Same folder in multiple libraries

[DuckingOfficer 11]

Der all,

 

I want to achieve that one folder is part of two libraries.

 

Currently, if I add the same folder to two libraries, the contents of it only shows up in one of them.

 

I know I could use collections as a replacement, but I continuously add stuff to these folders. I want to avoid manage collections separately in Emby is well.

 

Is this possible?

 

Thanks!

Edited January 13, 2019 by DuckingOfficer

[PenkethBoy 2068]

No the same folder cannot exist in two libraries

[DuckingOfficer 11]

Is there any other strategy to achieve the goal or is Emby the wrong tool for me?

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Maybe tell us why you want this and how you want it to work

 

cant think why i would want this myself - need more info

[DuckingOfficer 11]

Folder structure:

 

• Videos
  • Documentaries
    • 2011
    • 2012
    • 2013

 

I want to have the flexibility to have the following libraries then:

 

• Videos (should include ALL videos)
• Documentaries (should include ALL documentaries)
• Documentaries 2011 (should include documentaries from 2011 only)

 

I can't add those manually to collections because I have multiple hundred items per folder.

Edited January 13, 2019 by DuckingOfficer

[PenkethBoy 2068]

One way it could work is have a single videos library or documentary library

 

and assuming you have metadata use the filter options which are easy to change (in 4.*) on the fly - say year

 

do you have other directories in videos?

[DuckingOfficer 11]

I didn't know there are easy filter options on 4.x. Maybe I will have a try, but it's still beta. I don't feel comfortable using a beta version in a productive manner.

 

The files sadly don't have metadata. It's only identified by sitting in that specific folder that this documentary is from that year. Sometimes it's in the filename as well, but not all the time.

 

Yes, there are more directories in Videos, e. g. Concerts.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

The current beta 4.* will be out very soon as some final things are being ironed out - so you wont have to wait long

 

You could easily add metadata to the files - i use Mp3Tag which also supports mp4 and mkv files

 

I have a lot of content without Internet metadata (107 libraries!!) and add what i need to the video files and emby will read it - you can do multiple files at once in mp3tag

 

e.g. Year (or you could add (2018) to the file name), Genres (i use a comma separator), Podcastdesc - (gets picked up as the video synopsis), Title, Copyright (gets picked up as Studio)

 

There might be another one or two which are read for video files but those are the ones i use

 

So in your case i would try the following

 

 

Assuming no existing libraries are using videos/documentaries etc

Create a Library called Documentaries point Emby to the directory below videos 

Edit the metadata for a video as above and - assuming you have real time monitoring on - give emby a couple of minutes to find and read the new metadata - or run a scan - if that does not work do a full metadata refresh on the video

 

If you do it correctly and the new metadata appears then the 2011/2012 etc dirs could be removed

 

Have fun

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

Maybe tell us why you want this and how you want it to work

 

cant think why i would want this myself - need more info

 

A simple reason to have one folder in two libraries is so you can have separate libraries where one contains "kids" shows and shows that are appropriate for kids and adults and another library that contains movies that are appropriate for adults only as well as the one from the first library that is appropriate for both.

 

I have that setup and it works fine and movies show exactly where they should. The only thing I have run into is if I have a collection that has movies in all three libraries it it but also has one or more movie from a library I am browsing then all movies in that collection (no matter what library they are in) are visible in all libraries whe viewing that collection inline in any library.

 

To put it simply: When I have movies in a folder that is included in two libraries that content shows in both libraries exactly as expected.

[ebr 16184]

A simple reason to have one folder in two libraries is so you can have separate libraries where one contains "kids" shows and shows that are appropriate for kids and adults and another library that contains movies that are appropriate for adults only as well as the one from the first library that is appropriate for both.

 

You should be able to do this either with Parental Controls or with the new folder-level access in 4.0.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

You should be able to do this either with Parental Controls or with the new folder-level access in 4.0.

 

But it is not needed to do it with other tools. The method I use works fine and it requires special actions.

 

Including folders in separate libraries just works and that is all I need.

[DuckingOfficer 11]

How did you make that work? For me, the folder will only show in one of the libraries (probably the one where I added the folder first)

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

How did you make that work? For me, the folder will only show in one of the libraries (probably the one where I added the folder first)

 

I did nothing special at all. It just works!

 

My system is running on Windows 10, if that matters and it just might make a difference of some sort.

 

After thinking a bit more about this the one thing I can think of is that my library system that I use this in this is a "Movies" library. I guess it is possible that other library types might not behave the same way although it seems that all types should work the same.

 

Just to be sure that we are taking about exactly the same thing this is a simplified explanation of how I have things set up:

 

I have three folders off the root of my main drive:

Folder_A

Folder_B

Folder_C

 

I have two libraries:

Library_1

Library_2

 

The contents are as follows:

Library_1 contains Folder_A and Folder_B

Library_2 contains Folder_C and Folder_B

 

with this setup I see:

All the contents of Folder_A in Library_1 but nowhere else

All the contents of Folder_C in Library_2 but nowhere else

And all the contents of Folder_B in both Library_1 and Library_2

 

That setup just works exactly as expected for the most part.

 

One other thing that might make a difference is that I have only one user, me, so there are no complications involving users and that "might" make a difference.

[ebr 16184]

I did nothing special at all. It just works!

 

My system is running on Windows 10, if that matters and it just might make a difference of some sort.

 

After thinking a bit more about this the one thing I can think of is that my library system that I use this in this is a "Movies" library. I guess it is possible that other library types might not behave the same way although it seems that all types should work the same.

 

Just to be sure that we are taking about exactly the same thing this is a simplified explanation of how I have things set up:

 

I have three folders off the root of my main drive:

Folder_A

Folder_B

Folder_C

 

I have two libraries:

Library_1

Library_2

 

The contents are as follows:

Library_1 contains Folder_A and Folder_B

Library_2 contains Folder_C and Folder_B

 

with this setup I see:

All the contents of Folder_A in Library_1 but nowhere else

All the contents of Folder_C in Library_2 but nowhere else

And all the contents of Folder_B in both Library_1 and Library_2

 

That setup just works exactly as expected for the most part.

 

One other thing that might make a difference is that I have only one user, me, so there are no complications involving users and that "might" make a difference.

 

Just FYI 4.0 (release soon) is going to change the way this is setup but you will be able to do the same thing.  Information on exactly how will be forthcoming with the release.

 

Thanks.

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

Just FYI 4.0 (release soon) is going to change the way this is setup but you will be able to do the same thing.  Information on exactly how will be forthcoming with the release.

 

Thanks.

 

I am currently running the 4.0.0.1 beta and It apparently works exactly the same. It may change the initial setup but as long as the functionality does not change it is quite OK with me.

[VladTepz 47]

N/M was going to suggest symlinks until I realized your current folder structure...  

Edited January 14, 2019 by VladTepz

[DuckingOfficer 11]

I am also now running 4.0.1.0

Still, there is no option to allow the same path/folder in multiple libraries / it just ignores it as in 3.x

[Luke 42079]

That's correct. This is not currently supported.

[6387363TOY 2]

On 2/11/2019 at 10:07 AM, Luke said:

That's correct. This is not currently supported.

Is this feature supported now?

[Neminem 1519]

Nope, well not that I know of.

It will still break your DB.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong

[pwhodges 2012]

Luke sometimes remarks that it can work if the libraries are of the same type, with the same option settings, and the folder is always shared at the same level (so that the paths to the files in the database are always the same).   

I've not risked trying it though.

Paul

Edited November 5, 2024 by pwhodges

[Luke 42079]

On 11/5/2024 at 5:04 AM, pwhodges said:

Luke sometimes remarks that it can work if the libraries are of the same type, with the same option settings, and the folder is always shared at the same level (so that the paths to the files in the database are always the same).   

I've not risked trying it though.

Paul

Hi, yes this should be fine.

[Carlo 4561]

In case anyone finds this thread looking for information on adding the same directory to multiple libraries, perhaps to have a couple variations of movies or tv shows there is another way to achieve this with much greater flexibility.

Instead of trying to create libraries to customize content for users such as having a library with content from A & B for one group and B & C for another group which seems reasonable to do until you find you also need A & C, then someone doesn't want C content so you create another library with just A, then just B, then just C which is doable but gets worse the more groups you have. With 4 content groups you would have possible combinations: A, B, C, D, AB. AC, AD, BC, BD, CD, ABC, ABD, ACD, BCD, ABCD. You probably would not want 5 combinations as it would get very hard to manage. If each of the 4 content groups had 5 thousand media files the combination of libraries above 160K media entries in the database vs only 20K if it were just the original 4 groups combined.

An easier and much more efficient way to achieve this same concept that can handles many more groups while being easy to manage is using Library Folder Access permissions. Each category or group on disk will have its own parent directory on disc. One group could be on D drive, 3 groups on E drive, etc Each group will have the same hierarchy structure and will follow the normal naming conventions for its library type, As an example for a TV Show library we could have:

Anime – G:\TV Shows\Anime
Reality TV – G:\TV Shows\Reality TV
Cartoons – H:\TV Shows\Cartoons
Talk Shows - H:\TV Shows\Talk Shows
Sporting Events – I:\TV Shows\Sporting Events
News – I:\TV Shows\News
Shows – J:\TV Shows\Shows
Kids Shows – J:\TV Shows\Kids Shows

We add each of the paths as separate entries to the library.

Now when assigning library permissions to a user, instead of giving access to libraries or having to remember what each of the 15 libraries created from combinations A,B,C,D.

From all groups possibly using tags and parental restrictions to:

. 

A super easy way to grant/revoke access to the different groups of content making up the single library. The number of categories or groups really doesn't make this any harder to manage but gives you more fine-grained control over content customization, so you can adjust libraries for users removing things they won't have interest in.

Name the folders on disk how you want them to show in the library folder view. Any top-level folders seen here can turned off, providing a higher ratio of quality content.