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Author Topic: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable  (Read 548 times)

TheShoe

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How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« on: August 17, 2023, 10:17:54 am »

I modified this field to allow data to override the expression.

For some reason, this field is left blank for many of my video files - typically for disk backups.  I've tried "Analyze Video" but that doesn't produce any results.

Is there a way to make this field editable?  I use it for various purposes...



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lepa

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2023, 10:32:06 am »

If by editable you mean that MC will recalculate it you could try Right Click >> Library Tools >> Update library from tags

Beware that for matroska files MC will clear rating field with this!
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TheShoe

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2023, 10:35:59 am »

The field is an expression (calculated) by default.  I'd like to override that calculated value when needed.

Not sure why it won't populate in some cases and perhaps that's the better question - most full disc backups will calculate dimensions, e.g. 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160

A more than significant handful will not.
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BryanC

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2023, 10:51:05 am »

Just create a new library field with [Dimensions] as the default value and allow it to be overridden by the user.
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lepa

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2023, 11:20:32 am »

You can set override on in the manage library fields section. Earlier before Analyze Video days it was quite common that MC didn't manage to get dimensions from whole disc copies but today I think it has been quite robust to parse it.
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TheShoe

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2023, 12:30:33 pm »

You can set override on in the manage library fields section. Earlier before Analyze Video days it was quite common that MC didn't manage to get dimensions from whole disc copies but today I think it has been quite robust to parse it.

Checking that box does not allow me in this case to override the expression.  Maybe a bug?

I can create a new field, as an expression that essentially makes it equal to [Dimensions].  For those cases, I can indeed override the expression.  Perhaps that is a feature only for custom fields vs. stock fields...  It's a workaround

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blgentry

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2023, 12:56:51 pm »

Checking that box does not allow me in this case to override the expression.  Maybe a bug?

I can create a new field, as an expression that essentially makes it equal to [Dimensions].  For those cases, I can indeed override the expression.  Perhaps that is a feature only for custom fields vs. stock fields...  It's a workaround

The normal approach for something like this is to use 3 fields:

[Dimensions]
[Dimensions Manual]
[Dimensions (auto)]

[Dimensions (auto)] would have an expression with a value similar to:
Code: [Select]
FirstNotEmpty([Dimensions Manual], [Dimensions])
That way if you have something in Dimensions Manual, it will take that value.  Otherwise it would take what is in [Dimensions].  SO you can use [Dimensions (auto)] for any purpose you used to use [Dimensions] for, and you have the ability to Manually override it by using the other field.

I hope this helps.
Brian.
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lepa

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2023, 01:11:08 pm »

Perhaps that is a feature only for custom fields vs. stock fields...
Probably so. I was surprised that it could be activated in the GUI as I was expecting that it cannot be enabled for stock fields. As it didn't indeed work I think it should be greyed in the UI for stock fields.
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TheShoe

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2023, 04:46:46 pm »

The normal approach for something like this is to use 3 fields:

[Dimensions]
[Dimensions Manual]
[Dimensions (auto)]

[Dimensions (auto)] would have an expression with a value similar to:
Code: [Select]
FirstNotEmpty([Dimensions Manual], [Dimensions])
That way if you have something in Dimensions Manual, it will take that value.  Otherwise it would take what is in [Dimensions].  SO you can use [Dimensions (auto)] for any purpose you used to use [Dimensions] for, and you have the ability to Manually override it by using the other field.

I hope this helps.
Brian.

Perfect.  Thanks!
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Matt

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #9 on: August 18, 2023, 12:16:53 pm »

I made some tweaks to the enabling and disabling of library manager fields because of this thread.  Thanks for the help.
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center

TheShoe

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Re: How to make a stock field "Dimensions" editable
« Reply #10 on: August 20, 2023, 08:35:43 am »

I made some tweaks to the enabling and disabling of library manager fields because of this thread.  Thanks for the help.

yup - tested, works.  thanks!

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