The VideoLAN Forums

Hi,

I'm using the last version 0.9.4 on winxp

There is an issue where loading vlc through the m3u file or drag and dropping the file into vlc's main window automatically orders the list in an alphabetical way while still making the 'next' and 'previous' button be affected by the order the m3u file is written.
In the other hand, if i drag and drop my m3u file into the playlist window, it loads up nicely in the right order like it did in the pre 0.9 versions.

example of how my m3u file looks like...

#EXTINF:0,2 - B_name
rtsp://someurlhere.com/stream?namespace=1&service=201&flavour=sd
#EXTINF:0,3 - C_name
rtsp://someurlhere.com/stream?namespace=1&service=202&flavour=sd
#EXTINF:0,4 - A_name
rtsp://someurlhere.com/stream?namespace=1&service=203&flavour=sd

I believe the playlist should have an other column beside the item's title (just like in the 0.8 versions).

Best regards
T.S

There is an ID column.

There is an ID column.

I know there was one ID column in the previous versions (didn't find it thought on the 0.8.6i) but it seems to have disappeared here and i quickly tried looking for it in the advanced options but it doesn't show up.

anyway, my post concerned the automatic alpha-num order when opening VLC through a playlist file (m3u) or drag and dropping the file into the main window since the problem doesn't happen when dropping it into the playlist frame....

[edited to avoid some confusion]

There is an ID column.

I know there was one ID column in the previous versions (didn't find it thought on the 0.8.6i) but it seems to have disappeared here and i quickly tried looking for it in the advanced options but it doesn't show up.

anyway, my post concerned the automatic alpha-num order when opening VLC through a playlist or drag and dropping the playlist into the main window since the problem doesn't happen when dropping it into the playlist frame....

The ID will be fixed in 0.9.5.

For the playlist, I don't know.

On the playlist front - is this the same topic?

Existing M3U contents:
8.x playlist:
9.x playlist:

The 8.x playlist was very user friendly in terms of navigation. It also started faster - in default configuration for 9.x, every .pls is parsed (multiple server calls) prior to the music startic. This means that delays due to one server being down (wait for timeout) are felt every time I load the playlist.

The grouping capability in 8.x was a very strong organizational and usability feature for VLC. The change is the loss of a significant feature for the playlist.

Note that I have tried de-selecting "Preferences - All - Playlist - Automatically preparse files" and each pls is still requested prior to the music starting.

OK, now I understand what you want, just use --playlist-tree.

Found the option "Preferences - All - Playlist - Display playlist tree". Is this analogous to the commandline switch you provided? It does result in the desired playlist format, although I had some non-reproducible sorting issues - I sometimes get:
Missing feature here, at least with streaming - the active stream is not indicated in any way that I can tell. Previously the active stream was bold.

Also, in this mode with "Preferences - All - Playlist - Automatically preparse files" cleared, all the pls files are retrieved generating the full tree list before the music starts. Is the "Automatically preparse files" not intended to address this aspect?

Yes it is analogous.
Yes, this is what it is supposed to be.

OK, then unchecking "Automatically preparse files" does not prevent the files from being automatically preparsed.