Custom Fields on Shared Database

[betsysmc]

I have installed a bookpedia database on our server, and I can access it fine from two different computers. I am setting up our library shelf categories and I want to utilize the Custom Filed Titles found in the preferences pane. When I set a custom field title on one computer, it does not show up on the other computer, and visa-versa. In other words, it looks like the custom field title is not part of the database, rather it appears to be simply a preference setting that shows only on the computer where it was entered. Is this the case? If not, is there some way I can get the custom field titles to stick with the database? Otherwise, it seems that I need to re-enter the custom field titles on each computer that will be accessing the database.

[sjk]

When I set a custom field title on one computer, it does not show up on the other computer, and visa-versa.

True. Seems counter-intuitive to me when sharing 'pedia databases between different users/systems.

it looks like the custom field title is not part of the database, rather it appears to be simply a preference setting that shows only on the computer where it was entered. Is this the case?

Yup, that's right.

If not, is there some way I can get the custom field titles to stick with the database?

AFAIK only by copying the ~/Library/Preferences/com.bruji.dvdpedia.plist file between users/systems, which I wouldn't do or recommend.

Otherwise, it seems that I need to re-enter the custom field titles on each computer that will be accessing the database.

Correct, for now. I'd much prefer modified custom fields to be part of a database.

Thanks for bringing up this issue.

[Conor]

As mentioned by SJK, the custom fields are part of the individual preference file and not the database file. They could be integrated with the database file in the future.

[sjk]

Thanks for acknowledging this, Conor.

Something I've been meaning to ask about Custom Field Titles usage:

• What happens if I've changed one of the titles (e.g. Custom 1 to Episode Name) and later change it something else? And what if the title is then used with a different field (e.g. Custom 3 to Episode Name)?

Main reason I'm wondering is because I've changed a few Custom # values to support EyeTV fields and may want to reorder them later. Or, change unneeded values to something different or even back to Custom #.

My hunch is that any data that's associated with a Custom # "slot" will simply use whatever title is currently assigned to it. If so, it wouldn't be recommended to "recycle" Custom Field Titles without handling any associated data (e.g. clearing it).

Hope that makes sense.

[Conor]

The title is indeed independent of the field. Changing titles will not also move the data in that field associated with it. Changing Episode Name to a new field will have new imports from EyeTV adding data to the new custom field instead of the old one. It is possible to merge data and move it from field to field in the SQL back end but not within DVDpedia, so it's best to keep the same custom fields.

[sjk]

Changing titles will not also move the data in that field associated with it.

Hopefully people realize that if they're making custom field title changes.

Changing Episode Name to a new field will have new imports from EyeTV adding data to the new custom field instead of the old one.

Makes sense.

Are there currently any other custom field titles besides Episode and Episode Name that DVDpedia treats specially?

It is possible to merge data and move it from field to field in the SQL back end but not within DVDpedia, so it's best to keep the same custom fields.

Also seems best if custom field titles are (and remain) consistently named/located under General Preferences when sharing a database, which brings us back to betsysmc's original issue. Hopefully a future release will make it possible to automatically retain/sync them in a db sharing context.

[Conor]

Are there currently any other custom field titles besides Episode and Episode Name that DVDpedia treats specially?

I started this feature with the EyeTV import. So those two names plus "Episode Number" for EyeTV and "Season" for iTunes imports.

[sjk]

So those two names plus "Episode Number" for EyeTV and "Season" for iTunes imports.

I'd already added Season during early testing, but had forgotten it was for iTunes. My EyeTV recordings don't have an Episode Number, or maybe it's not consistent enough to be useful metadata -- I'll have to retest that.

[sjk]

I added Episode Number for one of the Custom Field Titles, imported some older and newer EyeTV recordings, and none of the added entries had Episode Number data. Maybe it's not available in the EPG metadata downloaded here from TitanTV (old) and TV Guide (new).

I'm still uncertain exactly which EyeTV metadata DVDpedia uses (or tries to) for Episode, Episode Number, and Episode Name. And it's not clear what the difference is between Episode and Episode Number. They seem redundant unless Episode is a unique value (sometimes a combination of season/episode numbers) like you'd often see in the Episode ID field of iTunes TV Show entries. In a future DVDpedia release, if possible, I'd prefer Episode be renamed to Episode ID (like in iTunes) and special treatment of Episode Number could be removed (since it doesn't have a corresponding field in either iTunes or EyeTV).

I'd be satisfied with two season/episode-numbering fields for EyeTV and iTunes entries imported into DVDpedia -- Season# and Episode#. Sometimes their values could be extracted during importing and other times they'd have to be manually added. Currently DVDpedia uses Season for iTunes imports, corresponding to the iTunes Season field. I could use that for manually entering Season info for EyeTV imports. DVDpedia's Episode and Episode Number names/values don't interoperate as well with EyeTV and iTunes.

Of course, in general, the names and mappings of various metadata fields between different apps isn't necessarily consistent regardless of how beneficial it would be.

Btw, Episode Number and Season aren't mentioned under Importing collections > Importing entries in the Help file.

[Conor]

Episode and Episode Number are the same field, DVDpedia will prefer Episode over Episode Number so that is why your not seeing any information for that field. I will go through and make sure to try to get as consistent as possible with those field naming, but I think it will most likely stay Episode in order to keep the name short and simple and get rid of Episode Number all together in order to avoid confusion. Thank you for the detailed feedback. I will consider it when I turn to examine the import.

[sjk]

Hmm, maybe there's data in at least one Episode Number field now because it had been temporarily named as Episode.

I think it will most likely stay Episode in order to keep the name short and simple and get rid of Episode Number all together in order to avoid confusion.

Sounds reasonable. I'll stop using Episode Number here after doing a thorough check for data that better belongs in Episode. And I could use Episode# as a non-conflicting custom title/field for manually entered episode numbers for corresponding seasons. The Season field already works fine for values automatically added with iTunes imports and any manually added for EyeTV imports, as mentioned in my previous message. It's Episode (and Episode Number, for now) that had ambiguous meaning/usage but not if I only treat it like an iTunes Episode ID.

It's a mystery why iTunes doesn't support an "Episode#" field in addition to Episode ID and Season. To me Season#/Episode# is the most logical and useful metadata pairing for TV shows, regardless of the app. I've never found a purpose for Episode ID since its values are too arbitrary. DVDpedia's Episode field/values from imported EyeTV recordings may be similarly unnecessary although it won't hurt to be there.

Thanks for your helpful comments.