[mythtv] [Philosophical Discussion] VCDX patch for MythDVD

Mark Edwards mark at edwards.homelinux.net
Wed Aug 27 10:52:39 EDT 2003


Mark -

you make a very interesting point re- archiving. If I may, I would be keen
for you to consider the concept of Hierarchical Storage Management". This is
where the metadata for a particular file can be on the local online storage,
however the real data may have been 'migrated' to lower-cost or
lower-availability storage (such as offline disk, optical disk, tape etc)
The file is however retrievable - the operating system knows from the
metadata where the file is and requests access to the media - if warranted.
Migration of files (in a true HSM system) is rules-based....

It may be possible to implement a similar archival feature in MYth - where
the metadata (and ultimate location of the file) is stored in the database.
Migration could occur either manually or as part of a set of rules... just
leave a blank cd/dvd in your drive overnight and your least wached episodes
of Buffy (or whatever) find themselves transocded and migrated to DVD -
they're still in the database however and when you want to watch them, it
just asks you for the right disc...

This is pretty much what I think you are suggesting, so with a simple rules
engine and schema we would have ourselves a true media HSM system...

Mark
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark J. Titorenko" <mythtv-dev at titorenko.net>
To: "Development of mythtv" <mythtv-dev at mythtv.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2003 8:05 PM
Subject: Re: [mythtv] [Philosophical Discussion] VCDX patch for MythDVD


> On Tue, Aug 26, 2003 at 02:49:16AM -0400, thor wrote:
> > On Monday 25 August 2003 05:49 pm, Mark Edwards wrote:
> >
> > > 1. Should VCDX go in MythDVD or MythVideo? ( This was an easy one )
> > > 2. If a user has only a single DVD drive, but still wants to play
VCD's,
> > > why do they need two buttons to push? The answer to this question is
that I
> > > havn't quite figured out how to do an 'autodetect' of the optical
media
> >
> > I haven't figured it out either, at least not yet. But it can't be that
hard
> > (Windows seems to be reasonably good at it).
>
> I imagine Windoze simply checks the directory structure on the disc to
> figure out what variety of media is present.  CDs (and HD
> directories/image files, although that's not so important in this
> case) can contain DVD data too, so perhaps the method of detection
> should be:
>
> - mount the disc
> - if we can't mount it, then try detection of:
>   (a) audio cd
>   (b) something else (ie. put more detection heuristics in here for
>   proprietary non-mountable discs)
> - otherwise, try detection of directory structure [case-insensitive]:
>   (a) /video_ts/video_ts.vob || /video_ts.vob -> DVD
>   (b) /vcd/entries.vcd -> VCD
>   (c) something else (ie. put more detection heuristics in here for
>   proprietary mountable discs)
>
> For (c), things that immediately come to mind are:
>
> - look for .avi/.mpg [video] files in / -> (simple) video archive disc
> - disc-wide search for .avi/.mpg [video] files -> video disc with some
>   structure
> - look for .jpg [image] files in / -> (simple) photo archive disc
> - look for .jpg [image] files disc-wide -> structured photo archive disc
> - look for .mp3/.ogg [audio] files in / -> (simple) audio archive disc
> - look for .mp3/.ogg [audio] files disc-wide -> audio disc with some
>   structure
> - hybrids of the above
>
> I guess that the directory structure heuristics could actually be
> applied to arbitrary directories - network mounts could be treated
> removable media...?
>
> [Personally, I'd also like something that looked for a /disc.xml file
> which is a descriptor file I put on my archive discs, which uses a
> totally invented proprietary schema.]
>
> > > MythDVD that you had intended? This would of course mean that MythDVD
> > > doesn't really become MythDVD anymore, but
> > > MythPLAY-OR-RIP-ANY-FILE-ON-REMOVBLE-MEDIA, which isn't really a
viable
> > > descriptor, but would perhaps be slightly more accurate....
> >
> > I'm kind of inclined to think that MythDVD should try and keep dealing
with
> > DVD's, whereas mythVideo (which is almost a file browser already),
should be
> > the thing that lets you play arbitrary content.
> >
> > In an ideal world, the mtd (which is already monitoring the dvd drive),
> > should be polling removable media and (if the user configures it),
should
> > fire up mythDVD on DVD insertion and mythVideo on XVCD/avi files
insertion
> > (and MythMusic on Music CD insertion).
>
> I also think that if the user hasn't configured it, they should be
> able to trigger a similar action for "playing" the disc in a
> straightforward way at any point after they've inserted it - something
> like a "MythDisc" module at the main menu which offers information
> about the disc(s?) that is currently inserted and possible ways of
> displaying/playing the data it contains (MythDVD/MythVideo/MythMusic/
> MythGallery).
>
> > I'm going to making some alterations to the mtd over the next couple of
weeks
> > in any case (music cd ripping, possibly some burning stuff) so I'll try
and
> > come up with a coherent polling strategy.
>
> With regard to the burning stuff, I've been thinking about a module
> that would allow users to "archive" content to CD-R(W)/DVD(+)-R(W)
> (mmm, brackets ;-)), to include things that have been ripped in Myth*,
> TV recordings (perhaps transcoded) and arbitrary files.  Its working
> title is "MythArchive". ;-)
>
> I thought it would be nice for it to write some metadata to the disc
> too, similar to the "disc.xml" file I currently use.  This would allow
> for easy content type detection using a single heuristic that reads
> and trusts the disc.xml file.
>
> Discs could also be allocated "catalogue numbers" and what has been
> archived where could be maintained in the myth db.  So later on, when
> you again want to watch that fantastic episode of The Simpsons that
> you recorded and archived 6 months ago, you could easily locate it
> using MythArchive.
>
> > > Havn't really trawled the code to see if this is being
> > > done, but it seems logical from a usability perspective. This is
already a
> > > function of MythVideo. With the only perceivable difference between
MythDVD
> > > and MythVideo (from a playing perspective) being the media where the
video
> > > is actually stored, do you perhaps see a merging of MythDVD and
MythVideo
> > > functionality anywhere on the horizon?
> >
> > Hey, as far as I'm concerned I'd like to see one playing screen
(recorded
> > television, music, videos, etc.). It 's all content, it has metadata,
and we
> > can organize it into any logical tree/view the user wants. But that's a
ways
> > down the road I think.  =)
>
> Hehe, that sounds cool! :-) The "MythDisc" functionality could be
> replaced by a top-level item in the tree/view that represents the
> removable media, rather than fixed internal storage, but I invisage
> that the next levels of the tree/view would be similar. Perhaps there
> could also be an option for "absorbing" the content of the removable
> media into the content tree/view and having the items that are on the
> removable storage flagged on the interface with a little disc icon or
> something.
>
> Anyway, I'm just rambling now, so I'll stop. =]
>
> Cheers,
>
> Mark.
>


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