[mythtv-users] Can MythTV make use of series and episode numbers in listings?

[Raymond Wagner]

On 12/12/2010 18:28, Chad Oppliger wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 12, 2010 at 2:03 PM, Mike Holden<mythtv at mikeholden.org>  wrote:
>> Paul Gardiner wrote:
>>> Sometimes series that have no episode names can be problematic
>>> in MythTV because of then having to use the description for
>>> duplicat detectection. Some such shows still have series and
>>> episode numbers. I until recently assumed that those were
>>> never used because the grabber I use (uk radio times), doesn't
>>> provide them, but the other day I had to look at the output
>>> of the grabber directly, and many shows had them: e.g.,
>>>
>>>     <episode-num system="xmltv_ns">7.13/15.</episode-num>
>>>
>>> Can MythTv not make use of that?
>>>
>>> I was wondering about putting a filter between the grabber
>>> and mythfilldatabase that in that case would put S7 on
>>> the end of the title, and E13 on the front of the subtitle.
>>> Would that be sensible?
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>        Paul.
>> MythTV makes use of episode numbers in preference to subtitle for
>> the purpose of duplicate detection, if they exist in the listings.
>>
>> It's only fairly recently that the Radio Times data has been
>> carrying episode numbers.
>>
>> The problem I am seeing at the moment is that some programs are now
>> recording again, even though I have already seen them, simply
>> because they now have an episode number supplied, whereas last time
>> they aired, duplicate detection was done on the basis of the
>> title/subtitle combination. MythTV now sees the same episode as a
>> new one because the previous showing had a blank episode number.
>>
>> I see no need to add the episode number to the subtitle, except
>> perhaps in the exceptional case of an otherwise blank subtitle.
>>
>> The RT episode numbers still need some improvement, as sometimes
>> it's just an episode number with no series number supplied, and
>> sometimes the numbers are simply wrong.
>> --
> I think using the title and original airdate would be more accurate.
> I would also like to see the original airdate added to the oldrecorded
> table.  Although the original airdate is not always 100% accurate it
> is accurate most of the time.  For my addon(mythepisode) the original
> airdate in the oldrecorded table would be very helpful.

The duplicate detection code actually uses the 'programid' field.  This 
field may include the season and episode in some manner depending on how 
it is generated, but it cannot be reliably depended on for retrieving 
that information.  By its very definition, it is guaranteed to be unique 
to a specific show.  If it is reused on anything not marked generic, the 
guide data provider has screwed up.  That field is always the first 
thing checked regardless of what duplicate check method has been chosen 
by the user.  If one or both videos does not have this field defined, it 
falls back to the chosen duplicate check method.