Organising recorded shows

[davids075]

Hello

I used to have a Tivo and when you recorded more than one of a series it would automatically put it into a folder of the same name. This simplified viewing the list of recorded shows. Is this possible on the T3 as I am a bit tired of having to go through a long list of shows in the movies folder

Dave

[prl]

Hello

I used to have a Tivo and when you recorded more than one of a series it would automatically put it into a folder of the same name. This simplified viewing the list of recorded shows. Is this possible on the T3 as I am a bit tired of having to go through a long list of shows in the movies folder

Dave

It's sort-of possible in some cases.

You can set the Location setting on any timer you create by hand or from the EPG, and have the recordings for that timer go to any folder you want.

AutoTimers have a similar feature; enable Use a custom location and then set Custom location on the autotimer. That won't affect any of the timers that the Autotimer has already created, though.

There's no such facility for IceTV timers.

You can also manually move recordings into folders as they finish recording.

[MrQuade]

Also, now that you can sort by name then reverse date, it makes it easy to find the particular show name that you want. Remember to use the left and right direction keys to page-up and page-down to help make seeking for your recordings faster.

[tezza007]

AutoTimers have a similar feature; enable Use a custom location and then set Custom location on the autotimer. That won't affect any of the timers that the Autotimer has already created, though.

There's no such facility for IceTV timers.

You can also manually move recordings into folders as they finish recording.

You can also manually change IceTV timers location from the Timer list

[tezza007]

Also, now that you can sort by name then reverse date, it makes it easy to find the particular show name that you want.

How is that done? I have to press Sort 10 times to get recordings in correct time order for one day

[MrQuade]

The sort button does not remember the setting. You need to press menu with the movie player open and configure it in your settings to make it stick.

[prl]

Also, now that you can sort by name then reverse date, it makes it easy to find the particular show name that you want.

How is that done? I have to press Sort 10 times to get recordings in correct time order for one day

If you press Sort 10 times you will cycle right round and leave you exactly where you were before.

In the Movie Player, you can select the sort order from a menu using MENU>Sort... To sort by name then reverse date in the Movie Player, MENU, DOWN, DOWN, DOWN, OK, 6.

Either way of selecting the sort order (press BLUE Sort or MENU>Sort) will be remembered.

[prl]

The sort button does not remember the setting. ...

It does for me. (Last Upgrade: 2015-03-03).

[tezza007]

I don't think the term Movie Player should be used, as it isn't labeled that. I assumed you meant while a recording was playing, but no.
So I actually needed to go to Media, then into a directory with recordings, then Menu [which gives me Movie List Setup]/Sort by... [which gives me a Sort list:]then #3 By reverse date, then by reverse name
That gives me what I want, recordings listed by time, 1st to last

Thank you both for [sorta ] pointing me in the right direction

[MrQuade]

The sort button does not remember the setting. ...

It does for me. (Last Upgrade: 2015-03-03).

Sorry, i must have been thinking of when you have not allowed unique per-folder settings or something. My bad.

[prl]

I don't think the term Movie Player should be used, ...

We've been through that. I don't intend to change. I note the absence of a suggested viable alternative.

[tezza007]

Media list? Recordings list. Media Button? That's what the Media button takes you to, a list of media recordings.
That's what Menu/Recordings tales you to.
It's definitely not a movie player. At no point is it ever called Movie player by the T3

[prl]

Media list? Recordings list. Media Button? That's what the Media button takes you to, a list of media recordings.
That's what Menu/Recordings tales you to.

There is already another screen that is titled MediaPlayer. It's reached by MENU>Music, but it's quite capable of playing video (IIRC it was the screen the MEDIA took you to in early pre-release versions of the firmware). Other people have called the File Commander the Media Player.

It's definitely not a movie player.

In what way is it not?

At no point is it ever called Movie player by the T3

That can be remedied :

[tezza007]

Media list? Recordings list. Media Button? That's what the Media button takes you to, a list of media recordings.
That's what Menu/Recordings tales you to.

There is already another screen that is titled MediaPlayer. It's reached by MENU>Music, but it's quite capable of playing video (IIRC it was the screen the MEDIA took you to in early pre-release versions of the firmware).

But it's not a media player either, it's just a listings screen

Other people have called the File Commander the Media Player.

But not a Media/Recordings List.

It's definitely not a movie player.

In what way is it not?

It's not playing anything. For example, Pot Player is a movie player, the list of files in say Explorer that you might click on to play in Pot Player is not a movie player. That's what this is, just a list of files, no different than Windows Explorer.

At no point is it ever called Movie player by the T3

That can be remedied :

moviePlayer.jpg

Now if there was a button or menu option labeled Movie Player that got you to that screen then it would be more accurate

[BikeMike]

I wrote a plugin to do exactly that, but it's not automatic.

From the movie player you press menu, then select a new option "Move series recordings into folders". It is based on the show name, if more than one is found a folder is created and they are moved into it. Then a message box is shown with the moved shows listed. Would be good to automate this (maybe with cron) but I haven't bothered. Also need to refresh the movielist after running it (not sure how to automate that)

It's just a simple bit of python code, you have to install it manually in the filesystem. Unzip to /usr/lib/enigma2/python/Plugins/Extensions/Series2folder.
Restart GUI to make it visible.

[simoncasey]

I don't think the term Movie Player should be used, ...

We've been through that. I don't intend to change. I note the absence of a suggested viable alternative.

If you press the menu button while on that page it takes you to Movie List Setup and then Movie List Actions if you then select Settings...

So I would suggest "Movie List" as a reasonable alternative to movie player although I acknowledge that you can also access it from the media button and Menu>Videos(>Recordings)

[simoncasey]

I wrote a plugin to do exactly that, but it's not automatic.

From the movie player you press menu, then select a new option "Move series recordings into folders". It is based on the show name, if more than one is found a folder is created and they are moved into it. Then a message box is shown with the moved shows listed. Would be good to automate this (maybe with cron) but I haven't bothered. Also need to refresh the movielist after running it (not sure how to automate that)

It's just a simple bit of python code, you have to install it manually in the filesystem. Unzip to /usr/lib/enigma2/python/Plugins/Extensions/Series2folder.
Restart GUI to make it visible.

I will give this a go. I particularly like the fact it only works if there is a duplicate.
Without going through it, does/can it also look to see if a folder with the same name as the show already exist and then move the show into the existing folder?

[BikeMike]

Without going through it, does/can it also look to see if a folder with the same name as the show already exist and then move the show into the existing folder?

Yes it does exactly that

[simoncasey]

Without going through it, does/can it also look to see if a folder with the same name as the show already exist and then move the show into the existing folder?

Yes it does exactly that

Awesome

That's the one thing I miss about my old humax, ie it put series recordings automatically into their own folder.

Something to play with.

[diesel]

Is the series folder that's created still in the main movies/recordings folder or do you have to exit that to get into the new folder?

Also, how is the folder sorted if in the main recordings folder - by oldest recorded show or newest?

[simoncasey]

Also, how is the folder sorted if in the main recordings folder - by oldest recorded show or newest?

Folders are sorted depending on your sort settings. There is a "flat" version of some sorts that treats a folder like a file eg if you used alphabet sort then the folder would appear alpha in the list along with files. This is really useful for this kind of folder as programs will appear alphabetically irrespective as to whether they are files or folders.
If you sort by date, then the folders are sorted by date too based on their contents.

The folder sorting is as per T3 sorting, unrelated to this code.

[BikeMike]

Is the series folder that's created still in the main movies/recordings folder

Yes. At the moment this folder is hard-coded, I did not figure out how to get it from settings.

Also, how is the folder sorted if in the main recordings folder - by oldest recorded show or newest?

I assume the folder date will update to "now" every time you add a show to it. But I sort my folder "flat A-Z" so single shows and series folders are all alphabetical in the list. Within folders sort as normal with the blue button.

[prl]

Is the series folder that's created still in the main movies/recordings folder

Yes. At the moment this folder is hard-coded, I did not figure out how to get it from settings.
...

The config object for MENU>Setup>TV>Recording settings>Default movie location is config.movielist.videodirs.

Use it as (for example):

Code: Select all

from Components.config import config
...
def movieDir():
    return config.movielist.videodirs.value

[BikeMike]

The config object for MENU>Setup>TV>Recording settings>Default movie location is config.movielist.videodirs.

Thanks! But this returns a list, so I used config.movielist.videodirs.value[0]

[prl]

The config object for MENU>Setup>TV>Recording settings>Default movie location is config.movielist.videodirs.

Thanks! But this returns a list, so I used config.movielist.videodirs.value[0]
Updated plugin attached.

Sorry! I looked at the wrong place.

The right way to do it is:

Code: Select all

from Components.UsageConfig import defaultMoviePath
...
    defaultMovieDir = defaultMoviePath()

The correct config variable is config.usage.default_path, but Components.UsageConfig.defaultMoviePath() checks that the path exists and tries to find an alternative if it doesn't.

[BikeMike]

OK, I will change to use that.

Any suggestions on how to refresh the movie list after moving recordings?

[prl]

Sorry, no.

The Movie Player list doesn't update to show initiation, progress or completion of recordings while the folder's list stays on the screen, either, nor any other changes outside its direct control..

[BikeMike]

Updated plugin added to the original post here: viewtopic.php?f=51&t=8874&p=119170#p119170

What does it do?
Get the recordings folder from T3 settings.
Sort "series recordings" into folders based on show name
* if more than one recording
* if one recording and the series folder already exists
Plugin is accessed from the movie list menu while a recording (not a folder) is highlighted

After running the plugin, exit/re-enter the movie list to refresh it.

[prl]

Bikemike, the zip file with the Series2folder plugin in it seems to have been corrupted in the Great Hack Attack of May '15.

Could you replace the attachment in your post with a good copy?

Thanks

[MrQuade]

I found a slight oddity that is probably more of a bug in the base firmware rather than this plugin.

I let the plugin move all of my recordings into folders, but one of the folders went very wrong.

The series was "Good Game: SP"

In the media player, I can see the folder but it is empty.
In the file manager, I can go into the folder and see all of the recordings.
When I browse to the folder over the network, I can't see a folder called "Good Game: SP", but I can see one called "G93LHL~V" which contains the media files (They are named Good Game_ SP from windows)

The .ts files will not play from the file manager. Fe file manager shows the folder with the ":" and the files with the "_".

I think the script or something else has problems with the colon.

[Star6key]

I think the script or something else has problems with the colon.

The colon is not a valid character for filenames, or folders.

[MrQuade]

The files themselves did not have colons in them, but the show title did, and that is what shows up in the Media browser.

AFAIK colons are valid character for filenames....they're just not a good idea.

The dodgy folder that was created shows up as "Good Game: SP" in the media browser, the file commander, and the command prompt, but has the dodgy name when browsed from the network.

[prl]

It's a generic problem with folder names containing colons. If you make a folder with a colon in its name manually in the Movie Player, the Movie Player will let you mover recordings there, but once you move the recording into the folder, the recordings disappear from the Movie Player.

I think it's a bug in the Movie Player (and perhaps elsewhere, like the file commander, too).

[prl]

OK, I've found the cause of the problem with colons (':') in directory names.

The UI code for displaying files and recordings uses servicerefs as handles for the files.

The description of the serviceref in the linked post is incomplete, though.

The post has a serviceref as:
REFTYPE:FLAGS:STYPE:SID:TSID:ONID:NS:PARENT_SID:PARENT_TSID:UNUSED:PATH

but it's actually
REFTYPE:FLAGS:STYPE:SID:TSID:ONID:NS:PARENT_SID:PARENT_TSID:UNUSED:PATH:NAME

where NAME is used to hold various bits of data associated with the serviceref (the song title for an MP3, or a list of extra extensions to be looked at in a file system directory of media files, for example).

The problem with file name paths with colons is caused by incorrect use of the constructor for a service ref from the string representation of the service ref:

Code: Select all

self.current_ref = eServiceReference("2:0:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:" + path)

If path is, say, "/a/b/c:d" you might see where the problem lies: the serviceref will be:
"2:0:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:/a/b/c:d"
That is, the PATH will be "/a/b/c" (not "/a/b/c:d") and the NAME will be "d".

The code of the eServiceReference constructor actually makes provision for this. If done this way, the code should be:

Code: Select all

import urllib
self.current_ref = eServiceReference("2:0:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:" + urllib.encode(path))

so that the string representation of the URL will be:
"2:0:1:0:0:0:0:0:0:0:/a/b/c%3Ad"
and the PATH will be decoded in the constructor so that the path is "/a/b/c:d" and the NAME is "".

But there's an even better alternative:

Code: Select all

self.current_ref = eServiceReference(eServiceReference.idFile, eServiceReference.isDirectory, path)

It's even more efficient, and more informative to the reader of the code: the reftype is "file system" and the flags indicate that it's a directory.

Fixing this in Screens.MovieSelection and Components.MovieList allows the contents of folders whose names contain ':' to be seen.

The problem isn't restricted to the Movie Player. There are instances of the same thing in the FileCommander plugin and in Components.FileList. I haven't looked at those yet. There's an instance of it in the SHOUTcast plugin, too, but there colons are handled correctly (though not, for some mysterious reason, by using urllib.encode(), which means that "%" in those paths might not work properly).

And yes, I will fix the documentation

[MrQuade]

Sweet!

I wasn't even going to suggest trying to fix the underlying plugin's handling of colons, but you have excelled yourself there!! Bravo!
I figured the effort involved, even though it would be the correct fix, would be fairly monumental!

[prl]

Sweet!

I wasn't even going to suggest trying to fix the underlying plugin's handling of colons, but you have excelled yourself there!! Bravo!
I figured the effort involved, even though it would be the correct fix, would be fairly monumental!

It turns out it's not so bad. Most of the problems are in MovieList and MovieSelection, and they're already fixed (for me )

BUG: #411: Colons in folder names can cause confusion

As for the limitations of Windows filenames, it's not just colon that will cause you grief!

[prl]

...
BUG: #411: Colons in folder names can cause confusion
...

I have submitted a fix for this to the repository.

[prl]

I've moved discussion of the version of Series2Folder that I distributed as a package to Series2folder plugin, in preparation for a new release

The new release has a Star6key setting that allows the generated folder names to be mangled to accommodate an operating system that limits the characters in its filenames to suit to the syntax of a 1980s vintage command shell. The setting is on by default to reflect the at least numerical superiority of that operating system.