Accessing /volume1/@appdata/EmbyServer via DB Browser for SQLite

[CasaAtardecer 27]

Hope this category is the right one for this inquiry: Happily running Emby Beta on Synology NAS, purely for personal photos and home videos. No metadata service scraping necessary. Am thinking the "collections" grouping tool is best for organizing and gathering similar files together in a meaningful way. Would like to add a COLLECTIONS xml <> text to nfo for video and an exif or xml tag for photo that Emby will accept, but not having any luck playing in my sandbox. Assuming COLLECTIONS metadata is stored exclusively in the library.db, is the database accessible exclusively by ssh exclusively, which I have successfully located on Synology NAS at /volume1/@appdata/EmbyServer/... etc., or can I make global changes to library.db using sql commands via DB Browser for SQLite (my preference) to add/update COLLECTIONS metadata field in the database? Thank you for the great app. With regard to home-served photos and home movies, it's so superior to PLEX and JELLYFIN, slightly inferior to SYNOLOGY PHOTOS, but has a TONS of potential.

[Luke 42077]

Hi. Why not just do it in the user interface?

[CasaAtardecer 27]

Fair question. The UI absolutely does let one click and click and click and click and get an item added to a collection. But suppose one wished to "prepare" several hundred video NFOs for a home video library that one wished to point out for inclusion in Emby, it would be a superior use of one's time and energy to have the COLLECTION already "pre-selected" rather than click and click and click and click using the UI. The Genre and Tag can be "pre-selected" in several hundred video NFOs prior to including the library access via Emby, but the COLLECTIONS cannot, is that the case? Is that also true for files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc.? I've searched all the tables in library.db for the COLLECTIONS metadata, but haven't been able to find it so far. Do you have any thoughts about that? Also, still curious: "Assuming COLLECTIONS metadata is stored exclusively in the library.db, is the database accessible exclusively by ssh exclusively, which I have successfully located on Synology NAS at /volume1/@appdata/EmbyServer/... etc., or can I make global changes to library.db using sql commands via DB Browser for SQLite (my preference) to add/update COLLECTIONS metadata field in the database?" Thanks.

[Luke 42077]

On 1/10/2025 at 3:54 PM, CasaAtardecer said:

Fair question. The UI absolutely does let one click and click and click and click and get an item added to a collection. But suppose one wished to "prepare" several hundred video NFOs for a home video library that one wished to point out for inclusion in Emby, it would be a superior use of one's time and energy to have the COLLECTION already "pre-selected" rather than click and click and click and click using the UI. The Genre and Tag can be "pre-selected" in several hundred video NFOs prior to including the library access via Emby, but the COLLECTIONS cannot, is that the case? Is that also true for files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc.? I've searched all the tables in library.db for the COLLECTIONS metadata, but haven't been able to find it so far. Do you have any thoughts about that? Also, still curious: "Assuming COLLECTIONS metadata is stored exclusively in the library.db, is the database accessible exclusively by ssh exclusively, which I have successfully located on Synology NAS at /volume1/@appdata/EmbyServer/... etc., or can I make global changes to library.db using sql commands via DB Browser for SQLite (my preference) to add/update COLLECTIONS metadata field in the database?" Thanks.

@CasaAtardecercollections are stored in nfo files using the <set> tag. Does that answer your question?

[CasaAtardecer 27]

Hi. Thank you for the reply. I’ll check it out. I’ve never seen an Emby-generated nfo file yet in my installation so I don’t yet know all the reserved xml <> tags for video files. I am still curious about photo files: Is there an exif or xml or itpc metadata that Emby will read as Emby’s COLLECTION tag for a photo file type? On a related topic, whereas video files can use the <customrating> xml nfo tag and Emby will accept and read the nfo, what is the equivalent tag for photo file type that Emby will accept and read? I want to preload photos with a custom rating as well prior to selecting my library path. Thank you.

[CasaAtardecer 27]

1 hour ago, CasaAtardecer said:

Hi. Thank you for the reply. I’ll check it out. I’ve never seen an Emby-generated nfo file yet in my installation so I don’t yet know all the reserved xml <> tags for video files. I am still curious about photo files: Is there an exif or xml or itpc metadata that Emby will read as Emby’s COLLECTION tag for a photo file type? On a related topic, whereas video files can use the <customrating> xml nfo tag and Emby will accept and read the nfo, what is the equivalent tag for photo file type that Emby will accept and read? I want to preload photos with a custom rating as well prior to selecting my library path. Thank you.

 

2 hours ago, Luke said:

@CasaAtardecercollections are stored in nfo files using the <set> tag. Does that answer your question?

Hi. Tested the <set> xml tag in my video nfo because that was quoted as the nfo xml tag to use for COLLECTIONS. It turns out that the <set> xml tag does NOT populate COLLECTIONS in Emby, so it appears that the quote was incorrect. That's really discouraging.

[Happy2Play 9780]

59 minutes ago, CasaAtardecer said:

 

Hi. Tested the <set> xml tag in my video nfo because that was quoted as the nfo xml tag to use for COLLECTIONS. It turns out that the <set> xml tag does NOT populate COLLECTIONS in Emby, so it appears that the quote was incorrect. That's really discouraging.

Sorry but it does in accordance with the value set on the library.

  <set>
    <name>1 large test</name>
  </set>
  <set tmdbcolid="9485">
    <name>The Fast and the Furious Collection</name>
  </set>

Can you provide a full example?

[CasaAtardecer 27]

Hi. Thanks for your xml code and figure examples; however, the code is not working for my Emby installation. I checked again the "minimum automatic collection size" and changed it to "1", added your code to my locally storage media folder NFO (attached), ran scan/refresh, and no COLLECTION information populated by media information. My nfo xml is being read perfectly (Emby won't create/write however, which is a separate issue). Is the xml code placed in the wrong order? Does the <set> require an independent nfo xml file? 20240715_152549.nfo

[CasaAtardecer 27]

9 hours ago, Happy2Play said:

Sorry but it does in accordance with the value set on the library.

  <set>
    <name>1 large test</name>
  </set>
  <set tmdbcolid="9485">
    <name>The Fast and the Furious Collection</name>
  </set>

Can you provide a full example?

Hi. Thanks again for the xml code and pictured examples. Update: Conducted a completely fresh install of Emby after ssh rm -rf all evidence of the previous Emby installation and guess what? The xml <set> code for COLLECTIONS suddenly works! The NFOs can create/edit/delete COLLECTIONS using this code now. Thanks again for that bit of code. Sadly, my carefully prepared XMP and EXIF metadata loaded into my photos is now suddenly not being read/refreshed! Too weird!

[CasaAtardecer 27]

13 hours ago, Luke said:

@CasaAtardecercollections are stored in nfo files using the <set> tag. Does that answer your question?

Hi. Thanks for the reply, which was fleshed out more fully by your colleague. Decided to conduct a complete fresh installation of Emby, so did a ssh rm -rf of all evidence of the first installation, and went to Synology's third-party contrib and devs section and you'll never guess what wasn't there any more ... Emby's Beta version! Where did it go, do you suppose? The only version available for installation is 4.8.8.0-724080800, but you already know that, I am guessing. Is there a specific reason the Beta version was removed? I installed the non-Beta version and it "fixed" my issue with the <set> NFO tag; however, it "broke" the reading of my XMP/EXIF/IPTC photo metadata. Hmmmm. Thanks.

[CasaAtardecer 27]

8 minutes ago, CasaAtardecer said:

Hi. Thanks for the reply, which was fleshed out more fully by your colleague. Decided to conduct a complete fresh installation of Emby, so did a ssh rm -rf of all evidence of the first installation, and went to Synology's third-party contrib and devs section and you'll never guess what wasn't there any more ... Emby's Beta version! Where did it go, do you suppose? The only version available for installation is 4.8.8.0-724080800, but you already know that, I am guessing. Is there a specific reason the Beta version was removed? I installed the non-Beta version and it "fixed" my issue with the <set> NFO tag; however, it "broke" the reading of my XMP/EXIF/IPTC photo metadata. Hmmmm. Thanks.

Wow! Update: Downloaded Emby Server (BETA) for Synology NAS version 4.9.0.35-724090035 (64-bit) for Manual Installation from your download page and you'll never guess what happened? EXIF/XMP/IPTC embedded metadata is NOW suddenly being READ by Emby again. So weird! Thanks for the ride. I learned a LOT!

[CasaAtardecer 27]

On 1/14/2025 at 6:34 AM, Luke said:

@CasaAtardecercollections are stored in nfo files using the <set> tag. Does that answer your question?

Hi. After a bit of a kerfuffle, the code works for my video NFOs now. Thanks again. QUESTION: How about a xmp/exif/iptc tag for COLLECTIONS for files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc.? Any chance of that being already a thing or in the pipeline?

[Luke 42077]

22 hours ago, CasaAtardecer said:

Hi. After a bit of a kerfuffle, the code works for my video NFOs now. Thanks again. QUESTION: How about a xmp/exif/iptc tag for COLLECTIONS for files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc.? Any chance of that being already a thing or in the pipeline?

Hi, yes that is certainly doable.

[CasaAtardecer 27]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, yes that is certainly doable.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. So your answer is "YES" to my question that an Emby-readable xmp/exif/iptc metadata tag exists for files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc. that Emby will subsequently READ and WRITE into the library.db table named "ImportedCollections" and subsequently group those files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc. into that IMPORTEDCOLLECTION. That's great! May I please know what that Emby-readable xmp/exif/iptc metadata tag for files of type .jpg, .jpeg, .png, etc. is? Thanks again.

[Luke 42077]

Hi, no, sorry. It's possible to look at adding something, but it doesn't exist right now.

[CasaAtardecer 27]

10 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, no, sorry. It's possible to look at adding something, but it doesn't exist right now.

Oh. The answer is NO, not YES, but MAYBE, but not NOW. Thanks for decrypting the earlier one-liner answer. QUESTION: Since the answer is MAYBE YES, but not NOW, can you please tell me WHEN? Thanks.

[Luke 42077]

HI, I don't have an ETA but it is certainly possible for the future. We are actively monitoring this for community feedback and the more users that want it, the more it will get prioritized. Thanks !

[CasaAtardecer 27]

Oh, gotcha. Thanks for the reply. If it is a matter of "the more users that want it, the more it will get prioritized," then you could always conduct a poll of the current users. A list of the top 10 wishes, dreams, hopes and aspirations that users have been waiting for for literally years could be shown and let the users pick the top 3. That would certainly narrow the focus if resources, energy, money, ambition, skillset, etc. need to be prioritized. What do you think? Thanks, again. 

[Luke 42077]

Hi, actually the best thing to do is create a topic in the feature requests section. Or I can slice some of this thread into a new topic over there. Either way is fine with me.

[CasaAtardecer 27]

2 minutes ago, Luke said:

Or I can slice some of this thread into a new topic over there.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. You are the expert. So let's go ahead with your second recommendation and slice the old thread into a new topic:

"How many users think a PHOTO-based COLLECTIONS metadata tag should be read by EMBY and combined with the existing VIDEO-based <set> nfo xml tag that Emby already reads/creates/edits so that the PHOTO and VIDEO can be gathered together by the same COLLECTIONS metadata?"

Thanks again.