STV Import: MovieTimes Movie Listings Import v0.57 Beta

[mike1961]

Well, let me just say thanks again for a great plug in; I'm really enjoying it. One interesting minor thing I noticed and I'm not sure if it is the plug in or the Sage interface but when I see movie times and there is the little down arrow in the lower right corner I can use my arrows or PgDn key or remote to scroll down (to see more movie times for that specific ie) but I cannot click on the down arrow with the mouse. Again, it's a minor thing and I'm not sure if it is the plugin or Sage interface but I thought I would mention it.

Thanks again,
Mike

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by jlabrue

Awesome work aperry! I think everything functionally is working for me now. The only thing I am unsure of is the automatic refresh. When I checked it today it still showed Sunday listings. I checked the file and it had updated this morning but the listings had not changed. I will check again tomorrow and see if it was something on my end. After restarting the GUI it did refresh.

The new update looks great, aperry! It is definitely handling those "sparse" movie listings with no problem now. I did note the same behavior as jlabrue, though. My listings all still begin on this past Monday, 5/22, but the earliest date in the moviedata.xml is today, 5/24.

Keep up the good work!

[aperry]

I'll take a look at the refresh data. I know I put in the code to check the date of the moviedata.xml file when you first start, then again every time you select List Movies or List Theaters (and loading new data if file is newer). I even tested it, but something apparently is not working. Anyhow, I'll figure out what's going wrong. Thanks guys for letting me know.

[aperry]

Originally Posted by mike1961

One interesting minor thing I noticed and I'm not sure if it is the plug in or the Sage interface but when I see movie times and there is the little down arrow in the lower right corner I can use my arrows or PgDn key or remote to scroll down (to see more movie times for that specific ie) but I cannot click on the down arrow with the mouse.

I'll take a look and see what I can do. I don't use a mouse for navigation, so I had not tried that.

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by aperry

I'll take a look at the refresh data. I know I put in the code to check the date of the moviedata.xml file when you first start, then again every time you select List Movies or List Theaters (and loading new data if file is newer). I even tested it, but something apparently is not working. Anyhow, I'll figure out what's going wrong. Thanks guys for letting me know.

Just as a quick testing update. I did verify that it is NOT refreshing on my box without restarting the GUI. I still have listings from the 22nd and after a restart of the GUI it now only shows from the 24th forward. It's still way too cool.

Let me know if you need any additional data from my end

John

[mike1961]

Something I noticed that does not make sense but first a suggestion. Is there any way to quickly see the DETAILS (the plots) of all the movies when I do a List Movies?

So - let's say I want to see the Details (here's what I don't understand and what I have to do now):

1. I click List Movies
2. I see All Movies
3. I select a movie (ie: Akeelah and the Bee)
4. I see all the Theaters for Akeelah and the Bee so I select a theatre (ie: Mann Agoura Hills 8) in order to view the Details of this movie.
5. Now I want to see the details for another movie so I click BACK
6. It takes me back to where I was at #4 seeing all the theaters where Akeelah and the Bee are playing (so far so good). I click Back again.
7. Now it's showing me All Movies for Mann Agoura Hills 8 and not All Movies total where I was at #2 which is what I would expect. I was never viewing all the movies at Mann Agoura 8. I'm not sure if this was intended but it is taking me back to a place I was never at. I then hit Back again and now I'm at the main menu for List Movies, List Theaters, etc. So, I cannot get back to where I was previously and when I list Movies I have to scroll down to where I was before to view the next movie.

Does it make sense what I'm trying to do? First, Back is taking me to a place I was never at. It is not taking me back to where I was previously (to view all the movies but it is viewing movies at that one selected theater). Second, I'm trying to quickly see all the plots (Details) of all the movies in my area without caring what theater they are playing at since all the theaters are nearby. So, I'm wondering if there is a quick way to view the details of ALL the movies in my area without having to select a theater?

Thanks again for the plugin and great support,
Mike

[aperry]

First, are you sure you're running the latest version (0.53 posted on 5/21)? The navigation stuff you talk about (list movies, select, lists theaters for that movie, select, details, back, back) should list all movies - at least it is showing that on mine. I'll take a look, but I know that was part of the latest release.

Regarding your suggestion. I'm considering other types of navigation for theaters/movies, but right now I'm going to stick with what we have. It takes a few extra clicks perhaps for some types of things, but you can get to the info you want... I know there are about 293875 or so other ways you could navigate this data, and will probably add some others at some point. Because of the way the screens work now, I'd probably have to create a different set to navigate the way you describe, because the details screen requires BOTH a movie and a theater to be selected. Again, I'll look at other alternatives as we go.

[aperry]

I did a quick check, and the "newer file" loading code did not get in the STVI I released on 5/21. I'll get a new version out sometime tonight that includes those changes. Not really sure how this could have happened, except me copying the wrong version of the file into the ZIP, but I'll get it taken care of.

I'll also double-check and make sure that the issue that mike1961 reported is not happening as well. It may have slipped through the cracks as well.

Again, all these are fixed, just doesn't seem to have made it into the STVI that got distributed.

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by aperry

I did a quick check, and the "newer file" loading code did not get in the STVI I released on 5/21. I'll get a new version out sometime tonight that includes those changes. Not really sure how this could have happened, except me copying the wrong version of the file into the ZIP, but I'll get it taken care of.

I'll also double-check and make sure that the issue that mike1961 reported is not happening as well. It may have slipped through the cracks as well.

Again, all these are fixed, just doesn't seem to have made it into the STVI that got distributed.

Thank aperry! You da man

[mike1961]

aPerry - no problem....you have a great plugin here and I was just reporting a place it was taking me "BACK" to that it shouldn't with the latest update on 5/21. Overall - I'm just glad I have this working now so well on all my clients.

EDITED: should you decide to incorporate other navigation, one thought might be to simploy put the Details on the left side when doing a List Movies since there is plenty of room.

Thanks again,
Mike

[aperry]

Version 0.54 has been released.

This should include the auto-loading of new movie data when a new file is detected.

I also rechecked the scenario that mike1961 described, and it still works correctly for me. Mike1961, please load this new version and see if the movie/theater navigation is working as you expected.

[cslatt]

Hey aperry, just letting you know I decided to take the plunge today and got 0.54 all setup. I had a couple of issues, but I managed to work around them.

- Initially after I would pick my config file it wouldn't do anything. I'd go back to the menu and it would still want me to select a config file. I restarted the GUI and then when I picked a config file it asked for my locations file and everything moved on fine from there.

- The interface for picking the folders for movie data, posters and trailers was acting really screwy. When I would try to navigate around, the sub-folder names were garbled and unrecognizable and when I would click "specify" and type in the directory I wanted it would then dump me back to the directory picker, but picking "select current" didn't do anything. I eventually worked around it by specifying the directory under the one I wanted and then picking the appropriate subdirectory with the directory picker by trial and error. I know this is difficult to explain in text, so if you want I'll get some screenshots when I get home from work.

Other than having to work around those two issues, the installation instructions were excellent and everything seems to be working great. Thanks for all your hard work!

[aperry]

Originally Posted by cslatt

Initially after I would pick my config file it wouldn't do anything. I'd go back to the menu and it would still want me to select a config file. I restarted the GUI and then when I picked a config file it asked for my locations file and everything moved on fine from there.

I'll look at this. I have been tinkering in that area trying to fix some other things, so I may have messed up that navigation. Probably something simple if that's the case...

The interface for picking the folders for movie data, posters and trailers was acting really screwy. When I would try to navigate around, the sub-folder names were garbled and unrecognizable and when I would click "specify" and type in the directory I wanted it would then dump me back to the directory picker, but picking "select current" didn't do anything. I eventually worked around it by specifying the directory under the one I wanted and then picking the appropriate subdirectory with the directory picker by trial and error. I know this is difficult to explain in text, so if you want I'll get some screenshots when I get home from work.

Please do post some screenshots. I'll take a look. Let me know if you have anything that's different (like using a different main directory, different directories for the posters/trailers, etc). Also, let me know which version of Sage you are running.

[grooves12]

What is the correct process for loading the newest version?? Do you have to re-import it??

I tried doing that with the lastest version upgrading from one of the older ones, and now everything is all garbled on the detailed info screen. It displays movietimes and other info that should be being displayed in the bottom window in the upper right window over the top of the movie description and movie poster, so any of the info is impossible to read in that window and the lower window has nothing listed in it. Rolling back to the old STV doesn't exhibit this problem, but then I have the navigation problems and no auto-update.

[cslatt]

Originally Posted by aperry

Please do post some screenshots. I'll take a look. Let me know if you have anything that's different (like using a different main directory, different directories for the posters/trailers, etc). Also, let me know which version of Sage you are running.

I've attached a screenshot of the garbled directories as promised. I'm using a custom main directory, with different custom directories for posters and trailers. (C:\Tools\MovieTimes\, C:\ToolsMovieTimes\Posters\, C:\Tools\MovieTimes\Trailers\) I'm running sage 5.02

[Stuntman]

I would love to see the trailers but I run my entire home via a sage server in the garage and multiple MVP's...

I wonder.....

If the MVP doesn't support the .mov file type, are there any free or opensource tools that convert .mov files to a type that the MVP can play? It would be a neat thing to have this plugin, or some type of scheduled event that could take the downloaded trailers and convert them to a useable type and then remove the original file once completed... perhaps in the same daily schedule that this stvi uses to get movie times..

Anybody thing this is reasonable, or possible??

[snoopy]

Do you have to use Studio to get this to work?

[aperry]

Originally Posted by grooves12

What is the correct process for loading the newest version?? Do you have to re-import it??

Unfortunately, yes, you do have to re-import at this time. I am using Nielm's generic importer, but for some reason, this does not want to do a replace of an existing import (I think it is supposed to).

So, go back to the STV that was pre-MovieTimes and reload MovieTimes.

[aperry]

Originally Posted by cslatt

I've attached a screenshot of the garbled directories as promised. I'm using a custom main directory, with different custom directories for posters and trailers. (C:\Tools\MovieTimes\, C:\ToolsMovieTimes\Posters\, C:\Tools\MovieTimes\Trailers\) I'm running sage 5.02

Yep, I took a look at mine tonight and saw the same thing (been a while since I tested those pop-ups). I'll get it fixed and a working version out soon.

[aperry]

Originally Posted by Stuntman

I would love to see the trailers but I run my entire home via a sage server in the garage and multiple MVP's...

I wonder.....

If the MVP doesn't support the .mov file type, are there any free or opensource tools that convert .mov files to a type that the MVP can play? It would be a neat thing to have this plugin, or some type of scheduled event that could take the downloaded trailers and convert them to a useable type and then remove the original file once completed... perhaps in the same daily schedule that this stvi uses to get movie times..

Anybody thing this is reasonable, or possible??

Yeah, I've thought of that too. I think that is something we'd have to put "down the road" though. I want to at least get some sort of trailer playback working first.