[mythtv] Improving the Previously recorded list

[Peter Bennett]

On 09/28/2017 02:36 PM, Peter Bennett wrote:
>
>
> On 09/28/2017 07:26 AM, Michael T. Dean wrote:
>> On 09/27/2017 04:06 PM, MythTV wrote:
>>> #13135: Previously recorded list
>> ,,,
>>>   The previously recorded list can become huge. There is a limit of 
>>> 20000,
>>>   which reduces its usefulness. Scrolling through thousands of 
>>> entries is
>>>   not optimal.
>>>
>>>   As a solution, add a search menu to the previously recorded list, 
>>> with
>>>   options for searching on title and date range. The search will 
>>> apply at
>>>   the sql level.
>>>
>>>   With this change, I may reduce the default number of entries, 
>>> perhaps to
>>>   10000, to improve performance and reduce memory usage. Entries 
>>> that are
>>>   not reached because of the limit can be accessed with an appropriate
>>>   search. The number of entries returned can be overridden with a 
>>> setting.
>>>
>>>   I will also add a notification to inform the user if the limit has 
>>> been
>>>   reached and some entries are not shown.
>>
>> Peter,
>>
>> There had been discussion before about making Previously Recorded 
>> into a 2-column list, like Watch Recordings, such that the user sees 
>> a list of all the titles/recording group/category/..., then can 
>> scroll to a one to see the episodes for that title.  It could differ 
>> slightly, if necessary, for performance--such as using lazy loading 
>> (get only the titles/recgroups/categories, then after the user 
>> scrolls and selects one--with SELECT or RIGHT or whatever--load the 
>> episodes or whatever).  This might be easier than a search function 
>> that requires typing with an on-screen keyboard (at least I generally 
>> do all I can to avoid the on-screen keyboard use with my remote, but 
>> maybe others are more adept at their use).  It also has the benefit 
>> of allowing us to do similar to what we do with Playlists in Watch 
>> Recordings (though the wording should be different here)--allowing 
>> the user to add all items in group to list, then with list options, 
>> delete items from history or allow rerecord or ...
>>
>> David Engel probably has the most-thorough plan--I'm pretty sure it 
>> was on his TODO list (though not near the top).  Anyway, just wanted 
>> to mention another idea and suggest talking with David.
>>
>> Oh, and FWIW, thank you for taking this on.  It's been a pain to use 
>> the Previously Recorded screen, and I'm looking forward to a day when 
>> it's finally easy to use.
>>
>> Mike
>> _______________________________________________
>
> Hi Mike
>
> I had thought of making a 2 column list, similar to the one used in 
> Schedule programs -> Program Finder. However people still need to be 
> able to look at a list by date, for when you want to check what 
> recordings were missed in the last few days if the power has been out.
>
> I also thought of having 2 columns, the left column being either Title 
> or Month and Year, depending on whether you are sorting by title or by 
> date. Selecting an entry for a title or month and year would bring up 
> the list of episodes for the title or titles and episodes for the 
> month and year.
>
> This would be a lot more work, I believe, than the search I had 
> suggested, but probably a better solution.
>
> One thing that concerns me is creating a new window in the themes, 
> thus placing a burden on theme authors to support it in their themes. 
> The default window layout may not mesh well with all themes. I did 
> create a new window for startup some time ago and it works well in 
> most themes even without being customized there. I had thought of 
> using the Program Finder window but that would really be a hack, as we 
> don't need the alphabet list for this, and stuffing dates into the 
> title button list for the date sort option would likely have nasty 
> side effects. Also that window is implemented very differently in 
> different themes.
>
> On a related note, I plan to write an article for the wiki for code 
> developers with tips for adding new windows and new widgets to 
> windows. IMHO the default theme items can be made more compliant with 
> different themes than what they currently are, so that if a new window 
> or widget is added it can fit better into themes that do not yet know 
> about it.
>
> Peter
>
> _______________________________________________

David

Do you have any comments or suggestions around the problem of the 
previously recorded list, or my plans for improving it?

Peter