Syncing channel's watched status with Emby

[mutu310 70]

Hi,

 

I've made a channel which lists movies that may or may not exist already in one's movie library. If one exists and was watched already, Emby does not mark my channel's listing as being watched. Is there a way I can link the channel item with the library item and synchronize the watched status?

[Luke 42077]

It would need to have the same content type (Movie) and it would need to have the same metadata provider Ids (Tmdb, Imdb, etc).

[ebr 16169]

Are you filling in the tmdb provider ID on your items?

[mutu310 70]

Are you filling in the tmdb provider ID on your items?

 

@@ebr & @@Luke I'm just filling the IMDb provider ID because I'm not hitting TMDb; however, Emby itself is getting the TMDb and Trakt links so it is (presumably) setting the provider ID for TMDb.

Edited January 16, 2017 by mutu310

[mutu310 70]

In the meantime tried to apply for a TMDb developer API key but I can't, for the life of me, manage to pass the address validation on the page. I think they don't like my country

[Luke 42077]

what content type are you defining these as?

[mutu310 70]

what content type are you defining these as?

 

@Luke: Movie, as can be seen at https://github.com/MarkCiliaVincenti/MediaBrowser.Channels.BlurN/blob/master/MediaBrowser.Channels.BlurN/BlurNChannel.cs

[ebr 16169]

Yes, I believe we favor Tmdb ID when it comes to user data since that is our primary provider.

[mutu310 70]

Yes, I believe we favor Tmdb ID when it comes to user data since that is our primary provider.

 

Good to know but it doesn't quite answer my query: since Emby Server itself is getting the TMDb ID shouldn't it attach the provider ID accordingly? It seems like a waste if both Emby Server and my plugin both end up querying TMDb for the same movie, and if anything my request seems to be extra and unneeded.

 

In any case, I cannot query TMDb because they don't seem to consider any Maltese address to be valid, so I can't register. I've sent them an email and hopefully they can help me in a timely fashion.

[ebr 16169]

The issue is how does the system know that your item is the same item as the other one?  That is done by them having the same tmdb ID but, you have to be able to give it that ID.  There is no way for the system to relate the two otherwise.

 

I guess you could search the user's library instead of tmdb but I'm not sure how efficient that would be.

[Luke 42077]

i would think that the core would be grabbing internet metadata for these, therefore you don't need to do it on your own.

[ebr 16169]

i would think that the core would be grabbing internet metadata for these, therefore you don't need to do it on your own.

 

Good point.  If they are movies, then the normal providers should be running...

[mutu310 70]

The issue is how does the system know that your item is the same item as the other one?

 

Emby Server is looking at my items and assigning a TMDb ID already. I see the TMDb hyperlink under the plot, and clicking on the hyperlink takes me to the TMdb. Therefore, Emby Server has the info at hand already, so why would I need to feed it info it already knows in order to be able to get the watched status? Can't it do it already with the info it already has?

 

@@Luke you're right, I shouldn't need to do it on my own, but the problem still persists anyway. I think this is a kind of issue that needs to be fixed in Emby Server, because if I fix it from my end it would really be a workaround and involve more processing and page requests to TMDb.

Edited January 16, 2017 by mutu310

[mutu310 70]

--- pls delete --- 

Edited January 16, 2017 by mutu310

[ebr 16169]

Do your items have both tmdb and imdb ids?

 

What about the items you are comparing to in your regular library?

 

Can you show us a specific example of one that isn't matching up?

[mutu310 70]

Do your items have both tmdb and imdb ids?

 

What about the items you are comparing to in your regular library?

 

Can you show us a specific example of one that isn't matching up?

 

I only set the Imdb provider ID but Emby Server is fetching the TMDb automatically.

 

I have tried with Deepwater Horizon. Marked as watched in my library, shows as unwatched in BlurN.

[ebr 16169]

Okay, I just tested that exact scenario and can confirm none of the user data is carrying across the two entities.

 

Perhaps related to the fact this is inside a channel...?

[mutu310 70]

Okay, I just tested that exact scenario and can confirm none of the user data is carrying across the two entities.

 

Perhaps related to the fact this is inside a channel...?

 

Is the question addressed to me or to @@Luke please? I wouldn't know the answer

[Happy2Play 9780]

I can see syncing to the channel as long as the channel cannot sync to the library.  If I marked the content in the channel as watched doesn't mean I have watch the movie since it isn't available in the channel only the trailer is.

Edited January 17, 2017 by Happy2Play

[mutu310 70]

I can see syncing to the channel as long as the channel cannot sync to the library.  If I marked the content in the channel as watched doesn't mean I have watch the movie since it isn't available in the channel only the trailer is.

I'm more interested in the reverse situation. Essentially this plugin provides one with suggestions for movies he/she may or may not have watched already. Let's for the moment assume one didn't watch the movie yet. The movie is there, suggested, and the user is intrigued and manages to obtain and watch the movie through Emby. In the library, the movie would get marked as watched, as is normal. However, the channel would still be listing it as unwatched so it would be harder to track which of the suggestions one has already watched and which ones haven't yet been watched.

[ebr 16169]

I can see syncing to the channel as long as the channel cannot sync to the library.  If I marked the content in the channel as watched doesn't mean I have watch the movie since it isn't available in the channel only the trailer is.

 

It isn't going to be a "sync" operation as what we're talking about is making them the same item from a user data perspective.

 

Perhaps a better approach in this particular case would be to not show suggestions that already exist in the user's library.  I mean, they already have it so what is the point...?

[mutu310 70]

It isn't going to be a "sync" operation as what we're talking about is making them the same item from a user data perspective.

 

Perhaps a better approach in this particular case would be to not show suggestions that already exist in the user's library.  I mean, they already have it so what is the point...?

 

The plugin already has this option (not enabled by default) to not add suggestions to the channel if they exist in the library, however if you add it to the library after it's added to the channel it won't remove it from the channel, otherwise I would need to stay comparing with the library every time I'm building the channels list which might be slow on some devices with a large library (or set up a separate scheduled task which clears items matching the library). Then, if it's in your library AND in your channel and you watch the movie in your library, the channel won't show the watched status.

[mutu310 70]

I think I know why the played status may not be linking up. My channel is not on a per-user basis (I think) whereas the library is.

 

I reduced the impact of the syncing issue by introducing a new scheduled task that removes movies from my channel if they exist in the Emby library and are played by all users. The problem is that if someone set up two users but only really uses one then this won't work.

 

Also, is there a reason why I can't programmatically set the played status while building the channel items?

[ebr 16169]

Also, is there a reason why I can't programmatically set the played status while building the channel items?

 

You can, but that data is related to a user.

[mutu310 70]

You can, but that data is related to a user.

 

How do you do this please?