[mythtv-users] Why doesn't 'delete recording' actually mean 'delete recording'?

[Michael T. Dean]

On 01/21/2009 11:10 AM, Phill Wiggin wrote:
> Lots of great info there, thanks Mike.
>
> But, I have to disagree with depending on how you use Myth:
>   
>> Really, though, there's no need to delete recordings when you get low on
>> space.  Just ensure that you have some (sufficient number) of them set to
>> allow autoexpire and Myth will take care of getting rid of them for you, but
>> not until you need it to.
> For instance, I tend to keep quite a few shows recorded and don't want them
> to expire, but there are others that I'm fine expiring.  At any given time,
> I don't know of an at-a-glance method of seeing how many and which files
> will autoexpire.  (I can look in a few places to gather this information,
> but it's not something that's "just there".) I much prefer knowing precisely
> how much I can record before I'll start 'losing' (expiring) shows.
>
> I guess my point is, deleting shows (and freeing up the space) cleans up
> your frontend and gives you a number that shows how much more you can record
> w/o autoexpire.  It also gives me a bit of impetus to watch some of the old
> stuff hanging around. "Uh oh, we only have 20 Gig free.. We'd better watch
> those old Mythbusters to clear off some space."  Without that number to rely
> on, Myth would just autoexpire something and those precious Mythbusters (or
> something else?) may just go away.
>
> No big deal, of course, but just one way that Myth is used and Delete is
> important.

When I said, "No need to delete recordings," I probably should have 
said, "recording files."  I agree that you should delete the shows that 
you want to disappear from the list of recordings shown in Watch 
Recordings (to keep it manageable), but they can be deleted to the 
Deleted recording group.  Since Myth /always/ autoexpires LiveTV first, 
then Deleted recgroup shows, then (assuming you've enabled, "Watched 
before UNwatched") Watched shows, then other shows based on the 
autoexpire method you've chosen, it generally "does the right thing."

I'll agree that it would be useful for Myth to show the amount of space 
used by recordings in the Deleted and LiveTV recording groups and used 
by Watched recordings.  As a matter of fact, I agree so much that I'll 
even write up a patch for it (that will go into trunk).

For those who are using 0.21-fixes, though, the attached script shows 
the info.  You can run it at the command line with:

myth_available_storage.pl --plain_text

or you can set it up in mythtv-setup as your:

Miscellaneous Status Application
External application or script that outputs extra information for 
inclusion in the backend status page.  See contrib/misc_status_info/README

(or add a call to the script you have set as your "Miscellaneous Status 
Application") without command-line arguments (i.e. 
"/path/to/script/myth_available_storage.pl") and then it's shown on your 
MythTV backend status page (i.e. "Status" in MythWeb).

Mike
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