Video library: ready for the masses?
#1
Hi,

I'm a long time XBMC user (years now) and even though from time to time I force myself to go back to using the library some things just make me back to the files view Sad I think library views look superb and they are a piece of nice code. I really want to use it but it just doesn't work right for me and no mater what I go back to files view every time. am I the only one here? Some of the things that prevent me to use it are these:

- It is not possible to see which files were not parsed right so you might miss a movie or an episode just because it did't parse right. Why doesn't it show it with the file title and a standard icon and no info? Or maybe have a list with non parsed items so one can go check them and fix them :confused2:

- You delete a file and it still shows up in your library however it's gone right away in your files view

- You download a new file and it does not show in your library unless you re-scan it but again, right there in your files view

- You need to have your tv episodes neatly in folders in order to show up (that may be just me, i'm more into searching rather than sorting, you should see the number of messages in my inbox!) Wink

What do you guys think? Are there already solutions for these or is it just me being thick? Big Grin
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#2
Library is one of the coolest things about XBMC imo.

2. You need to Update your library to reflect file changes.
3. See 2.
4. Folders are an invention to keep things organized. Having everything in one folder anyways makes no sense to me. It's a big mess
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#3
Thanks for your comments ultrabrutal,

Quote:Library is one of the coolest things about XBMC imo.

I think so too!!! Wink That's way I try to use it from time to time...

Quote:2. You need to Update your library to reflect file changes.
3. See 2.

Yeah but it'll much easier if automatic, so new files get scanned / deleted automatically. Also, is there a single button/option to scan the entire library? I've got several folders and I need to go one by one updating... :confused2:

Quote:4. Folders are an invention to keep things organized. Having everything in one folder anyways makes no sense to me. It's a big mess

I know some people feel like you about folders. I just don't like them, as I normally end up wanting to put some files in more than one folder. I prefer tags for organising things. IMHO the XBMC library should do just that, organise things for you so all your TV episodes in one big messy folder can be seen neatly in their respective shows. :-)

In any case, I think my main complain about the current library implementation is the inability to see which files have not been scanned correctly. I'm always thinking that some shows might be missing... Big Grin

later,
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#4
pilluli Wrote:Yeah but it'll much easier if automatic, so new files get scanned / deleted automatically. Also, is there a single button/option to scan the entire library? I've got several folders and I need to go one by one updating... :confused2:

I wrote a script that will update your library at certain times in the day (say 5pm when you get off work), or every so often (every hour or so, depending on how you set it). link in my sig, read the readme.

Context Menu > Update Library will do all movies & all tv shows.

Your tv shows don't have to be neat they just have to be seperated by show name: showname>some episodes. show name>season>sXXeXX.avi is more common, but unnecessary.

It's unlikely that you have hundreds of different tv shows so organizing them should be relatively painless...

search the wiki for advancedsettings.xml and turn on clean library on update. now your deleted files will leave the library when you update it.
Always read the XBMC online-manual, FAQ and search and search the forum before posting.
For troubleshooting and bug reporting please read how to submit a proper bug report.

If you're interested in writing addons for xbmc, read docs and how-to for plugins and scripts ||| http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-addons/
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#5
I Also think that video Library is really cool.

But, I consider that there is still big usability problems. As Piluly said, it's a real pain that new files aren't automatically added, and for the deletions, why should we have to use advancedsettings.xml Huh A Gui setting would be better, though i can't see any utility of keeping a db record wich point to a missing file ...
Anyway, these things are annoying, but for me the worst of the video library is its inability to simply include personnal videos.

I have a lot of personnal vids, I would like to include them in the library, add descriptions, perhaps actors, add some of them as films and others as tv shows.

I started some tries with nfo, but I Find this really complicated.
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#6
there is absolutely NO reason to have a setting for this in the gui.

either you want it or you dont. it's a one shot thing. the reason it defaults to false is all the people with slow-starting / sleeping nas storage. they would loose all their entries if they ran clean and the nas was napping.
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