Clean library entries in specific path

I am a sickbeard user, and whenever I get a show downloaded, sickbeard tells xbmc to scan for new content in the current highlighted path. This is much faster than updating the entire xbmc library.

What I think should be added is a similar counterpart for cleaning the library. Instead of searching your entire library and cleaning entries, one should be able to clean only a certain area. For instance, a single TV show.

Here's an example: I get an episode of a show downloaded in HD TV (720p). Sickbeard tells xbmc to update the library for that show. Later that day, the WebDL version of that show is downloaded. The HDTV version is deleted and replaced with the WebDL version. Sickbeard tells xbmc to again update the library for that show. The library now has two duplicate entries. Only one of which actually still exists.

The only solution to this right now is to manually activate cleaning of the entire library. With large libraries like mine, this can take quite some time. If there was a way to clean only a single desired area, then something could be triggered by other programs (like sickbeard), that would clean that area quickly after an updated version of that episode gets added.

the advanced setting "Clean on Update" works for this

here is the code:
advancedsettings.xml your Userdata folder (the working folder not the install directory)

isamu.dragon Wrote:the advanced setting "Clean on Update" works for this

here is the code:
advancedsettings.xml your Userdata folder (the working folder not the install directory)

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <videolibrary>
    <cleanonupdate>true</cleanonupdate>
  </videolibrary>
</advancedsettings>

So I guess what I'm asking then, is that this be added as an option that can be set via the GUI. Also, does what you posted clean the entire library, or just the folder that's being scanned for new content? I don't want it to clean my whole library. Thanks.

ghostelement Wrote:So I guess what I'm asking then, is that this be added as an option that can be set via the GUI. Also, does what you posted clean the entire library, or just the folder that's being scanned for new content? I don't want it to clean my whole library. Thanks.

The setting has been said to been too dangerous for new users to be added to the GUI.

If you select scan "Family Guy" (Like sickbeard does) it will only clean the directory that is updated.

My experience at least.

Why would that setting be too dangerous to have in the UI? There's already a Clean Library option. This would just be another setting below that, and would say something like "Clean library on item update".

ghostelement Wrote:Why would that setting be too dangerous to have in the UI? There's already a Clean Library option. This would just be another setting below that, and would say something like "Clean library on item update".

Because new users would turn it on without knowing if its run when the source isn't available it cleans all those items from their library

>>X<< Wrote:Because new users would turn it on without knowing if its run when the source isn't available it cleans all those items from their library

So then couldn't we put in some sort of tool-tip kind of thing for a bit of explanation? This could also be explained in the Wiki.

ghostelement Wrote:So then couldn't we put in some sort of tool-tip kind of thing for a bit of explanation? This could also be explained in the Wiki.

Most users don't even bother to read the wiki. This forum is full of example questions that are very easy to find however they rather ask some one else to find the answer for them.

I'm sorry to say both in general people are just ignorant and they have to be protected from their selfs.

(2011-10-26 21:03)ghostelement Wrote:  

isamu.dragon Wrote:the advanced setting "Clean on Update" works for this

here is the code:
advancedsettings.xml your Userdata folder (the working folder not the install directory)

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <videolibrary>
    <cleanonupdate>true</cleanonupdate>
  </videolibrary>
</advancedsettings>

So I guess what I'm asking then, is that this be added as an option that can be set via the GUI. Also, does what you posted clean the entire library, or just the folder that's being scanned for new content? I don't want it to clean my whole library. Thanks.

Apparently, adding this option to the advancedsettings.xml causes the entire library to be cleaned, which shouldn't be the case (IMO). I tested it myself, and it definitely cleans missing content from other shows in other directories (but thankfully doesn't touch the movie library).

I have a rather large library (~6TB) on a NAS, and whenever I want to scan new content for a TV show, I go to the show (in XBMC), pull up the context menu (it's mapped to a button on my remote), and choose "Scan for new content". This scans only the single show (as expected), and saves me tons of time for not having to scan the entire library. Even if I'm updating 10 different shows, it's still much faster to individually scan for new content instead of updating the entire library.

Unfortunately, that means that if I want to use the <cleanonupdate> setting, my entire library gets cleaned for each show I want to update. Cleaning the TV library takes slightly more than three minutes over my gigabit connection. I propose that there should be an option in the context menu to "Clean TV show" (or something similar) since there exists an option to update a single TV show. This would save time for anyone who has ever made massive changes to a TV show (like changing all the episodes from SD to HD), which is the situation I'm currently in. I've been in this situation many times before (and will be again) and have always thought it would be a good feature.

Other pros: when using "Clean TV show" you don't have to worry about accidentally removing the entire library if your network share is unavailable; at worst you end up removing one show. Also, it makes the <cleanonupdate> XML setting more relevant (if modified to actually clean just the one show), as right now it's redundant since the 'Clean Library' action is already available through Settings.

Sorry for reviving an old thread, but the topic "Clean library entries in specific path" seemed too relevant to pass up.

At one point with a large collection of media, the system clean-up becomes indispensable,
but having multiple drives means there might be the possibility of cleaning the library, with
risk of an entire source library; if the drive is not in the circuit. Would it be possible to have
local cleanup available from just the source or content menu? Or perhaps a request to
delete option for safety? Seems like a logical utility from the users point of view, and I'm
just wondering if the road blocks are too large?