Editing Media Portal Database

[petermcc]

Just thought you would like to know that you can edit the media portal database. Why you ask? What about when you compress your dvr-ms to avi with a third party tool and want to attach it back into media portal, or if you move a file around, and it comes into media portal with no date and time as to the recording. You can update that, as well as the names of the recordings.

The program is called SQLLite-Analyzer, and it is shareware.

http://www.topshareware.com/SQLite-A...load-36030.htm

I cannot quite remember where I downloaded it from, because I have version 3.0.4 build 21.

Anyway what you do is install the program, go to the file menu and click on 'new database registration'. Then you navigate to your media portal database folder (backup the database first!!!!) select the file 'TVDatabaseV21.db3' (you have to select files *.* to see that file because the extension is not db) then it will appear on the left. Select the database and expand it out so you can see the table names. Select the 'recorded' table. On the right you can update any of the entries in that database table, one per recording that MP has done. You can update the times (funny format there, but it is not hard to work out), the names, or the file names and paths.

Remember to tab out of a field after you have edited it, because it updates the database when you leave the field you are editing.

Hope that works for you all. Backup you database just in case you get in trouble, but it is all pretty easy to work out, and helps a lot with tidying things up.

[petermcc]

Actually what I reckon though is that someone can write a simple plugin that can do this stuff, update times on recordings, update file names, update recording names.

Much cleaner that would be. Is something like that around now, I have not seen it?

[Callifo]

Can also use SQLiteBrowser.

editing the database directly is really dangerous IMO, nevertheless I once was obliged to do it and the original SQLlite command-line client http://www.sqlite.org/download.html saved me.

Maybe you could try to embed your call to your third party tool along with this client (and some SQL) within some kind of Windows batch file or WSH script. Quick and dirty but may be effective to help automatizing your process.

[Noelix]

Wow I just tried that SQL Analyzer program and I am still clueless! I tried 'executing' a change wherein I changed the filepath of a recorded tv program from a .mpg extension to a .avi extension and it didn't take (i.e. it didnt do it). SQL Analyzer is useful for looking at how things are arranged in the databases but that command line SQLite program is really how we want to do it, in other words so we can set up an automated process.