Copy files from foobar playlist to other location

Question

I have compiled a playlist in foobar audio player. My files lie in nested folders. There's a common root. Then there's a folder to distinguish the origin of the files (bought from amazon, iTunes, ripped from CD etc.) and eventually the typical hierarchy of artist and album.

When I drag the files from fb2k into a folder in explorer the hierarchy is flattened. The files are simply copied into one folder. A search on the internet says there's a tool AmoK Playlist Copy that allows for opening a .fpl playlist file and copy the audio files listed there into another directory maintaining the folder hierarchy. The latest version of that program dates back to 2011. I got it but was unable to open a .fpl playlist. Foobar has modified their file format. Historic playlist files stored in a folder playlists-v1.3 can be read. Files from folder playlists-v1.4, however, cannot be read. The v1.3 files are far outdated.

I want to copy carefully selected files to a USB stick and want to maintain structure of folders.

How can I copy audio files from a playlist in foobar to a folder maintaining hierarchy of the subfolders?

Answer 1

There's the possibility to select some or even all files in a playlist, right click and select File Operations => Copy to....

There's an input field for a pattern for the target file. That accepts operators and functions from foobar documentation. When the hierarchy of the folders is known and fixed one can work with the various functions. A possible solution can look like: $directory(%path%,3)/$directory(%path%,2)/%directory%/%filename%.

That solution got support from foobar forum.

Answer 2

Say you have all your files in

C:\music

And you want to copy it to your usb in

E:

and preserve the folder structure. Go to:

Foobar > playlist > select all the files that you want to copy > right click > File operations > Copy to > ...

Then this window will open:

File Operations Setup Window

Now in that window:

Operation: Copy

Destination: E:\

File name: $replace(%path%,C:\music\,,%filename_ext%,)%filename%

Now check in the preview, if its correct. Then click 'Run'.

Explanation:

$replace(str,search1,replace1,search2,replace2)

ie.,

$replace(C:\music\mj\blackorwhite.flac,C:\music\,,blackorwhite.flac,)

1. Look for search2 in str and replace with replace2

Replace 'blackorwhite.flac' with '' in 'C:\music\mj\blackorwhite.flac'

Result: 'C:\music\mj\'

2. Look for search1 in the result we got above and replace with replace1

Replace 'C:\music\' with '' in 'C:\music\mj\'

Result: 'mj\'