View Issue Details

IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0018776MMW 5Now Playingpublic2023-08-17 22:55
ReporterLudek Assigned To 
PriorityhighSeverityminorReproducibilityalways
Status closedResolutionfixed 
Product Version5.0 
Target Version5.2Fixed in Version5.1 
Summary0018776: Automatically retain X files in Playing list does not work when Shuffle is enabled
DescriptionOptions > Player > Auto-DJ / Playing List
Automatically retain [1] files in Playing list

works only when Shuffle is disabled, this has always been the case from the very beggining of the implementation in 2005
Details in 0002018:0006624
Additional Information[Ticket # 3608]
https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=101229
TagsNo tags attached.
Fixed in build2812

Relationships

related to 0002018 closedLudek MMW v4 Auto-DJ: doesn't work correctly if shuffle is enabled 
related to 0000023 resolvedrusty MMW v4 Configurable Shuffle functionality (current behavior vs randomize list) 
related to 0013389 closedpeke MMW 5 Now Playing: Improve handling of previously played tracks 
related to 0016622 closedmichal MMW 5 Now Playing: Unexpected behavior when Changing Sort order 
related to 0018988 resolvedmichal MMW 5 Make Shuffle mode display track order (and related improvements) 

Activities

peke

2022-01-25 15:52

developer   ~0066753

If you retain only 1 played track and you have 300 Now Playing list where shuffle select 290th track all tracks till 289th one will be deleted by Retain only one track.

What user want to archive is done by these these steps:
1. Set Auto DJ to 1 track retain -> Disable Shuffle
2. Clear Now Playing
3. Right click on Playlist/Select 100 tracks you want to play
4. Right click -> Play Shuffle -> Now

All works.
That feature was not available in MM4 and we added it to make user shuffle playlist easier.

rusty

2022-01-25 15:55

administrator   ~0066754

Last edited: 2022-01-25 16:04

What you describe may be the current design, but it's not what users expect. If Playing is configured to show last 2 played tracks and display 2 upcoming tracks, and the user initiates playback of 2 tracks, then they expect 6 tracks to be constantly displayed. That doesn't happen.

However, with the current implementation of Shuffle in Now Playing (in which tracks that have been played don't display in the order in which they've been played), it wouldn't make sense to remove tracks, since tracks would just get removed from the middle of the playing list.

A usable/understandable solution to this problem would be to remove tracks from the playing list only if the playing list displayed played tracks in the order in which they were played (which should also go along with more general changes to Shuffle functionality that would allow it to display upcoming tracks in the order in which they are about to be played). This is discussed in 0000023 but was never fully specced/agreed upon so I suggest that this issue be deferred until we agree on that.

lowlander

2022-01-25 16:15

developer   ~0066755

Last edited: 2022-01-25 16:16

1) It makes sense that this fails in Shuffle, but this is not communicated to the user:
A) Tooltip should indicate this
B) Feature could be shown disabled when Shuffle is enabled
C) Help has been updated now to reflect this

2) It could be made to work:
A) MediaMonkey keeps a track of x last played files internally and removes accordingly from Playing. This would allow Shuffle to operate as it always has.
B) Shuffle could show Play order, but this is already covered by Randomize list.
C) Randomize list could be made more prominent, for example:
 a) have it also under Play in the Main Menu
 b) have it in the Context menu in Playing, perhaps as sub-entry of Playing or List with the other Playing specific options from the 3 dot menu like Clear, Removed duplicates, etc.

rusty

2022-01-25 16:21

administrator   ~0066756

Yeah, we could have tooltips etc. showing why it doesn't work. But I think that the real fix is to resolve the underlying problem and modernize 'Shuffle' so that it works more similarly to modern players (and actually displays tracks in the order in which they are to be played and have played).

peke

2022-01-25 16:26

developer   ~0066757

re 0018776:0066755: Auto-DJ should not be available in if shuffle is enabled B) and also a) and C) which makes it clear.

I also like Ca) solution A) solution was even in MM4 done by custom Auto-DJ Scripts that internally track playbacks and Shuffle is disabled.

Ludek

2022-01-25 17:57

developer   ~0066758

Last edited: 2022-01-25 18:00

I agree that modernizing 'Shuffle' so that it actually displays tracks in the order in which they are to be played and have played makes sense and probably makes the things easier for everyone.
i.e. to change Shuffle to one time action that just randomizes Playing list

peke

2022-01-26 00:26

developer   ~0066764

Last edited: 2022-01-26 01:20

@Ludek
Can you please include what setting you set for "Automatically retain [xxxx] previous files in playing list" when you added this bug, as both values influence shuffle behavior and determine how many tracks can be played next if shuffle is ON?

As when I have put this thru a generic math test, Shuffle behaves completely different if I have set [all] and [0-100] tracks?

That second parameter completely changes how MM handle Shuffle and determine when Auto-DJ should be triggered if Shuffle is ON.

eg. generic test shows that If I set maintain 1 upcoming tracks and while set retain 0-100 played tracks only thing that needs to be added is "delete track on play end" as described in 0013389 Point 2 which will shrink Now playing list to value less than maintain set value (total number of tracks in playlist) and Auto DJ would be forced to add 1 track to comply with retain 1 upcoming track.

At least this is how user initially described in ticket 3608.

Ludek

2023-03-10 22:37

developer   ~0071346

Fixed in 2800 by the modernized shuffle functionality ( 0018988 )

peke

2023-08-17 22:55

developer   ~0072649

Confirming as obsolete with resolving issues from 0018988

Verified 2813