What is the "Show Unsplit Combined Categories" option?

[Ascension Shining]

Hi guys, I was browsing through the PA settings when I came across the option "Show Unsplit Combined Categories" in the path "/Settings/Library/Lists/Show Unsplit Combined Categories" but I don't know what exactly it does.

 

 I searched the internet but there was no explanation on the sites especially the PA forum about this option, I even used ChatGPT but since ChatGPT processes its data from the internet it was only able to describe the option based on its name And finally AI suggested me to ask PA developers about it.

 

 You may be wondering why I should ask about a trivial option that has no effect on audio playback, the reason is that I care a lot about technology and like to get the most out of it because I am born in Generation Z.

[andrewilley]

It means in (for example) the Artist list you will see the full unsplit artist names, rather than only being shown the individual separated names.

Thus a song like "Under Pressure" which is tagged as being by "Queen ; David Bowie" would be shown in the Artists list under the names "Queen" and also "David Bowie" as expected, but it will also have an additional entry showing the full name in the tag, i.e. "Queen ; David Bowie". Pretty niche to be honest, and it can clog up the lists terribly, but it's there if you really want it.

Andre

[Ascension Shining]

28 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

It means in (for example) the Artist list you will see the full unsplit artist names, rather than only being shown the individual separated names.

Thus a song like "Under Pressure" which is tagged as being by "Queen ; David Bowie" would be shown in the Artists list under the names "Queen" and also "David Bowie" as expected, but it will also have an additional entry showing the full name in the tag, i.e. "Queen ; David Bowie". Pretty niche to be honest, and it can clog up the lists terribly, but it's there if you really want it.

Andre

Thank you for your very quick reply, but I didn't feel any change in the artist library, are you sure this option works?

[andrewilley]

1 hour ago, Ascension Shining said:

are you sure this option works?

Yes it does - as long as you have some artist tags that use the Split facility anyway, and you have the Split feature activated. You obviously won't see any difference if you don't use the feature in the first place.

For example, I created a test audio file with the Artist tag set as "TestArtist A ; TestArtist B", and semicolon is one of the symbols I use for splitting multiple artists. With the 'Show Unsplit Combined Categories' option turned off, I just see the two individual artists in the Artists list:

However with 'Show Unsplit Combined Categories' turned on, I see the two individual names plus an extra entry showing the full unsplit contents of the tag too:

Andre

[Ascension Shining]

Now I understand, we first need to add artist separator characters like “,” or “;” in the “/Settings/Library/Scanner/Symbols to Split Multiple Artists” option and then turn on the “Show Unsplit Combined Categories” option.

 

The result is that artists with split and unsplit names all appear together in the artist list. (Of course, I knew this, but since I was not familiar with the “Symbols to Split Multiple Artists” option, I thought this option did not work)

 

Currently, I am enjoying the very precise organization of my songs!

 

Andre, thank you for your quick and timely guidance.

[andrewilley]

Correct, if you have not defined any symbols for splitting multiple names within the Artist tag out into individual names, the 'Show Unsplit' feature has nothing to do as they are always shown verbatim anyway.

There is some more discussion of this feature in:

Andre