From 1b682addf21ea73e66030d2d81d5372e73d73314 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Colin Powell <colin@unbl.ink>
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:53:52 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] [sorting] Derive browse date from filename, fall back to tag

---
 __tests__/util/arrays.test.js | 107 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 src/js/util/arrays.js         |  24 +++++++-
 2 files changed, 128 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 __tests__/util/arrays.test.js

diff --git a/__tests__/util/arrays.test.js b/__tests__/util/arrays.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5aa97a91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/util/arrays.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+import { sortItems } from '../../src/js/util/arrays';
+
+describe('sortItems', () => {
+  describe('date sorting', () => {
+    it('should prefer a date embedded in the filename over the tag date', () => {
+      const tracks = [
+        {
+          name: 'Talk Python',
+          uri: 'file:///media/podcasts/563-2026-09-22-EVE-Online.mp3',
+          release_date: '2023-10-13',
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'Up First',
+          uri: 'file:///media/podcasts/2026-09-01_Up%20First.mp3',
+          release_date: '2026-09-01',
+        },
+      ];
+
+      expect(sortItems(tracks, 'date').map((track) => track.name)).toEqual([
+        'Up First',
+        'Talk Python',
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it('should fall back to the tag date when the filename has no date', () => {
+      const tracks = [
+        {
+          name: 'Newer',
+          uri: 'spotify:track:newer',
+          release_date: '2001-05-01',
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'Older',
+          uri: 'spotify:track:older',
+          release_date: '1999-01-01',
+        },
+      ];
+
+      expect(sortItems(tracks, 'date').map((track) => track.name)).toEqual([
+        'Older',
+        'Newer',
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it('should sort year-only tag dates within their year', () => {
+      const tracks = [
+        {
+          name: 'Year only',
+          uri: 'spotify:track:year',
+          release_date: '2026',
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'Previous year',
+          uri: 'spotify:track:previous',
+          release_date: '2025-12-31',
+        },
+      ];
+
+      expect(sortItems(tracks, 'date').map((track) => track.name)).toEqual([
+        'Previous year',
+        'Year only',
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it('should sort tracks sharing a date by album and track number', () => {
+      const tracks = [
+        {
+          name: 'Second',
+          uri: 'file:///media/podcasts/2026-09-22_second.mp3',
+          album: { name: 'Podcast' },
+          track_number: 2,
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'First',
+          uri: 'file:///media/podcasts/2026-09-22_first.mp3',
+          album: { name: 'Podcast' },
+          track_number: 1,
+        },
+      ];
+
+      expect(sortItems(tracks, 'date').map((track) => track.name)).toEqual([
+        'First',
+        'Second',
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it('should reverse the order', () => {
+      const tracks = [
+        {
+          name: 'Talk Python',
+          uri: 'file:///media/podcasts/563-2026-09-22-EVE-Online.mp3',
+          release_date: '2023-10-13',
+        },
+        {
+          name: 'Up First',
+          uri: 'file:///media/podcasts/2026-09-01_Up%20First.mp3',
+          release_date: '2026-09-01',
+        },
+      ];
+
+      expect(sortItems(tracks, 'date', true).map((track) => track.name)).toEqual([
+        'Talk Python',
+        'Up First',
+      ]);
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/js/util/arrays.js b/src/js/util/arrays.js
index 3ffba4c0..41e84f5b 100755
--- a/src/js/util/arrays.js
+++ b/src/js/util/arrays.js
@@ -134,6 +134,23 @@ const createRange = function (indexes) {
   };
 };
 
+/**
+ * Extract a YYYY-MM-DD date from an item's filename (URI)
+ *
+ * Tag dates can be year-only (or missing) for podcasts, so prefer a date embedded in
+ * the file's name (eg 2026-09-22_Episode.mp3) where available.
+ *
+ * @param uri = string
+ * @return string | null
+ * */
+const dateFromUri = (uri) => {
+  if (!uri) return null;
+
+  const filename = String(uri).split('/').pop() || '';
+  const match = filename.match(/(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2})/);
+  return match ? match[1] : null;
+};
+
 /**
  * Sort an array of objects
  * @param array = array to sort
@@ -160,16 +177,17 @@ const sortItems = (array, property, reverse = false) => {
       case 'user':
         return item.user ? item.user.id : undefined;
       case 'date':
-        return item.release_date || '';
+        return dateFromUri(item.uri) || item.release_date || '';
       default:
         return item[property];
     }
   };
 
-  // Special handling for date sort: sort by release date first, then track number
+  // Special handling for date sort: sort by the date in the filename (where available),
+  // then the tag date, album name and track number
   if (property === 'date') {
     return orderBy(array, [
-      item => item.release_date || '',
+      item => dateFromUri(item.uri) || item.release_date || '',
       item => item.album?.name || '',
       item => item.track_number || 0,
     ], [reverse ? 'desc' : 'asc', 'asc', 'asc']);