If I am editing a group of FLAC files that are the tracks in an album MP3TAG keeps putting the last one first. That is: if there are 4 tracks/files with each beginning with the track number (01->04), they will be listed as 04,01,02,03.
This started happening fairly recently but because I haven't used MP3TAG much in the past few months I am not sure exactly when and it is driving me crazy. All other software, for example Directory Opus and dBpoweramp work just fine. Does anyone have any idea what may be happening as it makes mp3tag largely unusable for me.
If the data is OK, then MP3tag sorts ok.
So: by which column do you sort?
What does the data look like in this column?
What does the column definition look like?
Screenshots help in many cases.
Ah yes, sorry. As one would normally use Windows Explorer or, in my case, DOpus (Directory Opus) I am sorting by filename.
If I have a folder containing the files that I wish to edit, and the filenames are of the form:
nn - trackname - other info
where nn is the track number, then Win-Explorer or DOpus will, by default, list the files in the usual alphanumeric order. But if I select some or all of those files and right-click then ask for them to be opened by mp3tag they appear in mp3tag in the wrong order with the last filename, with the number 04 or 14 or 99 or whatever, placed at the top of the list before the file with the name beginning 01.
I cannot believe that this is a setup error on my part but it is of course possible. Do you or anyone else have any idea about what is going wrong?
That’s a Windows thing, and does happen when opening files from a selection. It is not unique for MP3Tag, it is simply the order that the files are passed from Windows to the apps.
When you open a selection of files in Mp3tag, they are sorted by the column you had last specified in Mp3tag. That may or may not be the same as whatever sort you specified in Windows Explorer (the two sorts are not connected). This is normal.
I can't tell from your screenshot what column you are sorting on in Mp3tag but it is clearly not Filename. That is what you need to change. Click in the Filename column header.
It's a pity, really, that you do not answer the questions:
The screenshot shows at least, that you do not sort by the column with the filename - there is no arrow next to the column header indicating the sort direction.
The explorer screenshot shows, that you do sort by the filename, though.
Repeat that in MP3tag and everything should be fine.
You can reproduce this behaviour with the following steps:
- Choose a sorting column that has the same value for all tracks of the album, e.g. artist, directory
- With windows explorer mark some files in a directory and keep the cursor and therefore the focus on the last file.
- with right mouse click call mp3tag.
Now the last file in windows explorer will be the first in mp3tags filelist and no sorting has occured, because the sorting criteria is the same for all files. Windows Explorer seems to have a feature, that places the highlighted file in front of the others with selected files.
Conclusion: point the mouse to the first file an then call mp3tag with a right-click.
Are you talking about Mp3tag-sorting?
What kind of sorting do you expect when the column has the same value for all files? I think there will be no sorting at all.
yes, sorry, sorting column in mp3tag, I thought that was clear from point 3.
Thank you to everyone that has replied but especially to you yorick.
That is exactly what is happening, and the file that will appear at the top will be the one that was under the cursor in DOpus or Win-Explorer when the file selection was right-clicked.
However, I have not previously sorted on another column that is the same for all files such as Album Title. I think that it must be something to do with using functions that affect another column which I think must switch the 'focus' to another column (I only ever want the files to be listed in track # order which will also always match the filename order (the one is derived from the other)). It would seem that sometimes or often the column that last had mp3tag's 'focus' is one where all files have the same value thus giving the results that you described.
My little annoyance is now understood - just another Windows quirk basically - and I can avoid any mistakes.
Thank you again.