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DVDSpot shutting down
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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 CalebAndCo:
Quote:
I am a DVDSpot refugee.

mediadogg:

DVDSpot allowed line returns in the Review field, which in my CSV file caused the data following to go to the next row.  I manually corrected my file, but does your plugin account for this as it could cause problems for some users?

I think it's great you put this together and I plan to utilize it later this week.

BTW (I'm sure you know, but for the others reading this) leading zeros are retained in the CSV file.  If you don't see them, the prg you are using is interpreting the data.
Hmmm ... not sure. I'm using a ready-made Microsoft parser. I'll PM you an email address if you don't mind sending me a sample. (if the review field is enclosed in quotes, it will probably work. I found that when the title field had commas, DVDSpot put quotes around it, and it worked.) By the way, I prefer to get the file untouched. I doubt that I will be successful in handling variations that may occur from manual editing. First I want to make sure I can handle what DVDSPot produces. In another month, that may not matter so much, and then I will focus on making a more general CSV import.

Edit: Ok got the file. Some good news and bad news ...

Good news: it basically works. In 13 minutes I got 569 profiles, 19 ordered and 550 owned. Excel claims there are 573 (so, 4 missing). Reviews showed up in the "Notes" field OK, complete with CR/LF. Detailed review of Andy Griffith show was in tact (and damned funny!  )

Edit: I found the missing 4 profiles. You have 4 titles with a UPC of "0". I will put in some code to protect against that (as I do for UPC = ""), but you might also want to fix those.

Bad news: I did see some errors. Some bug that made Profiler sick showed up, but the thing kept going I had to stop Profiler after the import was done with Task Manager, but when I restarted DVD Profiler, it was OK again, and the datbase was there.

Refresh from Invelos database took about 20 minutes. 46 profiles failed. I will analyze those UPCs to see if they failed due to missing UPCs in the database or locality errors, and fix whatever I can.

So, it was a good test. Thanks for the data. I will try to code some improvements based on the errors.
You have a bunch of sources (we call them Retailers a.k.a Purchase Places). It is IMPERATIVE that they be defined either (1) ahead of time, (2) After the import but before the bulk update of Purchase Places, or (3) Enter them manually into each profile (yucch, no way).

To get the list of Retailers, Click View My Purchase Places after the import is complete, or you can view the log and print it. Each discovered retailer is posted to the log. You can check them off or cut and paste as you add them manually using Tools\Edit Retailers. Then you can run the BulkEdit "Save Validated Changes" and all the Retailers will be loaded into the profiles - but they have to be defined first due to technical factors. Don't forget to display the Purchase Places column during the import, or you will lose them - they are cached in the datagrid until you can validate and run the update. All the other data is saved on the fly during the import phase.

I will post more news when I analyze the errors.
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantMark Harrison
I like IMDB
Registered: March 13, 2007
Reputation: Great Rating
United States Posts: 3,321
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Quoting 8ballMax:
Quote:
Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Thanks all. I benefit every day from the database and the amazing program. Just trying to give a little back. Eagerly awaiting actual results. Hoping for no major bugs. 


I'm surprised that you haven't received that second gold star yet because it's well deserved .


I think should give him a freebie on this one.
Get the CSVExport and Database Query plug-ins here.
Create fake parent profiles to organize your collection.
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRooster6975
Registered: May 27, 2007
Posts: 175
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Hi Mediadogg,

I have tried the plugin, but I must be doing something wrong.  I followed the instructions, and selected only Purchase Place in the BulkEdit dialog box.  When I check the log, it just says "Starting CSV Validation" and does not change.

I am trying to import 500 DVDs into Profiler which used to be listed at DVDSpot.  My exported CSV looks to be fine, first column is UPC.

Thanks,
DD.
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 Rooster6975:
Quote:
Hi Mediadogg,

I have tried the plugin, but I must be doing something wrong.  I followed the instructions, and selected only Purchase Place in the BulkEdit dialog box.  When I check the log, it just says "Starting CSV Validation" and does not change.

I am trying to import 500 DVDs into Profiler which used to be listed at DVDSpot.  My exported CSV looks to be fine, first column is UPC.

Thanks,
DD.
What happened in between selecting Purchase Places and viewing the log? Any messages, status display, anything in the grid ????? Step by step - what did you do, and what happened?

Also, you need to tell me if you edited the file. You shouldn't - at least not until you try the original, freshly unzipped version first.
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
Aim high. Ride the wind.
Registered: March 18, 2007
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@CalebAndCo:

Obviously didn't have time to research all 46 profiles in detail, but the ones I looked at could not be fixed programmatically.

- Several cases of same movie in the Invelos database, but with a different UPC
- A couple of instances where Canadian locality was assigned to a UPC in our database in error. There is a range of UPCs that overlap for Canada and US, but they should be coded locality "0". Instead they are in the Invelos database as locality "3" (also Canada).

That's the kind of good fun you will be having as you reconcile the differences and decide whether to accept the Invelos values or submit changes that you feel are justified and can substantiate. The Canadian locality 3 vs 0 are clearly database errors when they conflict with the CS1 listing. (At least I think so ...  )
Thanks for your support.
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Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRooster6975
Registered: May 27, 2007
Posts: 175
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Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Quoting Rooster6975:
Quote:
Hi Mediadogg,

I have tried the plugin, but I must be doing something wrong.  I followed the instructions, and selected only Purchase Place in the BulkEdit dialog box.  When I check the log, it just says "Starting CSV Validation" and does not change.

I am trying to import 500 DVDs into Profiler which used to be listed at DVDSpot.  My exported CSV looks to be fine, first column is UPC.

Thanks,
DD.
What happened in between selecting Purchase Places and viewing the log? Any messages, status display, anything in the grid ????? Step by step - what did you do, and what happened?

Also, you need to tell me if you edited the file. You shouldn't - at least not until you try the original, freshly unzipped version first.


Hi,

I followed the instructions as you provided in this forum.  To recap :

Installed BulkEdit plugin
Tools-BulkEdit (Reminder!  Have you backed up this DB?)
Unzipped my DVDSpot CSV file into a folder
Opened a new Database in profiler, did not enter in retailers (not too concerned about tracking that info)
From the BulkEdit menu - Select profile fields to display - selected "Purchase Place" as instructed
(then tried again by selecting Formatted UPC)
Load - CSV and Validate (Overwrite sheet data?)
Selected my CSV file, clicked Open
BulkEdit just sits at "Starting CSV Validation...." and sits like that.  No errors.  View Log just shows the same message "Starting CSV Valdiation"

I am running this on Vista 64-bit, although I can reboot into XP 32-bit if necessary.  I have .Net Framework 2.0 and 3.0 installed (it installs Framework64 2.0 and 3.0 by default), and it also has the 32-bit versions of 2.0 and 3.0.

Thanks,
DD.
 Last edited: by Rooster6975
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
Aim high. Ride the wind.
Registered: March 18, 2007
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I have no way of testing on Vista 64 bit, so I suggest using a 32 bit OS, and see what happens. The fact that it is not hanging suggests that a wierd error just cause the plugin to quit in an unexpected way - therefore no message is displayed. I found some debugging code was still in 1.0. I think I'll upload a version without it and see if that makes a difference (it was writing a small test file to the c:\ drive for test purposes).
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRooster6975
Registered: May 27, 2007
Posts: 175
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Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
I have no way of testing on Vista 64 bit, so I suggest using a 32 bit OS, and see what happens. The fact that it is not hanging suggests that a wierd error just cause the plugin to quit in an unexpected way - therefore no message is displayed. I found some debugging code was still in 1.0. I think I'll upload a version without it and see if that makes a difference (it was writing a small test file to the c:\ drive for test purposes).


Hi,

I'd be happy to test the non-debugged code if you like under Vista 64.  However, I rebooted into XP 32 and it works like a charm.  Successfully imported 477 titles.  Am now running the Online features of DVDP (sorry, just started with this today, can't remember the actual menu items), but it seems to be happily downloading away.  And incidentally, your import was far faster than what you list in this forum.  All 477 titles showed up in DVDP in less than a minute.  Then I selected Online - Refresh Profiles from Invelos, and it happily went off and started grabbing cover art.  There are some gaps where it was unable to find a profile, but I'll figure it out.  The important thing is I see the complete list in DVDP.

Thanks,
DD.
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 Rooster6975:
Quote:
Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
I have no way of testing on Vista 64 bit, so I suggest using a 32 bit OS, and see what happens. The fact that it is not hanging suggests that a wierd error just cause the plugin to quit in an unexpected way - therefore no message is displayed. I found some debugging code was still in 1.0. I think I'll upload a version without it and see if that makes a difference (it was writing a small test file to the c:\ drive for test purposes).


Hi,

I'd be happy to test the non-debugged code if you like under Vista 64.  However, I rebooted into XP 32 and it works like a charm.  Successfully imported 477 titles.  Am now running the Online features of DVDP (sorry, just started with this today, can't remember the actual menu items), but it seems to be happily downloading away.  And incidentally, your import was far faster than what you list in this forum.  All 477 titles showed up in DVDP in less than a minute.  Then I selected Online - Refresh Profiles from Invelos, and it happily went off and started grabbing cover art.  There are some gaps where it was unable to find a profile, but I'll figure it out.  The important thing is I see the complete list in DVDP.

Thanks,
DD.
Oh joy            !  (But I wonder why my system is so sluggish ?????)
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorArdos
Registered: July 31, 2008
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It's good to see that former DVDSpot people have been given a relatively hassle free, easy way of getting their collection into Profiler. Hopefully this should encourage more to convert.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorFunkyLA
Will you remove your hat?
Registered: March 13, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 1,136
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Quoting Mark Harrison:
Quote:
Quoting 8ballMax:
Quote:
Quoting mediadogg:
Quote:
Thanks all. I benefit every day from the database and the amazing program. Just trying to give a little back. Eagerly awaiting actual results. Hoping for no major bugs. 


I'm surprised that you haven't received that second gold star yet because it's well deserved .


I think should give him a freebie on this one.

mediadogg got the 2nd gold star (and now, I don't have any positive votes left)
Signature? We don't need no stinking... hang on, this has been done... blast [oooh now in Widescreen]
Ah... well you see.... I thought I'd say something more interesting... but cannot think of anything..... oh well
And to those of you who have disabled viewing of these signature files "hello" (or not) Registered: July 27, 2004
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 FunkyLA:
Quote:
mediadogg got the 2nd gold star (and now, I don't have any positive votes left)
 
My wife is looking at me like I'm nuts. "So tell me what two stars means again? ..." 

(Ok, now it's time for a Profiler T-Shirt ... and a Convention in Vegas ... or Munich or London ... I can party anywhere ...)
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRooster6975
Registered: May 27, 2007
Posts: 175
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Hi Mediadogg,

This may not be the correct forum, but since I have your attention......

The import seemed to work perfectly.  However, when I run from within DVDP "Online - Refresh Updated Profiles from Invelos", about 75% were correctly updated and I have now cover art and all the rest of the details.  About 25% were not.  If I pick one of them from my DVDP list, and choose "Online - Refresh DVD from Invelos --> Refresh PRofile and Images, I get an error message :"Unable to download file.  Continue anyway?"

I am not sure why this is occurring.  I can see the UPC number in my profiler.  When I choose DVD - Add to Collection, and I pick that exact UPC, it finds it!

Any idea why this would be the case?

Thanks,
DD.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile Registrantmediadogg
Aim high. Ride the wind.
Registered: March 18, 2007
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Quoting Rooster6975:
Quote:
I am not sure why this is occurring.  I can see the UPC number in my profiler.  When I choose DVD - Add to Collection, and I pick that exact UPC, it finds it!

Any idea why this would be the case?

Thanks,
DD.
Yes. I mention in almost every post, but the importance of it can easily be lost if you are not familiar with "Profiler-ese". It has to do with "Locality". You need UPC + Locality to identify a profile (leaving out some other details for simplicity).

On the DVD menu, there is a "Change Locality" function. This will allow you to fix the profile without losing your personal data.

Look for this, a few posts back, where I attempt to explain in some detail. I'm sure others will pitch in also if it is till not clear. "Step-by-step cookbook to import DVDSpot files". (Yeah, I see my discussion of errors was very thin.) Maybe one of the other members can post a clear discussion for us.

Since DVDSpot has no idea of the Locality we use, I have heuristics built into the import to make a good guess. The guess can be wrong for a number of reasons.

One other thing. During my recent testing, I did notice that repeated downloads sometimes picked up profiles that failed previously. So try that also. In the thumbnails view you can quickly tellwhich ones have missing images and flag them for another refresh.

I will be uploading V1.01 shortly - but then you don't care any more, ha!!!

(Just sent you a PM)
Thanks for your support.
Free Plugins available here.
Advanced plugins available here.
Hey, new product!!! BDPFrog.
 Last edited: by mediadogg
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRooster6975
Registered: May 27, 2007
Posts: 175
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Yep, that was it.  Picking one which did not work when I tried to Refresh via the Online menu, I can select DVD - Change Locality, and change US to Canada.  Subsequent refreshes correctly downloads the cover art and all the other details.  Interesting.

OK, please forgive my newbishness, but I have owned DVDP for all of 8 hours.  Since your tool is called BulkEdit, I assume there is a way to bulk edit my collection and change all the incorrect localities at once?

I have selected the first 4 as test cases of the 100 or so which don't have profiles after the CSV import.  Then using BulkEdit, I select Load - Flagged Profiles.  I correctly see the 4 I have selected, and I have also chosen the field Locality.  I can see all 4 are incorrectly set to United States.  I can also see that you have labeled the column "Select Profile Fields to Display / Edit (*)".  When I look down the list of fields I can choose, I can see that Locality does not have an asterisk beside it.  Does that mean this field cannot be bulk edited?

Oh, and incidentally, just in case you release a 1.01, if DVDP is running when BulkEdit is installed, the message comes up stating "BulkEdit is currently running...." when I am quite sure you meant to have the message state "DVD Profiler is currently running....."

Thanks,
DD.
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantDr. Killpatient
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Registered: May 19, 2007
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Oh look - mediadogg now has !
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