Sorting Bug?

Hey folks,

I'm using Mezzmo 3.2.0.0 and I have run into a problem that I think may actually be a bug in the software. I am trying to setup Babylon 5 as a playlist. In the original story, several episodes were shown out of order so they don't make a lot of sense. When I ripped the episodes off of the dvds, I ordered them according to the original order as shown on the dvds. However, I decided to reorder the episodes by changing the episode numbers in the properties for each file. After changing about a half dozen episode numbers, I noticed that the playlist was not reordering by episode number. I went to the properties of the playlist and the sort order was set to disk/season. I changed it to "track/episode" in hopes that it would help, but it completely screws the order up by putting all episode 1's for each season first then followed by all episode 2's for each season, etc...

Where does Mezzmo pull it's season/episode info from? I thought it would use the episode number that you can set in the properties of each file (I assume this ties to metadata stored in the mezzmo db). Since the sort order doesn't change when I change the episode number in the properties, I can only assume that the db is where the episode data is truly being pulled from. Where else could it be getting the information? From the file name, perhaps?

Anyway, curious to know if anyone else has seen this problem or if there is a known solution/work-around?

Thanks

SD

Hi SD,

For a TV series that has various seasons and a set of episodes for each season, I would suggest you use the "Series" playlist that you should see under the "Videos" playlist. This default playlist is created when you install Mezzmo. If you don't see this playlist, then that's fine - here's how to create it:

• Select "Video" in the Mezzmo tree on the left (or another playlist where you want your new playlist created).
• Click 'Create Playlist' -> 'Active Playlist'.
• In the Active Playlist Properties dialog, give your playlist a name - e.g. "Series".
• Add "Album / Series" as a keyword, then add "Disc / Season" as a keyword under "Album / Series".
• Click the "Video files" radio button to restrict the active playlist to videos.
• Set the "Sort by" to "Track / Episode (Ascending)"
• Click OK and you should see all your TV series listed and under each TV series should be the seasons and episodes in episode order.

For your videos, make sure you have filled in information into the "Series", "Season" and "Episode" fields in the Properties dialog for your videos. This information is used to correctly list the videos in the new Series playlist.

Hi Paul,

Thanks for replying and thanks for the tip on "Series" playlists. However, I don't think my point landed. There seems to be a sorting bug that I have come across. When I manually change an episode number in the properties of the video file, the sort order is not updating to reflect the change in episode number. For example: I have Babylon 5 on DVD. I have ripped each episode of the DVD and created separate files for each episode of each season. When I imported the episodes, it detected each file correctly and all of the episodes showed up in the playlist in the correct order. The reason I am using Babylon 5 for this example is because there are several episodes on the DVDs that are out of order. For instance, episode #16 was actually filmed to be episode #20 but scheduling difficulties caused it to get moved to #16. In order for the series to make the most sense when viewed, episode #16 should be moved to #20. The problem comes when I try to change the episode number in the episode properties after it has imported. When I change episode #16 to episode #20, I expect the software to reorder the playlist so that episode #16 is moved in the list to the #20 spot but it doesn't move. I've changed about half a dozen episode numbers and none of them reorder correctly after I change the episode number. I hope that makes more sense.

Understand, SD. When you are in Details view in Mezzmo, the sorting you see is the column you have selected. In Icons, Small Thumbnails, Medium Thumbnails or Large Thumbnails view, the sorting you see id the "Sort By" setting in the playlist or folder. So, I guess you are viewing your files in Mezzmo using Details view. Check the files are listed in the correct order in the other views and also when listing the files on your device. Let us know if any problems or further misunderstanding on our side.

Paul, Thanks for the follow up. I think we are on the same page now. However, I wasn't in details view at the time. I was actually viewing medium icons. I tried switching to details view and then back to medium icons but it did have any effect. The episodes were still not reordered.

I've also run into another sorting issue as well. I've noticed that if your video formats are different for episodes of a series, the sort by "disk/season" option doesn't work. It still sorts by video format first, then by season/disk. For instance, if you have a series in avi format and you insert an episode in .vob in the middle of the season, it will still show up at the end of the season in any of the icon views because it is a different format.

Hi SD,

Sorting for active playlists does use the keywords in the active playlists for sorting. As an example, if I create an active playlist like:

+ Genre

+ Artist

+ Album

and sort by Track/Episode order, then:

+ Genre - this level is sorted by Genre

+ Artist - this level is sorted by Genre, then Artist

+ Album - this level is sorted by Genre, then Artist, then Album

<files> - this level is sorted by Genre, then Artist, then Album & finally by Track/Episode

Perhaps take a screenshot of the Playlist Properties dialog for the playlist and the incorrect sorting of files, and we will replicate what you are getting.