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Message: <blockquote data-quote="bounguine" data-source="post: 310981" data-attributes="member: 16098">OK.What I meant here is changing the whole scheme of adding videos into DB.Now it’s done something like this:scanning for files > looking info for each one in the online DB > if info found correctly, artist, track and picture are added to the DB, if not, no record’s made in the DB.My proposal was different (it’s more like scanning files in MyMusic and many music progs or movie catalogues):putting mask(s) for scanning > scanning folders and files > adding artist, album, track records into the DB by retrieving info from the name of each folder/file found  > if Folder.(picture extension) found, adding it as an artist’s picture, if (name of the folder/file).(picture extension) found, adding it as an album’s/song’s thumb.This way we’ll have:- ALL videos from HDD registered in the DB (if, of course, a user put all the extensions before scanning),- a user is not dependant on the online DB (he’ll have artists, which are not in the online DB),- artists from the registered videos would have correct names (remember my example of “double” artists, like “La Phaze & Mouss & Hakim”, which I had to change to “La Phaze”, only because the online DB didn’t have any variant).Of course, after scanning there wouldn’t be any info (except pictures found on HDD).To attach bios, tags and pictures a user might do this:1) simply watch a video and scanning would be made in the background (!!! info is added only if there’s no multiple choice after seeking the online DB, if there’s, the artist gets no info),2) open dbManager window and press “get info for all artists from online DB” or the same button for a particular artist – here a user would manipulate multiple choices if this occurs (!!! but the name of the artist registered in DB after scanning files shouldn’t be changed, as this operation is used only for getting an info and a picture, which was not found in Folder.(picture extension) or (name of the folder/file).(picture extension)).I didn’t have much time to think it over, so let’s think together.STEP 1 – putting a mask for scanning folders or files and retrieving names from them.Definitely, the four main parameters for filtering music are:- artists – for getting songs or albums,- genre – for getting songs or albums- albums – for getting albums of a particular artist/genre or all artists/genres and playing them once,- songs - for getting songs of a particular artist/genre or all artists/genres and playing them once or making a playlist.Copied DVDs (with the full DVD structure) in most cases deal with artists and albums.Files (like *.avi, etc) deal with artists, songs or albums (if it’s a DVDRip).Here’s the first problem – albums are to be played once in most cases, songs – once or in a playlist.That’s why a user should keep full movies and songs separately not to be messed up when scanning is done.The plugin in the skin should have at least two filters:1) Filter by (artist, genre, year),2) Filter by (all, only songs, only albums).So, the four main operators used in mask are (like in mp3 tags): %ar (artist), %g (genre), %al (album), %t (track)If there’s no “%” in the mask, “t” should be treated as a letter “t” but not as a song.And some more optional operators can be also used: %ix (number of the track), %y (year) and %ig (ignore a part of a file name).If someone defines a mask, %ar and %al (or %t) are obligatory.Names, which can be used as artists, albums, songs or genres, are most likely to be:- (for DVDs) in the folder name (or in the name of the folder(s) of upper level(s)), example:\Classical\Bach\Concierto Italien (or Bach - Concierto Italien)\VIDEO_TS,(folder name for the genre)\(folder name for the artist)\(folder name for the album – in the second case the operator “%ig” may be applied to exclude “Bach – “)or\Bach - Concierto Italien)\VIDEO_TS(folder name for the artist and the album).- (for files) in the file name and the folder name (or the name of the folder(s) of upper level(s)), example.:\Manu Chao\ Manu Chao - Tempo Latino 2006\ Manu Chao - Tempo Latino 2006.avi(folder name for the artist)\(folder name for the artist and the album – both can be excluded)\(file name for the artist and the album)or\Manu Chao\Me Ilaman Calle.avi(folder name for the artist)\(file name for the song).Here comes the second and the third problems:- DVDs has name info in most cases in folder names, files – in file names and optionally in folder names,- folders used for retrieving names may be of one or even of different levels in hierarchy depending on the user’s folders structure.So, when pointing out root folders for scanning a user should:- point out a complex mask for each root folder (each root folder should have a complex mask of its own),- distinguish between “songs” and “albums” for each root folder,- apply two masks inside one complex mask per each root folder – one for full-structured DVDs, the second – for files,- be able to add as many folders used for retrieving data both for DVDs’ mask and files’ mask (by default – “file name” and “folder name”, others to be added manually).Here’s the example – I have three root folders for scanning:1) C:\Opera\(artist name)\(artist name) – (album name)\(artist name) – (album name).* only for files – genre is in the upper folder, only albums, both DVDs and files,2) C:\Concerts & movies\(artist name)\(album name)\(album name).* only for files – no genre defined, only albums, both DVDs and files,3) C:\Clips\(artist name)\(song).* - no genre defined, only songs, only files.This might be my three complex masks:1) 1st root folder“albums” – checked,Mask for DVDs:“file name” – left blank,“folder name” – a) %ar - %al, b) %ig - %al,“folder name +1” – a) left blank, b) %ar,“folder name +2” - %gMask for files:“file name” – a) %ar - %al, b) %ig - %al, c) left blank,“folder name” – a) left blank, b) %ar - %ig or left blank  c) %ar - %al or %ig - %al,“folder name +1” – a) left blank, b) left blank or %ar - %ig, c) left blank or %ar - %ig,“folder name +2” - %g2) 2nd root folder“albums” – checked,Mask for DVDs:“file name” – left blank,“folder name” – %al,“folder name +1” – %ar,Mask for files:“file name” – a)  %al, b) left blank,“folder name” – a) left blank, b) %al,“folder name +1” – a) %ar3) 3rd root folder“songs” – checked,Mask for DVDs:“file name” – left blank,“folder name” – left blank,Mask for files:“file name” – %t,“folder name” – %ar,It’s very useful to have a button for testing predefined masks (for example, to test on the first folder found with a DVD or with a file).STEP 2 – scanning root foldersAfter the masks are predefined the plugin starts scanning folders, retrieves names and writes them into DB.If in the folder of the lowest level Folder.(picture extension) is found, it stands for the artist’s picture in the DB (the artist's operator is in the mask).As there may be several folders of one artist (eg. several concerts of one artist), the first Folder.(picture extension) found is considered to be the artist's thumb.If (name of the folder/file).(picture extension) found, it’s used for the album’s/song’s picture (album's and song's operators are in the mask).STEP 3 – retrieving data from the online DBa) When watching a video.The plugin goes to the online DB and tries to get info.If it’s a case of multiple choice or the artist is not found, no data is retrieved.If the artist is recognized:- (only if pictures where not added during scanning) artist’s thumb is downloaded from the online DB and album’s/song’s thumb is retrieved from the file,- bio is added - it’d be great, if a user could predefine: “add only if the field is blank” (default), ”add before old bio” (new article is added above the old one, something like “* * *” is used as a line between articles) or “substitute old bio”,- tags (genres) are added – again with a feature like: “add only if the field is blank” (default), “add more tags” (adding new tags after the ones defined in the DB) or “don’t add tags”.b) In dbManager window (a user presses “get info for all artists from online DB” or the same button for a particular artist).If a user in the window of a multiple choice is asked to choose an artist from a list or to put a new name, it’s used only for getting info from the online DB for the record in the local DB, which is not recognized (no data is changed in the local DB, all names stay the same as they were after scanning).The whole further procedure is the same is described in (a).STEP 4 – editing infoA user can edit all fields:- change artist’s name,- change song’s or album’s name,- change file’s location (“Filename”) through browsing to the actual file’s location,- change bio,- delete thumbs and add new ones through online DB or through uploading picture locally,- change other fields,- delete the whole record,- add a new record manually.STEP 5 – filtering data in MPTo treat albums and songs correctly the plugin in the skin should have at least two filters:1) Filter by (artist (default), genre, year),2) Filter by (all (default), only songs, only albums).This way it’d be easier to filter out songs for making a playlist.</blockquote>

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