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Author Topic: TheTVDB Lookup - possible improvements  (Read 3271 times)

RoderickGI

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TheTVDB Lookup - possible improvements
« on: December 17, 2015, 08:39:26 pm »

First, thanks for adding this functionality. As I said elsewhere, it is a great start. It is already being used to sway new users to the TV functionality.

Helping someone today I used the new functionality with a manual lookup, and found it wanting a bit.

The example recording was an exception that MC isn't ever going to handle well, because of the way the program is presented in EPG data, and the different way TheTVDB handles it.

The program is Arthur, and it seems to be composed of two part episodes, as shown on its Wiki. So in the case I looked at, the EPG had one record for the two parts, and MC recorded the show and named the file;
"Arthur - Francine's Cleats of Strength; Little Miss Meanie 2015-12-15.ts"

This is on MC21.0.27 I believe, so no lookup by Series and Episode name. I tried doing a manual lookup but found no match. Not surprising, as TheTVDB records each part as an episode, rather than each pair of parts. The Arthur Wiki identifies the shows as Season 19, Episode 8 Part one and Part two. TheTVDB records these two parts as S19E15 and S19E16.

So, all of the above is background information, and justification for a request.

When I tried to do a manual lookup for this recording, I found that I couldn't edit the episode name in the search criteria, as I could edit the Series name and Season and Episode numbers in previous functionality. I did foresee this as a problem;
Although I assume that the new functionality will be exposed if I manually run "Get Movie and TV Info..." ? So I could edit the search criteria and have it search for the correct Series and Episode name, just as I can currently edit the Series name and Season and Episode numbers in a manual lookup? I guess I should just wait and see how you have done it.  :D
but I'm not trying to rub it in. Honest.  ;D

Anyway in trying to look up the above example program in MC, I had to actually edit the Episode name tag down from "Francine's Cleats of Strength; Little Miss Meanie" to just "Francine's Cleats of Strength", and make sure the Season and Episode tags were empty (okay, I only needed to empty the episode number tag), then with the Series name of "Arthur" MC would look up TheTVDB and find the episode.

But I was somewhat confused by the contents of the Search field, which was "Arthur S0E0". That had me worrying that other examples may get confused with S00 Specials on TheTVDB. I could delete the "S0E0" from the Search box, and the lookup would still work, but why the need to have the "S0E0" suffix in the first place? If I put "2005" into the Season tag, then the search box showed "Arthur S2005E0". I guess the SxEy is just the standard functionality to add the Season and Episode numbers to the search, but using "0" instead of a blank confused me.

What I wanted to see was the ability to edit the Episode name in the search without editing the underlying Episode name tag. Going back to the original file name;
"Arthur - Francine's Cleats of Strength; Little Miss Meanie 2015-12-15.ts"
MC would have imported that with a Series name of "Arthur" and an Episode name as "Francine's Cleats of Strength; Little Miss Meanie". I would like to see the search show both of those, and allow edit of either.

Maybe that could be done in the one search box, or maybe the Episode name should be in its own box, or maybe there should be three boxes;
Series Name
Episode Name
Season and Episode numbers, structured as SxxEyy.

A user, realising this was a two part show, could then edit the Episode name search down to "Francine's Cleats of Strength" and get a match, which would mean only every second episode was recorded in the MC database, but I suspect that would be fine for most users. Particularly if the Episode name in MC still showed "Francine's Cleats of Strength; Little Miss Meanie", although that would be overwritten when TheTVDB match was saved, wouldn't it. Maybe we need some check boxes in that dialogue in addition to the "Use image" ;
"Use Series name"
"Use Episode name"
"Use Season & Episode numbers"

I have been, and still am, working through lots of TheTVDB lookup issues with Steve Bickell of EPG Collector, and I think JRiver is going to need to go through a similar process of improving the lookup matching process, so there will likely be more requests. In order to analyse issues though, I would need visibility of the EPG (which I have in XMLTV format), the Guide data in MC (which I am using custom views for in MC), and logs of the lookup and import process. The last one is not really available to me. If it is in the current logs, it would be hard to follow. EPG Collector has extensive logs and optional log settings to target issues.

So the next request is likely to be independent TV logging, that would include EPG import (including XMLTV file translation), lookups to TheTVDB, and selection of programs for recording against the rules established in MC. We are slowly working our way through issues such as making human readable Channel Numbers and Names visible in custom views in MC, but the logging aspect, which I use extensively in EPG Collector, is still lacking.

Sorry to be such a demanding user. All in the best interests of a better product. Thank you for continuing to build a better product.
Logged
What specific version of MC you are running:MC27.0.27 @ Oct 27, 2020 and updating regularly Jim!                        MC Release Notes: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes
What OS(s) and Version you are running:     Windows 10 Pro 64bit Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.572).
The JRMark score of the PC with an issue:    JRMark (version 26.0.52 64 bit): 3419
Important relevant info about your environment:     
  Using the HTPC as a MC Server & a Workstation as a MC Client plus some DLNA clients.
  Running JRiver for Android, JRemote2, Gizmo, & MO 4Media on a Sony Xperia XZ Premium Android 9.
  Playing video out to a Sony 65" TV connected via HDMI, playing digital audio out via motherboard sound card, PCIe TV tuner

RoderickGI

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Re: TheTVDB Lookup - possible improvements
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2015, 11:17:25 pm »

Here are another couple of requests around the new "Get Movie & TV Info..." functionality.

Background:
I am using a custom Guide (EPG) data view to check EPG data from EPG Collector. Just a rough "Show everything" view for now. See attached image.

Request: Make it possible to use "Get Movie & TV Info..." against [Media Type] "TV"
As I have been checking EPG data, it occurred to me that it would be great if I could do a quick "Get Movie & TV Info..." on a program to see what is found using just the Series and Episode names. But I found that if I tried I got an error message which read in part "Only videos are supported".

So I changed the [Media Type] to Video, and then "Get Movie & TV Info..." worked just fine. I'm assuming that this doesn't break anything, so;
Could we have MC allowed to look up TheTVDB for [Media Type] = "TV".


Request: Could we allow data gathered via "Get Movie & TV Info..." against [Media Type] = "TV" records to be saved to the Guide data?
That was a trick request. It already works. That means that someone who wants better data for a particular series can do an update to the Guide data before a program is recorded, and hence the improved data will be used for file naming and so on. This is good.

Of course a custom view will be required, as the standard views of Guide data in Standard View don't allow running "Get Movie & TV Info..." .

Again, I am assuming that this doesn't break anything. I haven't done it enough yet to know, or to see if it persists past a new Guide data load. I suspect changes will persist, as long as the Guide data isn't cleared from MC?

This software is just so flexible. It's great!
Logged
What specific version of MC you are running:MC27.0.27 @ Oct 27, 2020 and updating regularly Jim!                        MC Release Notes: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Release_Notes
What OS(s) and Version you are running:     Windows 10 Pro 64bit Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.572).
The JRMark score of the PC with an issue:    JRMark (version 26.0.52 64 bit): 3419
Important relevant info about your environment:     
  Using the HTPC as a MC Server & a Workstation as a MC Client plus some DLNA clients.
  Running JRiver for Android, JRemote2, Gizmo, & MO 4Media on a Sony Xperia XZ Premium Android 9.
  Playing video out to a Sony 65" TV connected via HDMI, playing digital audio out via motherboard sound card, PCIe TV tuner
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