Which fields point to Amazon?

[kbarnes70]

Hi guys,

Can you please tell me which fields point to Amazon? I use IMDb data for the initial adding of the DVDs to my database. This means the url is an IMDb address with the IMDb reference number for the movie. There is also the ASIN field and the Barcode fields which have numbers in them. My problem is that if I add the movie using IMDb, clicking on the Amazon button takes me to a 404 page. However, if I first add the DVD using Amazon, then delete the url and do a second pass getting information from IMDb, the Amazon button then takes me to the DVD even though the url is now pointing to an IMDb address. I am confused as to how this works. Any advice? Many thanks.

Kind regards,

Keith

[Nora]

The ASIN (the unique Amazon number) is what the program uses if there is no Amazon URL. With that number the program can still take you to the correct page on Amazon even though the URL is pointing to IMDb.

[kbarnes70]

The ASIN (the unique Amazon number) is what the program uses if there is no Amazon URL. With that number the program can still take you to the correct page on Amazon even though the URL is pointing to IMDb.

Thanks Nora for the prompt reply, as always.

However, I am still having trouble here. The ASIN number for a movie I just added via Amazon UK is B002JPKS0Q. I have copied that ASIN number, then I have added the same movie via IMDb and manually pasted the ASIN number B002JPKS0Q into the ASIN field. But when I try to use the Amazon button, it still gives me a 404 even if the url field is empty, or if it has an IMDb url there.

I've just spotted something else that is strange. When I added the ASIN manually, the Amazon button tries to take me to Amazon.com (USA) not the UK Amazon. It then reports it cannot find the DVD. It does find it of course when I use the entry added via Amazon UK. This mystifies me - it is the same ASIN and UPC used in both entries - one finds the correct DVD via Amazon UK, the other seems to go off to Amazon US and then can't find the DVD (presumably uses different ASIN). Any ideas?

EDIT: The ASIN B002JPKS0Q is not on the US amazon site (amazon.com) but is on the Amazon UK site (amazon.co.uk). It seems that in these circumstances the program defaults to searching the US site and then can't locate the DVD because the ASIN isn't on that site. In the absence of an Amazon url, the ASIN alone doesn't seem to be enough. I'm not sure I am explaining the very well. Let me recap: if the ASIN B002JPKS0Q is in the ASIN field, and the url field is blank or has an IMDb url, then DVDpedia tries to find the ASIN on the US site and can't because it isn't there. It will only search Amazon UK if there is an Amazon url in the url field (ie the DVD was added initially from Amazon. Does this help you understand my question? I add my movies via IMDB for various reasons, but I also like to preserve a link to Amazon.

Kind regards,

Keith

[Conor]

Hi Keith,

You are correct in your assessment that if given only the ASIN then it guesses at Amazon US (the most common site for our users). To associate Amazon UK select the gear button and select Amazon UK. You can do this while adding the movie or afterwards in a batch from the advance menu. If you manually added the ASIN, there will be a perfect match and you won't be presented with a choice if there are multiple results. If you delete the ASIN and then use the gear button you will be presented with a choice. The most important step is if adding from IMDb to remove the ASIN that is brought in from IMDb as that one belongs to the US site.

However, DVDpedia should be smarter about ASINs not yet linked to a specific country. Please download the beta and the situation should no longer happen. If you manually add the ASIN from any country and then do a "Open Amazon" it will now determine the correct country for the ASIN.

[sjk]

… the beta …

Is that one still beta 11?

[kbarnes70]

Hi Keith,

You are correct in your assessment that if given only the ASIN then it guesses at Amazon US (the most common site for our users). To associate Amazon UK select the gear button and select Amazon UK. You can do this while adding the movie or afterwards in a batch from the advance menu. If you manually added the ASIN, there will be a perfect match and you won't be presented with a choice if there are multiple results. If you delete the ASIN and then use the gear button you will be presented with a choice. The most important step is if adding from IMDb to remove the ASIN that is brought in from IMDb as that one belongs to the US site.

However, DVDpedia should be smarter about ASINs not yet linked to a specific country. Please download the beta and the situation should no longer happen. If you manually add the ASIN from any country and then do a "Open Amazon" it will now determine the correct country for the ASIN.

Hi Conor,

Thanks for this. I am downloading it now.

EDIT: I installed the beta but it's the same version (11) as I was using, so makes no difference.

Kind regards,

Keith

[sjk]

… it's the same version (11) …

Thanks for the info, Keith.

[kbarnes70]

… it's the same version (11) …

Thanks for the info, Keith.

You're welcome. The betas can get confusing - even for Conor maybe

At least now we have a nice red flash on the About screen. I always rename then now to "DVDpedia 4.5.5 Beta 11" etc so I know where I am.

Kind regards,

Keith

[sjk]

The betas can get confusing - even for Conor maybe

Confusing enough that he sometimes forgets to tell us which one it is.

At least now we have a nice red flash on the About screen.

Haven't seen that yet since I'm still running the non-beta 4.5.5, though some of the later IMDb changes have tempted me to install a beta. Hoping for built-in updates, optionally including beta, in the future… like 1Password has, for instance.

[kbarnes70]

The betas can get confusing - even for Conor maybe

Confusing enough that he sometimes forgets to tell us which one it is.

At least now we have a nice red flash on the About screen.

Haven't seen that yet since I'm still running the non-beta 4.5.5, though some of the later IMDb changes have tempted me to install a beta. Hoping for built-in updates, optionally including beta, in the future… like 1Password has, for instance.

Yes, that would be cool. I use 1Password too, but am also on their beta programme - I must like living dangerously DVDpedia's betas are frequent though thanks to Conor's amazing attention to all our requests and at least now we have the beta version number in that red flash! I'm wondering if there is a version 12 with the fix Conor mentioned above or if it's all a dream

Kind regards,

Keith

[Conor]

I have uploaded beta 12 to avoid confusion.

[sjk]

Yup, that avoids confusion… until the next beta reference/link appears without a number.

[kbarnes70]

I have uploaded beta 12 to avoid confusion.

Thanks, Conor, as ever.

Kind regards,

Keith

[kbarnes70]

Hi Keith,

You are correct in your assessment that if given only the ASIN then it guesses at Amazon US (the most common site for our users). To associate Amazon UK select the gear button and select Amazon UK. You can do this while adding the movie or afterwards in a batch from the advance menu. If you manually added the ASIN, there will be a perfect match and you won't be presented with a choice if there are multiple results. If you delete the ASIN and then use the gear button you will be presented with a choice. The most important step is if adding from IMDb to remove the ASIN that is brought in from IMDb as that one belongs to the US site.

However, DVDpedia should be smarter about ASINs not yet linked to a specific country. Please download the beta and the situation should no longer happen. If you manually add the ASIN from any country and then do a "Open Amazon" it will now determine the correct country for the ASIN.

Hi Conor,

I'm still having problems with Amazon. I just added Nosferatu (Phantom der Nacht) which is IMDb reference http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079641/. I added it manually by using the ADD button and then inputting the name of the movie and initating an IMDb search for it. I then deleted the UPC and the ASIN and tried an Amazon UK search (using the gear in the edit pane) but it cannot find the Region 2 release and offers instead two titles: a US version and an AUS version, neither of which are the one I want. I then went to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nosferatu-Vampy ... 237&sr=8-2 where you will find the correct version that I am looking for. I then opened the edit pane and copied across the ASIN manually. The ASIN is B000GQMLXM. That concluded the adding of the DVD. However, when I click the Amazon button on the toolbar, DVDpedia tries to go to the USA Amazon site (.com not .co.uk) and it returns a 404 as the R2 DVD is not listed on the Amazon US site. What's happening? I am using Beta 15 and OSX 10.6.3 (but it also happened on 10.6.2).

Kind regards,

Keith

[Conor]

Thank you for the detailed information. Not sure why it would default to the US version, when you only searched in the UK. I'll take another look at the code as that should not happened. The reason the originally UK result did not show up for the search was that the Amazon entry does not contain "Phantom der Nacht" which is part of the search.