Bruji

I've run into quite a few cases (around 10% of my CDs) of CDs where I can get lots of information from an Amazon search, but there is no track listing in Amazon.

On the other hand, using the iTunes plugin, I can get an entry with the track listing but missing much of the info that the Amazon search provided.

I can probably combine the two manually.

But it would be great if one could somehow take the result of the Amazon search, and automatically add (by a different plugin) the track listing that iTunes found from CDDB.

You can do that already. Just scan the disc as usual and use the iTunes plug-in to retrieve the information through CDDB. Then go into the Advanced tab of the Add/Edit window and choose Amazon US from the little gear button. That'll start a search for the entry on Amazon US, thus combining your CDDB information with the Amazon info.

Yes, I can see that will work.

I still think a plugin (or have I got the right name for the object) might be useful.

The point is that entering the bar code (manually or otherwise) works 90% of the time to get ALL the details, including track listing, and is far faster than going via iTunes, CDDB, and the Add/Edit window.

So it really only makes sense to go via iTunes when the bar code does not give the details, and then one already has the info.

I suppose I could make a second entry via iTunes, with the addition you suggest, and then delete the first one. It would not be a great hassle.

Later.

And, in fact, your suggested procedure does not work entirely satisfactorily.

I had originally added "Legend" by Clannad using its bar code 5099207301220. It gets found, genre World and Folk, with no track listing.

If, instead, I insert the CD, use iTunes to get the track listing from CDDB, bring it into CDPedia and get advanced information, the result is evidently a different version, on a different label, with a different bar code and a genre of New Age.

I've found several CDs with similar issues.

For instance, my CD "The Stewarts of Blair" , when obtained via iTunes and advanced info, appears with the title "The Stewarts of Blair" and either no label or the wrong one, I forget which, whereas direct search gives the correct label and the rather longer title that appears on the CD.

The problem seems to be that when CDPedia gets advanced information on a disk that does not have a bar code entered then it automatically takes the first entry on Amazon, which may not be the right one, and also it prserved the title as given in CDDB, which may not be correct.

Maybe version 4 will have enough flexibility to deal with this kind of thing, but I still think that just being able to import track listings would be simpler.

When you get advanced info via the Add/Edit window (i.e. using the little gear button) then you will be able to review the information sent before adding it. You can pop out the little drawer on the side and see all the results before choosing the right one.

If you use the Advanced menu option 'Get advanced info for selection' then the program will add the first result, yes.

I am still unsure if I am doing something wrong, or if it's the way the Pedias currently work.

I can, as you say, pop out the little drawer which shows a number of results. But as soon as I choose an item it gets added, there is no option to view the information first and then add it. I think you said that in version 4 one will at least be able to undo a choice and make another one.

Try it yourself, entering Artist Clannad, Title Legend, and using the gearbox to get to Amazon UK. The drawer shows three items named Legend: Original Soundtrack, two entitled Legend (1984) [VINYL] , two named Legend, and one named The Legend.

So, even though in this case I only want one of the last three, it is still quite a hassle to find out which I want.

This is as limitation in CDpedia at the moment, but as you mentioned the next version will have undo so if the choice is not the right choice an undo and a new choice will work with the next version. This has always been a big limitation especially with CDpedia as the tracks tend to come from one location and the cover art work from another.

More out of curiosity than anything else, why is it that an ordinary search comes up with Next and Previous buttons, so that one can review the choices before deciding which one to add, whereas the gearbox gives a drawer?

You must have had a good reason for this, as Next and Previous seems to me more convenient than choose, undo, choose again.

I remain convinced that being able to add tracks (from one source, perhaps only CDDB) to an already existing entry would be the best user experience. But, after all, I can't program a plugin, so I have no idea if this would be ten minutes' work or ten days' - and even if it were ten minutes, that would be ten minutes that you might put to better use.

You can also use the drawer with the ordinary searches to jump to a result without having to press next several times. The reason for not being able to preview the results for gathering more info for different results is the need to track what has been added to show that preview. With the next version we can keep track of all this, hence the ability to provide undo. We want to get the next version ready soon, but you have a great point about previewing several entries. This is something we can add in a future version as with the ability to track this information we can run the undo when a user selects another entry and then add the information.

We didn't write the CDDB plug-in, one of our users wrote it. He structured it so that he would get the information from CDDB first and then add the Amazon information over that. He wanted to prevent accidentally overwriting track information for a CD with the plug-in. I have changed the plug-in ([url=cdpedia://www.bruji.com/download?temp/itunescdreplace.zip]click here[/url] to download) so that it overwrites that information. Select one entry in the table or cover view (do not open the edit window) and then run the plug-in. It will not update the info view right away as it's not expecting that, but change to another entry and then click back on that entry and you will see the tracks have been added from CDDB.

It did take around 20 minutes, but keeping our users happy is part of the service.

Conor wrote: It did take around 20 minutes, but keeping our users happy is part of the service.

Now that's what I call BRILLIANT!!

(It seems worth shouting about such helpful responses.)

Perhaps the new version of the plugin has not been added yet. Or perhaps the new version did not replace the old one that I already had..

At any rate, I downloaded and installed the plugin, quit and restarted CDPedia, clicked on a CD with no track info, used the plugin to get tthe info. The result was, as with the previous version, a new entry with the track data, but the track data was not added to the previous listing, even when I moved to another entry and then back.

I take the point of the original writer wanting to prevent accidental overwriting information. To some extent you have solved this by the requirement to change to another entry and then back, as presumably one could do something else (clicking on a collection) and the tracks would then not be added.

Do you think a warning would be useful? Such as "You are about to add track info for [name of CD]. Do you want to do this [OK, cancel]"

Later. The plugin shows as being version 1.0, created 29th April, so I would guess you had not posted the update at the time I downloaded.

This new one is renamed "Replace" at the end and should show up in the menu with (Replace). But I just realized that it's so similar to the other one (I created a copy) that the program only loads one.

Go to both of these locations CDpedia.app/Contents/Plug-ins (you will need to ctrl-click to look inside the package) and ~/Library/Applications Support/CDpedia/Plug-ins and remove the old plug-in (iTunesCDInfo.plugin) and leave only the new one (iTunesCDReplace.plugin). You can always get the old plug-in again online if you need it.

It was me being careless. I had expected the new version to be in the same place as the old one, whereas in fact it is elsewhere. So I had gone to the Extras site rather than clicking on the link you gave. I've got it now.

Yes, and working fine.

Probably needs, as I suggested earlier, a warning of some kind, or an undo, just to be sure one doesn't add the tracks from one CD into the data from another one.

Or is your plugin clever enough to refuse to do that?