[icnivad]

As a long term user i'm happy XBMC is now available on (almost) any platform.
So i can watch music and video's on all my devices anywhere.

This is a good thing.

The watched status leaves something to be desired. It (probably for UPNP players) is now placed in the database. so i have to import and export the xml for every apparatus with XBMC and for everything i watched.
This is a tedious matter..

Sharing the same database for all devices (if possible) would be a security issue when i'm not at home.

I do not use UPNP, too many av formats are not supported and there is no room for subtitles.

An option to store watched data with the movie as i do with my subtitles would be very nice.

[Ned Scott]

I'm not sure where you are getting some of your info. UPnP supports all formats that XBMC can playback, and it supports subtitles. UPnP is not something that is tied to any specific format, codec, file container, etc. However, it cannot be used outside of the local network, so it still wouldn't be of much use to you.

Watched status has always been stored in the database.

There's several add-ons that allow syncing of watched status over those services' websites. I'd suggest looking at those: Syncing and sharing (wiki)


EDIT: meant to say local network, rather than local library.

[icnivad]

Yep,
but the video support for (espacially) brand devices is crappy, as are external subs.
this is the reason why i use XBMC!

Ill have a look at the sync options you mentioned later, as this could save me time.

[icnivad]

Checked them all;

most promising was the script, wich does not run... due to dependancy faillures.

external services are tv based, wich is useless in europe.

shared database not really an option for my smartphone...

Watched status in the database seems to me to be a design flaw, (the filesystem is usually the best database)
So there is no working fix exept deleting everything i watched.

[Martijn]

Watched status in the database seems to me to be a design flaw, (the filesystem is usually the best database)
So there is no working fix exept deleting everything i watched.

that is you opinion. personally i disagree and so will a lot of others and some simply won't care.

[da-anda]

how do you store the watched flag on a readonly filesystem? (like when you watched some video from an addon) Also, how would you know of watched flags for offlline media, like DVD/Bluray or when your NAS is in sleep mode while you're browsing your library?

[jjd-uk]

You could try doing an library export on a device when you've watched something, then do an update on your other connected devices, as I think watched status is exported to nfo files which will be placed along side your media when choosing export to separate files. However sharing database information via UPnP or MySQL would be far preferable to this.

[Powerhouse]

This seems to be such an easy thing to do (considering all the things XMBC can do), yet for some reason XBMC doesn't have this ability (at least not in the sense of something easy). I've looked into Trakt.tv and didn't want to send my info to some third party website, so what I eventually used was the script listed here...

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1401643

It creates a XML file (which I do for each device), which I can then import to my main HTPC, and then export this mega XML to all the devices. I usually do this once a month, as it does take some time.

I also use the media Manager MediaElch (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=136333), which has a checkbox for Watched or Unwatched, and it puts a flag in the NFO file, but XBMC doesn't seem to read this from the local NFO files.

I was hoping with Gotham to use the UPnP feature (and I have tried it, it works great), but Skin's don't really support this features abilities yet (the ability to use the main menu items to bring up Movies and TV shows, widgets that can pull in the UPnP info, etc). But I have put in requests to have UPnP added to my two favorite skins (ACE 2 and AEON MQ6) so fingers crossed.

[Memphiz]

See

http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=advancedsettings.xml

look for "importwatchedstate" - if mediaelch exports it right - xbmc can import the watched state from nfo ...

[Powerhouse]

I am so trying this out when I get home, thanks for the info Memphiz...

[Powerhouse]

Ok, so I added <importwatchedstate>true</importwatchedstate> under the <videolibrary> section to my advancedsettings.xml file, and restarted XBMC. File was copied to C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\XBMC\userdata.

In MediaElch, I changed a movie (in this case 2001: a space odyssey) that wasn't flagged in XBMC as being watched (and the NFO had <watched>false</watched>), and I clicked Watched in MediaElch, and saved. The NFO for 2001: a space odyssey now has <watched>true</watched>.

1. I then did an Update Library in XBMC, no change to the Watched status in XBMC (still listed as unwatched).
2. I then did a Clean Library, followed by an Update Library in XBMC, still no change to the Watched status.
3. I then clicked 'i' on my remote, and then clicked Reload, and clicked 'No' to refresh from the internet (so it used locally stored information), this also did not change the Watched status in XBMC.

Now for TV shows, there is no Watched button in MediaElch, but there is <playcount>0</playcount> and <lastplayed></lastplayed> that shows up under each NFO for each episode in a season, but I am not sure if this is the same function as Watched status for Movies or not.

In case you are wondering, I am running XBMC Gotham 13.1, on Windows 7 x64, with AMD 6800 graphics card, and 8gigs of ram, 128gig SSD boot drive.

[nickr]

Use MySQL and save yourself all this pain.

[Memphiz]

@Powerhouse ... should be something like

Code:

<playcount>1</playcount>

XBMC doesn't know/evaluate a flag named "watched".

[Powerhouse]

Thanks again Memphiz, I will test this out and report back.

As for using MySQL, as much as I've read about implementing it, I've also read the XBMC Developers are moving away from that model and going with UPnP, so I would prefer to follow their lead.

Besides, my testing could fix the MediaElch Media manager software, making it work better with XBMC, and in the process making XBMC easier to use and maintain, so more of a Win\Win, than just throwing in the towel and using something else.

[Powerhouse]

Well, that didn't work either, as it turns out, the NFO already had the playcount set to 1. Here is first half of the nfo file...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<movie>
<title>2001: A Space Odyssey</title>
<originaltitle>2001: A Space Odyssey</originaltitle>
<rating>7</rating>
<votes>569</votes>
<top250>110</top250>
<year>1968</year>
<plot>Mankind finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, artifact buried on the moon and, with the intelligent computer HAL, sets off on a quest.</plot>
<outline>Mankind finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, artifact buried on the moon and, with the intelligent computer HAL, sets off on a quest.</outline>
<tagline>An epic drama of adventure and exploration</tagline>
<runtime>161</runtime>
<mpaa>G</mpaa>
<credits>Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke</credits>
<director>Stanley Kubrick</director>
<playcount>1</playcount>
<lastplayed>2014-06-18 20:06:16</lastplayed>
<id>tt0062622</id>
<tmdbid>62</tmdbid>
<set>The Space Odyssey Series</set>
<sorttitle>2001 A Space Odyssey 01</sorttitle>
<trailer>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8TABIFAN4o</trailer>
<watched>true</watched>
<studio>MGM / Stanley Kubrick Productions</studio>
<genre>Science Fiction</genre>

Just in case, I Cleaned the Library again, and Updated the Library, and restarted XBMC, still the same results.