Hi there,

I have two quesitons:

I want to upload a ton of .wav files into a folder and play them randomly. What is the best way to proceed?
So far I called them 1.wav, 2.wav, 3.wav, I create a random number and call the file $.wav ... but this can become exhausting, and more than that, see question 2

I wanted in question 1 to be able to play a file with a random name (e.g. "random guy from puredata forum yelling.wav") and having the name of that track printed. So far I was thinking of using names of approach 1, and have a stored .txt file with the "real name" of the track and have it printed, but i can't neither do this.

Thanks in advance for your support
Nando

This is what I came up with. Seems to work correctly and I added a previous and next feature.

Note: The functionality of randomly getting a filepath/filename is in "rnd_player" (so that that functionality might be used elsewhere) and the "player" is just a readsf~ subpatch in the -help file.

rnd_player;
;
random file selector using ggee [shell] object and shell "find" command and a [text] object (linux and Mac(i think) only);
;
USAGE:;

1. bang load_list;
2. navigate to a file within the folder you want to randomly play and click OK;
3. click RND_FILE to output the filepath/filename of a random file inside that folder;
4. click << to go to the previous file;
5. click >> to go to the next file.;
   ;
   INLETS;
   left a bang which triggers load_list;
   right a bang which gets a new random file(path+name);
   ;
   OUTLET: the filepath/filename of a randomly selected (.wav) file in the load_list selected folder

rnd_player-help.pd
rnd_player.pd

I hope this is not too confusing.

Good luck.
-S

@radio_babel
Two things to keep in mind about ggee/shell:

1. semicolon is a reserved character in pd.
2. the ggee/shell linux stack is cleared after each (list) command you send it is completed.
   So you can not do things like "x=3;echo $x" which can be very frustrating.

I've tried various substitution methods and never found a way around that.

If anyone knows how to that would be a great thing to share (on a different thread).

@radio_babel That is bizarre if the exact path exists but they are not found.
It could be something to do with Linux paths.
Here I have set [cart5_dot_slash] to look in ./m/ as in your [blocks] patch.
It might work....... random_shuffle_cart.zip
David.

Whale-av: it is still missing the "counter", can you please send it?

svanya: sorry, I am short in time and had no opportunity to check your patch with more detail. I am receiving this error in console:
splitfilename /
... couldn't create
vlist2symbol
... couldn't create

where can i find these? i downloaded some externals but still not working

@radio_babel I have replaced the [counter] in both the carts....... random_shuffle_cart.zip
Fingers crossed that one of the carts will now work for you.....!
If so then the 5 second flip is next.
Cart is designed for one folder. If you want to flip between two folders I will change it so that it can be run twice with them talking to each other.

[vlist2symbol] ...... pretty sure you can replace it with the [l2s] you will find in my zip. They are just different names for the clever vanilla abstraction made as a replacement for [list2symbol] by @cuinjune a few years ago.
But as you have installed zexy you can probably just remove the "v" and use [list2symbol]

[splitfilename] should be in the iemlib library. The / is an argument so should not be included when you search for the external.
David.

@radio_babel "I am on linux." Perfect. An easy "vanilla" solution is to write a txt.file like this:

ls *.wav | sed 's/$/;/' > soundfiles.txt

then read this file into [text define] and use [text get] or [text sequence] to get the .wav filenames for your player.

@whale-av : i've lost two hours trying to understand why this does not work, but I couldn't debug.
It sounds crazy, because I get the error:

"dsp: /home/fernando/Documents/Pd/programas_antigos/m/m33.wav : No such file or directory"

And if I copy paste that exact link from the console and paste it in a message, send it to the readsf~ and use an independent "start" it will work perfectly!

Plus i have selected many places in your code to get prints (from the pack for example) and everything works fine. There is the necessary delay for the start . I even disconnected this "start", tried to start the correct filepath i get from your playlist, and start manually. I also disconnected everything else from the readsf~ to make sure it was not receiving any unwanted signal. I am desperate, ahah

I am sure you tested this and it works correctly in your PC, i assume. I don't think this has anything to do with linux or whatever. Thanks so much for your help, again.

Next when I have time I will try solipp approach.

Cheers

@radio_babel Yes. This is very unusual and I have no way to test as it works perfectly on my computer.
I am sorry that it has caused you so much trouble.
David.

@whale-av sorry, i didn't meant to say you caused trouble! it is the other way around, that was very helpful and certainly this is very very close to the solution.

@radio_babel I know.... but in this case it has caused you trouble.
I am tempted to put Linux on a machine and try to get to understand what the problem is.
Often a problem to solve is a good way find new solutions.
But this has me stumped.
David.

@solipp your tips were useful (create text and use text_define, get text_row).

i mixed this approach with whale-av's and it is now working. funny thing is that i defined the paths the same way as whale-av did, and somehow now is working. puzzling...

anyway thank you all for your inputs!