Can a complex MediaMonkey file naming mask be converted to Picard?

Hello, new here. Last October I switched from Win XP to Linux. Yes, Oct 2020, XP - it was getting pretty non-functional by then. I used MediaMonkey Gold for a number of years and had developed a file naming mask that named my files just the way I like them. Then MediaMonkey stopped working on my XP and my library grew less and less tidy. At present, it’s about 50% in good shape and 50% GOK (god only knows).

I’m now trying to choose Linux native alternatives to my former Windows tools/players. From what I’ve seen, it looks like Picard might be able to handle the complex file naming that I’d used in MediaMonkey although I expect the mask will need some tweaking. But before I invest a lot of time in this effort, I thought I’d ask if there are any other former (or even current, not everyone despises Win 8 and beyond) MediaMonkey users that have been able to convert their complex file naming masks for Picard.

Unfortunately when my XP MediaMonkey committed suicide I lost my ability to reference my most current defined mask. But, just so you can have some idea of what I’m calling complex, here is a copy of the mask from my working notes:

L:\Music\$First(<Genre>)\$If($Left(<Album Artist>,7)=Various,<Album>\,$If($Right(<Album Artist>,4)=Cast,<Album>,$If(<Custom 4>,<Artist>,<Album Artist>$If(<Disc#>,\<Year>., -)$If(<Custom 1>,<Custom 1>.,) <Album>))\)$If(<Custom 3>,,$If(<Custom 2>,<Custom 2>,,)<Track#:2>. )<Title>$If($Left(<Album Artist>,7)=Various, - <Artist>,)

There are at least 4 Custom tags involved, which may not translate directly to Picard…

So, can Picard take on MediaMonkey for file naming? Or am just going to make myself [more] crazy?

su

Without going through your script in detail, I’m confident that Picard can be made to do what you need. I suggest that you have a look at the Scripting section of the Picard User Guide, especially the Scripting Functions and Tags & Variables sections. There’s also a simple File Naming Script Tutorial that you might find useful.

There are many examples of file naming scripts out there, including the one that I use for my collection. You can also get a lot of good ideas and suggestions from the thread:

Finally, if you have any specific questions while developing your script, just ask and I’m sure someone will be able to help.

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Thank you! It’s good to have confirmation and your links. Time to do some work!

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