'Grouping' vs. 'Comments' tags?

I have been wondering about that 'Grouping' tag as well.

Is there a definitive set of 'values' like 'Genre' that can be used there or is it just another field like 'Comments' that you can make up your own values for?

Neil

According to Apple's own documentation ( here & here) the Grouping field in iTunes is supposed to link tracks, with the same value, within an album so that they are treated as a unit when shuffling in "Shuffle by Grouping" mode. The iPod doesn't have a corresponding mode so I'm not sure how useful this feature is in practice.

It is worth noting that the iTunes Grouping field maps to Sub-Genre or Mood in other applications. Personally, I use the field to store keywords which I then use to build smart playlists. iTunes 9.x has the option to expose Grouping in the Column Browser alongside Genre, Artist, Album and Composer (also new).

Comments on the other hand are just that. I use them occasionaly to record information about a track that I don't want in the track title.

tt2

People are using Grouping for many different reasons but the initial official use was to help people with classical music to keep the movements of a symphony, concerto, etc. together and in the right order. For example the track titles will say something like Movement 1 Allegro, Movement 2 Adagio, etc. and the Group would be the overall name of the piece like Symphony #2 in D Major.

All the tracks within that group get treated as a single work and are played in order. If you were to shuffle classical music this would ensure that the movements of a symphony still play in order and then move on to the next work.

Ok, thanks, that is great, so i can happily use it for my own use to categorise different types of rip. Tape Rips/Vinyl/CD/Live/MD etc

Is it possible to list more than one term in the Grouping field? If so, are the words separated by a comma, slash, space?

Use any way that works for you. I use slashes.

tt2

I want to search or find any of the following words inside by JUNK mail folder:

fiji ... or ... Stanford ... or ... Los Altos

What I want to do is search a string of words using OR between them so I can see if any unique topics are slipping into my JUNK folder. I have about 10 words that I use, but currently, I have to find them one word at a time, and I'd like to look for them all in one move. Any suggestions? What goes between the words (in Microsoft, you can use a comma). In Apple Mail, it appears that when you use two or more words, Apple considers that a "phrase" and that is not what I want.

Brad, this is an itunes forum. Your question sounds like a Mail question.

Tracy