Tuesday Night Folk Dancing uses the iconic media player app for Windows, Winamp version 5.666, The Final Version. It’s still the only player that searches and sorts on more than your basic title, artist, album, and genre metadate and allows custom Smart Views to tame a massive music library.
Here are some documents describing the customization and usage of Winamp for the Fort Collins Folk Dancing library.
The text document below needs some updating, but it’s my programmer’s notes for Winamp config, if you care about what’s under the hood.
Fort Collins Tuesday Night [International] Folk Dancers
Winamp Media Library Tag Formatting & Program Preferences
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C:\Users\HungryHawk\AppData\Roaming\Winamp\winamp.ini
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Winamp Preferences | General Preferences | "Prevent the mouse wheel from altering the volume"
Winamp Preferences | Media Library | "Save ratings to file for compatible formats (default: off)
Winamp Preferences | Media Library | Local Library | Watch Folders
C:\FolkDance\MUSIC
C:\FolkDance\VIDEO
√ Rescan folders at startup
Winamp Preferences | Skins | Modern Skins | Font Rendering | Font Mapper | uncheck "Keep bitmap font in strings that contain only 7-bit characters"
Winamp Preferences | Plug-ins | General Purpose | Nullsoft Notification Area Control vn.x [gen_tray.dll]
√ Enable Nullsoft Notification Area Control
√ Previous, Play/Pause, Stop, Next Track
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Titles display format for player and playlist:
Use this setting for updating tag info without performing a library scan:
Winamp Preferences | Titles | Advanced Title Formatting | "Read metadata when file(s) are played or viewed in the playlist editor"
Winamp Preferences | Titles | Advanced Title Formatting | "Use advanced title formatting when possible"
Default value:
titlefmt=[%artist% - ]$if2(%title%,$filepart(%filename%))
Add dance name and country, if the tags are present:
Format: DANCE - COUNTRY: ARTIST - TITLE
Tags: COMPOSER - ALBUMARTIST: ARTIST - TITLE
Unique Artist Example:
Ajde Jano - Serbia: Talitha MacKenzie - Ajde Jano (Come on, Jano) - Spiorad (Spirit)
Unknown Artist w/ unique Title & Album Example: (sho, hide
COMPOSER - ALBUMARTIST
Karagoúna - Greece - Karagoúna [classic] - [Evansville FD]
If there is no composer AND albumartist tag, use the normal title formatting
Winamp has a default option to automatically copy albumartist from artist, if albumartist is empty.
(If ALBUMARTIST == ARTIST then "" else [%composer% - ][%albumartist%: ])
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pseudo logic:
//need to update this logic
If (ALBUMARTIST != "") {
If (ALBUMARTIST == ARTIST) {
If (TITLE != COMPOSER) "%title% - "
"%artist%[ - %album%]"
}
else { // has unique album artist
"%albumartist%: [%artist%]"
If (TITLE != COMPOSER) " - %title%"
[ - %album%]
}
If (TITLE != "") {
"%title%"
}
else {
$filepart(%filename%)
}
"[ - %artist%][ - %album%]"
}
If (PUBLISHER begin "FCTNFD") {
" {" rightsubstring(%publisher%",7) "}"
***********************************
LAST KNOW WORKING:
titlefmt=
$puts(DEFAULT,$if2(%title%,$filepart(%filename%))[ - %artist%][ - %album%])$if(%composer%,$if(%albumartist%,%composer% - %albumartist%$if(%artist%,$IfStrEqual2(%albumartist%,%artist%,$IfStrEqual2(%title%,%composer%,[: %album%],: %title%[ - %album%]),: %artist%[ - %title%][ - %album%]),$IfStrEqual2(%title%,%composer%,[: %album%],: %title%[ - %album%])),$get(DEFAULT)),$get(DEFAULT))$IfStrEqual($left(%publisher%,6),FCTNFD, {$right(%publisher%,$sub($len(%publisher%),7))})
Backup copy:
[%composer% - ]$if(%albumartist%,$IfStrEqual2(%albumartist%,%artist%,$IfStrNotEqual(%title%,%composer%,%title% - )%artist%[ - %album%],%albumartist%: [%artist%]$IfStrNotEqual(%title%,%composer%, - %title%)[ - %album%]),$if2(%title%,$filepart(%filename%))[ - %artist%][ - %album%])$IfStrEqual($left(%publisher%,6),FCTNFD, {$right(%publisher%,$sub($len(%publisher%),7))})
Function Reference:
$if
Parameters: (a, then, else)
Returns: If a contains at least one valid, non-empty field, then is evaluated and returned, otherwise the else parameter is. Note that $if(A,A,B) is equivalent to $if2(A,B)
$if2
Parameters: (a, else)
Returns: If a contains a valid, non-empty field, a is evaluated and returned, otherwise the else parameter is.
$IfStrEqual and $IfStrNotEqual
Parameters: (A, B, then)
Returns: If A = B do then else nothing
$IfStrEqual2 ($IfStrNotEqual2 function doesn't exist)
Parameters: (A, B, then, else)
Returns: If A = B do then else do else
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Smart View in Media Library
C:\Users\HungryHawk\AppData\Roaming\Winamp\Plugins\gen_ml.ini
query9_name_utf8=Folk Dance
query9_val_utf8=type = "0" AND publisher BEGINS "FCTNFD"
query9_mode=327948
query9_meta=metF5FD.vmd
query9_image=101
:: metF5FD.vmd is an ini file for view pane settings.
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Filename formatting:
COUNTRY - DANCE [- original ARTIST of recording, if know][- original Album of recording, if know][- original TITLE of recording, if know]
Serbia - Ajde Jano - Talitha MacKenzie - Ajde Jano (Come on, Jano)
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Folk Dance mp3 Tag Format:
? TITLE: If the song title is different than the dance name (and it is known), insert the dance name at the beginning and add parenthesis () around the original song title, e.g. "Dospatsko (Hopa!)"
ARTIST: (unchanged from original song tag, if known)
ALBUM: (unchanged from original song tag, if known)
GENRE: "Folk Dance/COUNTRY" e.g. "Folk Dance/Serbia"
COMMENT: Dance instruction hints to jog the memory
## Add standardized COUNTRY tag (but it's still called %albumartist% in the Media Library)
ALBUMARTIST: --> COUNTRY: Country of origin of dance, e.g. "Serbia"
## Add standardized DANCE_NAME tag (but it's still called %composer% in the Media Library)
COMPOSER: --> DANCE_NAME: Standardized name of dance (to allow grouping of multiple title options of the same dance) e.g. "Ajde Jano"
## Add identification tags to allow Smart View query to show only folk dances
PUBLISHER: "FCTNFD"[/Fav][/Person who introduced dance to FCTNFD], e.g. "FCTNFD/Fav/Diane M."
FCTNFD[/<Skill>]/<Special_Tags>][/<Teacher>]
Skill:
/EZ Easy/Beginning
/Int Intermediate
/Adv Advanced
Generation:
/G1 1st Generation = No choreography. Dance not restricted to only one tune, e.g. Čoček, lesnoto.
/G2 2nd Generation = Choreographed to a specific tune using steps prevalent in the country of origin.
/G3 3rd Generation = Highly choreographed, performance-oriented, using old world and new world movements.
Special Tags:
/Fav Favorite
/LD Last Dance
/LQ Low Quality recording (search for better)
Teacher:
/DianaS
/DianeM
/MargaritaK
/Deryl
/KenM
/DavidP
/DeborahC
FCTNFD/EZ/G1/LD
## Add category identifier to allow further search refinement.
CATEGORY: (aka: CONTENTGROUP/Grouping:) <Dance type and energy level>
Circle1 - Gentle
Circle2 - Moderate
Circle3 - Lively
Couple
Hambo
Line Dance
Reel
Waltz
The RATING tag is editable in the Winamp Media Library view or separate tag editing software.
Set Winamp Preferences | Media Library | "Save ratings to file for compatible formats (default: off)
External tag editing software "RATING WMP" (Windows Media Player)
* RATING: Difficulty (1-5, or 0 or empty for unrated) 1=Easy, 3=Intermediate, 5=Difficult. 2 and 4 not used.
These tags don't matter:
TRACKNO, DISC, YEAR...
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Documentation from the Media Library Smart View
You can enable more powerful views using the custom query language.
The basic format is:
<field> <comparison> [value] [<logic operator> <field> <comparison> [value] [...]]
Field names:
TYPE: 0 for audio files, 1 for video files
FILENAME: Full filename (including path (export: Filepath)
LENGTH: Length, in seconds (or hh:mm:ss)
* ARTIST: Artist
* ALBUM: Album
* ALBUMARTIST: Band/orchestra/accompaniment
* TITLE: Title
TRACKNO: Track number of file
* GENRE: Genre
YEAR: Year
* COMMENT: Comment
* COMPOSER: Composer
DISC: Disc number of a CD set
FILESIZE: File size, in kilobytes
FILETIME: Last known file date/time on disk
LASTUPD: Date/time of file imported to library or modified in library
LASTPLAY: Date/time of last play
* RATING: Rating value (1-5, or 0 or empty for unrated)
PLAYCOUNT: Number of plays
* PUBLISHER: Publisher or record label
DIRECTOR: Film director (for videos)
PRODUCER: Film or Record producer
* CATEGORY: Category
REPLAYGAIN_ALBUM_GAIN: ReplayGain Album Gain
REPLAYGAIN_TRACK_GAIN: ReplayGain Track Gain
BITRATE: Bitrate (in KBPS)
TRACKS: Total number of tracks on the disc
DISCS: Total number of discs in the set
ISPODCAST: 1 for a podcast episode, 0 otherwise
PODCASTCHANNEL: The name of the channel for a podcast
PODCASTPUBDATE: Date/time when the podcast was published
LOSSLESS: Shows lossless audio formats, e.g. lossless=1
Comparison operators:
'=': String or integer equals value
'!=': String or integer does not equal value
'<': String or integer is less than value
'>': String or integer is greater than value
'<=': String or integer is less than or equal to value
'>=': String or integer is greater than or equal to value
HAS: String contains value
NOTHAS: String does not contain value
LIKE: String is similar to value ("the" and whitespace are ignored)
BEGINS: String begins with value
BEGINSLIKE: String begins like value
ENDS: String ends with value
ISEMPTY: (no comparison value required) TRUE if <field> is empty
ISNOTEMPTY: (no comparison value required) TRUE if <field> is not empty
Values:
"strings with spaces" or strings_without_spaces
integers can be "32" or just 32
integers for LENGTH can be a plain integer (seconds), or mm:ss or hh:mm:ss
date/timestamps should be [datetime data], which can be either an absolute
or relative time. i.e.: [3 weeks ago], [18:15], [05/30/2003],
[yesterday noon], [3 days ago 5 pm], [now], [5 mn before may 30th], etc.
Logic operators:
&&, &, or AND: boolean AND two comparisons
||, |, or OR: boolean OR two comparisons
!, or NOT: prefix this to an expression for the boolean NOT of that expression
Examples:
all video files: type = 1
audio by Air longer than 4 minutes: type = 0 & artist = "air" & length > 4:00
all files on drive C: filename BEGINS C:
high rated items that haven't been played lately: rating > 3 & lastplay < [1 week ago]
newly added items that haven't been played yet: lastupd >= [yesterday] & playcount <= 0
Note that you can also use this syntax in the search field of views. Simply prefix a '?' or 'query:' to your search string