Path is not Path

philby · Post by **philby** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 2:07 am

Hello,
When you right-click on the column headings to select the fields you would like displayed, one of the options is "Path". If this is selected, the Path column not only displays the path, but also the filename. I would expect the path NOT to include the filename, as the filename is available as another column selection anyway. I know this is a subtle point but strictly speaking a path is the path to the file, not the file name itself.
Philby

rk · Post by rk » Fri Jul 29, 2005 4:45 am

Hi Philby,
I'm not sure whether I would prefer the display with or without the filename, but a file path indeed includes the filename itself. What you mean is the directory. But we might become philosophical here

GSV3MiaC · Post by **GSV3MiaC** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:32 am

I'll go with RK on this - the path is the whole thing that takes you all the way to the file. c:\windows\system32 is not a (complete) path, it's a folder, guessing which specific file it leads to is not possible.

Note that the 'filename' column does not =have= to be displayed - you can easily turn it off. You then have all the 'what file is this' info under the 'path' column.

Eyal · Post by **Eyal** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 12:04 pm

I agree completely. Path includes the filename.

pah68 · Post by **pah68** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 5:20 pm

I'll jump on the bandwagon too.
For me, the path should include the filename.

philby · Post by **philby** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 4:30 am

Well, looks like I am outvoted. But I still disagree with the argument that the path should include the filename (in the MM list of fields anyway), because the filename can be selected separately. But, I concede that taking my argument any further is pointless. Thanks for the opinions and feedback.

Eyal · Post by **Eyal** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 9:35 am

Hi Philby
With my knowledge of computers, and like RK mentions it, it's only technical terms used in programming world. It was the developer's choice to use path instead of directory here.

Post by **Peke** » Sat Jul 30, 2005 5:24 pm

I agree with Eyal Path is Programing representative for Filename Full Path in real world.
MM core is written in Delphi and when handling PATH Delphi uses few other functions to get what you want:
- ExtractFileName(PATH) = Gets Filename
- ExtractFilePath(PATH) = Gets Directory
...

I guess that this was reason to use Path as name.

philby · Post by **philby** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 2:39 am

Well, I conceded that everybody says the path includes the filename, but MM itself is inconsistant in this respect.

In the "Basic" tab page of the track properties dialog, the Path form DOES NOT CONTAIN THE FILENAME !!! It is listed in another form ("Filename", would you believe !)

So, we are back to the basic argument again. And now, I can demonstrate that MM terminology is in full agreement with my argument.

I know this is splitting straws, but it should be consistant.

Philby

LanceVictor · Post by **LanceVictor** » Mon Oct 17, 2005 11:20 pm

philby wrote:Well, looks like I am outvoted. But I still disagree with the argument that the path should include the filename (in the MM list of fields anyway), because the filename can be selected separately. But, I concede that taking my argument any further is pointless. Thanks for the opinions and feedback.

I'll chime in to side with you, Philby. Sure, in many dialects of geek-speek, a file's path includes the filename, but as you pointed out, following that tradition causes redundancy in the MM display. One could just as easily argue that, STRICTLY Speaking, the directory-path IS part of the complete FILENAME and the whole dir structure should be displayed as the complete "filename".

The funny things that happen when we cling to technicalities like they were written in stone....

L
--
ps: the plural of computer Mouse is Mouses.

trixmoto · Post by **trixmoto** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 3:36 am

Could this not all be solved by having a new column "folder" and then you could chose to have the path inclusive or exclusive of the filename?

ADDITION: Path in computer terms is technically short for pathname, which relates to the full directory structure, including the filename and extension.

psyXonova · Post by **psyXonova** » Tue Oct 18, 2005 5:03 am

Ok, i am jumping is as well.
Path is the full path (including filename) in the programmers lingo.
MM stores only the full path of the song in the Songs table. There is no field named Filename. When MM wants to show the Filename to the user it just takes the Path and trims every character before the last "\".
So, this is it.
If you want to use the path without filename for some reason (e.g. in a script) you just have to trim all the characters after the last "\" in the path field.