Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[DLewington]

G

[Matt]

Welcome.

You can build the categories in a view around an expression.

For the name / series thing you mention, an expression might look like:
If(IsEmpty([Series]), [Name], [Series])

But this actually exists already as a function (it does basically the same as the code above but is faster):
TVInfo(SeriesDisplay)

[Matt]

I think you're in the right place, adding an expression category to a view.

When I add:
If(IsEmpty([Series]), [Name], [Series])

I get a nice list of names and series.

You might switch the view to Panes, at least for the purposes of customizing because it'll make it a little easier to see.

You might also try some simple examples like [Name] or [Filename] just to see that it's doing what you expect.

Also, TVInfo(SeriesDisplay) will work for any media type.

Good luck

[DLewington]

!

[Matt]

A quick follow up question.
1) I never would have guessed that this would work for all media types, why isnt it specific to TV shows as the name implies?

Series is most often used for television, so that's how the function was named.

But that was only a naming choice, not a functionality limitation.

2) It displays a series name, and if there is none available it defaults to the name field apparently.Does this apply to other functions?

Each function defines its own behavior.

There's pretty good documentation here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Media_Center_expression_language

[DLewington]

c

[MrC]

When Matt adds new functions for essentially internal use, they are often made available in MC.  In this case, I believe the function was needed to more easily output the correct value for TV Series (e.g. use Name, unless Series) rather than use the longer and slower If() expression language equivalent.

So you can think of the function as For Matt's Use, but you can use it too.

Since these functions are essentially blackbox to us users, the documentation often lags in terms of clarity and accuracy.  I've updated the SeriesDisplay description a bit.