tvshow.nfo Issues in KODI now.

[Steven K]

I'm being told by the KODI folks that <episodeguide> in the nfo's is obsolete. They are saying that essentially it is wrong. I guess the episode guide is based on the old XML scrapers not the newer Python scrapers.  All I know is that I'm seeing that KODI is not scraping everything properly with the tvshow.nfo in the folders.

They also asked me to let you know that theTVDB does not have ratings on their site so no use adding thetvdb ratings.

KODI announcement thread: KODI Forum

[Steven K]

This is some additional information from team KODI over at their forum:

TVDB are about to release their updated scraper that incorporates that episodeguide change.
Its sitting here waiting for approval... https://github.com/xbmc/repo-scrapers/pull/472. Should be merged in the next day or so.

I think the big problem right now is TV Rename. They need to do one, or possibly both of the following:

1. Update their episodeguide because they are using an old XML version that we don't use anymore (at the request of TVDB), and will become broken as soon as TVDB shut down their v1-3 API's.

    Honestly, TV Rename should have updated this within the last two years. Read more here... https://kodi.tv/article/thetvdb/
    And to be KODI compatible, it now needs to use the new JSON format episodeguide.

2. Provide a setting to prevent the episodeguide being written to the tvshow.nfo.
    If you are exclusively using nfo files always, then the episodeguide is not needed, but because it is your nfo files, Kodi runs a check on it.

So if you have any contact with TV Rename, please advise them of the above. I am happy if they contact me here for more info.

For you, because you are using TVRename and they can use TVDB for data, I would set TVDB as your scraper in KODI to match, so you don't fall foul to little, but annoying, inconsistencies between the two sites. (Wait for the updated scraper to be released).

All your previous tvshow.nfo files have this outdated episodeguide, which has been scanned into your MySQL database. They need to be removed. So your choices are...

1. Delete the tvshow.nfo file and Refresh the tv show. No need to refresh episodes if you are happy with them. (This is the preferred method).

2. Delete the <episodeguide> out of the tvshow.nfo file. Refresh the tvshow from the nfo file (really no point. Same amount of work as previous step, but for an inferior outcome) But this method prevents you adding new episodes unless you have an nfo file for the new episodes.

[Steven K]

This was mentioned in addition by the KODI team today:

But if you need to rebuild your KODI library in future, it may become a problem trying to rescan those outdated tvshow.nfo files with the wrong episodeguide. Once TV Rename is updated, it can export the new tvshow.nfo files with the new episodeguide format and you can rebuild your library using the new files.

[Sparky53]

Can you share the link to the thread please?

The article dated Aug 19th refers to the new TVDB API which we started using over a year ago.

The change to the format of the <episodeguide> tag in the XML file was only a month ago and not reflected in the Kodi documentaion yet: https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/TV_shows

[Steven K]

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=370489

[Sparky53]

I have read that - lookig for where they say: "  I am happy if they contact me here for more info.  "

[Steven K]

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=370843

[Sparky53]

Format is updated in 4.8.5 and a feature added to force updates to all NFO files (under tools menu). Wanted to get it out quickly, so it's not well tested.

FYI, I don't use the TVDB (or TMDB) scrapers from Kodi, instead I rely on the NFO scraper as the information is already in the NFO files

[Steven K]

Absolutely an awesome job here.  I posted this back over on the KODI forum to let them know of your software update.  I wasn't quite sure how your NFO files were constructed.  I figured you were grabbing them from somewhere but wasn't sure where you were scraping them from.  Because of this, I wasn't sure if this was a TVRename issue or an issue with the NFO provider.  Either way, it sounds like this issue may be resolved now in your update and hopefully KODI will play nice moving forward.

[Jürgen Schwarz]

Hi Sparky,

i tested it and found a problem.

For example the tv show American Gods the generated episodeguide looks like:

  <episodeguide>{
  "tvmaze": "-1",
  "tvdb": "253573",
  "tmdb": "46639",
  "imdb": "tt1898069"
}</episodeguide>

I think the tvmaze entry should not be there with id -1. Either no tvmaze entry or with the correct id.

This tvmaze entry with id -1 is in every generated tvshow.nfo file.

[Sparky53]

try 4.8.6  
thanks for taking time to test

[Steven K]

Response below from KODI team on your latest TV Rename version concerning tvshow.nfo.  I used the "Force Refresh ... tvshow.nfo" under version 4.8.6 before posting the new tvshow.nfo to the KODI team for review.  I've attached the same tvshow.nfo file here.  I thought the UniqueID thing was already addressed in version 4.8.6.

1. The episodeguide looks good.

2. My next major concern is the number of artwork links. This is a concern for MySQL/MariaDB shared users. See... https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues/15768
MySQL uses a Text field to store the artwork blob. The field can hold 65,536 characters.
The artwork links in your nfo file totals 72,460. MySQL will then reject it and the show will not scan.
You will see it in your Debug Log as...
ERROR: ExecuteQuery - failed to execute query
DEBUG: Mysql rollback transaction
This also applies to both movies and tv shows. Seasons and episodes are unaffected.

And I am not really sure why the artwork has been broken into sections. One big blob, then the sorttitle tag, then another big blog, then actors tags, then more artwork. And I think that is why you may not have had any problems scanning this. It scanned the big blob first, which was small enough to squeeze into the field. Then as it found more artwork it overwrote the previous blobs, not added to it, so through an error in the format of the nfo file, you did not have problems.

3. UniqueID
<uniqueid type="tvmaze" default="false">-1</uniqueid>
-1 is not unique when almost every show in your library uses -1 for tvmaze. If there is no uniqueid, it shouldn't appear there.

4. Ratings

<ratings>

   <rating name="tvdb" max="10" default="true"> 

      <value>0</value>

   </rating>

</ratings>

No point in using tvdb ratings when they don't exist. There should also be a <votes></votes> tag for ratings.

Anyway, just my advice for the developer. Item 2 is critical.

[Tom Snyder]

If it were me I'd tell them to go pound salt but then again I'm not a Kodi user.  I'm not a Kodi user because Plex and them think that only their way is the right way and I reject that.  They both have gotten swollen heads.  When I do use a Media Manager (which is seldom) I use Emby which has never hassled me.

Also, I've never used a .nfo file intentionally in my life.  Their production is turned off in my TVRename and if they get added to a torrent file I might download, they get deleted.

[Steven K]

I've been using KODI exclusively for over a decade. While it does have its own inherent quirks, it seems to be about the best thing going overall esp. across so many platforms.  I will agree that the KODI team seem to be kind of confrontational at times.  Not sure if that's because they deal with so many people ranting over there.  I was able to talk to someone who legitimately wanted to see that the nfo files get improved upon.  Since I use both TV Rename and KODI so extensively and the developers seem to want to actively improve upon things, I saw this as an opportunity to make things just a little better for both softwares.

[Tom Snyder]

Oh, I perfectly understand why you are so attached to KODI and want to get this worked out with TVRename.  When I went looking for a media manager, probably about a decade ago, if not more,  I did what I always do when I am looking for a major piece of software in my life, I read their Support pages and Support forums.  While KODI (I forget what it was called then) didn't strike me a friendly, I thought the Plex folks were just plain hostile.  I decided to move on with my search.  I finally felt comfortable with Media Browser, which later turned into Emby.  Personally I rarely use it as I'm not much of a TV or movie watcher.  My wife is the reason for my TVRename use.  I forget, off the top of my head, how many terabytes of videos she has.  She never uses a media manager though.  She could be best described as a Luddite.  She hates technology.  It was only with great effort that I was able to teach her how to use an ancient WDtv box and that is the only device she will use now.  So, to each, their own.

[Steven K]

I was in the same boat as you way back.  KODI was XBMC back then and it didn't seem all that great and was hard to understand.  I also moved on with my search and didn't really settle on anything for quite a while.  Later down the road, I was determined to find something that my wife and young kids could easily navigate as they were also not tech savvy at all.  KODI had gotten somewhat better and then I found out that it supported skins which could completely change the look, feel, and navigation.  "Movies" and "TV Shows" could show up in large letters across a nice banner in the middle of the screen that could be easily clicked on.  I agree one should use what works best for them.

[Sparky53]

Have added changes to address all issues above - will be in the next version

[Steven K]

You rock, man!!  Thank you for all your efforts.