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Messages - rick.ca

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1
Support / Re: Loans Manager
« on: July 12, 2013, 02:50:19 pm »
Maximum loan period cannot be changed. But now that I think of it, the loan period doesn't really 'do' anything anyway. It just appears in the loan manager history list, which doesn't provide any means for selecting items due or overdue or on cloud storage about to expire.

If it's a matter of using free space offered by XYZ Cloud Storage for 3 years (e.g., a trial period), then loan the movies stored there to the borrower 'XYZ exp 2016-07'. You'll be able to make a list of those at any time with a simple search.

I've never heard of such a thing, but if it's free storage for a specific file for a fixed term, it would be better to record and track the expiry date in a custom field.

2
Support / Re: Loans Manager
« on: July 12, 2013, 06:31:36 am »
Just curious...What 'something else' requires a longer loan period?

3
Support / Re: How to get movies that aren't checked in check box?
« on: May 03, 2013, 03:52:19 am »
Yes they are set. Why?

Because if you have a filter set that hides the results you're expecting from a search, it can be confusing. What's actually more curious about this scenario is why you have a need for an [In Collection] flag in the first place. If 'in collection' means you have media, then that is determined by the existence of a [File Path]—and there's a filter for that. So what, exactly, does 'in collection' mean to you?

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So, I filtered series, than tried to apply "Not in collection (0, or IS NULL)" advanced search.

Trying to filter episodes in this manner is bound to be confusing, if not problematic. First of all, I believe you would have to have Preferences>Filter episodes set to get any results at all. Even then, that doesn't mean episodes are are treated exactly the same as movies in a search. They're still members of a series record, and the search applies to that record as well. So to get 'not in collection' episodes, the series would have to be 'not in collection' as well. That doesn't describe any circumstance that makes sense to me. But...

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I'm trying to filter episodes not in collection, that are imported by mistake (imdb plugin option "Download epsiodes" was unintentionally turned on).

...it's not at all clear to me why this is even an issue. If there any episodes 'in collection' (and surely there must be—why else would the series be in the database?), then you have to 'download episodes'. Doing so is the only practical way to create the records for whatever episodes are in the database. If you're not interested in some of the seasons (e.g., only the last 3 seasons of a long-running series are of interest), then just delete them. (I set them to 'seen' and forget about them). If the problem is you've accidentally imported data for seasons for which you just want a simple list of episodes, delete such seasons and re-import the series to get the unpopulated list back.

4
Feature Suggestions / Re: Hotkeys
« on: May 03, 2013, 03:05:11 am »
As is his way, nostra foresaw you excellent suggestion and implemented it—years ago. See Preferences>Appearance>Hotkeys. That doesn't include one setting for enabling/disabling all hotkeys, but I've never seen such a thing in any software.

5
Support / Re: How to get movies that aren't checked in check box?
« on: May 02, 2013, 01:27:15 am »
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Unfortunately, as I said, nethier of those work: blank, 0 (zero), or IS NULL...

IS NULL works fine for me. Are you sure you're using Advanced Search correctly? Are any Filters set?

6
Scripts and Templates / Re: AllMovie.com_new movie script
« on: May 02, 2013, 01:21:15 am »
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I agree with you, it sounds logic to import data for the unique records found, though...


...it would be too easy? ???

7
Scripts and Templates / Re: AllMovie.com_new movie script
« on: May 01, 2013, 11:58:11 pm »
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Rick, can you clarify the scenario, please. I'm all ears (In case I wasn't the clear one, I don't have any allmovie record so far, so nothing will happen with silent mode on).

Even if a script is getting just the URL, it's going to download at least the main page. To get all the information, it will have to download a few more pages (what you see as 'tabs' on the main page). But that will only add a few seconds for each movie.

It's been a long time for me, but I thought these scripts did a reasonable job of returning unique movies (based on a given [Title] and [Year]) when run in silent mode. To the extent that's not true and you're having to run the script manually (to choose the correct movie), why defer getting all the information when it only takes a few seconds more?

8
Scripts and Templates / Re: AllMovie.com_new movie script
« on: May 01, 2013, 02:18:51 pm »
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I'd have to spend as less as possible time first to get urls for each single entry.

You're not likely to save more time than what you're asking Ivek to spend. Run run the script overnight and see what you've got in the morning.

9
Changelogs / Re: 1.0.2.5 Release Candidate
« on: May 01, 2013, 01:50:28 am »
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Well, it is not really a bug.

Right. Just a fatal flaw. ;D

Just musing...I wonder how many issues would be resolved if the program indexed and used URLs from a designated primary source (the obvious choice for most users being the IMDb). The first step in any process of adding records would be to get the correct URL/key. Records not represented at the source could be assigned an internal key included in the same index.

10
Changelogs / Re: 1.0.2.5 Release Candidate
« on: April 30, 2013, 07:50:29 am »
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I don't know if it's bug...

It is. See IMDb Movie Connections.

11
Support / IMDb Movie Connections
« on: April 30, 2013, 07:48:23 am »
There is some problem with the IMDb plugin (0.9.8.18) or the program (1.0.2.5) when Movie Connections is selected in the plugin configuration. The page is downloaded okay, but the update takes a very long time and often hangs the program. If "Followed by" only is selected, the problem does not occur.

12
Feature Suggestions / Re: Generating log files after import/update
« on: April 30, 2013, 07:38:58 am »
But I'll sum it up in a simple sentence: A simple additional messages in a log file: "Movie "Neprijatelj" not found! on xxx.com" and "Movie "Neprijatelj" not found! on xxx.com because of socket error/no internet connection/no such host", would be more of a help and it'd effectively replace steps 2-7 (prior to step 3, replaces step 1).

If what you mean is error messages the program displays (if Silent Mode is off) don't appear in the log, it may be because the plugin (which is creating the log) knows nothing about the error—it simply stops working and has nothing to report. In any case, as I've explained before, the recommended process is to ensure all the movies have valid URLs first. This eliminates search failures from the process. There's nothing the program can do about an Internet or server problem. If those sorts of things are happening, you'll get error messages when not using Silent Mode and/or it will be evident from the log some such problem is occurring. The most common solutions are to wait for the issue to fix itself, or to wait until nostra fixes the plugin.

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Because my "Bookmark" command is not available for other purposes...

Had you asked again, I would have explained you can use custom fields for any number of flag-like purpose—as you have deduced. I don't know what you're using Bookmarks for now, but the fact it seems to be permanent suggests the purpose might be better served with a custom field. Bookmarks are most useful for using on-the-fly for temporary purposes (like flagging files for further processing). There are assigned shortcuts and toolbar buttons for adding and clearing them, which are really needed for that sort of use.

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Btw, I found this piece of code in Ivek's script. Don't know if it's in the matter...

Sorry, I don't understand what you're getting at.

13
Scripts and Templates / Re: AllMovie.com_new movie script
« on: April 30, 2013, 07:00:48 am »
I haven't tested thoroughly, but for the one movie I tried...The old version only got the first paragraph of the review. Maybe is failed because there was a photo in the second paragraph. The new version got the whole review.

BTW, neither version found the movie until I added the URL manually.

14
Feature Suggestions / Re: Generating log files after import/update
« on: April 29, 2013, 08:13:40 am »
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Or, just tel me about how you processed your "Top 250" movie list.

That would be easier...
  • Identify and bookmark currently ranked movies.
  • Use the editor to remove the rankings.
  • Update the rankings using Ivek's script.
  • Identify those with no rankings and remove their bookmarks (i.e., assume they're no longer on the list).
  • Sort the remaining movies by rank and review the sequence...
  • For those missing from the sequence, look up the movie on the Top 250 chart.
  • If necessary, add such movies to the database and update the rank.
This sounds tedious, but if done regularly there won't be many movies missing from the sequence, and most of those are at the end of the list. If the script fails to update a few, you're going to find them anyway. If the script fails to update many, then something's wrong with the script or the internet connection. The existing log may help identify the cause, but no log is going to provide a practical solution for updating the rankings. I've never found the need, but the current rankings are easily backed-up by exporting an Excel or CSV file. If getting the rankings for the first time and your database is missing many of the movies in the list, it would make more sense to parse the list into [Title], [URL] and [Rank] and import that. Doing so will update existing movies with the rank, and add any movies not currently in the database. This, of course, can be an alternate method used on an ongoing basis. Parsing the list takes some time, but the import does effectively replace steps 3 to 7.

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I have to be assured that every PVD entry is properly processed.

I don't think you do. You can't be absolutely assured the data at the source is 100% correct, so there's no basis for wishing your database will be. The log is never going to provide field level changes (i.e., "[field] changed from XXX to YYY"). If it did, the information would be too overwhelming to be of much use. It may tell you something is wrong, but nothing more about the cause than you can already deduce from reviewing the results. The database itself is a more useful tool determining whether data is missing or makes sense. The existing log will normally provide clues about systemic problems. And you're probably going to prefer those be fixed rather than use a log to determine what's missing or incorrect.

I'm not even sure what you expect from the log you're imagining. There's very little chance data is going to get into a log and not be updated to the database. If a plugin or script fails to get data, the log is going to tell you there is none. A plugin doesn't know what's in the database. It only can get what it's designed or configured to get from the source. It can't tell you what it didn't find or whether what it did find is something new.

15
Feature Suggestions / Re: Generating log files after import/update
« on: April 28, 2013, 05:33:41 pm »
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How to get to know which movies weren't updated the first time...

If necessary to separate the 100 from others not yet updated, bookmark them. After updating, sort or group by a field that would have data (e.g., [Genre]) if it had been updated. Or do an Advanced Search for [Genre] IS NULL.

16
Scripts and Templates / Re: Previewing movie URLs in skin
« on: April 28, 2013, 04:19:10 pm »
So, it means it's impossible to do such thing with predefined "url" field?

That's right. A hyperlink can only be created in a multiselect list or memo field. If you could turn the URLs in [URL] into hyperlinks, the plugins and scripts that rely on them wouldn't work.

17
Feature Suggestions / Re: Generating log files after import
« on: April 28, 2013, 03:50:55 pm »
To update a batch of new (i.e., not yet imported) movies, run the plugin in Silent Mode. Then turn Silent Mode off, and run the plugin again on the movies that were not updated the first time. This time, there will be a prompt to answer for each movie (usually to choose from search results) with little waiting in between. If you believe a log will be helpful, run the program with the -debug switch and display the log using the command on the Help menu.

18
Talk / Re: Forum board feature suggestion
« on: April 26, 2013, 10:17:10 pm »
You're forgetting Nostradamus' powers. He doesn't need to track you—he already knows where you're going. ;)

19
Feature Suggestions / Re: List and Info Panel Splits
« on: April 26, 2013, 12:08:20 pm »
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I'd move couple of these posts to a Feature suggestions board...

Done. As you can see, I've moved the whole topic here. As I see it, the feature request is a rather significant change to the UI, rather than a group of related changes. I do hope, however, it's the sort of thing where the implementation effort doesn't outweigh the benefits. It does seem to be something that effectively leverages the current design, rather than requiring something radically different.

I'm assuming that once the ability to split the List and Panel (along with the rather special ability to display a different list or record in the second split) is added to the UI, all that's left are the logical behaviours for things users would expect to happen automatically. There would be differences of opinion as to what those should be, but surely such things are easily implemented and changed. Maybe there would be options for some alternative behaviours. Just to be clear about what I mean by 'behaviours'...
  • When a link is selected in one panel, the target record (movie or person) is shown in the other.

  • When the movie list is split, the movie selected in the top list will be shown in the top split. When a movie is selected in the bottom list, it will be shown in the bottom split. If no movie is selected, the bottom split will remain unchanged.

  • When a person is shown in a panel, the corresponding (top or bottom) list would change to people.

  • Dragging a splitter to the top or bottom would not only remove a split, but clear it as well. In other words, if a split list or panel were showing a different list or record, removing the split would clear that second list or record, and making a new split would again result in two views of the same list or record. For the sake of speed, clearing a split might also be done by something like double-clicking on the splitter.

It's not difficult imagining this thing being so flexible as to eliminate the need for a separate People View. I'm NOT suggesting that, as I fear it would make the change far too complicated. (And the result might be too complicated for some users to understand.) I see nothing wrong or confusing about providing the ability to select and view people records in Movie View. People View would be retained as is for updating or viewing people records in isolation. Why not splits for People View as well? It would be redundant—most of the same things could be accomplished with the splits in Movie View.

This would take a little getting used to, but would be a very flexible way to display a variety of different information in different ways. It goes well with the main idea behind the new toolbar—providing the means to quickly assemble whatever tools are necessary for the job at hand. This would allow us to quickly select whatever presentation of information is best suited to whatever we're doing at the time. Even better, split settings could be saved with tabs. Imagine just clicking tabs to get your favourite toolbar layout, view settings and splits. 8)

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