Filename Interpreter - Customization
Please note that for files already in the playlist, changes will apply only after restarting QCD.
Ignore Track Numbers, String to Insert After Track Numbers
If the "Ignore Track Numbers" option is set, track numbers will be removed before parsing, and if this action leaves an empty field (spaces or underscores), the delimiter is removed also. If this option is set to "gray", track numbers will be removed from their original location in the filename string, and inserted ("moved") at the beginning of the track field (this is useful for sorting by track number). Between the track number and the track title, a string will be inserted as defined in the "String to Insert After Track Numbers" field.
If this option is set, all underscore characters ('_') will be converted to spaces.
If this option is set, each word will be capitalized (the first letter of each word will be converted to uppercase).
Remove Parenthesis, Square Braces, Curly Braces
If these options are set, parenthesis or braces are removed if surrounding an entire field after parsing, or if the first or last character is an unmatched parenthesis or brace. For example, these will be removed: artist="(Eminem)", album="[The Marshall Mathers LP" - and this will not be removed: track="Oh L'amour (Dance Remix)".
This option defines what the plugin should do with the folder marked "A" with types 5 & 7, if this folder includes the delimiter string. This option can be off (use entire folder), on (use second part) or "gray" (use first part). For example: "D:\Eminem - The Slim Shady LP\Eminem - My Name Is.mp3" is a type 5 file. The default setting will take the folder name and divide it into 2 parts at the delimiter, so "The Slim Shady LP" will be used as album (assuming the default settings for type 5). Changing this option to "gray" will cause "Eminem" (taken from folder name) to be used as album, and turning this option off will cause the entire folder name to be used. Type settings override this setting, i.e. if album name for type 5 is not displayed, this option will have no effect.
Note: if more than one delimiter is found within the folder, the first delimiter will be used.
This is the delimiter string, i.e. the string used to separate fields within a file or folder name. Default is "-" (a dash), but it can be changed to any string containing up to 7 characters. It is recommended to change the value to "- " if possible, to avoid parsing at names such as "A-ha" and "Skee-lo".
File Type Settings, String to Insert When Merging Fields
These options define parsing actions for each file type. The plugin determines the file type for each file added to the playlist and updates the Track, Artist and Album fields in QCD as defined here. If a particular field is set to "(none)", the plugin will ignore that part of the filename, and if multiple fields are set to the same value (for instance, "Type 5: D:\...\Track\Track-Track.mp3"), the fields will be merged, and the string defined in the "String to Insert When Merging Fields" option will be inserted in between.
Note: this applies to any path (not just D:\), any delimiter (not just "--") and any file type (not just MP3); the display is for illustration purposes only.
If this option is set, ID3 data will be used, as set by the other options.
This option has no effect unless "Use ID3 Info" is set. File type settings determine not only in what which fields are used for what purpose, but also which are displayed at all (for instance, type 2 doesn't display album info by default; any type can be instructed to hide fields by entering "(none)" for the corresponding field in the type setting). However, when using ID3 data, some fields may be valid even though they are not expected to exist (for instance, a type 2 file with a valid "album" tag). This option determines whether to display any data received from ID3 tags (after filtering via the tag type settings), or conform to type settings and hide what the file type doesn't expect.
Tag Type Settings (If tag has...)
These options have to do with ID3 tag analysis, and have no effect unless "Use ID3 Info" is set. If it is, the plugin will check the artist, album and title fields of the ID3 tag. If a valid tag is identified, the relevant option (and only one) is used. For example, if a given file has a valid track title and artist (but no album), the plugin will use the "If tag has track title & artist..." option. All 4 options have the same range of values: "Ignore tag" (get info from filename), "Use valid fields" (populate only the fields that were not empty and get the rest from filename), and "Use all fields" (populate all fields from ID3 tag, even empty fields).
The default settings (as shown in the image on this page) are: Tags with only track name will be ignored, and if more fields exist, they will be used - but empty fields will always be ignored, and the plugin will attempt to get the information from the filename. Changing all the values to "Use all fields" will cause ID3 data to be used whenever it is found - even if empty fields from the tag override valid info from the filename - and changing all to "Ignore tag" will cause ID3 data to be ignored altogether. Each option can hold a different value of course.
Note: there is no "If tag has artist & album..." option, because a tag with no track title is considered invalid and is ignored (data is received from filename only).
If this option is set, a short description of a setting will be displayed as the mouse hovers over it.
This button opens the default browser to the Virtual Prince QCD page.
This button restores default values for all settings.
For assistance, please feel free to e-mail me at qcd@vprince.com.
Enjoy!