File Name Collation Sequence

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The command dir /b yields the following, unsurprising result for the indicated files:[/SIZE]

1.1 Act I, Scene 1.mp3
1.15 Interlude II.mp3
1.2 Act I, Scene 2.mp3

However, in Windows Explorer (under Windows 7 64-bit), the same files are shown in the sequence

1.1 Act I, Scene 1.mp3
1.2 Act I, Scene 2.mp3
1.15 Interlude II.mp3
:confused:

Apparently, Windows thinks it’s being very smart, looking for anything that might be an integer and collating it in numerical, rather than alphabetic, sequence. For these files, this raises the possibility that the movements may be played in the wrong order, depending on how different media players under different operating systems collate files. Similar ambiguities may be a problem for other users, which is why I’m posting this finding.

For this particular problem, a satisfactory workaround is to use the file names, which always appear as shown:

1.1 Act I, Scene 1.mp3
1.1i Interlude II.mp3
1.2 Act I, Scene 2.mp3

The change from “5” to “i” moves the file forward, even though “i” comes after “5”.:huh:

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Yeah, Windows likes to think 15 is a larger number than 2, I’ve seen similar in other file listings. I wonder if your situation would work better if adding 0 to the 1.1 and 1.2 such as 1.10 and 1.20 which should put 1.15 between them?

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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That’s a valid idea too, and I’ll do it if the present file names don’t work in some other context. (I run these files under Android in addition to Windows.) Until such problem occurs, it’s a matter of personal taste. As shown, the numbers correspond to the numbers of the acts and scenes, and the non-numerical “i” sort of represents a break in the sequence, which is sort of what an interlude is. Your idea is the better one if reliability is crucial, but in this case the worst that happens is that one performance is temporarily disrupted.

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