[mythtv-users] Pilots and Premieres power search anyone?

[Erik Karlin]

On Fri, Oct 02, 2015 at 07:19:49AM -0400, Michael T. Dean wrote:
> On 10/01/2015 06:06 PM, Hika van den Hoven wrote:
> >Hoi Kenneth,
> >
> >Friday, October 2, 2015, 12:04:36 AM, you wrote:
> >
> >>On Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 10:51 AM, Michael T. Deanwrote:
> >>>On 09/29/2015 11:35 AM, Jim wrote:
> >>>>On 9/29/2015 10:32 AM, Kenneth Emerson wrote:
> >>>>>I have used Doug's power search with a few more categories added, and
> >>>>>it is working fine for the new season.  My question is this: Once I've
> >>>>>decided I don't want to watch a particular series and I select the
> >>>>>Edit Recording Rule for that program and tell it to never record, does
> >>>>>that affect the power search rule or is there a separate rule created
> >>>>>for each match the power search finds?  I'm afraid that I'll affect
> >>>>>all of the other series that are being recorded.
> >>>>>
> >>>>>If it is the former, how do I change the rule under which the series I
> >>>>>want to keep is recorded? (i.e. remove it from the power search rule
> >>>>>and give it its own).
> >>>>That is only going to record the pilot shows.
> >>>>You have to watch it and decide if you want to continue recording that
> >>>>show.
> >>>>If you do then you must create a rule for that specific show.
> >>>>If you don't like it - do nothing.
> >>>>
> >>>Alternatively, create the rule and set it to inactive.  Then, the rule will
> >>>match first episodes, but won't record anything.  So, at the start of fall
> >>>season, mid season, and summer season, you can go through your Upcoming
> >>>Recordings list, find all of the matches (marked to not record because the
> >>>rule is inactive) and, if you decide you want to record the series, create
> >>>an any time/all channels rule for the series.  This way, you don't have to
> >>>watch the premieres immediately (or risk missing episodes because you were
> >>>behind) and when you get around to watching, you can either keep the
> >>>rule/recordings or delete them if you decide it's not worth watching.  This
> >>>approach notifies you of new shows to allow you to create new rules for the
> >>>series.  Usually, it takes me a couple of times looking at Upcoming
> >>>Recordings to create the rules for the new season/mid-season because they
> >>>spread out the premieres over about a month, and I only have 2 weeks data.
> >>>
> >>>With this approach, there's no reason to do a "Never Record", either.  If
> >>>you don't want to record the show, just don't make a rule for it and since
> >>>the "First Episodes" rule is inactive, it won't even record the first
> >>>episode.  This is actually good because all of those "Never Record" rules
> >>>slow down scheduling a little bit each (where scheduling performance is
> >>>related to the number of programs (often related to the number of channels),
> >>>the number of "previously recorded" programs, and the number of recording
> >>>rules (including Never Records, etc.)).  And if you'd like to clear out
> >>>old/no-longer-necessary recording rules, use the frontend's Manage
> >>>Recordings|Recording Rules interface, and to clear out
> >>>old/no-longer-necessary recording history (i.e. you've already recorded and
> >>>watched an entire series that has run to completion and deleted the
> >>>recording rule for that series), use the frontend's Manage
> >>>Recordings|Previously Recorded interface (which can either delete individual
> >>>episodes or all episodes of a given series--use the MENU).  And, FWIW, you
> >>>can clear out programs by using mythtv-setup's Channel Editor to delete
> >>>channels you don't want/need (i.e. all those shopping channels, etc.) or, if
> >>>nothing else, just set the channel to not visible and remove its XMLTV ID
> >>>and remove the channel from your XMLTV configuration or your Schedules
> >>>Direct lineup and once your current listings for that channel expire, you'll
> >>>no longer have programs for that channel.  (Make sure you remove the channel
> >>>from your XMLTV config/SD lineup, even if you delete the whole channel from
> >>>mythtv-setup so it doesn't cause problems, and so you don't waste resources
> >>>pulling channel listings you don't need.)
> >>>
> >>>Mike
> >
> >>Thanks, Mike, and to all the others that answered.  I used Mike's
> >>suggestion and that works quite well from the front-end (not so well
> >>in the web I/F).  Although, I had to really search to find the
> >>'Inactive' switch.  Looking at the Upcoming Recordings, the ones that
> >>are inactive are marked with an 'X'.  Choosing one and hitting enter,
> >>I choose override rule which appears to create a new rule for that
> >>series.  Now, I just need to remember to check for this about once a
> >>week or ten days!
> >I think the created override rule is just for that one episode. And be
> >aware it's time set. So if the start-time is adjusted at the last
> >moment, which regularly happens here with some channels, it wont
> >record!
> 
> It's actually easiest to use MythWeb to create the new rules for the
> showings that match the First Episodes inactive search (though it's
> easiest to create the First Episodes custom recording rule in the
> frontend).  In MythWeb's Upcoming Recordings, the First Episodes
> will be listed without a border around the Status box (first column)
> and no status description in there (i.e. not "Earlier" or similar).
> Then, just click (or middle-click to get a new tab) the title and
> change to "Record at any time on any channel" and uncheck the
> "Inactive" checkbox and set any other desired rule settings.
> 
> MythWeb allows you to create a new rule for an episode that matches
> an existing rule.  In the frontend, doing so is much harder.
> 
> Mike

What I do from the frontend when I see a show I want to record is to
highlight the episode, hit 'O'ther to bring up the other episodes,
choose the second episode and create a record-all rule on that one which
then records the pilot episode too. Of course, this depends on future
schedule data but it's worked for me like this for a long time.