While using AutoDJ, currently playing track should be highlighted and centered in track list window

[mixxxbot]

Reported by: rawrr
Date: 2013-01-02T13:10:14Z
Status: Confirmed
Importance: Wishlist
Launchpad Issue: lp1095287
Tags: autodj, library, polish

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While using AutoDJ, the currently playing track should be highlighted and centered in the track list window. This is helpful when something needs to be done with that track during (or even after) playing, for instance in retrieving metadata for someone who wants more info about the song than the deck display lists. It tends to be difficult to find the playing track in the track list when there are a lot of tracks queued in AutoDJ, and most especially when they've been shuffled.

There are also times that I use AutoDJ for reviewing newly added music, and I'll either:

a) compile a playlist from tracks in the AutoDJ queue on the fly as I hear songs that work for what I want (send to playlist X)

or

b) need to select songs that I don't like for deletion.

In both cases, currently it is difficult to quickly dig out the currently playing track.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: daschuer
Date: 2013-01-02T13:49:44Z

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I think the issue is worse. 
The current playing track is >removed< from the Auto DJ play list. 

But .. you will find playing tacks in the history playlist.

The original Idea is hard to do, because a track can be member of a number of play lists and crates.
We might put the track to search box and switch to library view, but this will hide all other tracks.
Any Idea how to control such a feature?

What about allow dragging the track back to a specific library.
I had the idea some times ago when I want to move a track from a deck to a sampler.
Since the track event is already used with the waveforms we might start dragging at the track label.

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: rawrr
Date: 2013-01-02T21:08:42Z

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No wonder it was always difficult to find the tracks >_<

I can see why removal of the playing track from the tracklist would have seemed logical, avoiding replay perhaps, but I do think it defeats more than helps.

The dragging from track label idea is great for adding a track to a crate, but will only be helpful in dragging to a playlist if the playlist is open at the time and you can drag to the specific place order in the playlist that you want. The dragging idea wouldn't work for deleting a track after play, but, upon reflection, neither would having it highlighted and centered, since after play the highlight would probably jump to the next currently playing track and you'd have to go digging for the previous track then anyway. Dragging from track label would also not assist in retrieving deeper metadata.

So unless a centered highlight could be exclusive to the AutoDJ window/pane, and not be active for other windows/panes (which I think should be intuitive to the DJ since AutoDJ is the only activated play feature at that moment), it sounds like dragging from track label could be a fine way to add to crates, and possibly playlists.

As for exploration of currently playing metadata, I would suggest a mouseover type display when hovering over the track label, but I'm guessing that might either be dependent on the toggle of tool tips, or, if it was wanted to always be available, conflict with the toggle of tool tips (unless there was a separate option in preferences for a hover+get metadata toggle, but that might be too messy).

[mixxxbot]

Commented by: rawrr
Date: 2013-01-02T22:14:40Z

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To further clarify re: "centered highlight could be exclusive to the AutoDJ window/pane", I don't think most DJs are going to be like "hey why isn't the currently playing track highlighted in library/playlist/crate etc.?" while using AutoDJ, because they know they aren't playing from library/playlist/crate. From user perspective, they're playing from AutoDJ.

Maybe on a coding level all these are all library and therefore are all the same and difficult to separate, but I think from the user standpoint they are distinct from "each other".