: If you are experiencing a problem which a debug log would help resolve, you can install a debug build from: http://www.mediamonkey.com/beta/MediaMo ... _2_772.exe

Enjoy!
-The MediaMonkey Team

[ninerays]

Well done to the team!

I have installed this Alpha in a separate folder & so far it works perfectly. I particularly like how the classification fields now stores the information in the mp3 tag in the same place musicmatch does. Now I can edit these in MM & still see it in other programs.

Also the ability to sort by the custom fields is very useful to me.

Out of the what's new list:
- Added new masks to allow subsets of a field to appear - What is this?

Also, how does the following work?:
- Added beta support of new functionality to better integrate scripts with MediaMonkey UI:
- Create menu items/ pop-up menu items, toolbar items, tray icon menu items & shortcuts
- Create new dialogs with controls to edit lines, buttons, drop downs, etc.
- Create any new hierarchy of tree nodes

Otherwise - no problems or issues to report.

[jiri]

- Added new masks to allow subsets of a field to appear

This lets you to force maximum width of some fields (e.g. <Artist:1> returns just first letter). You can also contruct conditional masks depending on values of some fields. See 'masks' topics in the updated help file.

- Added beta support of new functionality to better integrate scripts with MediaMonkey UI

This adds brand new possibilities to plug-in and script developers. Some examples and a complete description is about to appear in developers forum soon.

Jiri

[ninerays]

Thanks for that Jiri. I have a better understanding now.

I did try & look up masks in the help file, but it turned up very little. I noticed that the date of the .chm help file that was installed with 2.2.2.772 is dated 3rd June 2004. Is there a more recent one?

[jiri]

Oops, sorry, I forgot that the file will only be installed with the final release. Here is a short copy of the section:

Advanced Naming
To force a particular text field to a specific length, use <Field:n> . e.g. for 'Abba', \<Artist:2>\ yields '\AB\' (if n > # characters in the Field then the field is padded with spaces; if n>0 then the string is right aligned, if n<0 then the string is left aligned)

To force a particular numeric field to a specific length, use <Field:n> e.g. for '2004', <Year:2> yields '04' ((if n > # digits in the Field then the field is padded with zeros; if n>0 then the string is right aligned, if n<0 then the string is left aligned)

To use masks conditionally, depending on whether or not a field is empty, use '$if(field isn't empty,use this,else use this)'. Make sure to precede all control characters such as [')', ',', ...] with '$'. Some examples:
- D:\My Music\$If(<Artist>,<Artist:1>,None)\<Artist>$If(<Album>, - <Album>\,)<Title>
- \$If(<Artist>,<Artist> - ,)$If(<Album>,<Album> - ,)$If(<Track#>,<Track#> ,)<Title>

To use masks conditionally depending on whether or not 2 fields or a field and a string are equal, use '=' . An example of how this can be useful is in the case of an Album Artist differing from the Artist in which case both should appear in the path:
- \<Album Artist> - <Album>\<Track#> $If(<Artist>=<Album Artist>,,<Artist> - )<Title>
[/list]

[b0b0b0b-guest]

Sounds awesome -- can't wait to find out more about the new api.



772 is working great for me

[pah68]

No probs so far on Win 2K

[rusty]

fyi, I've posted a new version of build 772 with only a couple of documentation related changes:

-updated readme (better explains how to change the custom field text)
-updated online help (explains how to use new advanced masks functionality)

Just use the download link in the original announcement.

Just an aside: as a consequence of the fact that it is now possible to click 'Play' for top level nodes, it's now easier to simply randomly play tracks from your entire library. Just set shuffle, select a top level node and press the Play button or <enter>.

-Rusty