Custom Naming

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

OK, thank you.

That said, you can save the "profile" name as a tag when ripping. If you use different naming strings for different ripping profiles, that would provide that info. But to be honest, I can't imagine why this info would be useful after the fact.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

The naming string is not stored in the files.

OK, thank you.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

I posted a reply to this thread two days ago, but it still isn't showing. Could admin please check posts for moderation to see where it is? Thank you.

[Spoon]

Re: Custom Naming

The naming string is not stored in the files.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

For a better understanding of the string editing language used here to make the filenames, look in the dBpoweramp help file for custom naming.

Basically the [] serves as what we call a delimiter. It appears following commands in the string editor which require one or more expressions as input (following the command) to tell the parser (the part of the string editor which separates the commands) when the input for that command has ended. Since one can nest commands (as is done in your naming string}, if there is a [] after the first command before the second one, they are not nested but run consecutively in forming the string. If there is no [] before the second command the commands are nested and the second command executes as controlled by the first command. Then there might well be a [][] after the input for the second command to tell the parser that both commands have ended.

Thank you, @schmidj. I won't pretend that I'm ready to create my own strings from scratch, but I'm starting to get the gist of what all the individual commands mean. It all makes much more sense now than it did when I started a few weeks ago, and I'm extremely grateful for all the help available via this forum.

Another way I think about the [] in the naming string is thinking about computer programing using several "IF THEN DO, then END" indications. That is, code to say IF (something is true) THEN DO (some naming instructions), then END. For example, the [IF!COMP] is the "IF THEN DO" part, then it is followed by the info on what to do (how to name something. Then this "IF THEN" has to have an end. The [] is the "END" command. If you have nested "IF THEN" statements, then you need multiple END statements, thus sometimes seeing [][].

Regarding this issue, I think it was just sloppiness on my part in creating the string, but I was lucky that it didn't matter in this case and either happens to produce the right outcome, given where it is placed in the string..
[disc][].
[disc].[]

However, you should change "[disc][]." "to [disc].[]" to actually be correct.

Brilliant, @garym! All of your advice has been invaluable. I'll alter the string accordingly and double check everything is as it should be before I get down to the task of ripping my CD collection.

For a better understanding of the string editing language used here to make the filenames, look in the dBpoweramp help file for custom naming.

Help is also online:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/Help/dMC/Naming.htm

Yes, thank you both @schmidj and @Spoon. I did read through the Naming guide but got a bit lost having very little knowledge of the subject. Again, it all makes much more sense now and will hopefully all become easier to understand with time (although I think I understand enough now to just "set it and forget it").

I do still have one more question about the naming string, although it just to satisfy my interest and not really technical.

Is the naming string basically just another tool used for ripping CDs (in the same way as a disc drive, for example), or are the details of the string stored in the file somewhere (i.e. like tags)? To put it another way, if I were to use two completely different strings to produce a file with exactly the same name (for example, the default naming string and something similar to string described above), would the details of which string was used be recorded in the resulting file?

[Spoon]

Re: Custom Naming

Help is also online:

https://www.dbpoweramp.com/Help/dMC/Naming.htm

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

@schmidj provides a great explanation (as usual). Another way I think about the [] in the naming string is thinking about computer programing using several "IF THEN DO, then END" indications. That is, code to say IF (something is true) THEN DO (some naming instructions), then END. For example, the [IF!COMP] is the "IF THEN DO" part, then it is followed by the info on what to do (how to name something. Then this "IF THEN" has to have an end. The [] is the "END" command. If you have nested "IF THEN" statements, then you need multiple END statements, thus sometimes seeing [][].

Regarding this issue, I think it was just sloppiness on my part in creating the string, but I was lucky that it didn't matter in this case and either happens to produce the right outcome, given where it is placed in the string..
[disc][].
[disc].[]

However, you should change "[disc][]." "to [disc].[]" to actually be correct.

[schmidj]

Re: Custom Naming

For a better understanding of the string editing language used here to make the filenames, look in the dBpoweramp help file for custom naming. If you've installed the software on your C drive and don't see the link on the help page, this should be a link:

file:///C:/Program Files/dBpoweramp/Help/dMC/Naming.htm

Please note this is a link to a file on your computer, not on the dBpoweramp web site. You'll have to copy this link and paste it into your browser as most browsers block local links from linking.

Basically the [] serves as what we call a delimiter. It appears following commands in the string editor which require one or more expressions as input (following the command) to tell the parser (the part of the string editor which separates the commands) when the input for that command has ended. Since one can nest commands (as is done in your naming string}, if there is a [] after the first command before the second one, they are not nested but run consecutively in forming the string. If there is no [] before the second command the commands are nested and the second command executes as controlled by the first command. Then there might well be a [][] after the input for the second command to tell the parser that both commands have ended.

In the specific question you have asked from your string, [disc][]. will put a period (.) at that point (before the track number) whether or not you have a multi disc album (which you probably don't want) but [disc].[]will only put the period there after the disc number before the track number if it is a multi-disc album, so you will get [disc].[track] (such as 2.03 for disc 2 track 3) but only if it is a multi-disc album, which I assume is what you want.

This string editor is quite powerful, as you can see.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

Everything from "[IF!COMP][IFVALUE]" onward is telling the naming string what to do if the CD is *not* a compilation (various artist) CD. [IF!COMP], note the "!" is the code for if NOT a compilation. And in the case of non-compilations, I wanted the file name to be just track no. and title. No need to have artist in the name as artist is in the folder name and there is only one artist in this case. (I wanted artist in the name for the compilation albums, because each track was a different artist).

Thank you for clearing up the meaning of the “!” symbol. After writing my message yesterday and breaking the string down into smaller chunks, I was able to see where I’d become confused over file naming.

The first CDs I ripped were compilations by various artists, and so the artists were included in the file names as per the naming string. Knowing very little about the naming string at that point, I automatically assumed that this file naming protocol would apply to ALL albums and not just compilations. Thus, when I removed the “ - [artist]” command from the string I also assumed that this was removing it for ALL albums, including those by single artists.

Had I ripped a single artist CD to begin with I would have seen that the artist name wasn’t included in the file name and most likely realised that compilation file names and single artist file names were controlled by different parts of the string.

Anyway, it all makes sense now!

I still don’t understand the purpose of the “[]” command, but it isn’t really important as long as everything is working. Just out of interest, is there any difference in meaning between its position in the following commands?

[disc][].
[disc].[]

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

Everything from "[IF!COMP][IFVALUE]" onward is telling the naming string what to do if the CD is *not* a compilation (various artist) CD. [IF!COMP], note the "!" is the code for if NOT a compilation. And in the case of non-compilations, I wanted the file name to be just track no. and title. No need to have artist in the name as artist is in the folder name and there is only one artist in this case. (I wanted artist in the name for the compilation albums, because each track was a different artist).

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

... this naming string puts all the multiple discs in the same folder under album name folder, with a disk number in front of track (1.01, 1.02, 2.01, 2.02, etc.). But it only uses the disk number when there are multiple disks for the album (1/3, 2/3, 3/3, etc. when ripping).

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI][disc].[][track] - [title] - [artist][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI][disc][].[track] - [title][][]

I've decided that this naming string is the one that works best for my needs, but would just like to clarify a few points before I start ripping my collection with it.

I understand how some parts of the string work, but not others. For example, I can see that changing "[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]" to "[IFCOMP]Various Artists\[album]" will change the name of the parent folder when the album comprises tracks by different artists, and the subsequent folder will have be the name of the album in either case.

I can see that "[IFMULTI][disc].[][track] - [title] - [artist]" will create a file name where the disc number appears in front of the track number (when the album comprises more than one disc), and that this will be followed by a dash, the track title, another dash and then the artist name. I also understand that I can rearrange or remove any of these fields to create the desired file name, e.g.:
[track] - [title] - [artist]
[track] - [artist] - [title]
[track] [artist] - [title]
[track] - [title]

However, I'm a little lost after that. In the remaining part of the string we find:
[IFMULTI][disc][].[track] - [title]

Previously the string read:
[IFMULTI][disc].[][track] - [title] - [artist]

I'm sure that there is a simple answer to this that I've missed, but what does the "[IF!COMP][IFVALUE]" command do and what is the reason for the differences noted above?

Thank you.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

I'm still confused at what problem this naming is causing you in PerfectTunes (as it is a standard naming approach used by many). But if you have it working to your satisfaction, that's all that matters.

Just that in PerfectTUNES the songs were shown organised by track number in this way:

1.01, Track 1
2.01, Track 1
1.02, Track 2
2.02, Track 2
1.03, Track 3
2.03, Track 3
Etc.

They were ordered correctly (i.e. 1.01, 1.02, 1.03,... 2.01, 2.02, 2.03,...) in the folder where the files were saved and when I checked them on Mp3tag, so it wasn’t difficult to renumber the tags 1-N. I just wondered if there was a way to do the same thing in PerfectTUNES.

I’ll try some more rips this week and see if the same thing happens again. It may have just been my mistake.

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

Naming the files worked the way I wanted it to, with the disc number followed by the track number as per the naming string you suggested. The problem was that when I viewed the ripped tracks in PerfectTUNES they were displayed like this:

1.01 - Railing *1
2.01 - Intro *1
1.02 - Brown Paper Bag *2
2.02 - Hi-Potent *2
...

In other words, the track number was taking priority over the file name, so I changed the track numbers to prevent the same thing happening on my music player. I'll play around with it a bit more and see if I can work out the best solution.

Looks like I'll be keeping Mp3tag after all!

P.S. Looking at my last message, I see now how it could have been confusing. I meant that the track numbers (in the tags) for each CD starting at 1 might be a problem, not the .01 value of the file name. Sorry!

I'm still confused at what problem this naming is causing you in PerfectTunes (as it is a standard naming approach used by many). But if you have it working to your satisfaction, that's all that matters.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

Yes, as that is what I prefer (knowing which disk the track is from). The problem is that when ripping you are only doing one CD at a time. So you would have to wait until all the Disks are ripped to then combine them and renumber from 1 to N. But, what if, say, Disk 1 and Disk 2 have exactly the same track names. Maybe Disk 1 is the studio album and Disk 2 is a live show of the same songs. So when you rip Disk 2, if you don't identify the file name uniquely (e.g., 2.01 - track name), then it will simply write over track 1 from Disk 1 when it rips Disk 2. And you might not notice this until much later.

Naming the files worked the way I wanted it to, with the disc number followed by the track number as per the naming string you suggested. The problem was that when I viewed the ripped tracks in PerfectTUNES they were displayed like this:

1.01 - Railing *1
2.01 - Intro *1
1.02 - Brown Paper Bag *2
2.02 - Hi-Potent *2
...

In other words, the track number was taking priority over the file name, so I changed the track numbers to prevent the same thing happening on my music player. I'll play around with it a bit more and see if I can work out the best solution.

Looks like I'll be keeping Mp3tag after all!

P.S. Looking at my last message, I see now how it could have been confusing. I meant that the track numbers (in the tags) for each CD starting at 1 might be a problem, not the .01 value of the file name. Sorry!

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

And... One of the things I use PerfectTunes for is to check my collection for AccurateRip matches after the fact (some CDs are not in the database when I rip, but show up later), etc. I'm not sure that AccurateRip checking will work if the disk number information is not available to PerfectTunes.

Also note that you may be thinking that your player won't recognize the multidisk album as a single album if tracks are not numbered 1 to N. But most players have settings that recogniize a multidisk album as a single album for playback purposes. All my players do.