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I use a number of small DAC+amplifier pairs to drive a wide variety of unique speakers I've custom built for listening to my collection in various rooms of my home. These particular DAC units can only address thumb drive file structures which extend 3 levels deeper than root. Even worse, these devices require users to navigate the entire file structure one click at a time using a single line display. So, the file structure is critically important in order for these units to be usable. I spent many hours spread over a few days writing a massive string that checked for the existence of each tag, before processing those tags into my admittedly complex file structure requirements. As part of that path construction, I first needed to extract the first alphabetically valid letter of the [Album Artist] tag in order to sort all artists into 27 mostly alphabetical root folders. The resulting file structure required fewer clicks on the DACs to get to specific songs. The root folders needed to be alphabetically named because the root directory does not allow more than 510 files/folders (plus the obligatory two hidden system files, of course.) So, I couldn't simply make a root level folder for each of the 1200+ artists in my large and diverse music collection. I needed a compact, efficient hierarchy with a small list of root folders. It took seemingly forever to write and debug the vast, cumbersome text string which conditionally created the folder structure I need, while inteligently handling all of the special case CDs which didn't easily fit into this hierarchy.
Here are some examples of the file paths my overly complex format string created when converting a few hundred previously ripped discs to FLAC, while simultaneously rearranging the file structure to meet the special needs of my DACs:
N:\*\10,000 Maniacs\MTV Unplugged\01 These Are The Days.flac
N:\A\Alan Parsons Project, The\I Robot\01 I Robot.flac
N:\Compilations\The Renaissance Album\01 Three Italian Dances.flac
N:\J\Jethro Tull\Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters 1973-1991 - Disc 1\01 First Post.flac
N:\J\Jethro Tull\Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters 1973-1991 - Disc 2\01 Paradise Steakhouse.flac
N:\J\Jethro Tull\Songs From The Wood\01 Songs From The Wood.flac
....
As the creators of this template language, I'm certain you can imagine the extreme number of complex "IF/Then" sections present in the final, ponderous format string I eventually crafted. For example, it needed to handle leading punctuation marks in entries like "~NSYNC" or ".38 Special." I had to nest multiple conditional strings, which included the results of nested actions as parameters, just for removing, replacing, and/or ignoring individual characters in tags in order to obtain the precise character required for sorting the files into the proper root folders. It took even more complex processing for those cases when the album was a compilation of songs from different artists. Handling multi-disc albums added another level of complexity, as did a few entirely missing tags on obscure recordings. The millions of lines of code I wrote during my decades long programming career were far easier to write and debug than this format string.
The biggest hurdle was the lack of documentation on proper use of this "language" when nesting blocks of tests and actions inside of other tests and actions. One accidentally misplaced comma, period, or square brace produced utter gibberish, with little clue as to what portion of the format string actually caused the issue. Another big problem was trying to inteligently extract only the portions of a tag I wanted to test for special/odd cases. The sub-string extraction commands were tricky to nest coherently. To my great misfortune, I lost that entire carefully crafted format string when I uninstalled/reinstalled all of your software (again) yesterday, after weeks of trying to get it to work with the latest Nimbie USB 3 autoloader. I'm dreading recreating that entire string again. I lost it because I unfortunately ran CCleaner between the uninstall and reinstall, so any chance of retrieving the string was eliminated.
So, my wish list request is: (Finally - he gets to the point!)
A visual editor which drastically streamlines the entire custom path creation process. Just let people drag and drop visual representations of what they want displayed. Nobody wants to spend days trying to use your current scripting language to create the precise custom file structure they need for their situation, not even retired career programmers like myself.
The available custom file structure creation was one of a couple major features which affected my decision to purchase your software. That functionality could be the deciding factor for most users, if it were easier and quicker to use. Yes, a visual editor would be a challenge to implement, particularly if you are trying to generate specific code for use by your existing language interpreter. In my estimation, it would be far more efficient to scrap what you have and create a more modular system from scratch. Regardless, I guarantee your sales to the vast number of less technically inclined users would increase when the positive video reviews start appearing on the various popular instructional blogs listed in Google search results. Despite the overly cumbersome implementation, your available conditional custom file path creation sealed my decision to choose your software out of dozens of options I considered. Choosing your software, in turn, convinced me to purchase the Nimbie autoloader you recommended. So, you can see I spent a fair amount of cash based on how badly I needed customizable path generation. If your software had a visual editor, I would have gladly paid twice as much for it.
At any rate, thanks for reading this lengthly, belabored explanation of my wish list item. I just wanted to clearly communicate the reasons I feel you need to create a visual editor for simplified custom path creation. I hope I didn't offend you. I also hope you take my comments as constructive criticism to help you improve the desirability of your product, rather than a taking them as a personal insult. It truly isn't meant as an insult. Unfortunately, my preferred semi-formal writing style seems to make my comments sound more impudent than they are intended to be.
Here are some examples of the file paths my overly complex format string created when converting a few hundred previously ripped discs to FLAC, while simultaneously rearranging the file structure to meet the special needs of my DACs:
N:\*\10,000 Maniacs\MTV Unplugged\01 These Are The Days.flac
N:\A\Alan Parsons Project, The\I Robot\01 I Robot.flac
N:\Compilations\The Renaissance Album\01 Three Italian Dances.flac
N:\J\Jethro Tull\Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters 1973-1991 - Disc 1\01 First Post.flac
N:\J\Jethro Tull\Nightcap: The Unreleased Masters 1973-1991 - Disc 2\01 Paradise Steakhouse.flac
N:\J\Jethro Tull\Songs From The Wood\01 Songs From The Wood.flac
....
As the creators of this template language, I'm certain you can imagine the extreme number of complex "IF/Then" sections present in the final, ponderous format string I eventually crafted. For example, it needed to handle leading punctuation marks in entries like "~NSYNC" or ".38 Special." I had to nest multiple conditional strings, which included the results of nested actions as parameters, just for removing, replacing, and/or ignoring individual characters in tags in order to obtain the precise character required for sorting the files into the proper root folders. It took even more complex processing for those cases when the album was a compilation of songs from different artists. Handling multi-disc albums added another level of complexity, as did a few entirely missing tags on obscure recordings. The millions of lines of code I wrote during my decades long programming career were far easier to write and debug than this format string.
The biggest hurdle was the lack of documentation on proper use of this "language" when nesting blocks of tests and actions inside of other tests and actions. One accidentally misplaced comma, period, or square brace produced utter gibberish, with little clue as to what portion of the format string actually caused the issue. Another big problem was trying to inteligently extract only the portions of a tag I wanted to test for special/odd cases. The sub-string extraction commands were tricky to nest coherently. To my great misfortune, I lost that entire carefully crafted format string when I uninstalled/reinstalled all of your software (again) yesterday, after weeks of trying to get it to work with the latest Nimbie USB 3 autoloader. I'm dreading recreating that entire string again. I lost it because I unfortunately ran CCleaner between the uninstall and reinstall, so any chance of retrieving the string was eliminated.
So, my wish list request is: (Finally - he gets to the point!)
A visual editor which drastically streamlines the entire custom path creation process. Just let people drag and drop visual representations of what they want displayed. Nobody wants to spend days trying to use your current scripting language to create the precise custom file structure they need for their situation, not even retired career programmers like myself.
The available custom file structure creation was one of a couple major features which affected my decision to purchase your software. That functionality could be the deciding factor for most users, if it were easier and quicker to use. Yes, a visual editor would be a challenge to implement, particularly if you are trying to generate specific code for use by your existing language interpreter. In my estimation, it would be far more efficient to scrap what you have and create a more modular system from scratch. Regardless, I guarantee your sales to the vast number of less technically inclined users would increase when the positive video reviews start appearing on the various popular instructional blogs listed in Google search results. Despite the overly cumbersome implementation, your available conditional custom file path creation sealed my decision to choose your software out of dozens of options I considered. Choosing your software, in turn, convinced me to purchase the Nimbie autoloader you recommended. So, you can see I spent a fair amount of cash based on how badly I needed customizable path generation. If your software had a visual editor, I would have gladly paid twice as much for it.
At any rate, thanks for reading this lengthly, belabored explanation of my wish list item. I just wanted to clearly communicate the reasons I feel you need to create a visual editor for simplified custom path creation. I hope I didn't offend you. I also hope you take my comments as constructive criticism to help you improve the desirability of your product, rather than a taking them as a personal insult. It truly isn't meant as an insult. Unfortunately, my preferred semi-formal writing style seems to make my comments sound more impudent than they are intended to be.