Reading MP3 files with foreign characters in them

Hi guys, been having an issue of late with mAirList not reading (opening) MP3 files with foreign characters in the filenames. We have a Polish guy that does a show and he has issues playing his music (resorts to Winamp if it doesn’t work!), and also a Greek lady who has the same problem.

Is there any chance that mAirList could be modified to read these files without me having to go through and take all the foreign characters out?

Chris, are these characters only in the file names, or do they exist in the files’ MP3 tags as well?

Can you try to create a copy of a failing file, then DELETE ALL MP3 tag information in the copy but leave the file name the same as the original, and try opening the (empty tag) copy in mAirList? THEN take ANOTHER copy of the same original failing file, and rename it BUT do NOT alter the MP3 tag contents; then try loading THAT file in mAirList.

This should isolate the ‘weird’ characters problem to being a problem with filenames or a problem with MP3 tag reading. :wink:

It would be very useful to Torben to know which one it is, to help him fix the problem.

BFN
CAD

There are ways of mass renaming files, using PHP, as you know Chrispy, I always like to refer to my good old friend the programming language.

I have some little scripts that can rename, re-tag and re-position mp3 files, the only problem is you’ve got to do it one by one, unless you know how many files you’ve got to rename…

If this helps, give me a shout, I’ll lend you the coding type-thingys!

Earl

Actually, mAirList should be able to import files with any foreign characters in both the name and the tags, even with Unicode. Chrispy, could you send me one of the files which fails to load?

The mass file renamer referred to recently by Tony or Charlie (I forget whom!) looks good and would save any code writing.

Also, I think PHP is a weird choice of language for renaming files on a local PC?

If you really need to write your own file renaming code for Windows, JavaScript or VBScript (or even VBA from within an Office app) would be a much better option IMHO. PHP (as far as I know?) requires a server connection and/or a PC set up as a server; whereas JavaScript and VBScript work on any PC, including PCs without any Internet or LAN connection (yes, they do exist—I have one next door!).

BFN
CAD

uhmmm, yeah, I see your point,

The only advantage over all those with PHP is that I know how to program PHP ::), of course, this makes building software easier (knowing the language).

The mass retagger-renamer type thing does look good!

Earl T