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[CountryBumkin]

Is there a way to allow a user to view two properties for each episode (TV show) displayed in Thether View? In addtion to the episoide Name, I would like to see either the "episode Series/Number" or a "check mark" for when the episode has been watched.

[nwboater]

'Watched' is something we are really missing. We've imported a bunch of movies and TV series from SageTV. In Sage there is a box alongside each listing that shows if it's been watched. Now we have a long list and sure can't remember what we have seen. So we keep opening a video and after awhile one of us will say "We've already seen that". Sure adds to the frustration factor!

In our case we would like a 'Watched' for all Videos; TV shows, TV movies, DVD & BlueRay rips.

Thanks for considering this.

Rod

[MrHaugen]

Watched/Not watched indicators should be added to context in option. It's possible today, but not at all intuitive. And the Numbers should be replaced by icons, and they should be alligned differently than other context. Watched/Not watched indicators and the correct number is also needed on summary for TV Shows, just to mention a couple of things.

[JustinChase]

Watched/Not watched indicators should be added to context in option. It's possible today, but not at all intuitive. And the Numbers should be replaced by icons, and they should be alligned differently than other context. Watched/Not watched indicators and the correct number is also needed on summary for TV Shows, just to mention a couple of things.

maybe a 3 or 4 pixel high bar across the bottom of the cover/thumbnail with a progress indicator showing where the bookmark is.  I could tell at just a glance how far into a show I am, without being obtrusive

[BartMan01]

1) The ability to do Cover Art > Get From Internet on television programs and browse and select artwork from TheTVDB

Where is this option hidden?  I don't see it anywhere.

[rick.ca]

Where is this option hidden?  I don't see it anywhere.

The command does not appear (on the Tools or context menus) unless a file with [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show] is selected.

[maid]

I have used Categories and sub categories for my Movies and TV like MN (movies New) Mw (movies watched). this works quite well.

With the tv series I have been downloading the cover art and descriptions.I also used to have to name all the series.

Does the new way mean that I can get the artwork inside MC and the series does this mean I can get rid of my rules??

[BartMan01]

The command does not appear (on the Tools or context menus) unless a file with [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show] is selected.

Understood, and my TV shows are tagged that way.  Still don't see that option anywhere in the main GUI or in Theater View.

[rick.ca]

Still don't see that option anywhere in the main GUI or in Theater View.

Do you not see it at Tools > Cover Art > Get From Internet or on the context menu—for files with [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show]? Generally, you will not find such commands in Theatre View.

[BartMan01]

Do you not see it at Tools > Cover Art > Get From Internet or on the context menu—for files with [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show]? Generally, you will not find such commands in Theater View.

Didn't realize that function got cover art for the series instead of the episode.  Is there no way to set cover art for the specific episode now?  Anyway to see the cover art for the series in the main GUI (apart from doing a search cover art) or do you have to switch back and forth between Theater view and regular view to find the series that need cover art changes?

----------
Edit - totally counter-intuitive at least for me.
Get Cover Art > From Internet - sets the cover art for the series.
Paste from clipboard - sets cover art for the actual program.

Doesn't appear to be a way to set series cover art to anything other than what the internet search finds, and it can't find images for all of my shows.

[rick.ca]

Doesn't appear to be a way to set series cover art to anything other than what the internet search finds, and it can't find images for all of my shows.

All of my video covers are automatically imported from Personal Video Database, so I may not understand how this works. But I see there's a Series sub-folder under the Cover Art folder (the location of which you set in Options). I'm sure if you place any image named with a series there, it will be used. As for episode images, I don't expect to see those until a meta data retrieval system is implemented.

[maid]

Will get covert  from the internet be changed to go in the folder where I nominated.

I get all my info in the office and work through the network so putting the cover on my office machine is a no go.

[BartMan01]

Is there a way to allow a user to view two properties for each episode (TV show) displayed in Thether View? In addtion to the episoide Name, I would like to see either the "episode Series/Number" or a "check mark" for when the episode has been watched.

I really don't like the way it currently works, but you can build a custom file caption.  What I don't like is the lack of any building tools - it all has to be done as a text entry and it can get very complex very fast. This is my current one (very much a work in progress), but it displays different data for Audio vs TV Show vs Music Video vs everything else.  The TV Show logic currently puts a bullet point in front of unwatched episodes.

If(isequal([Media Type],Audio,1),[Track #] [Name] - [Artist],If(isequal([Media Sub Type],TV Show,1),If(isequal([Number Plays],1,3),•,)[Episode] [Name] [Date],If(isequal([Media Sub Type],Music Video,1),[Artist]: [Name],[Name] /([Year]/))))

[rick.ca]

I really don't like the way it currently works, but you can build a custom file caption.  What I don't like is the lack of any building tools - it all has to be done as a text entry and it can get very complex very fast.

I wonder what you mean by "building tools." it's difficult to imagine anything that would handle the capabilities of the Expression Language.

I find it helpful (and usually essential) to use Expression Columns in Standard View to build and test captions. I use separate columns to test bits of code (e.g., getting the syntax of an unfamiliar function correct) and copy those to another containing the entire expression (e.g., where there might be complex if-then logic).

[maid]

Try using Cover Art > Get From Internet on your television.

As I said this works great but it puts the cover art in the wrong place.

[BartMan01]

I wonder what you mean by "building tools." it's difficult to imagine anything that would handle the capabilities of the Expression Language.

I find it helpful (and usually essential) to use Expression Columns in Standard View to build and test captions. I use separate columns to test bits of code (e.g., getting the syntax of an unfamiliar function correct) and copy those to another containing the entire expression (e.g., where there might be complex if-then logic).

I would like to see a beefed up expression builder similar to the set rules for file display builder.  Even just having the expressions builder there would be better than the existing plain text, figure it out elsewhere box that exists currently.

[rick.ca]

I would like to see a beefed up expression builder similar to the set rules for file display builder.

That was the first thing I couldn't imagine working.

I suppose something similar to the function helpers in Excel (where, having selected a function, you're shown the parameters required) would help a little—although the tooltips work fairly well.

Even just having the expressions builder there would be better than the existing plain text, figure it out elsewhere box that exists currently.

But that's what drove me to use Expressions Columns—where I can use the full expression editor and see the results. I'd still do that for all but the simplest changes, even if there were an expression editor in the Options dialog. In any case, I agree. It's a place where expressions are entered, so the editor should be there.

[BartMan01]

That was the first thing I couldn't imagine working.

I suppose something similar to the function helpers in Excel (where, having selected a function, you're shown the parameters required) would help a little—although the tooltips work fairly well.

But that's what drove me to use Expressions Columns—where I can use the full expression editor and see the results. I'd still do that for all but the simplest changes, even if there were an expression editor in the Options dialog. In any case, I agree. It's a place where expressions are entered, so the editor should be there.

At a minimum what I would like to see here would be:
The current expression editor functionality, expanded to either work with tool tips or that drops in parameters along with the function.  For example right now if you choose 'If(...)' it just drops in 'If()'.  It would be 'nicer' (for me anyway)  if it dropped in 'If(Test Expression,True,False)' instead.  Tool tips would be better but may be harder to do.

The problem I have here is that is such an overloaded expression trying to get it to display different things for different types of content.  What I would REALLY like to see would be separate entries for the default caption as well as entries for each media type and sub type.  The entry at the lowest level would win.

[rick.ca]

The problem I have here is that is such an overloaded expression trying to get it to display different things for different types of content.  What I would REALLY like to see would be separate entries for the default caption as well as entries for each media type and sub type.  The entry at the lowest level would win.

I agree there should be a caption for each [Media Type], and maybe a special one for [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show]. If it goes beyond that, it starts to get complicated for other reasons. That's sufficient for general rules. Then special situations should be dealt with by overriding those rules at the view level. The setting at the view level might even show the applicable default rule based on the view's Rules for file display, and then allow that expression to be edited if the override is engaged. In other words, in the view configuration, you would check a "Override default caption" box and an expression editor would appear—loaded with the applicable default caption.

[BartMan01]

I like the idea of an override at the view level, but TV Shows are not the only 'special case'.  In videos alone I have podcasts, movies, TV shows, and music videos - all of which (for me) would need completely different file captions.  If I come in from a top level view that has a 'sub type' break out, I would still want the different types to have different captions.  The current overload with 'if/then' gets very confusing very fast.

[rick.ca]

...but TV Shows are not the only 'special case'.

I'm not suggesting it is. What I am suggesting is attempting to provide for 'special cases' is just going to make it unnecessarily complicated. I'm further suggesting [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show] is 'special' in the sense it's captions are unique, and it's used by many/most users. If I'm wrong, and the same is true of podcasts and music videos and other things, then forget it—restrict it to unique [Media Types].

If the case can be made for a more sophisticated system—and this is a huge leap from the single inert little input box we have now—I suppose it should be a flexible tree-like hierarchy of rules. Something like...

• Default
  
  • Audio
    
    • [Genre]=[Classical]
    • [Media sub Type]=[Audiobook]
  • Image
  • Video
    
    • [Media Sub Type]=[Music Video]
    • [Media Sub Type]=[Podcast]
    • [Media Sub Type]=[TV Show]

...with a caption expression associated with each. If a rule is applicable, it's children are checked. If none of those rules are applicable, the parent caption is used. Otherwise, the caption of the first matching rule is used.

This help a little in dealing with a complex set of possibilities. But it also quickly reduces to matter of specifying a caption for a subset of media that's only shown in one view anyway. Where that's the case, it would be more straightforward to specify the caption at the view level. This is particularly true considering the design of the caption and that of the view often go hand-in-hand. So what's more practical is striking a balance between specifying default captions by media type, and then overriding those at the view level. That still provides the choice of using simple general captions and frequently overriding them at the view level, or using more complex general captions which rarely need to be overridden.

This also make it easier to specify captions that only vary when necessary, and are otherwise consistent—even for different media types presented in different views. Consistent captions become familiar, and therefore generally easier to understand. This is important for the kind of Theatre View configuration this issue is applicable to—the one with many views handling a variety of media types. So, another strike against the more sophisticated configuration system. Why create something that will only make it easier to produce an undesirable result?

[BartMan01]

That is kind of what I had in mind.  Have a 'default' and then have optional sub-options (didn't think about your Genre example, but it is a perfect one for audio) for Type and Sub-Type (or genre for audio).

In your example diagram, if Video > Music Video were not completed, it would use the setting for 'Video' and if that were not completed, it would use default.  That way users that did not need or want the extra functionality would not need to fill them out.  There could even be delivered defaults that made sense for that type of content.

[rick.ca]

That way users that did not need or want the extra functionality would not need to fill them out.  There could even be delivered defaults that made sense for that type of content.

Yes, but the same thing can be done in the manner I suggest—that is, limiting it to the [Media Type] level. The stock configuration could include expressions that will handle common situations and serve as examples of how to deal with more complex situations. In any case, the third level of the illustration is easily replicated using nested If() functions in the parent expression. For example...

Code: [Select]

If(IsEqual([Genre], Classical), {Classical caption},
If(IsEqual([Media Sub Type], Audiobook), {Audiobook caption},
{Default Audio caption}))

Using the Expression Language directly in this manner also has the advantage of not failing when anything more complicated than a simple test of field values is called for.

Okay, I've talked myself into it...

The single global caption setting should simply be replaced with one for each media type. Each view should have the option of an override caption that applies only to that view. All of these caption settings should be supported by the full expression editor. And to add a touch of cool, include a button for View your caption as an Expression Column in your main {Media Type} view...

[JustinChase]

The single global caption setting should simply be replaced with one for each media type. Each view should have the option of an override caption that applies only to that view

I would like to see this happen also

[MrHaugen]

The single global caption setting should simply be replaced with one for each media type. Each view should have the option of an override caption that applies only to that view. All of these caption settings should be supported by the full expression editor. And to add a touch of cool, include a button for View your caption as an Expression Column in your main {Media Type} view...

That would have been something. This would help a lot. I have an extremely long caption code today, which is only for some video and music. It's really complicated. At least for me. Lot's and lot's of nested IF's. I can understand other users falling asleep before they get close to my results. And even those results is pretty simple in some of the power users eyes. Seperating this and getting some more options would help in bringing some more flexibility in theater View and Standard view.