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[raldo]

YOU SHOULD UNINSTALL PREVIOUS VERSIONS OF PvdImport BEFORE INSTALLING THE LATEST VERSION.

* 1.3.4
Known issues:
o Dvd handling (VTS) does not work

summary of changes:

o Fixed: Well, at least an attempt to fix DVD handling in MC.
o Change: "Mass Import", "Auto Import", "One Shot" are now buttons that show state of operation
o Fixed: Default installationpath is now MC15
o Fixed: AutoUpdate error: Value of '101' is not valid for 'Value'. 'Value' should be between 'minimum' and 'maximum'
o Changed: PvdImportFieldConfig_default.xml field Date (Year) -> Date (year)
o Fixed: Use DB name for field test as opposed to display name.
o Changed: A few more log output lines, activated when "Details" is selected.
o Fixed: Selecting/Deselecting MassImport, AutoImport, OneShot, now seem to work.
o New: PvdImport can now test to see if all fields (not selected as "Ignored") exist before an import session starts.
o New: If fields don't exist, PvdImport can create them for you.
o New: "Test Field" checkbox can deselect testing/creating new fields dialog.
o Improved: One checkbox per import function: Mass Import, Auto Import, One Shot. You can stop import by unchecking checkbox
o Changed: Use .net framework 3.5
o Internal: Renamed variables.
o Improved: The auto import thread is now driven cyclically by yet another thread.
o Improved: Process queues now use mc file objects directly. This means an improvement in processing time (since the number of file searches is drastically reduced).
o New: "Details" checkbox. When selected, auto import/one shot will log significantly more data.
o New: New DLL, Communication.dll will show up in installation folder. Replaces older util.dll .

You may donate here

Here follow the first three chapters in PvdImport's software user manual. You can read the rest of the user manual in MC after you have installed the plugin. Goto "Services & Plugins"\"PvdImport" and press the "SUM" button

-------------------------
1. About PvdImport

Personal Video Database (PVD) is a program which pulls metadata and posters for movies and TV shows from online sources (imdb, amg and others) - http://www.videodb.info/forum_en/

PvdImport helps in getting data from the PVD database into MC, allowing us to match PVD fields with fields in MC.

-------------------------
2. Acknowledgements

Thanks to Rick.ca, Darichman and )p( for helping me test PvdImport and for providing very useful suggestions indeed.

-------------------------
3. Installation and Requirements

o Install the plugin msi from here. On Vista/Win7, you probably should run the installer as Administrator.
o Install firebird 2.1.x server with default settings from here  You need to install the version with desription "Windows executable installer for full Classic or Superserver, recommended for first-time users"
o Install PVD from here (There's a link called "Installer" there)

[...]

[raldo]

[raldo]

Frequently Asked Questions

(Thanks to Rick.ca for cooperating on most of these answers)

Q1: I've installed the required applications according to the instructions, what now?
A1:
Play around with Personal Video Database, test PvdImport according to the manual (see above).

For questions directly related to Personal Video database, you can post in the PVD forums.

A possible workflow for PVD would be:
(i) in PVD: tools\preferences , select "use silent mode for all plugins"

(ii) then, tools\"scan folders for new movies [...]" . In the dialog which then pops up, select the topmost folder(s) of your media collection(s)

PVD should now start searching through those folders. This probably will take a long time if you have many movies.

Afterwards, you'll have to quality control the silence option in (i) by checking your movies...

Q2: How can I see if Firebird server is running properly?
A2:
In taskmanager under processes, check if fbguard.exe and fbserver.exe are running. That's a place to start.

For some OSes (Vista, Win7?) these do not appear in processes, they appear as running in the "services" tab

In general, you must get PVD and the server up and running for the PvdImport plugin to work...

Q3: Where's the PVD database located?
A3:
The database is named movies.pvd by default and is located under C:\Documents and Settings\[your user name]\My Documents\Personal Video Database.

Q4: PVD doesn't accept my .avi, .mkv, or ABC files? Why?
A4:
PVD "accepts" any file type. It doesn't play the files, so it really doesn't care what file type is associated with a record. The file scanner, however, needs to be restricted to valid video files. The list of permitted file types is maintained at Preferences\File Scanner\File Types. The default includes AVI, MKV and most other common video file types. ABC, however, would have to be added to the list.

Q5: What's the best way of handling files that are spread over several network drives
A5:
What follows is just a suggestion on how to organize and map your media if your files are spread over several network drives. One positive aspect with this method is that you effectively isolate the network drive assignments from the path stored in MC and PVD.

(i) Share your media folder on your LAN. The Music folder can be accessed from both PCs via \\[Computer Name]\[Share Name]
(ii) In PVD, rescan with \\[Computer Name]\[Share Name] as base address.
(iii) In MC, move files to \\[Computer Name]\[Share Name] .
(iv) Put the MC database in the shared folder. Access it from the HTPC as read only. Access it from the office PC as usual.

I just tested this at home: I shared the folder c:\test\movies and named the share "Movies". In MC i imported a single folder (tools\import\"import single folder") and entered \\Dionysus\Movies as the import folder. Dionysus is my computer's name. After the import, the [Filename] of "Dr. Strangelove" was "\\Dionysus\Movies\Dr. Strangelove.iso"

Similarly, in PVD I i selected tools\"Scan folders ..." and selected \\Dionysus\Movies by navigating to the share in my local network, *not* the local file system! The file imported into PVD with the same filename as in MC.

Don't share the drive if your media files are located on a drive! Rather, share a folder on that drive!

Q6: The plugin doesn't work, what do I do?
A6:
The log view in the PvdImport page (Services&Plugins\PvdImport) which is located in the bottom of the page reports various errors and statuses.

In general PvdImport uses the [Filename] tag to look up the files in PVD. [Filename] must be *exactly* equal to one of the files listed in PVD. There is one exception here, and that exception is wrt. DVDs. I'll elaborate further down. You can find the list of filenames per movie in the lowermost pane on the right in PVD, "File Path:". When a movie consists of several files, each fie is separated by the pipe symbol, |

For DVDs, PVD stores the VIDEO_TS.IFO name with the full path. However, in MC the corresponding [Filename] tag has the name VIDEO_TS.DVD;1 with the full path.

[A couple of users have reported that the "File path" item doesn't show in PVD. If it doesn't show, please check that "File Path" is selected in the PVD menu "tools\preferences\movies\visible items"?]

Q7: The PvdImport log reports "Could not find the file in MC. Exiting...", why?
A7:
Your file probably hasn't been imported into the MC database. Is it in the MC Autoimport path?

Q8: The PvdImport Plugin reports "Could not find the file in PVD", why?
A8:
Your file probably hasn't been imported in the PVD database. You should check if the file is within PVD's scan path.

Q9: I've used Application XYZ, can I use the PvdImport plugin?
A9:
PvdImport is exclusively written for interfacing to Personal Video Database. However:

There's a plugin for Ant Movie Catalog and a program for All My Movies. The most flexible and common technique is that discussed in the Movie Collector topic in the PVD forums That's using Excel (or equivalent) to prepare data exported from the other application, and then importing that into PVD. Most applications offer some means of exporting data to XLS or CSV format. Those that don't will still likely output some kind of report that can be used for the same purpose. So I think it's fair to say just about anything can be imported into PVD.

It's helpful to consider all that might be needed is identification of the movie (title and year) plus any user information associated with each movie (date acquired, viewed, rating, comments, etc). Even if it already exists in the other application, PVD can download all the other information. Doing this will ensure it's consistent and up-to-date.

Images can't be transferred via Excel. PVD can find and download posters, but this won't satisfy someone who has put a lot of effort into collecting quality posters. J ust migrated from Movie Collector, how to transfer 1000 covers?describes how posters can be imported with the help of a special utility. Note that if posters are to be maintained in the PVD database (what most users should do), then this must be done at the time of conversion, not afterwards.

Q10: I don't seem to be able to run PVD and MC (PvdImport) simultaneously. What's wrong?
A10:
Most likely, PVD isn't connected properly to the Firebird Database server. You must use the "File\Connect To Server" dialog in PVD and enter the path to your PVD database there.

After being properly connected to the server, your PVD configuration file (located in C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\Application Data\Personal Video Database\PvdConf.ini) should look approximately as follows:

Code: [Select]

[DataBase]
Network=1
FileName=..\..\Documents and Settings\[your username]\My Documents\Personal Video Database\movies.pvd
Mode=0
RecentFiles=
RecentTypes=
Warning: use notepad.exe for editing and saving this file! some editors mangle the special characters Nostra used to code some of the settings in this file!
Q11: The changes I make in PvdImport don't stick between restarts of MC. Image files aren't saved when i update, etc.What can I do?
A11:
Running MC as an Administrator might help. If someone has exact instructions on how to do this in Vista and/or Win7, please post.

[raldo]

<Intentionally left blank>

[struct]

Having trouble with new version,

When i send to pvdimport from mc (or autoimport for that matter) the plugin reports success in the log, but some of the fields are not updated.  for example, the comments field in mc is blank, but is not so in pvd. after import, nothing has changed in mc. similarly i removed the ignore tick and asked it to bring in .imdb rating, but nothing is populated and tag is not added in mc.

thanks
craig

as a minor issue, i have to stop mc to allow pvd to open the database again.  not the end of the world but a little annoying.

[raldo]

When i send to pvdimport from mc (or autoimport for that matter) the plugin reports success in the log, but some of the fields are not updated.  for example, the comments field in mc is blank, but is not so in pvd. after import, nothing has changed in mc.

I haven't used the "Comment" field in PVD yet but a quick test now shows that there is no data stored in the database under Movies.Comment, so maybe it's stored somewhere else? Maybe Rick can answer this. No more time today, so I'll have to get back to you on this later.
I just added a comment and it was imported using "Send to External\PvdImport". Maybe it's some PVD saving issue? I.e. you'll have to exit a view before the data is saved?

similarly i removed the ignore tick and asked it to bring in .imdb rating, but nothing is populated and tag is not added in mc.

Importing to ".Imdb rating" works for me.

as a minor issue, i have to stop mc to allow pvd to open the database again.  not the end of the world but a little annoying.

See the (new) FAQ answer to " I don't seem to be able to run PVD and MC (PvdImport) simultaneously. What's wrong?"

[badger]

I installed the new version and everything is working as before, except I get the following when I start the plugin:

"The MC ModDate field:  ModDate does not exist.  Please create this field and try again!"

Please advise... and thanks again for this plugin!  It works great for me...

[rick.ca]

Please create this field and try again!

ModDate stores the date/time the PVD record was last updated. This is used to determine which records have changed and require update. Add a new string field using Manage Library Fields. You can name it whatever you like, as long as the same name is entered in the configuration (where the default is "ModDate").

[davros]

Hi raldo, this is a great app.

One question, is there a way to force an update?

It appears that the PvdImport will only update things it thinks have changed in PVD, but there have been occasions where I want to force the updates as I have changed some items like an image in PVD but it's not registered as an update - hence the PvdImport leaves the field blank when i run the import.

How can I force it to re-apply all the fields? Can we have an option for this?

Dav

PS. As an additional suggestion,  I found it very confusing to run the update and see "success" in the status field but see no values shown against the fields.  this was because the program determined that no updates where needed....but it looked like the firlds it was importing were blank. Very confusing.

Can I suggest that where no update is to take place, can you perhaps still show the field value, but grey it out or somehow show that it's retrieved the value from PVD, but will not update it in MC?

[raldo]

Hi raldo, this is a great app.

Thanks.

One question, is there a way to force an update?

Yes, you can force updates in two ways, either by selecting files in the regular mc standard view and then right click "Send to\PvdImport". Or by pressing the "Mass Import" button on the plugin page.

How can I force it to re-apply all the fields? Can we have an option for this?

There already is an option for this "Only write empty fields" on the plugin page. Deselect this and all fields are overwritten.

Can I suggest that where no update is to take place, can you perhaps still show the field value, but grey it out or somehow show that it's retrieved the value from PVD, but will not update it in MC?

Usually, updates are done against many files, so graying out the fields in the plugin page wouldn't give you the info you need, I think...

[davros]

That all makes sense...thanks for the reply.

[morrison]

Thank you for your work, Raldo
I see you're continuing to develop the program, it's wonderful. I venture to refresh the info on my problem .. I continue to experience the same problems when importing info on the DVD. In the mass import log  - "not found in the database PVD". But I found solution - information on the DVD received correctly, if I use "send to pvdimport", but this is far from complete automation.. I tried all the available builds of PVD import.

[raldo]

I continue to experience the same problems when importing info on the DVD. In the mass import log  - "not found in the database PVD". But I found solution - information on the DVD received correctly, if I use "send to pvdimport", but this is far from complete automation.. I tried all the available builds of PVD import.

Could you please start a new thread and explain, step by step, what's going on? I realize that you've posted before, but there are many posts related to PvdImport so I suggest we start afresh.

Also, please enable logging ("Log" button) before you start your "procedure", and mail your log to harald.wikeroy at gmail.com . The log is found at <jriver install>\Plugins\PvdImport\Log.txt

[struct]

Hi Raldo,

Great tool.  Works a treat. Very impressed both with PVDImport and PVD.

One minor suggestion, it would be great if it could automatically assign the Media Sub Type.  Although not foolproof, I would suggest that most imports are either Movies or TV shows. If you could differentiate, it would save one additional step.

Thanks
Craig

[raldo]

Hi Raldo,

Great tool.  Works a treat. Very impressed both with PVDImport and PVD.

Thanks. Make sure you tell Nostra too!

One minor suggestion, it would be great if it could automatically assign the Media Sub Type.  Although not foolproof, I would suggest that most imports are either Movies or TV shows. If you could differentiate, it would save one additional step.

The way I have solved this "problem" is that I have made a new expression type MC library field called ".Media Sub Type".

In the expression for this field, I test for folders and apply the subtype according to the folder the file is located in. I currently have Movies, Series, and Audio book folders. This method is "foolprof", but it requires, of course, that you move some files around to achieve what you need. It works much like the "Set Content" function in XBMC!

I then use ".Media Sub Type" in my views, both standard and theater, to filter for subtypes. This works really well .

[rick.ca]

One minor suggestion, it would be great if it could automatically assign the Media Sub Type.  Although not foolproof, I would suggest that most imports are either Movies or TV shows. If you could differentiate, it would save one additional step.

Like raldo, I use expressions to do this. But I think this is an important suggestion. PVD does, of course, distinguish between series and movies (or "not-series"—single record items), there's just no standard field that indicates this. PvdImport, however, can determine the type by querying the database and set the Media Sub Type value TV Show. This, then, could be used as a reliable automatic flag for determining the series/non-series type in MC.

We've been told there will eventually be special handling for series. I think it's reasonable to assume [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show] will be used to identify series for this purpose. I imagine it will somehow automatically group episodes by season and series. Once that's implemented, users will expect the necessary information to come from PVD—without them having to fiddle with expressions. More importantly, don't think it's even possible to set Media Sub Type with an expression or by similar means. (I do thinks like this using AutoTagger).

I think this should be implemented without delay. We don't know when series handling will be added to the program (it seems overdue). But, as soon as it is, PvdImport will seem broken without this. In the meantime, it won't help those of use who have figured out a way to handle series, but would make things a lot easier for new users.

[raldo]

I think this should be implemented without delay. We don't know when series handling will be added to the program (it seems overdue). But, as soon as it is, PvdImport will seem broken

Well, My time is also limited, so for now I'm just going to clean up the GUI. Any new features are going to have to wait indefinitely.

In the meantime, maybe an SQL solution could do the trick...

[JimH]

Well, My time is also limited, so for now I'm just going to clean up the GUI.

You've given a lot of it.  Thank you!

[raldo]

You've given a lot of it.  Thank you!

No problemo.

One minor suggestion, it would be great if it could automatically assign the Media Sub Type.  Although not foolproof, I would suggest that most imports are either Movies or TV shows. If you could differentiate, it would save one additional step.

On the PvdImport plugin page, add a new McField called "Media Sub Type" then copy the following expression into the corresponding "PvdExpression" row. This tags the entry either as "Movie" or "TV Show":

Select Case When (MOVIES."epid" Is Null)
    Then
      'Movie'
    Else
      'TV Show'
    End
From
  MOVIES
Where MOVIES."mid"=@id

Anyways, what to do with my audiobooks with this solution? I think I'll stick with expressions...

[struct]

thanks raldo, will give it a go.

as soon as i invent the magic time creating wand i will wave it in your direction 

do you have your audiobooks in pvd?  hadn't thought of doing that.  what online database do you retrieve information?  does it do comics also?

craig

[darichman]

Well, My time is also limited, so for now I'm just going to clean up the GUI. Any new features are going to have to wait indefinitely.

Raldo, you've done a great job with this - I use it all the time. Between you, Rick's quick answers and Nostra's software I've saved so much time on here it's not funny!

Thanks again

~darichman

[rick.ca]

Raldo, you've done a great job with this - I use it all the time.

+1

In the meantime, maybe an SQL solution could do the trick...

That's what I had in mind. But when queries start to look like programming—which I know I'm hopeless at—my brain hurts. For example, I can't figure out why your suggestion returns 'TV Show' when true, but nothing when false (i.e., movies are not set to 'Movie'). This drives me nuts, because I imagine there are lots of cool things that could be done by including if-then-else login in the SQL queries.

Also, this tags episode records as 'TV Show', but not series records. Uh-oh, I can feel it coming. I'm going to fire-up that evil SQL utility and waste hours probing the database structure again... 

[raldo]

Thanks, guys!

do you have your audiobooks in pvd?  hadn't thought of doing that.  what online database do you retrieve information?  does it do comics also?

No audiobooks in PVD, unfortunately, but I'm sure it's  somehow possible

I'm currently using my own field (.Media Sub Type) with an expression to differentiate between various Media Sub Types:
.Media Sub Type =

If(IsEqual([Filename],Audiobook,7),Audiobook,)If(IsEqual([Filename],Spillefilm,7),Movie,)If(IsEqual([Filename],Serier,7),Tv Show,)

The .Media Sub Type the becomes either "Audiobook", "Movie", or "TV Show" depending on the path containing either "Audiobook", "Spillefilm", or "Serier" respectively.

I can then use .Media Sub Type to filter in Theater view or Standard view. Some discussion threads in the forum have recently grinded this theme quite thoroughly, and I agree that Media Sub Type should be made more flexible.

[Osho]

I am looking into using PvdImport for organizing my movies. Does it support .iso files and DVDs extracted in VIDEO_TS folder?

Thanks,
Osho

[rick.ca]

I doubt PVD can do things like extract media info and make screen shots of video in an ISO file, but there should be no problem in importing metadata. Both MC and PVD will accept ISO as a file type, and all PvdImport needs to make the link is a common filename. It will also match PVD's record of multiple IFO/VOB files in a VIDEO_TS folder to MC's unique "DVD;1" file type.

[tuvx2]

You stated in your frequently asked question (The plugin doesn't work, what do I do?), that "For DVDs, PVD stores the VIDEO_TS.IFO name with the full path. However, in MC the corresponding [Filename] tag has the name VIDEO_TS.DVD;1 with the full path."

That is happening to me... MC imported my DVDs with the filename tage containing the VIDEO_TS.DVD;1 while PVD lists VIDEO_TS.IFO". No files were found in the PVD database, see an example of the error below.

An example error msg I get in the log states: "10:53:45 PM - Processing: \\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.dvd;1 .. Could not find file in PVD. Exiting.."

In PVD, the movie File Path is listed as: "\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.IFO|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_0.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_1.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_0.IFO|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_0.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_1.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_2.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_3.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_4.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_5.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_6.VOB|\\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VTS_02_7.VOB"

Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong, or what help?

[raldo]

An example error msg I get in the log states: "10:53:45 PM - Processing: \\Bms-qx9650\Movies-1\A Bronx Tale\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.dvd;1 .. Could not find file in PVD. Exiting.."
[...]
Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong, or what help?

Hi,

I have put a new version on the server which may fix your problem. See the next last item below:

* 1.2.1
o improved: When doing an auto update, files marked as "invisible" (==0) in PVD are excluded from the test.
o improved: In Vista and Win7, Firebird has issues when connecting to local databases via filename only. Thus, the computer name is now a separate (saved:PvdComputerName) edit box item. 127.0.0.1 is the default name which works when PvdImport and Firebird reside on the same computer.
o improved: PVD database connection mechanism: Better exception handling and GUI messages
o Fixed: DVD lookup in Auto Update and Mass Import could fail in som cases. This is because of dvd ifo file naming in MC.
o Fixed: Auto import would sometimes report "ghost movies" with no name.

[tuvx2]

I have put a new version on the server which may fix your problem. See the next last item below:

Works great! Thanks.

[struct]

Hi Raldo,

I am still having great success with PVD and PVDImport, thanks.

Couple of queries....
Using PVDImport 1.2.1, MC 14.0.121, PVD 0.9.9.14, W7(32)

1. Each time I start MC there is the following in the PVDImport screen..
"There is no PVDImport Configuration file (C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 14\Plugins\Pvdimport\Pvdimportconfiguration.xml)"
then
"Generating default file"
I am guessing that this file is meant to remember settings, as each time I start it doesn't remember my database name, nor the cover art option I have chosen.  Thus I am resetting each time and this is tiresome.  Is there a sample file somewhere? Although I guess it is generating one as indicated above, it is not saved.

2. I have read the tip above, but I am still unable to simultaneously run MC and PVD.  I have used the connect to database option with PVD and it shows the file in the PVD title with "Network" suffix, so I am assuming this is ok.  PVDImport always shows an error until I shut down PVD and MC and restart MC.  Any further suggestions?

Edit: Just answered #2... when connecting to server in PVD you must prefix database file location with 127.0.0.1:

Thanks
Craig

[raldo]

"There is no PVDImport Configuration file (C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 14\Plugins\Pvdimport\Pvdimportconfiguration.xml)"
then
"Generating default file"
I am guessing that this file is meant to remember settings, as each time I start it doesn't remember my database name, nor the cover art option I have chosen.  Thus I am resetting each time and this is tiresome. 

Well, if PvdImport doesn't find the file in location C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 14\Plugins\Pvdimport\Pvdimportconfiguration.xml, it'll try and generate the file.  You're correct when you say that this file contains your settings.

Affter you've started MC and you've seen these messages, could you try and see if you find the above file? If not, I'm thinking maybe the OS doesn't allow PvdImport to create the file. Did you try running MC as an administrator?

[struct]

You were spot on.  There was no file in the plugin directory.  Ran MC as administrator and it has created the file.  Guessing I am all good now I have a file to edit, if I forget to run as administrator.

Thanks
Craig

[raldo]

You were spot on.  There was no file in the plugin directory.  Ran MC as administrator and it has created the file.  Guessing I am all good now I have a file to edit, if I forget to run as administrator.

Great!

[struct]

Hi again,

I use the SQL query you suggested above for automatically selecting whether or not a file is a movie or an episode....
Select Case When (MOVIES."epid" Is Null)
    Then
      'Movie'
    Else
      'TV Show'
    End
From
  MOVIES
Where MOVIES."mid"=@id

I though this was working but have noticed that the "Movie" is not working.  In PVDImport, the SQL result shows 'Movie' but there are always two spaces after the word movie and thus it is not updating the field. Just to test I replaced "Movie" with "Home Video' in the query and it updated fine.  TV Shows are also working fine.  It is just "Movie" that is for some inexplicable (to me anyway) reason returning with two spaces after the word movie.

Any suggestions?

Thanks once again,
Craig

[raldo]

Any suggestions?

Thanks once again,
Craig

I was able to reproduce what you describe above. There has to be some kind of bug in the Firebird SQL engine because, as you're saying,  there is a padding of two space characters on these short strings. I was able to come up with a weird looking work around: replace 'Movie' with 'Mo'||'vie'

I.e., introduce a string concatenation and the problem goes away. So the new sql expression becomes:

Select Case When (MOVIES."epid" Is Null)
    Then
       'Mo'||'vie'
    Else
       'TV Show'
    End
From
  MOVIES
Where MOVIES."mid"=@id

[struct]

thanks.  works a treat!

craig

[badger]

PVD import does not remember my settings anymore (with MC build 136).  I have to manually select my field config file and PVD database location each time.  This happens whether I run MC as administrator.. or not.  It doesn't report any errors because it loads the default config file and default PVD database.  Please advise on how I can remedy this if you can.  Thanks.

[swinster]

Hi, I have been directed here from the main forum after asking a question about auto updating tags on video files. However, i have immediatly run into a problem.

I'll I have done so far is follow the instructions above and installed the MSI, Firebird and PVD, yet I have am immediately shown these errors when I truy to start PVD:

(For reference, I'm running Vista, MC 14.0.137 and Firebird is running.
 
4:Unable to complete network request to host "My SBS Server".
Failed to establish connection.
The system cannot find the file specified.

Unsuccessful execution caused by a system error that precludes successful execution of subsequent statements
Error Code: 401
Failed to open Database
File is not a valid database.
Connection authorisation failure
Error code: 3

I'm not sure what is going on here, but the program seems to be looking for the database on my SBS server, and not the local machine. I do have instances of SQL server running on my SBS server if this sheds any light.

Cheers

Chris

[raldo]

PVD import does not remember my settings anymore (with MC build 136).  I have to manually select my field config file and PVD database location each time.  This happens whether I run MC as administrator.. or not.  It doesn't report any errors because it loads the default config file and default PVD database.  Please advise on how I can remedy this if you can.  Thanks.

Do you see any of the configuration files in the plugin folder? Are you getting any messages upon startup, similar to the ones struct reported in his most recent postings?

[raldo]

I'm not sure what is going on here, but the program seems to be looking for the database on my SBS server, and not the local machine. I do have instances of SQL server running on my SBS server if this sheds any light.

Have you entered 127.0.0.1 in the edit box before the pvd database name? Which version of PVD are you using?

[swinster]

Have you entered 127.0.0.1 in the edit box before the pvd database name? Which version of PVD are you using?

Yes. neither the "movies.pvd" file or "PVDImportFieldConfig.XML" are on the HDD.

PVD = 0.9.9.14
Firebird - 2.1.3
MC = 14.0.137

Cannot create a new DB either - same error

[rick.ca]

Yes. neither the "movies.pvd" file or "PVDImportFieldConfig.XML" are on the HDD.

You might need to slow down a bit and take a more methodical approach. You're posting questions both here and in the PVD forum, and it's difficult to follow what's going on in either. If you haven't managed to install PVD correctly, then it seems likely there is no valid database (movies.pvd). So then PVDImport is not going to find one, even if it had a configuration file. It, in turn, may not have been able to create a valid configuration file initially because there was no PVD database for it to connect to.

I suggest you uninstall PVDImport and Firebird and focus on getting PVD working. That should be very straightforward. Whether you use the installer or zip archive, it just installs the files in the installation directory—there's no registry entries of any kind being created. And while a default database is created when it's first run, you should be able to create a new database with any pathname. Having installed Firebird server, there may be a compatibility issue with Firebird embedded that remains even after Firebird has been uninstalled. The fix for this has been explained to you in the PVD forum.

Once you get PVD running, add some movies to the database and verify it's location. Then reinstall Firebird and PVDImport. You then should have no difficulty specifying the location of the database in the PVDImport configuration. Enter all the configuration information, and then ensure it's properly saved. In case there is anything to the problem badger is reporting, verify that a current configuration file has been written to the plugin directory, as raldo suggests.

[badger]

Do you see any of the configuration files in the plugin folder? Are you getting any messages upon startup, similar to the ones struct reported in his most recent postings?

Yes, I have both the pvdimportconfiguation and the pvdimportfieldconfig files in the plugin folder.  I also have a "pvdimportfieldconfig_default file.  I have saved my own importfieldconfig file and pvd database elsewhere.  This all worked until I installed MC 136.  I was last running 101.  The only error I get is the missing ModDate message.  If I manually change the settings to point to my files, all is well....except my settings are lost everytime I exit MC.

[raldo]

Yes, I have both the pvdimportconfiguation and the pvdimportfieldconfig files in the plugin folder.  I also have a "pvdimportfieldconfig_default file.  I have saved my own importfieldconfig file and pvd database elsewhere.  This all worked until I installed MC 136.  I was last running 101.  The only error I get is the missing ModDate message.  If I manually change the settings to point to my files, all is well....except my settings are lost everytime I exit MC.

The settings in the pvdimportconfiguation file are changed immediately after they're made. Could you check to see if your file is write enabled?

The pvdimportfieldconfig changes must be saved by pressing the save button.

[swinster]

You might need to slow down a bit and take a more methodical approach. You're posting questions both here and in the PVD forum, and it's difficult to follow what's going on in either. If you haven't managed to install PVD correctly, then it seems likely there is no valid database (movies.pvd). So then PVDImport is not going to find one, even if it had a configuration file. It, in turn, may not have been able to create a valid configuration file initially because there was no PVD database for it to connect to.

Apologies for this. I can post in just one location if you like, but I was figuring that that posting in both places gives more options. Indeed, you have given me some ideas that I didn't get from the PVD forum, so I do try to update both posts with the same info.

I suggest you uninstall PVDImport and Firebird and focus on getting PVD working. That should be very straightforward. Whether you use the installer or zip archive, it just installs the files in the installation directory—there's no registry entries of any kind being created. And while a default database is created when it's first run, you should be able to create a new database with any pathname. Having installed Firebird server, there may be a compatibility issue with Firebird embedded that remains even after Firebird has been uninstalled. The fix for this has been explained to you in the PVD forum.

I have uninstalled both an re-installed both. I have copied across the FB 2.1.3 embedded file in the PVD folder as instructed but still the same error. PVD seems to create a program folder and a data folder in "My Docs", but the later is empty, and I don't believe PVD will allow me to create a DB anywhere, but will check

[swinster]

Ah ha. Is is possible that PVD doesn't like UDF file names? My "My Docs" folder is re-directed to a server share and referenced via a UDF path name. If I actually try to create a new DB on a local HDD, then finally I can get PDV to work.

I don't believe its a permissions thing. The PVD data folder in "My Docs" was created by the PVD installation, and permissions are inherited, so full access is granted.

[rick.ca]

Is is possible that PVD doesn't like UDF file names?

I don't know. It seems unlikely Firebird would. I suggest you create a database, and copy it to wherever you want it on the server share. Then install Firebird, start PVD and Connect to the database at the new location. (Copy the database, rather than move it, because PVD attempt to open the MRU file when started.) If that works, then install PvdImport and point it to the new location as well.

[rick.ca]

Moved here from PVD forums—

I'm obviously doing something stupid.

I'm learning how to use the PVD plug-inwith j River Media Centre. I"ve installed PVD on my desktop (Widnows 7 Professional) and the PVDPlugin in MC.

Using PVD on a desktop I've created some .pvd files importing info from IMDB. But when I go to the PvdImport under MC's Services and Plug-ins, it opens ok but when I use the PVD DB button and select one of the .pvd files I've created, the plug-in won't read the file. The log at the bottom of the page reads:

Time: Failed to open database! Exception: Unable to complete network request to host "127.0.0.1"
Time: Cover art folder () doesn't exist. field cleared...
Time: You need to set a proper cover art folder The Folder doesn't exist
Time: The MC ModDate field: ModDate does not exist. Please create this field and try again!
Time: Plugin installed OK.

I've tried to go back over this data to make changes to the original .pvd file but can't find anything that makes sense to me (newb?). An the plug-in fields are all greyed-out so I can't make changes there. All in all, a bit puzzled.

I'm obviously doing something wrong. From what I've provided, you able to assist?

It's been a while since I've installed PvdImport, but the greyed-out field behaviour is intended to force you to provide the critical data—like a valid PVD database. If you've put the database on a server, you'll have to provide the correct address. If that's not the problem, and you're being prevented from entering the necessary information, then a solution would be to close MC and edit the configuration file (C:\Program Files (x86)\J River\Media Center 14\Plugins\PvdImport\PvdImportConfiguration.xml) directly.

[swinster]

I actually tried this and it didn't work. I can neither open the database file on the share or connect to a reote server. I assume you conect using an ip address or the udf convention (i.e. either 127.0.0.1 or \\myserver)

As a mater of interest, I can't connect even to the local machine using the conventions above. And yes, the firewall is off.

[rick.ca]

When using PVD locally the database must be on the same PC, if it is not you need to have a firebird server on the remote PC.

[badger]

The settings in the pvdimportconfiguation file are changed immediately after they're made. Could you check to see if your file is write enabled?

The pvdimportfieldconfig changes must be saved by pressing the save button.

I am saving the pvdimportfieldconfig, but changes to the pvdimportconfiguration aren't sticking.  I notice that if I make changes... and exit MC, when I go to program files\jriver\media center 14\plugins\pdvinport\pvdimportconfiguation.xml... the modify date is not changed.  Maybe I have another pvdimportconfiguration file out there somewhere being updated?

my pvdimportconfiguration.xml file is not write protected, or hidden.