Strange behavior of the database (1 Viewer)

[timtim]

Hi, I am testing the new version of this plugin. The old version, I think it was 3.1, worked very well, but with version 4 I've got some problems. I have more recordings on a dvd-r, so in my ant-database I've got more films with the same number, so the plugin can tell me which disk I should insert. The new plugin can't handle this, it shows sometimes wrong images to the films (before or after selecting a title) and sometimes I select a title and then another title appears.
Are there some settings I can change to stop this strange behaviour? In the configuration I just filled out the "Config Infos" without "Ant Item..." and "Ant Identification Item", my title order is first the translated title and then the original title. I don't know what the other forms mean, they are not filled out, or just with "none".
Anyway, this is a great plugin and I would use my backup with the old plugin, but then I can't use newer SVN. But maybe someone can help me solving this prob.

Tim

 

[HappyTalk]

You shouldn't have films with the same number. Though Ant allows it (but does warn you against it) it is now being used as a unique key to index into the database. For multiple films on DVDR you should be setting the Media Label value to the same for all those on the same disk.

Previously MyFilms indexed based on the name but this is not really a practical way to index into a database as it could have many problems itself as indexing based on names that may not be unique could lead to many other issues. New features required this shift. You will find most databases rely on a unique key to index into records. The fact that Ant allows duplicates in the number field is a bad feature and can cause problems in Ant itself when you do so.

So I would use a script to copy the Number field to the Media-Label field in Ant and ensure the number field is unique. Then set MyFilms config to use the Media-Label field for the disk prompt dialog.

 

[timtim]

thanks, that helped me. I will reorganise my database, I think I will do this manually, because I don't know if there's a script and I can't write a script on my own. But I think it doesn't last so long ;-)

 

[HappyTalk]

In a mad fit of generosity today I coded the 2 functions you need in my Tools script. You can get it here http://forum.antp.be/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=22701#22701 .There's 2 files ensure both are saved in the ANT scripts subfolder (cut and paste to notepad then save using the names above each code block)

First make a backup copy of your ANT database. Now select all your records, go into scripts window and
1) Run UpdateTools script and use the 'Append Fields' function to copy from the 'Number' field to the 'Media Label' field.
2) Run UpdateTools again and use the 'Renumber Records' function to renumber all your records sequentially.

I've tested it all out and it will rearrange your database in no time. If you've already gone through the pain of doing it manually alas I am too late....

cheers