[pierocol]

thank you. I am not an expert, but I cannot see anywhere in the documentation page I referred to, namely http://kodi.wiki/view/Audio_file_tags#Formatting_tags, that this way of displaying tags is outdated. If this is the case, someone who knows how to do it should modify that page and mark it "outdated" or "deprecated".
In any case, thanks to you I understood that even if %X = composer were available, indeed I would not see it in the "Now playing..." screen.
I used the Artist tag for the main performer of the CD. In CD with pieces by various composers, where the composer is not in the CD title, it would be good if the composer tag can be visualized as well. From what you say, this could only be solved by someone who makes a skin for classical music, right? Any advice?

[DaveBlake]

Plenty of the wiki is out of date, no one has voluneteered and updated it.:p The priority too is for the "how to" parts, not supporting dev documentation that gets out of date very easily.

The deprecation of label masks and templates is just my interpretation of how the design seems to have gone. It could be revived, I don't know, but I am interested in what others think. Really it comes down to how user configurable we make the UI by default, and how much choice we leave to skinners instead.

In any case, thanks to you I understood that even if %X = composer were available, indeed I would not see it in the "Now playing..." screen.

Yes that is correct.

it would be good if the composer tag can be visualized as well. From what you say, this could only be solved by someone who makes a skin for classical music, right?

It needs a skin that shows the composer info label in the places that you want. The team were not interested in doing it for the default skin Estuary, but the info label exists it is just down to a skinner to make use of it. Maybe you could even modify a skin for yourself?

Or you may want to look at this http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2584008

[scott967]

I'm out atm, but in general, Kodi app defines 2 data elements for each media listing that are contxt-dependent: label and label2. It's generally expected that "label" is shown to the left in a listing, and "label2" to the right. So from skinner's perspective, once the layout is set for these, they work regardless of media type.

For music tracks, the formatting of the 2 data elements is configured in settings.

Alternatively, skinner can display most data from the database as specific data elements. Also skinner can display other data for example from add-ons, but not inside lists or panels. An example is something like a "clearlogo" image.

scott s.
.

[pierocol]

I would have another question.
My classical music is tagged with genres like:
Classical
Classical-Piano
Classical-Piano concerto
Classical-Opera
...
I have been trying to code a node that would extract all the composers from all these genres, but there is something I do not understand, because I cannot correctly filter the database.
My last attempt is
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<node order="1" type="folder" visible="Library.HasContent(Role, Composer)">
<label>Classical Music Composers</label>
<path>musicdb://artists/?role=Composer&albumartistsonly=false</path>
<rule field="Genre" operator="contains"><value>Classical</value></rule>
</node>

but it does not work.
Would you be able to help me?
Many thanks

[DaveBlake]

@pierocol you have made the common mistake of trying to mix two kinds of custom node syntax.

There are 2 kinds of custom node:
a) "filter" type that have content rule syntax like smart playlists
b) "folder" type that are more like default node syntax and just have a path with options

<path> and <rule> do not mix

Hence a "folder" type custom node would be like

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<node order="10" type="folder" visible="Library.HasContent(Role, Composer)">
<label>Classical Composers</label>
<icon>DefaultMusicGenres.png</icon>
<path>musicdb://artists/?albumartistsonly=false&role=Composer&genre=Classical%</path>
</node>

Or as a "filter" type

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<node order="2" type="filter" visible="Library.HasContent(Music)">
    <label>Classical Composers</label>
    <content>artists</content>
    <order direction="ascending">artist</order>
    <rule field="role" operator="is">
        <value>Composer</value>
    </rule>
    <rule field="genre" operator="contains">
        <value>Classical</value>
    </rule>
</node>

[pierocol]

@pierocol you have made the common mistake of trying to mix two kinds of custom node syntax.

There are 2 kinds of custom node:
a) "filter" type that have content rule syntax like smart playlists
b) "folder" type that are more like default node syntax and just have a path with options

<path> and <rule> do not mix

Hence a "folder" type custom node would be like

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<node order="10" type="folder" visible="Library.HasContent(Role, Composer)">
<label>Classical Composers</label>
<icon>DefaultMusicGenres.png</icon>
<path>musicdb://artists/?albumartistsonly=false&role=Composer&genre=Classical%</path>
</node>

Or as a "filter" type

Code:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<node order="2" type="filter" visible="Library.HasContent(Music)">
    <label>Classical Composers</label>
    <content>artists</content>
    <order direction="ascending">artist</order>
    <rule field="role" operator="is">
        <value>Composer</value>
    </rule>
    <rule field="genre" operator="contains">
        <value>Classical</value>
    </rule>
</node>

THANK YOU. I am always amazed about how people can be so kind in forums. You made me happy. I have been trying for a long time and accumulated quite some frustration. I wish I could return the favor. Else, I will "pay it forward"

[DaveBlake]

You are welcome.
"What goes around comes around"

[Longtime Collector]

Can this be done for Music Videos (i.e., Music Videos by composer)?