Restricted Imported Videos

[farscapesg1]

I've been waiting for this in the main SageTV program since I started using it back at version 4....

Is there any way to restrict access to imported videos? I'm currently using SageMC and would like to be able to import videos and assign them to a custom group (Other for example).

The problem is, I don't want any images showing up on that folder in the imported video view, and when someone tries to access it I want it to require a password.

I'm not a programmer, so I won't pretend to understand why this hasn't been incorporated into the core program a long time ago. It just seems logical to have some sort of security/protection on this level.

Am I living in a dream world of ever getting to see this functionality in the core program or more importantly in SageMC?

[petereader]

I don't know if you can do specifically what you are talking about, but you can get pretty close. Discussions here:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...0&postcount=24

and here: (someone asking for something similar)
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...59&postcount=1

Only problem with nielm's solution is that you'll still be able to see the thumbnails/titles, but access will be restricted.

[stuckless]

Programtically, I don't think that it's very hard to implement a "password" on video source directory, but i think it should be done in the API. ie, I think that api calls such as GetMediaTitle or GetThumbnail should return null (or something appropriate) if the media fiel is protected and you haven't authenticated in your context. I think that using password protecting a directory is a good approach, because you don't want someone seeing the thumbnail contents OR titles in a protected folder.

Of course, a much better approach would be to introduce the concept of "User Profiles". In my world, I tend to believe that the reason why Sage hasn't introduced password protected folders, is that they are secretly working on user profiles, and they will someday surprise us with this feature

[Skirge01]

I'm one of the people who has responded in those other threads and been looking for this solution. Take a gander over here and give that a shot. If you use that method, you don't need to worry about thumbnails or titles.

However, I did find an issue with this method which has apparently been fixed in the next version of SageMC. I'm still using this method, but have removed any direct links to the "Video Library Folder View" until the next release of SageMC.

[farscapesg1]

I've tried the "custom video library" configurations without a lot of luck right now. I may take another stab at it. However there are two issues....

1) This has to be configured on each client from my understanding. I have two clients (gameroom and bedroom) as well as an extender. So, from my understanding I would have to create custom menues on the server and both my clients. I'm assuming that making the change on the server will filter down to the extender and placeshifter interfaces? I currently run my server in "service mode".

2) My directory structure on the server will have to be completely redone or this will be a HUGE headache. My structure right now is similar to....

E:\Movies
E:\Movies\Stealth
E:\Movies\Hulk 2
E:\Movies\LORT
E:\Movies\LORT\LORT 1
E:\Video\Adult
E:\Video\Adult\Bad Bunnies
E:\Video\Adult\Bad Bunnies\Bad Bunnies #1
E:\Video\Adult\Bad Bunnies\Bad Bunnies #2
etc...etc...

In other words, each video is in it's own folder with the video files and a folder.jpg file for image purposes. If these videos are part of a series, they are grouped into a "series" folder and then seperate subfolders for each video under that. So, my understanding with this process is that I would either have to comletely redesign my directory structure to put all the video files in one folder, or I have to edit those custom menues to include\exclude every folder

I really wish that Sage would implement "user profiles" in the core product, but I know this has been asked for since at least back around version 4 with no changes being implemented yet.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by farscapesg1

1) This has to be configured on each client from my understanding. I have two clients (gameroom and bedroom) as well as an extender. So, from my understanding I would have to create custom menues on the server and both my clients. I'm assuming that making the change on the server will filter down to the extender and placeshifter interfaces? I currently run my server in "service mode".

You are correct in that you'll need to make the change on each of the clients. However, technically, you don't need to make them on the server if nobody but you has access to it. My server has only what's necessary to be installed and I run it as a service, anyhow.

Originally Posted by farscapesg1

2) My directory structure on the server will have to be completely redone or this will be a HUGE headache. My structure right now is similar to....

E:\Movies
E:\Movies\Stealth
E:\Movies\Hulk 2
E:\Movies\LORT
E:\Movies\LORT\LORT 1
E:\Video\Adult
E:\Video\Adult\Bad Bunnies
E:\Video\Adult\Bad Bunnies\Bad Bunnies #1
E:\Video\Adult\Bad Bunnies\Bad Bunnies #2
etc...etc...

In other words, each video is in it's own folder with the video files and a folder.jpg file for image purposes. If these videos are part of a series, they are grouped into a "series" folder and then seperate subfolders for each video under that. So, my understanding with this process is that I would either have to comletely redesign my directory structure to put all the video files in one folder, or I have to edit those custom menues to include\exclude every folder

I don't believe so. All I've done is either include or exclude the top directory, which automatically applies to all the child/sub folders. Like you, my adult stuff is completely separate from the regular movies (different drives even). On mine, the E:\Video folder would be the only one excluded from the main menu "My Videos" menu item and it would be the only one INcluded on the My Menu --> Other Videos menu item (which also has a PIN code).

What I think you'd need to do is add this code to the one you want to EXCLUDE the adult stuff from:

        <internalScreenMenuItem icon="hover_my videos.png" screen="Video Library Folder View" title="My Videos">
            <evalExpression>AddStaticContext("PathFilterExprs", new_java_util_ArrayList())</evalExpression>
            <evalExpression>java_util_List_add(PathFilterExprs, "E:\\Videos")</evalExpression>
            <evalExpression>AddStaticContext("PathFilterExcludes", true)</evalExpression>
        </internalScreenMenuItem>

Note the "true" statement, which is what says to exclude this folder.

Then, you'd use something like this code on the menu item you want to INCLUDE only the adult stuff in:

        <internalScreenMenuItem icon="hover_my videos.png" screen="Video Library Folder View" title="Other Videos">
            <evalExpression>AddStaticContext("PathFilterExprs", new_java_util_ArrayList())</evalExpression>
            <evalExpression>java_util_List_add(PathFilterExprs, "E:\\Videos")</evalExpression>
            <evalExpression>AddStaticContext("PathFilterExcludes", false)</evalExpression>
        </internalScreenMenuItem>

Note the "false" statement, which is what says to include ONLY this folder. I'm not 100% certain about this second set of code, since I'm not in front of my computer at the moment. I'll take a look tonight and post the exact code I have for the "Other Videos" menu item.

Also, keep in mind that you'll need to create the menu items before you can do this including or excluding in the SageMC menu file (sagemcmenu.xml, I believe). After you create them, you'll clearly see where you need to put the above lines of code and what would need to change for your particular menus. While I'm using UNC paths to my server shares, the docs for SageMC show regular mapped drives, so the above should work just fine.

[farscapesg1]

That looks like what I did, guess I will have to try it out again tonight.

As for the server, my understanding is that I have to configure the menues on it so that my SageTV HD Extender pulls those menues down. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I would edit for the Extender to get the correct videos in the right menu screens.

[Skirge01]

As for the server, my understanding is that I have to configure the menues on it so that my SageTV HD Extender pulls those menues down.

Ahh... ok. I'm not using an extender, so your needs are probably different for the server. That also brings up the question of how the exclusions get passed down to the extender. I have no knowledge of how the extenders work, so maybe someone else can offer some advice there. But, does the server have a sageclient.properties file that it uses for the extender? I'm also wondering if the paths need to be UNC paths for the client. You may want to try creating them as unmapped shares and change the code accordingly. It's worth a shot, right?

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Ahh... ok. I'm not using an extender, so your needs are probably different for the server. That also brings up the question of how the exclusions get passed down to the extender. I have no knowledge of how the extenders work, so maybe someone else can offer some advice there. But, does the server have a sageclient.properties file that it uses for the extender? I'm also wondering if the paths need to be UNC paths for the client. You may want to try creating them as unmapped shares and change the code accordingly. It's worth a shot, right?

Each extender (HD or MVP) has its own sageclient.properties file on the server. Look in the "Clients" directory. Each extender has a directory named by the MAC address of the device.

Gerry

[farscapesg1]

OK, I think I almost have it. Now my only issue is the "Other Video" view shows all the groups. I have things sorted by groups, then sorted by folder. If I assign one of the "restricted" videos to a group, it shows the group (and image) on the regular video screen but there is nothing visible to play in that group. So, I'm fine with leaving them unassigned, but when I go to the "Other Video" screen, it shows all the groups (though again, nothing inside them to play) and my restricted videos show under Unassigned.

So close... and something I can probably live with. Heck, I'd be okay with it if I could assign different views to each video screen, but changing one seems to change the other.

[Skirge01]

I'm not certain I'm following, but I'm also not using groups, so I may just be lacking the knowledge at the moment. If I get some time tonight or this weekend, I'll try messing around with adding the adult stuff to a group and see if it winds up opening them up to being viewed off the main menu. Mine are sorted simply by folder, so we're at least on the same page there.

I have a hunch that the groups are completely separate from the filters, since what the filtering does is actually block any of those folders. It knows there's content with that group, so it displays the group, but the filter blocks the folder from being seen. From your description that the group shows up without any folders visible, my theory sounds perfectly logical.

[Skirge01]

I added the adult content to the Misc category and it did not show up in the filtered view, so it had no effect at all. I tried every possible view combination and nothing changed. No matter what I tried, the adult content would not show up in the main, filtered view.

Have you tried doing a full re-index of ALL your videos? It could just be that it's remembering the old data.