Added date?

[chjohans 31]

I'm using MCM to manage my metadata, and it writes the tag <Added> (example: <Added>20.06.13 16:38:48</Added) to movie.xml. But MB seems to disregard this and just consider the date/time the server picks up the file the "added" date. So whenever I delete and rebuild my .db files (happens a few times when "fine tuning" things) it will consider all files as just added.

 

Please, can you read and use the <Added> tag from movie.xml?

 

Also, it appears that after MB initially reads movie.xml it does not read it again, or at least it seems like it does not detect changes in that file. Is this by design, and if so why?

 

My MB3 server is configured not to download any metadata, that is the way I want it as I'm using MCM for all metadata management.

[Luke 37008]

we do both of those things, so more information is needed.

http://mediabrowser.tv/community/index.php?/topic/790-how-to-report-a-problem/

[chjohans 31]

Ok let's take the issue with the <Added> tag from movie.xml not being read/used first, I'll get back to you on the other issue. But this is the most important to me as all my movies now has the wrong "added date". I just picked a random movie and as you can see from the attached screenshot "Date added" is 24/2/2014, that is certainly not what the movie.xml for the same movie says. See the attached zip file, as you can see the <Added> tag says "<Added>09.05.10 1:49:24</Added>"

 

Is this a bug, or am I missing something here?

 

How do I get MB3 to show the date in my "Added" tag from movie.xml as the "Added date" ?

 

MB3 does not update "Added date" if I do a "Refresh all" from the same metadata view. Doing a "Refresh all" did not seem to write anything in the server log either.

 

I'm running MB3 Version 3.0.5211.41935

movie.zip

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

This is the format of an MCM date in my XML files:

 

 

  <Added>11/1/2013 8:44:55 PM</Added>

 

Media Browser reads and adds every single one of them.

[Happy2Play 8242]

So you are saying the server is reading/displaying it one way YYYY/MM/DD but writing it another MM/DD/YYYY?

 

 

written by MBS after hitting save

<Added>5/1/1980 12:00:00 AM</Added>

 

Original Written by MCM

<Added>5/1/2014 3:45:47 PM</Added>

Edited May 1, 2014 by Happy2Play

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

So you are saying the server is reading/displaying it one way YYYY/MM/DD but writing it another MM/DD/YYYY?

 

No... I am saying it is in your files incorrectly for some reason and the server isn't reading it at all. This is because the server doesn't understand the string as a date and therefore throws it out.

 

There are two ways to fix it...

 

1) The fix would be to allow the server to eventually understand more date formats and even determine what format the date is in. This is least difficult for the user.

2) Update all XML files to contain dates in the expected format. This is most difficult for the user.

 

The biggest issue with #1 is that you have to start handling more and more formats if they are written incorrectly. We already see this with episode naming for television series where there are 20 different methods of naming.

[chjohans 31]

I thought you (maybe not you personally but MB3 devs) had agreed on these things with Pete over at MCM?

 

Is the MB community for some reason no longer interested in supporting MCM?

 

Could you please suggest a solution to this? Who should do something to get this fixed?

[chjohans 31]

Could you please elaborate on that? You said you parse the date based on system locale settings, that is my regional settings in Windows? it is generally a a very bad idea to base parsing of time and date strings on regional settings, it should be based on a fixed format.

 

Maybe it's not a "widespread issue" because the majority is using US regional settings? Then what about the "minority" who does not?

 

This is my windows date and time format:
Short date: d/M/yyyy
Long date: dddd, d MMMM, yyyy
Short time: HH:mm
Long time: HH:mm:ss
First day of week: Monday

 

Could you please help me get to the bottom of this issue?

[Luke 37008]

are you sure you didn't change your date format in mcm? because i don't see any other mcm users mentioning this.

[Luke 37008]

actually this was tested with users in different regions. yea i agree it's a bad idea to save it that way. i originally had it saving in iso utc but that threw the values off when parsed by other programs. so i collected information and found that everyone was saving using system locale settings, so that's what i changed media browser to do. moving away from that would be a good thing but would require coordination from a lot of different people.

[chjohans 31]

I did not change any date format settings in MCM, and I'm pretty sure that option is not even there. I just went through all the MCM setting pages and I could not see any date settings anywhere.

 

A possible explanation could have been that MCM somehow writes the date based on my regional settings in Windows. That would explain the 24h time, but my date settiing uses / and not . in the date string. So that does not explain it either.

 

I've posted this in the MCM forum as well.

 

It seems to me that supporting MCM is not really a priority, and likewise it seems like it's not really a priority for MCM to support MB3.

[Happy2Play 8242]

Here is an example of MBS not reading movie.xml <Added> field and reading the File Creation date instead.  I modified the creation date had MCM fetch metadata the placed movie in collection so MBS could see. 

 

Note the Date Added field is not the <Added> field from movie.xml

 

 

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Title>
 <LocalTitle>The Ring</LocalTitle>
 <OriginalTitle>The Ring</OriginalTitle>
 <ProductionYear>1927</ProductionYear>
 <Added>5/1/2014 2:22:25 PM</Added>
 <IMDBrating>6.3</IMDBrating>
 <ContentRating>PG</ContentRating>
 <MPAARating>PG</MPAARating>
 <IMDB>tt0018328</IMDB>
 <IMDbId>tt0018328</IMDbId>
 <TMDbId>36056</TMDbId>
 <Budget>0</Budget>
 <Revenue>0</Revenue>
 <SortTitle>The Ring (1927) [Thriller]</SortTitle>
 <Language>English</Language>
 <LanguageCode>en</LanguageCode>
 <Country>GB</Country>
 <RunningTime>72</RunningTime>
 <Overview>Jack Saunders and Bob Corby are two boxers in love with Nellie. Jack and Nellie are married but their marriage is flat so she starts to look to Bob for comfort.

Parental Rating Summary:
MPAA Rating: NR
Sex & Nudity: 0
Violence & Gore: 0
Profanity: none
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: 0
Frightening/Intense Scenes: 0</Overview>
 <Genres>
  <Genre>Drama</Genre>
  <Genre>Romance</Genre>
  <Genre>Thriller</Genre>
 </Genres>
 <Studios>
  <Studio>British International Pictures (BIP)</Studio>
 </Studios>
 <Persons>
  <Person>
   <Name>Carl Brisson</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>'One-Round' Jack Sander</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Lillian Hall-Davis</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>The Girl</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Ian Hunter</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Bob Corby</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Forrester Harvey</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>The Promoter</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Harry Terry</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>The Showman</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Gordon Harker</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Jack's Trainer</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Charles Farrell</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Second</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Clare Greet</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Fortune Teller</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Tom Helmore</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>(uncredited)</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Minnie Rayner</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Boxing Contestant's Wife</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Brandy Walker</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Spectator</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Billy Wells</Name>
   <Type>Actor</Type>
   <Role>Boxer</Role>
  </Person>
  <Person>
   <Name>Alfred Hitchcock</Name>
   <Type>Director</Type>
   <Role />
  </Person>
 </Persons>
 <Awards></Awards>
 <BackdropURL>http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/3bB3bPZ4PfetntLLd5K1zu6DgJP.jpg</BackdropURL>
 <Director>Alfred Hitchcock</Director>
 <FullCertifications>Argentina:13  | Australia:PG  | Finland:S (1995) | Finland:K-16 (1928) | UK:PG</FullCertifications>
 <FormalMPAA></FormalMPAA>
 <Votes>1872</Votes>
 <Synopsis>Jack Saunders and Bob Corby are two boxers in love with Nellie. Jack and Nellie are married but their marriage is flat so she starts to look to Bob for comfort.</Synopsis>
 <Plot>Jack Saunders and Bob Corby are two boxers in love with Nellie. Jack and Nellie are married but their marriage is flat so she starts to look to Bob for comfort.</Plot>
 <Outline>Two boxers compete for the love of a woman.</Outline>
 <ShortDescription>Two boxers compete for the love of a woman.</ShortDescription>
 <PosterURL>http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/gQRoIfnyWbBtMjLqbDY0wPulBfX.jpg</PosterURL>
 <TagLine>Two boxers compete for the love of a woman.</TagLine>
 <TagLines>
  <TagLine>Two boxers compete for the love of a woman.</TagLine>
 </TagLines>
 <Top250></Top250>
 <TrailerURL></TrailerURL>
 <Website></Website>
 <ReleaseDate>1927-10-01</ReleaseDate>
 <WritersList>Alfred Hitchcock</WritersList>
 <Popularity>0.366545385599375</Popularity>
 <VoteCount>2</VoteCount>
 <Tags>
  <Tag>boxing</Tag>
  <Tag>woman between two men</Tag>
  <Tag>silent film</Tag>
  <Tag>silent movie star</Tag>
  <Tag>silent movie.</Tag>
 </Tags>
 <SimilarMovies>
  <SimilarMovie>The Other Man</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Värmlänningarna</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Parisian Love</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Honeymoon in Vegas</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Oxford Blues</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Killer's Kiss</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Mr. Fix-It</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Arms and the Gringo</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The Waning Sex</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The Scarlet Letter</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The King of Charleston</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Through Storm and Fire</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The Overcoat</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Where East is East</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Romola</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The Bright Shawl</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The Show Off</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Our Dancing Daughters</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg</SimilarMovie>
  <SimilarMovie>Across to Singapore</SimilarMovie>
 </SimilarMovies>
 <OtherID_RottenTomatoes>558030096</OtherID_RottenTomatoes>
 <RottenTomatoesId>558030096</RottenTomatoesId>
 <CriticRating>100</CriticRating>
 <CriticRatingSummary>Fresh</CriticRatingSummary>
 <IMDB_ID>tt0018328</IMDB_ID>
 <TMDB>36056</TMDB>
 <TMDB_ID>36056</TMDB_ID>
 <Rating>6.3</Rating>
 <certification>PG</certification>
 <Trailer></Trailer>
 <Runtime>72</Runtime>
 <Description>Jack Saunders and Bob Corby are two boxers in love with Nellie. Jack and Nellie are married but their marriage is flat so she starts to look to Bob for comfort.

Parental Rating Summary:
MPAA Rating: NR
Sex & Nudity: 0
Violence & Gore: 0
Profanity: none
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: 0
Frightening/Intense Scenes: 0</Description>
 <VideoAspect>1.379:1</VideoAspect>
 <VideoBitrate>1014000</VideoBitrate>
 <VideoCodec>XviD</VideoCodec>
 <VideoCodecType>MPEG-4</VideoCodecType>
 <VideoCodecRaw>MPEG-4 Visual</VideoCodecRaw>
 <VideoFileSize>735298222</VideoFileSize>
 <VideoHeight>464</VideoHeight>
 <VideoLength>86</VideoLength>
 <VideoLengthSeconds>5156</VideoLengthSeconds>
 <VideoQuality>Standard</VideoQuality>
 <VideoWidth>640</VideoWidth>
 <AudioBitrate>128000</AudioBitrate>
 <AudioChannels>2</AudioChannels>
 <AudioCodec>MP3</AudioCodec>
 <AudioCodecRaw>MPEG Audio</AudioCodecRaw>
 <AudioFrequency>48000</AudioFrequency>
 <AspectRatio>1.38:1</AspectRatio>
 <MediaInfo>
  <Video>
   <Codec>XviD</Codec>
   <FFCodec>MPEG-4</FFCodec>
   <BitRate>1014000</BitRate>
   <Height>464</Height>
   <Width>640</Width>
   <FrameRate>25.000</FrameRate>
   <Duration>86</Duration>
   <DurationSeconds>5156</DurationSeconds>
   <ScanType></ScanType>
  </Video>
  <Audio>
   <Codec>MP3</Codec>
   <FFCodec>MP3</FFCodec>
   <Channels>2</Channels>
   <BitRate>128000</BitRate>
   <Language></Language>
  </Audio>
 </MediaInfo>
 <VideoHasSubtitles>False</VideoHasSubtitles>
 <Type>DVD</Type>
</Title>

 

 

 

Edited May 1, 2014 by Happy2Play

[chjohans 31]

Well it does not work for me. I am just writing metadata with MCM and expecting MB3 to read them, and it does not work. Or spesifically the <Added> tag is not being read correctly.

 

Are you saying there is nothing that can be done to fix this?

[Luke 37008]

No. You can start by collecting precise information on how mcm saves that value, since you've already posted a topic there.

[Luke 37008]

We've never said that. We want to support external tools that create metadata.

 

That being said, we do parse the date based on system locale settings. It is only written using the format i provided. I think if there were a widespread issue with this value you'd see it reflected here in the community by other mcm users.

[ebr 14903]

We seem to be talking in circles here.  We know that your Added tag is not getting read and we know why it isn't getting read - it is because it is in a format we don't understand.

 

What we need to know is how is it getting saved in that format?  Other MCM users don't have that format so there must be some setting somewhere that is causing the odd format.

[Luke 37008]

There's two issues in this thread.

 

I can confirm there's an issue where we're not reading the Added value from xml. It will be fixed for the next server release. However, for the person with the date whose format I said was off, it's possible the issue will remain. But we'll find out with the next release.

[Tolerant 70]

I have to wonder why your date has "." in it, mine doesn't and I am a MCM user.

 

Your tag: <Added>09.05.10 1:49:24</Added>

My Tag: <Added>5/1/2014 12:00:00 AM</Added>

 

See the difference? Maybe you can test this by clearing the metadata, with only ONE program running (ie. turn off MB3's server and fetch with MCM) then examine the metadata. Then do the same in reverse. Clear the metadata, turn off MCM and fetch with MB3 and examine the metadata.

 

Ok Chojans, I turned off MB3's real time monitoring and fetching from internet, saved. Went to MCM and removed metadata from a movie and then fetched Metadata and immediately opened the metadata file for editing, this is what I have for date:

<Added>5/1/2014 4:26:20 PM</Added>

 

That would lead me to think something is wrong on your end and it is not MCM's date format.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Tolerant

[Happy2Play 8242]

But if I hit save or refresh MBS writes the exact same format to that field.  I guess the question still is why is MBS not reading the <Added> field at all.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Happy2Play

[ebr 14903]

But if I hit save or refresh MBS writes the exact same format to that field.

 

So that tells me it has something to do with the date/locale settings on the machine/browser.

[Happy2Play 8242]

I understand chjohans issue is slightly different with regional setting possibly, but as Luke states "if the Added attribute exists then that value will be used instead" but clearly this is not happening from the screenshot and data provided

[Tolerant 70]

From a user on the MCM forums, would this be an accurate assumption?

 

 

 

From the little testing I have done, it looks like MBS is populating their Date added field in the editor with the file creation date even though the movie.xml reflects something different.

But will write their information to the same field <Added> if you refresh or save in MBS.

Say I have a file Created 11/28/2012 11:53PM and I add it to MCM today I would get a <Added> field of 5/1/2014 1:24:56 PM but MBS doesn't appear to really be reading the <Added> field and shows file creation date in Their Date Added field in editor.  Which I have a feeling is actually their library.db info until you refresh or save than it goes into the movie.xml as the <Added> Field.  

This is my best guess from this test.

[Luke 37008]

Not really. When we first discover an item, it initially uses the date from the file, but then after that if the Added attribute exists then that value will be used instead. What's happening here in this case is the server is failing to parse the date format in his movie.xml file.

[Luke 37008]

it is most likely not parsing that date format. we use

 

6/15/2008 

 

or 

 

6/15/2008 9:15:07 PM

 

Because that is the default format that is used by other applications that also manage these files.

[Koleckai Silvestri 1150]

I understand chjohans issue is slightly different with regional setting possibly, but as Luke states "if the Added attribute exists then that value will be used instead" but clearly this is not happening from the screenshot and data provided

 

You're all right actually...

 

The date is read. 

 

The date isn't understood by the computer because it expects an AMERICAN format. That is MM/DD/YYYY and not YYYY/MM/DD.

 

Therefore the date is disregarded because it is incorrect.

 

That is what the developers are trying to say here. You can continue to debate but they know what the problem is.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Wayne Luke