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    Invelos Forums->DVD Profiler: Desktop Feature Requests Page: 1 2 3 4 5 ...11  Previous   Next
"Cast & Crew Creator"
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DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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Registered: March 18, 2007
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Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Oh yes, nothing hard to do there.

Let me confirm:

You say you would like to get a fake profile with all cast and crew with no BY. This is easy to create. You don't need to do anything but click "Go". I can create the fake profile, by using the next available manual profile ID in your database.

Next, all I need to do is add every cast and crew to the fake profile by first setting entry BY (to "0" or null?) and add to the fake profile if not already there. If I use your filter idea, you will be missing some cast and crew - the entries that originally have no BY.


So, which do you want: the fake profile with all cast and crew and no BY set, or only the ones which originally had BY set?

Either way will have the same cast and crew entries in the database, it just affects which cast and crew get assigned to the fake profile.

And last question is how do you want to handle "credited as"? Do you want a checkbox, or always handle it the same way?

Sorry one more question: do you want me to access the set of accepted BY and fix any that are incorrect while scanning?



Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
If you think we are converging on an idea, I will be using a "SubPlugin". This is a piece of code that is very easy to install and update, and much easer for me to code, test and maintain than a regular plugin.

But there is a catch. All subplugins are hosted by a master plugin called DVDPFauxAPI. This is installed only once and never again unless a bug fix is needed. From then on, you can run any and all  subplugins simply by copying one file into a specific folder.

So, before I start writing code, please verify that you can install DVDPFauxAPI plugin. It does nothing until you copy a subplugin file, which is automatically recognized and run. Easy. You can disable it and re-enable it the normal way, using Tools>View Plugins.

Let me know if I am on the right track.

Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Oh I see now, I don't think my BY checking males sense. I would only be able to delete the cast or crew entry if the BY was not found in the accepted list. And to do that, I would first have to remove the entry from every profile that used it. Way too much work and risk I think. Profiler does not allow removing a cast or crew entry that is being used, or the program would crash.


These are the unanswered comments / questions. I have some time today and in the mood to play with some code.
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorMagmadrag
Master of childprofiles
Registered: May 25, 2007
Germany Posts: 453
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Okay, I found it and istalled it....
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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Registered: March 18, 2007
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Quoting Magmadrag:
Quote:
Okay, I found it and istalled it....

Perfect, now if you can just answer the questions (see in RED), I will get started.

Actually the last question was dumb, you can ignore that one.
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorMagmadrag
Master of childprofiles
Registered: May 25, 2007
Germany Posts: 453
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I think I have answered this a couple of postings before:

Creating a fake profile (in my case in the wish list) with all the names to add without by is the ideal solution. Keeping the fake profile (never deleting it) avoids that they are deleted again by the database repair as unused.

If they come up with any new add, then I got the entries twice. So the only thing which gets "wrong" with that is the number of counts.

I think "credited as" is not relevant for birthyears. If it is "John Smith (1979) crediited as 'Johnny Smith'" it remains "John Smith (1979)".

Your last question: Definitely no! The list is not relevant for that tool for some reasons: I use several more regular/known birth years than are released so far and additionally countless fake profiles (which are accepted but never become kind of "official"). Take a look at the screenshot and you will see several "David Brown" with Fake-BY. So checking out the list would cause unneccessary troubles, espeially as there are also misspellings in the list, too (and some might disappear after a common name thread). As this list is never static, using it for your tool, it would need to be able to read the site and recognized every change. And that's impossible!
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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Registered: March 18, 2007
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Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
Quoting Magmadrag:
Quote:
I would need to export my (whole) collection to xml and export doesn't work anymore. It runs and runs... and at about 99 % the Error-Popup comes...

DVD Profiler can be a bit unstable. So if I had that problem, I wouldn't want to mess up my database further by trying to add stuff via the API. But that's just me. At least not without first finding a way to fix that export problem.

I assume that you have tried a database repair? I realize it's really slow with a database of that size, but it should be done.

That's hilarious. Adding stuff with the API is the Invelos provided, and sanctioned way to do things programmatically. In general, you don't "mess up" the database any more than the main program does when it has a bug. That's why we test and make backups. People should not fear plugins.
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
Quoting Magmadrag:
Quote:
I would need to export my (whole) collection to xml and export doesn't work anymore. It runs and runs... and at about 99 % the Error-Popup comes...

DVD Profiler can be a bit unstable. So if I had that problem, I wouldn't want to mess up my database further by trying to add stuff via the API. But that's just me. At least not without first finding a way to fix that export problem.

I assume that you have tried a database repair? I realize it's really slow with a database of that size, but it should be done.

That's hilarious. Adding stuff with the API is the Invelos provided, and sanctioned way to do things programmatically. In general, you don't "mess up" the database any more than the main program does when it has a bug. That's why we test and make backups. People should not fear plugins.

What I mean is that if the database is already compromised (export crashes) then I wouldn't try to add data en masse. Not through the API or otherwise. Not meant to disparage plugins in any way.
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorMagmadrag
Master of childprofiles
Registered: May 25, 2007
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@mediadogg

Quoting DJ Doena:
Quote:
The problem is that DVD Profiler is stuck in Windows XP 32-bit world with the known "foreign letters" ANSI technology on top. At some point you will just reach the natural limits of what this program is capable of.


As I got "enough" foreign films with special French, Scandinavian and other foreign letters, I would need to find out which profile(s) cause those trobles - if it depends on those special characters.

But doing that search with a database of that size is something I simply don't have the time for. So far I didn't have any reason to export the database (might be neccessary if I will start a new homepage again - but actually that is a very BIG if). And in the past I tried several AddOns to find the reason for this problem (and others).... but we all know: More AddOns/Plugins, more danger to crash the database. And as I had this more than once....

Well, so I simply avoid all Tools I don't need. Which means that there are 2 constantly in use so far: Your "BulkEdit" and DJ Doena's "Initialize TVShow Child Profiles". And since I only work with those two, the number of datbase-crashes was reduced nearly to Zero.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
Aim high. Ride the wind.
Registered: March 18, 2007
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Quoting GSyren:
Quote:
What I mean is that if the database is already compromised (export crashes) then I wouldn't try to add data en masse. Not through the API or otherwise. Not meant to disparage plugins in any way.

Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
Aim high. Ride the wind.
Registered: March 18, 2007
Reputation: Highest Rating
United States Posts: 6,396
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Quoting Magmadrag:
Quote:
@mediadogg

Quoting DJ Doena:
Quote:
The problem is that DVD Profiler is stuck in Windows XP 32-bit world with the known "foreign letters" ANSI technology on top. At some point you will just reach the natural limits of what this program is capable of.


As I got "enough" foreign films with special French, Scandinavian and other foreign letters, I would need to find out which profile(s) cause those trobles - if it depends on those special characters.

But doing that search with a database of that size is something I simply don't have the time for. So far I didn't have any reason to export the database (might be neccessary if I will start a new homepage again - but actually that is a very BIG if). And in the past I tried several AddOns to find the reason for this problem (and others).... but we all know: More AddOns/Plugins, more danger to crash the database. And as I had this more than once....

Well, so I simply avoid all Tools I don't need. Which means that there are 2 constantly in use so far: Your "BulkEdit" and DJ Doena's "Initialize TVShow Child Profiles". And since I only work with those two, the number of datbase-crashes was reduced nearly to Zero.

Music to my ears. BulkEdit has been my "tour de force". Many hundreds of hours of programming and testing by me and loyal users, full of tricks and API bug workarounds, and so far (crossed fingers), no reports of a lost database. Keep praying ... 

Now regarding the new tool I am about to start, it might help me to know: what do you plan to do with the cast / crew entries in the dummy profile(s)?

By the way, Gunnar and I have sorted out several cases of corrupt profiles in the years we have been working together. I will watch for it in the new tool - maybe I will find the one that is causing the problem. Otherwise, you are likely to be hitting some kind of computational limit.

The most often corruption I have seen in a profile, not due to an API malfunction, is a "formfeed" (0xC in hexadecimal) character in the Overview. When somebody has done a copy / paste into the overview from a source intended to be sent to a printer.
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorMagmadrag
Master of childprofiles
Registered: May 25, 2007
Germany Posts: 453
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Well, as only the Export doesn't work and anything else does fine (and DJ Doena knows much more about those antique Windows-Codecs than me) I add whenever it is neccessary and how much there is neccessary. And even it is only 20 - 30 profiles a week 

Is there anything the Export is really neccessary for? When I had my own site, it was, but as long as I don't have a new one it isn't.

But: You can be sure before I install your newly developed tool I'll do a backup. I only hope that the new tool doesn't crush my DB
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorMagmadrag
Master of childprofiles
Registered: May 25, 2007
Germany Posts: 453
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Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Now regarding the new tool I am about to start, it might help me to know: what do you plan to do with the cast / crew entries in the dummy profile(s)?


I have answere this twice: I keep the dummy profile in my wish list!

Why? You know "database repair"? Which deletes all unused cast & crew (if not customized to keep them)? But I wan't to delete the REALLY unused names ("combined" two or more versions of a name to the common name + credited as) and with the dummy profile all those newly "installed" names remain and (hopefully) new troubles with wrong birthyears (if they are correct in the database) are avoided. If I have an actor with no BY in my datbase and get a profile with it, it is used. If not, then the the first version of the name WITH BY is used, and keeping them "forever" (or at least as long as I enlarge my collection^^) solves this problem.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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Registered: March 18, 2007
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Quoting Magmadrag:
Quote:
I have answere this twice: I keep the dummy profile in my wish list!


Was that comment really necessary? What I was asking for, was the information you went on to explain. I am asking these question so that I don't waste my time writing a tool that does not do what you need. If it annoys you to spend a few minutes helping me understand, so that I save you hundreds of hours?

Thanks for that explanation. I should have something for you to try soon. There are still a couple of areas of confusion for me, but I will try to write my code so that I can change these areas if I find I made the wrong guess about what you want.
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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This is what I am doing:

"So it would be neccessary to have every cast & crew WITHOUT a birthyear as soon as there is the same name WITH birthyear in the local database."

When my tool is done, there will be a dummy profile that has every cast and crew in the local database, with BY=0.

Is my understanding correct?
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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Registered: March 18, 2007
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Ok, I have some code written in test mode. There is no GUI (progress indicator, etc.), but it basically works. However, I am having a confusing time convincing myself that it does what you want. I'll get some sleep and think about it some more. Tomorrow, I'm spending mostly with my wife on Mother's Day.

For my collection of 1400 profiles, it took about 2 minutes.
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
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I think I can now describe my confusion:

In your fist post, you gave an example. As the tool is working, it finds a name with a BY, but there is no corresponding credit in the local database with no BY, so it creates one.

But by definition, they are two different people. Isn't that what BY is for? To distinguish between people with the same name, but a different BY? Why is having a dummy profile with the wrong credit in it, helpful? It seems you are creating exactly the same problem you describe. When a new profile comes into the database with no BY for this case, there is no way to know if the credit we created is for the same person. Exactly the problem you are trying to solve.
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorMagmadrag
Master of childprofiles
Registered: May 25, 2007
Germany Posts: 453
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Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
But by definition, they are two different people.


We have a lot of accepted/released birthyears. I'd like to say that only a few of them cover all the persons with the same name. Which means that there will always be someone else with no findable BY. And if I get a new profile without BY, at least I have exactly the same data locally then the contributor of this profile has.

If he forgot (or was not interested in) to use an accepted BY, then I can't change.

To check every new profile that way, another kind of tool would be neccessary, at least to compare if the new profile contains names of the BY list.

But if I don't have the name w/o BY, profiler uses the first version of this name WITH BY and this way the linkage is definitely wrong. If the contributor didn't care, I can't change...
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