[TOOL] Zen X-Fi2 Playlist Manager v1.01

[jbob182]

I have decided to make a simple playlist manager for the zen so there is no need to install Creative Central or Media Monkey. The program allows you to open, create new, and edit playlists. However, the program does require the .NET framework if your computer does not already have it. The framework is available at : http://www.microsoft.com/download/en....aspx?id=17851

Below is a screenshot of the current gui




The program is in the attachments below


Changes:

• Playlist name is displayed on the bottom status bar if there is one
• A "New" button was added
• A progress and action label ie: "Saving..." has been added
• If you click new or attempt to exit the program with changes unsaved, it will ask you if you wish to discard them

Details

• If you place the program in your zen ( the same place with the music, images, and playlist folder) it will not require you to select your Zen on startup
• All Music added must be on the Zen or it will not accept it
• All Playlists must be saved to and loaded from the Playlist folder on your Zen
• Only .mp3, .wma,and .flac formats show when you add music ( You can select multiple files at once)
• If you load a playlist, you can simply press save or Control - S to update it
• To create a new playlist, add the desired music and then press Save or Save As (Control- S or Control - Shift - S) and whatever you name the playlist ie: Myplaylist is how it will show up on your Zen
• To rename a playlist, press Save As or Control - Shift- S and enter the new name
• If you close out of the dialog where you select your Zen, or select an incorrect driver, the program will exit

Special Thanks:

marriedto51

[CrowdAds]

[sYlt]

This would be awesome! And such complexity just to create a working playlist... Good luck with your project!

[jbob182]

Would anyone mind if they could not edit the playlist from the player (If that was even an option) or Creative Central, if this were to happen, then I can use my current loading setup and I just need to finish saving ( I am about 75% done with the conversion).

[marriedto51]

This sounds like a very useful project. Just the ability to create playlists in the GUI and then save them onto the player will be a major advantage over the built-in method IMO.

I think that the names that appear in the playlists on the player are the DOS "short names" (the old 8.3 format). As you may well know, you can get those with the DOS command 'dir /x', so that might be a shortcut to having to code an algorithm for converting from long file names.

[jbob182]

I think that the names that appear in the playlists on the player are the DOS "short names" (the old 8.3 format). As you may well know, you can get those with the DOS command 'dir /x', so that might be a shortcut to having to code an algorithm for converting from long file names.

After doing some testing, they appear to be quite similar and I have found that my algorithm is wrong. The ~# does not represent the alphabetical location of a file, but rather the last date modified compared to all other items in a directory with the same shortname.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have found a sample code that uses a windows library from c# to get the short name, and it is a perfect match of the playlist! I now just have to modify the result some to make a complete match ( remove parts of the path, and capitalize everything). Because windows naturally has short and long name compatibility, I can simply access the windows api to do all the conversion required for loading and saving playlists for me! Thank you marriedto51

[jbob182]

V1.0 is released, check the first post for the download link and more information.

[marriedto51]

Originally Posted by jbob182

V1.0 is released, check the first post for the download link and more information.

I've just had a chance to download and play with it: a lovely little tool; many thanks!

Just one feature request if you've time and inclination... Could you put the playlist title in the window (or window title bar)?

In any case, thanks for a tool I'll be using for one.

[jbob182]

V1.0.1 is released, check the first post in the attachments.

[cyberjosh]

Excellent! Thank you very much. It works like a charm. At first I thought that the Zen X-Fi2 could only sort playlists in alphabetical order but I think it had more to do with the order in which I added them since I can create playlists with your tool in any order I like.

Are there any firmware updates that you know of for the Zen X-Fi2 that will allow you the ability to rearrange the songs (up and down) on playlists inside the X-Fi2 itself? If not Creative really should add that basic rearranging capability.

Thanks again!