Media Gadgets/Widgets crashing

from WinCustomize Forums
I have narrowed it down to why media gadgets and widgets close on some songs. Songs that have "[*]" without the quotes in their name will crash the widget/gadget and it won't be able to be opened until the computer is restarted. I've seen this in winamp, but I haven't tried others. The reason for that is because I like winamp and would not want to be forced to use another player just for a media widget/gadget to work. Hopefully this will be fixed so the widget/gadget will not disappear every time it plays a song with those characters in the name. Just for a note, I posted this in another forum room, but no one responded, (not a clue why). Hopefully someone will help me here.
desktopx
3,703 views 4 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top
*Bump*
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
What specific widgets or gadgets are you having the problem with?
Offworld Trading Company
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
How many filenames actually have the string [*] in them? I'd think the solution of renaming the files would be the most obvious--certainly much easier than switching away from a media player you like.

But, in all likelihood, you'll run into trouble with these files no matter what media player or widget or gadget you use. The asterisk is frequently used as a wildcard character, by media players, Operating Systems, scripting languages, and so forth. The square brackets aren't such a great idea in a filename either.
From http://www.portfoliofaq.com/pfaq/FAQ00352.htm

# Whilst the illegal characters are simply not supported for use by one or more of the OSs to be used, the deprecated characters include those deprecated for naming purposes plus those likely to cause use in a web/ftp environment.
# #1. Illegal filename characters: \ (backslash), / (forward slash), : (colon), * (asterisk), ? (question mark), " (double quotes), < (left angle bracket), > (right angle bracket), | (pipe). Most of these are Windows OS constraints; Mac allows all except a colon (though a forward slash, /, can cause issues for POSIX paths). The aim here is to allow problem-free cross-platform use. An all-Windows or all-Mac organisation may need to interact with others using different OSs, so the safe method is to observe both OS' limitations, even if you mostly/always work on only one OS.
# #2. Avoid %, #, and $ as these are commonly used as variable name prefixes, so it can get messy if automating anything with filenames that include these characters. If networking cross platform (e.g. Samba, SMB, CIFS) consider effects of !+{}&[] on path and filename translation.
# #2. Where possible avoid spaces in filenames (though not strictly necessary, they can complicate things, especially if scripting). You are best advised to stick to alphanumerics, underscores, hyphens, periods.



I would also avoid using [*] in the MP3 ID3 tags...it is unclear from your post whether the troublesome string is in the filename, or in the tag. Neither is a good idea.
I did see your other post and did not reply, my apologies. I hope this information has been of some use.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
oh, #3, it's MP3 ID3 tags that have the characters. Also, the gadgets/widgets that I'm having trouble with are "Arrow Player" and "Silica Media Player"(both the widget and gadget). They most use the built-in plug-in because my sample mp3 player does the same thing.