[OT] Corrupted characters when piping DIR to file

[StickyNomad]

I'd like to create .m3u playlists using the tiny ol' DOS Dir command:

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%comspec% /c "dir /b /ogn *.mp3 >Playlist.m3u"

and this works quite well, but special characters are a real hassle. If the filenames contain german umlauts or abostrophes etc., these are converted and so the according playlist entry gets corrupted. I assume DIR creates ASCII output and it should be ANSI to work. On the dos-console, the output of the above command is shown correctly, this occurs only when piping to a file.

I tried out to set 'COUNTRY=...' in config.nt or to use CMDs /u and /a parameters and other tricks, but nothing worked and I could't find a concrete solution for this issue anywhere. Maybe someone can draw a quick solution or a tiny 3rd party-commandline-tool out of his pocket?

I also tried the WDX Infopacker-plugin, but I've seen no option to set its output filename which I'd like to be always 'Playlist.m3u'. AFAIK only the extension can be specified in this tool.

[icfu]

Change the codepage first:

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Command: %comspec% /c
Parameter: CHCP 1252&dir /b /ogn *.mp3 >Playlist.m3u

Edit: This doesn't work although it should.

You have to create a batch instead, put this in "playlist.bat":

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CHCP 1252
dir /b /ogn *.mp3 >Playlist.m3u

Then create a button:

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Command: %comspec% /c
Parameter: playlist.bat

Icfu

[SanskritFritz]

Well, AutoHotkey is in my pocket:

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Loop %A_WorkingDir%\*.mp3
	FileAppend %A_LoopFileName%`n, Playlist.m3u

[Sir_SiLvA]

How about (i think posted somewhere here by ICFU)

Command: cmd.exe
Paramter: /C copy /y "%F" "%P\Playlist.m3u"

[StickyNomad]

Well, thank y'all for your comprehensive help! I tried around and think I'll stick with icfu's solution. The Autohotkey script needs quite a few seconds to execute and if a playlist already exists, the script appends the files to the actual content of the playlist. Sorry SanskritFritz & Sir_SiLvA, but many thanks though

I added a one-level backup function if 'Playlist.m3u' already exists and now the BAT fits perfect:

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CHCP 1252
IF EXIST Playlist.m3u ren Playlist.m3u Playlist_old.m3u
dir /b /ogn *.mp3 >Playlist.m3u

2SanskritFritz
Perhaps you should consider changing your nick to 'AutohotkeyFritz'? I don't know your Sanskrit skills, but with Autohotkey, you're definetely the man and your pocket o' scripts seems to be bottomless!