Migrated from Sagetv to MP 1.2RC - a few questions (1 Viewer)

[tsitalon1]

God I wish it were that easy...

see below screen shots

Notice that the first video file was renamed from .mpg to .ts

 

[mm1352000]

Hmmm

I fiddled round with this when I got home, and it turns out that you don't need the files to be in a specific format... but you do need a metadata xml file for each recording. An example is attached. The name of the xml file must match the name of the of the recording exactly (apart from the extension).

To be completely honest I have never used the "prevent duplicates..." function as my EPG data doesn't contain episode info, but I was a little surprised that it is this specific. If you're keen then I think I could help you out with this - if you can explain the recording naming format and tell me the file types that you want included then I could write a Perl script that creates the xml metadata files for each of your recordings. Interested?

mm

[Edit: I presume your EPG data contains the program names like "Two and a Half Men" rather than "TwoandaHalfMen". TV Server's duplicate episode logic would require the recording metadata to match the EPG data, so there would need to be a way to recover "Two and a Half Men" from "TwoandaHalfMen" built into the filename for this to be worthwhile.]

 

[tsitalon1]

MM,

That is incredibly generous of you to offer that. Whether I have duplicates or not, the wife is absolutely going to want these recordings listed in MP to be able to access them, so I need to find a way to get them in.

I guess I could put all of them in "video's" but if we could get them into "recordings" and prevent the duplictaes at the same time that would be wonderful.

I use schedulesdirect for EPG data, and the shows are listed as "Two and a Half Men" in the EPG itself. They also list the original air date, but I do not think we need that.

My file types are .mpg, .avi, and .ts

I do find it odd the way MP handles this, I cannot be the only person migrating from another HTPC software solution, you would think this functionality could be ported in.

I really appreciate your help!!

I should be able to follow your steps without much issue as I do work in IT myself, though I am no where near a coder/developer

 

[mm1352000]

Whether I have duplicates or not, the wife is absolutely going to want these recordings listed in MP to be able to access them, so I need to find a way to get them in.

I guess I could put all of them in "video's" but if we could get them into "recordings" and prevent the duplictaes at the same time that would be wonderful.

For the moment I'd advise you to simply add them to the video section (we can always add them to the recordings section later). All that you need for that is to:
1. Open MediaPortal configuration.
2. Expand the "videos" node.
3. Select "video folders".
4. Add your recording folders there.

I use schedulesdirect for EPG data, and the shows are listed as "Two and a Half Men" in the EPG itself...

Okay. Do you know how we can recover the spaces in the names then? Although it is obvious to us with this example, I'm going to need a way to figure it out in my script code, else we can't detect duplicates for those programs/episodes.
Also:
- what are the numbers on the ends of the file name?
- is there any other metadata available from Sage that I can use?

My file types are .mpg, .avi, and .ts

Cool, I can deal with that.

I do find it odd the way MP handles this, I cannot be the only person migrating from another HTPC software solution, you would think this functionality could be ported in.

This is only an issue for recordings, which are given special treatment. Sage's way of removing spaces seems equally weird to me because the info may not easily be recoverable. Importing into videos is a piece of cake. From there you can also get metadata using IMDB etc.

mm

 

[tsitalon1]

For the moment I'd advise you to simply add them to the video section (we can always add them to the recordings section later). All that you need for that is to:
1. Open MediaPortal configuration.
2. Expand the "videos" node.
3. Select "video folders".
4. Add your recording folders there.

Ok, no problem, I can do that.

Okay. Do you know how we can recover the spaces in the names then? Although it is obvious to us with this example, I'm going to need a way to figure it out in my script code, else we can't detect duplicates for those programs/episodes.
Also:
- what are the numbers on the ends of the file name?
- is there any other metadata available from Sage that I can use?

I really don't know what we could use as a delimeter, ever show is unique so it's not like we can count character spaces. I'm lost on this one, unless I manually add spaces to each file. I don't think I want to do that.

This is only an issue for recordings, which are given special treatment. Sage's way of removing spaces seems equally weird to me because the info may not easily be recoverable. Importing into videos is a piece of cake. From there you can also get metadata using IMDB etc.

mm

I do have the Sagetv database file, if that would help. The problem is that it's not a standard database file. Sagetv uses a propriortary databse file named wiz.bin. I can provide it if you want to take a crack at it.

 

[mm1352000]

I really don't know what we could use as a delimeter, ever show is unique so it's not like we can count character spaces. I'm lost on this one, unless I manually add spaces to each file. I don't think I want to do that.

It isn't even worth considering doing it manually for hundreds or thousands of files.

I do have the Sagetv database file, if that would help. The problem is that it's not a standard database file. Sagetv uses a propriortary databse file named wiz.bin.

Well proprietary is not so nice.
I take it they don't have some kind of export function for backup purposes?

I can provide it if you want to take a crack at it.

Can't hurt.

mm

 

[tsitalon1]

Not sure if there is a export function. There isn't one built in, they may have been plugin that I wasn't aware of, but I don't have access to the system annymorere, just have the Acronis backup image.

Here is the wiz.bin file if your interested"

https://sites.google.com/site/tsitalon1/Home/file-access/Wiz.zip?attredirects=0&d=1


If it's to hard, don't worry about it, it may be more hassle than it's worth.

 

[Spragleknas]

Way over my head here, but I'd just like to point out that my XML's are a lot simpler:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<tags>
  <tag>
    <SimpleTag>
      <name>TITLE</name>
      <value>Backyardigans</value>
    </SimpleTag>
    <SimpleTag>
      <name>COMMENT</name>
      <value>
      </value>
    </SimpleTag>
    <SimpleTag>
      <name>GENRE</name>
      <value>-</value>
    </SimpleTag>
    <SimpleTag>
      <name>CHANNEL_NAME</name>
      <value>TV2</value>
    </SimpleTag>
  </tag>
</tags>

Might save som coding hours.

 

[uggabugga]

There isn't one built in, they may have been plugin that I wasn't aware of, but I don't have access to the system annymorere, just have the Acronis backup image.

Just wanted to point out that you could easily convert your Acronis image to a VMware machine by using VMware vCenter Converter, which is free. Then you at least would have access to your old system to test and so forth. I use it all the time.
Good luck

 

[mm1352000]

Hi again tsitalon1

I'll take a look at the file but it looks like there is no data format specification - just access through an API for plugins. That would make it practically impossible. A quick google did turn up -->this<--, however it is quite old now so I'm not sure if it would work (and you don't have access to the live system anymore).

I'll let you know how I get on with the bin.
mm