Invisible characters causing grief

[mightyoakbob]

Hello everyone,

I've been using the dBpoweramp cd ripper for about 5 years now and i'm very happy with it.

However, I've just come across what for me was a real mystery. All sorts of problems with MinimServer after ripping a CD with a hard space I didn't know about. I had actually copied it from notepad with Cntrl-C Cntrl-V.

A normal space character hex=20 dec=32 displays the same as a hard space hex=A0 dec=160 but if by bad luck you happen to copy a hard space into the ripper as part of the title or any other field when the disc rips it looks OK but it isn't.

Wherever you have hex=A0 for a space the ripper places both hex=C2 and hex=20 which still show up as just one space but MinimServer picks this up and it makes life interesting to say the least.

Now I know what is happening it isn't a problem but I took me some hours to fathom it out. Why does the ripper replace hex=A0 with hex=C2 hex=20. Could the ripper warn if it spots a hard space, before it rips the disc? Just a suggestion.

Thanks.

Bob.

[Dat Ei]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

Hey Bob,

looks like this could be a UTF-8 / UTF-16 problem.


Dat Ei

[mville]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

Couldn't you use the CD Ripper File Name Character Replacement and the ID Tag Processing DSP >> Manipulation >> Word / Character Replacement and replace the non-breaking space with space?

Also, couldn't you use the ID Tag Update utility codec, post rip?

[mightyoakbob]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

Couldn't you use the CD Ripper File Name Character Replacement and the ID Tag Processing DSP >> Manipulation >> Word / Character Replacement and replace the non-breaking space with space?

Interesting idea. I don't know anything about char replacement I'll read up a bit.

Also, couldn't you use the ID Tag Update utility codec, post rip?

You may be able edit the problem out but unfortunately you can't see the problem which is a bit harder.

Thanks.

Bob.

[mville]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

You may be able edit the problem out but unfortunately you can't see the problem which is a bit harder.

That is why I am suggesting you use the CD Ripper File Name Character Replacement, the ID Tag Processing DSP and the ID Tag Update utility codec, so the issue is taken care of for you and you don't have to think about it. It is what I do in these circumstances.

[mightyoakbob]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

That is why I am suggesting you use the CD Ripper File Name Character Replacement, the ID Tag Processing DSP and the ID Tag Update utility codec, so the issue is taken care of for you and you don't have to think about it. It is what I do in these circumstances.

I'm trying to get my head around this, I'm obviously not as familiar with this as you are.

I've just had a look and the reading suggests that will do char replacement on meta data, does that include what is copied into a field by Cntrl-V before a rip?
How would I enter enter hex=A0 on the left side ? I presume it would simply be a space on the right side?

Bob.

[mville]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

I've just had a look and the reading suggests that will do char replacement on meta data, does that include what is copied into a field by Cntrl-V before a rip?

Yes, I believe it will work either before ripping or post rip, but you will need to test this to be sure. Try it on a single CD or on a single file, post rip.

Before ripping:
CD Ripper Menu >> CD Ripper Options >> Filename Restricted Characters, replaces characters in the filename
and
CD Ripper main window >> DSP Panel >> ID Tag Processing >> Manipulation >> Word / Character Replacement, replaces characters or words from any metadata value

Post rip:
Batch Convert/Convert To >> ID Tag Update >> Manipulation >> Word / Character Replacement

How would I enter enter hex=A0 on the left side ? I presume it would simply be a space on the right side?

You can type a non-breaking space using the Alt+0160 keystroke (that is hold down the Alt key and type the numbers 0,1,6 and 0).

[Spoon]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

We can look to add for the next release.

[Michael Sargent]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

And how about trimming spaces from the beginning/ending of all fields?

Mike

[mightyoakbob]

Re: Invisible characters causing grief

We can look to add for the next release.

Excellent, thank you very much.

Cheers,

Bob.