MediaPortal eats my brackets (1 Viewer)

[CyberSimian]

Recently I have been tidying up the TV recordings that I keep in a folder tree in the "Videos" section of MP, and I noticed something strange with regard to file names. The file name format that I use for recordings is:

"Title (Channel) Date Time"
Example: "Stargate Atlantis (Pick) 2017-07-12 11.00.00"

For movies, I later add the year that the movie was made, to distinguish remakes from originals; the year is enclosed in square brackets:

"Title [year] (Channel) Date Time"
Example: "Atlantic Rim [2013] (Horror Channel) 2017-07-20 11.00.00"

For episodes of TV series, I later add the series and episode numbers; these are also enclosed in square brackets:

Title [ss-ee] (Channel) Date Time"
Example: "Stargate Atlantis [05-17] (Pick) 2017-07-12 11.00.00"

Now the puzzling part: to demonstrate the oddity, I copied one movie and one episode of a series into a folder in "Videos". This is the output from the Windows DIR command for that folder:



Notice that all files have the square brackets present in the name. But this is what that folder looks like in the "Videos" section of MP 1.16 using the "DefaultWideHD" skin:



Notice that the file name of the movie includes the square brackets, but the file name of the episode omits the square brackets and the data between them. Where have they gone?

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[joecrow]

Exact same for me. Win 10x64 and MP 1.17 final.

 

[mm1352000]

Which view - shares or database?

 

[joecrow]

Which view - shares or database?

For me "shares", I don't see an option to view by database.

 

[mm1352000]

The reason seems to be that the pattern "[" + <1 or 2 digits> + "-" + <1 or 2 digits> + "]" is a marker for "stacking" (ie. multi-disc/part files).
The first digit(s) are the part number; the second digit(s) are the total number of parts.

Choose a different pattern!

 

[CyberSimian]

I remembered last night that the "Delete" dialogue displays the file name, so I have just booted my MP 1.16f partition and repeated the actions described above. Strangely, the file name shown in the "Delete" dialogue does include the square brackets:

Which view - shares or database?

It is "shares view". I don't actually know what you mean by "database view".

By the way, it is about time that "shares view" was renamed "folders view". I really doubt that non-techie users know what "shares view" means. ("Shares? Aren't they something to do with the Stock Exchange?")

I also had a look at the MP log file (I run with DEBUG mode active all of the time). There is not a single line in the log file containing the word "Stargate" (so probably not of much help, but I can attach it if required).

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[mm1352000]

I don't see an option to view by database.

It is "shares view". I don't actually know what you mean by "database view".

Database Views - MediaPortal 1 - MediaPortal Wiki
Shares View - MediaPortal 1 - MediaPortal Wiki

By the way, it is about time that "shares view" was renamed "folders view". I really doubt that non-techie users know what "shares view" means. ("Shares? Aren't they something to do with the Stock Exchange?")

Don't know how you can be giving this kind of advice if you don't know what the difference between share and database views are.

Nevertheless, in my opinion this'll never happen. It's been a core element of MP for years. Changing it now would require a huge effort for [IMHO] relatively little gain.


Please read my previous reply. Use a different naming pattern; the one you're using is reserved for stacking.

 

[mm1352000]

Actually, one more piece of info...

Apparently it's possible to flatten stacking:
Videos - MediaPortal 1 - MediaPortal Wiki

6. Flatten
Toggles the Unstack/Stack feature.

Always pays to read the wiki!

 

[CyberSimian]

The reason seems to be that the pattern "[" + <1 or 2 digits> + "-" + <1 or 2 digits> + "]" is a marker for "stacking" (ie. multi-disc/part files).

Something that I have never explored (so far)! Thank you for explaining this.

Choose a different pattern!

I have already tried using braces in place of square brackets ("{05-17}" in place of "[05-17]"), and they display as expected. But I prefer square brackets to braces, so I think that I will use the dot as the separator ("[05.17]"), as that also displays correctly.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[catavolt]

it is about time that "shares view" was renamed "folders view"

This is just a matter of language file
In German language file, we already have "Ordner-Ansicht" (= folder view) - should be easy to change in respective language files