Author Topic: [feature request] i have no idea if this is hard to do... (Read 11312 times)

nitrix-ud · « **on:** July 23, 2007, 07:52 AM »

Hi mouser, i'd like to suggest a small feature but which would be very useful for some complex alias

i have an alias to search my music, since all my music is organized in folders, i only search folder, then i can play it or enqueue it to winamp thanks to the action keyword "open_winamp" :

[Select]

Music album search $$1 | dosearch -alias +folder_music +open_winamp +\ $$1

see capture when i search music (m + keyword) : m mar

when i select a result, i get the action keyword triggered, i then have to choose between the different action

what i'd like to do is Play my selected folder, keep FARR opened (thanks to /stayopen) THEN go back to the result list (to be able to enqueue further albums...)

how could we do it ? i thought through a restartsearch command.... (see capture)
maybe restartsearch $$searchbox

the thing is, the result list (all the albums) must be still there (i guess), so we don't want to really RESTART the search, since it could take a few seconds (even more on a network drive)

ak_ · « **Reply #1 on:** July 23, 2007, 10:15 AM »

Sorry i can't help you with that, i'd just like to know if you could share these aliases and stuff because i'm looking for a way to browse my mp3 collection just like you do. Besides, it would help to understand how aliases work because i can't find any valuable instructions (maybe i didn't search very well).

TucknDar · « **Reply #2 on:** July 23, 2007, 10:17 AM »

Yes, please share your aliases! I organize my mp3s just like that, too, so it would be very helpful!

justice · « **Reply #3 on:** July 23, 2007, 10:27 AM »

And make a screencast while you're at it because it would be great to include for FARR promotions.

nitrix-ud · « **Reply #4 on:** July 23, 2007, 12:22 PM »

so here is how to create a nice alias for searching music collection organized in folders (one folder = one album)

1) create a new entry in the search folders tab

directory = your music folder
use an optional keyword (ex: folder_music)

2) create a new action alias (this one is to invoke different actions on the selected result) VERY POWERFUL FARR TRICK

one could add actions to play/enqueue in itunes or windows media player, etc.

3) then create the search template using the dosearch command VERY POWERFUL FARR TRICK

the regexp mask is

[Select]

^m (.*)

so that "m " triggers the alias
the search template is

[Select]

Music album search $$1 | dosearch -alias +folder_music +open_winamp +\ $$1

-alias means i don't want to search alias
+folder_music tells FARR, i just want results from my music folder
+\ tells FARR i just want folders
+open_winamp is the action modifier

Notes :

you can in matter of seconds create a second music alias for searching a networked drive, call it "mn" for music network, create a new search folder entry with the UNC path \\network\my music... this is a very handy way to play music on a networked drive...
regexp aliases + dosearch + action modifier is VERY POWERFUL and IMHO makes FARR unique
it would be great to be able to select multiple results then invoke the action... (we could enqueue multiple albums...)
i cannot really share this alias since this trick uses a search folder entry, an action alias, ... so i made a step-by-step explanation

hope it will be helpful

mouser · « **Reply #5 on:** July 23, 2007, 03:40 PM »

thats a wonderful trick nitrix, thank you for sharing!

i cannot really share this alias since this trick uses a search folder entry, an action alias, ... so i made a step-by-step explanation

perhaps we can remedy that.. it seems to me i should set up some default folders like MyMusic, MyPictures, etc, using keyword modifiers to make it easier for sharing this kind of thing -- then you'd just have to share an alias file which would work for anyone.

nitrix-ud · « **Reply #6 on:** July 23, 2007, 03:52 PM »

perhaps we can remedy that.. it seems to me i should set up some default folders like MyMusic, MyPictures, etc, using keyword modifiers to make it easier for sharing this kind of thing -- then you'd just have to share an alias file which would work for anyone.

nice idea !

ak_ · « **Reply #7 on:** July 24, 2007, 03:26 AM »

Thanks nitrix, it works ! However, i have a little problem : i can't use numpad to launch a result. When i press a numpad key it adds the number to the search instead of launching the corresponding item. How come ?

nitrix-ud · « **Reply #8 on:** July 24, 2007, 04:14 AM »

@_ak
i think it has to do with your options (interface tab, second checkbox)
since i'm on a notebook with no numeric keyboard, i never use numpad...

ak_ · « **Reply #9 on:** July 24, 2007, 05:27 AM »

Thanks for your answer. I also thought it could be an configuration problem, so i checked the options and didn't find anything. Actually i use numpad all the time with farr, the problem only occurs with this alias. Weird... Mouser, any idea maybe ?

jgpaiva · « **Reply #10 on:** July 24, 2007, 05:35 AM »

@ak_: IIRC, the numbers don't launch results in aliases, because of fcalc. If they did, fcalc wouldn't work. Not sure if this this, though.

ak_ · « **Reply #11 on:** July 24, 2007, 05:38 AM »

Oh crap... I hope this will be set as an option in the future, because i don't use fcalc. Thanks jpgaiva

mouser · « **Reply #12 on:** July 24, 2007, 02:14 PM »

wait.. what? i'm confused.

ak_ · « **Reply #13 on:** July 24, 2007, 06:02 PM »

Problem :

I'm using nitrix's alias to browse my music collection :

I decide i want to launch the second item, so i hit 2 on the numpad and then :

So jpgaiva's answer is : you can't use numpad with aliases because of fcalc. If that's the reason, i'm wondering if it could be set as an option, because i don't use fcalc but use the numpad a lot.

Hope it's clearer now

edbro · « **Reply #14 on:** July 24, 2007, 06:47 PM »

Does anybody know how to do this using JRiver Media Center? I am using the following:

[Select]

Play | MC12.exe /PlayReplace "$$1"
Append | MC12.exe /Append "$$1"
Back | restartsearch m $$c

This will not load folders of music but will load individual songs.

http://wiki.jrmediac...php/The_Command_Line

jgpaiva · « **Reply #15 on:** July 24, 2007, 06:53 PM »

edbro: from reading that wiki page, i think there's no way to append entire folders.
I don't have jriver, thus can't test it, but maybe the following works:

[Select]

Play | MC12.exe /PlayReplace "$$1*"
Append | MC12.exe /Append "$$1*"
Back | restartsearch m $$c

So that the command line would be, for example: c:\music\*. Not sure if it'd solve the problem, though.

edbro · « **Reply #16 on:** July 26, 2007, 09:15 PM »

Okay, my media player doesn't have a command line option for loading folders. But, I do have a utility that will recursively create playlists. So, how could I implement this so that FARR will search folders and find m3u playlists? I already know the command line to load them (Play | MC12.exe /PlayReplace "$$1*").

jgpaiva · « **Reply #17 on:** July 27, 2007, 04:46 AM »

Here edbro:

Replace the following command line:

[Select]

Music album search $$1 | dosearch -alias +folder_music +open_winamp +\ $$1

with

[Select]

playlist seach $$1 | dosearch -alias +folder_music +open_winamp *.m3u +sall $$1

That should do it.
I replaced the "+\" which means "only seach for folders" by "*.m3u", which means only seach for playlists.
Also added "+sall" so that all the hits are shown.

edbro · « **Reply #18 on:** July 27, 2007, 06:40 AM »

Beautiful! Thanks jgpaiva.

nitrix-ud · « **Reply #19 on:** August 20, 2007, 05:06 AM »

back to the first post :

what i'd like to do is Play my selected folder, keep FARR opened (thanks to /stayopen) THEN go back to the result list (to be able to enqueue further albums...)

how could we do it ? i thought through a restartsearch command.... (see capture)
maybe restartsearch $$searchbox

the thing is, the result list (all the albums) must be still there (i guess), so we don't want to really RESTART the search, since it could take a few seconds (even more on a network drive)

this feature is a MUST (IMHO) ... to be able to go back to the result from the action list
if you search music on a network drive for example, it can take up to 10 seconds, so it would be great to be able to enqueue multiple albums

(EVEN BETTER, it would be great if one could select multiple results and perform actions with them... for FARR v3)