Windows file sorting

[Schloss Ritter]

I'm having trouble getting Windows XP and Windows based programs to sort files and info like I want. For one, I want foobar2000 to sort my playlist of "albums" of video game music by the album name. For example, twp of the entries should sort like this:

• Actraiser
  
• Actraiser 2
  
• Addams Family Values
  

Instead, Windows and its programs thinks it's supposed to go like this:

• Actraiser 2
  
• Actraiser
  
• Addams Family Values
  

Seriously? Does null come after space and other characters in ansi or unicode or whatever Windows uses now? Is there any way to fix this behavior?

[Schloss Ritter]

So, anyone know anything about this?

[Data]

I doubt the simplest answer I have is the correct one but here goes.

When you open a folder on any version of Windows you can change how you view the files inside the folder. I select details for everything except photos and sometimes videos.

If your files are named

01 zombie stomp

02 killer instinct

03 vampire slayer

then you can sort the category called "Name" by clicking it once to sort from small to big or a to z. Click a second time to display from big to small or z to a.

[Thor]

The problem is the computer is sorting the files properly. I have my Pokemon movies on my computer so I do this to keep them in order as well:

01 Pokemon The Movie

01a Pokemon Mew Two Strikes Back

02 Pokemon 2000

In the case of ROMs like your example if you put a numeral indication for the 1st game in a series it will sort it properly like this:

Actraiser 1

Actraiser 2

Adams Family

It looks dumb but what a computer does is it will always put numerical before alpha.

[Schloss Ritter]

That could work, but... the sorting field I'm working with is a field within a tag in music files (SPC, NSF, PSF, etc). I would have to go in and edit the tags of hundreds, possibly thousands of tracks in order to use this solution. Also, most of these are in collections that I am seeding in torrents, so I can't be modifying the files even if I had the time.

I guess anything other than the default Windows alphanumeric sorting would need to be hard coded into the application I am using, in this case foobar2000. I was thinking there was possibly a plugin for foobar2000 to fix this, but I can't figure out how to contact any of their developers.

Funny thing is that I don't remember having this problem back when I used to use Winamp, but last I checked the video game music file type plugins for Winamp were horribly outdated (Winamp 2.x only) or at least not very uniform like the foobar2000 plugins are.

[Data]

When I download a torrent of a music album I often find that all the tracks are named for a computer to understand and not a DJ.

While it's seeding I drag and drop the album onto my fileserver where I have quick access to everything.

Now when it comes to music I have everything is ranked by genre. On my server is a file called Music and inside this Windows folder are seventeen more folders. These will say Classical, Comedy/Other, Country, Dance and so on. Each folder now has many more folders inside with the name of a band or singer, then it goes to album and in each album I have the files named Track number Song title.

So I want to hear AC/DC Sink the Pink. I'll follow the shortcut to my file server, I'll click Music then Heavy Metal, then ACDC, then Who Made Who, then 04 Sink the Pink. I can have as many folders as I want open at once for when I'm putting on a show.

I did have to rename most of my music at least a little just remember to use the F2 key to rename it and do one album at a time without taking both hands of your keyboard.

Selecting the raw files to be played has proven superior to me. You can add them to almost any playlist. You can make multiple folder windows skinny and read all the useful information. It's a pain in the ass if raw files are named stupid. That's my nickel's worth of free information.