Using CMI Play without iTunes

[pheisholt]

Is there a way for the CMI Play Template to work if you are not using iTunes? I currently have 1000+ CD's in a directory as follows:

Server Name\Music\Artist\Album\filename.mp3

If I could get this to work without having to switch to itunes that would be great......

phorbin1128

Hi phorbin1128

The play function uses the iTunes naming convention, which can always be replaced with some other naming convention.

The challenge, however, is of course that it has to be consistent. And there are certain characters you need to avoid. iTunes has solved that by replacing such characters with an underscore.

Aside from that you can design your own naming convention, and then edit the Crisp Play theme and CMI Play template accordingly.

If you send me a sample list of mp3 paths, I'll take a look at them, and give you some hints on what you need to do.

To make a list you can run the following command from a DOS prompt:

dir <mp3 main folder> /b /s >c:\mymp3s.txt<
where <mp3 main folder> is the fully qualified path to your mp3 collection.

Here's an example if your mp3s are located in the 'MUSIC\MP3COLLECTION' folder on drive D:


dir d:\music\mp3collection /b /s >c:\mymp3s.tx
The above command will create a file on you C-drive called 'mymp3s.txt'

[pheisholt]

Thanks for the help. I attached the output file accordingly... I installed itunes to see if I could get this working and I think it screwed up some of the directory structure, but you should get a good idea of how I keep things: Artist\Album\Tracknumber - songtitle.mp3 (Spaces between the dash for track# and songtitle)

It has taken me many days to get everything organized how I like it and really don't want to change things if possible.

phorbin1128

Hi phorbin1128

That makes perfect sense. There's no reason to switch to iTunes as long as you're able to establish a consistent naming convention of your own choice.

I've modified the CMI Play template, and will shortly send it to you by email. Please try it out and let me know how it works.

Nice collection you've got there, by the way. I took a quick look at the list you sent me, and it does look like iTunes has messed things up a bit.

For instance:

- iTunes does not accept trailing periods in artist names or album titles, and will replace the period with an underscore. Hence 'R.E.M_','Run-D.M.C_', 'Sammy Davis Jr_'.

- iTunes only allows 40 characters in the artist name, 40 charaters in the album title, and 36 charcaters in the track title. Hence 'WCBS-FM 101.1 The Ultimate Christmas Alb', 'Original Soundtrack_ Saturday Night Feve'

[pheisholt]

Hi

In order to use the enclosed template in your environment you

[pheisholt]

Hi

There's one thing I may have forgotten to point out: The play function in the CMIPlay template assumes that the audio files are located in a web folder (not just any ordinary folder).

When you use the Export to HTML...-function in OrangeCD, OCD simply creates a regular folder and places all the HTML files in it. However, it does not turn the folder into a web folder. You have to do that manually.

But first you have to make sure that Internet Information Server (IIS) or some other web server is installed on your computer. (If you have a folder called C:\intepub\wwwroot on your computer, IIS is most likely installed. If not, you'll have to install a web server first.)

After that, this is what you have to do:

1. Export your music collection using the CMIPlay template