[mythtv] Improving the Previously recorded list

[David Engel]

On Thu, Sep 28, 2017 at 02:39:18PM -0400, Peter Bennett wrote:
> 
> 
> 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

There are ways to handle that, though, it leads to more complicated
code.  Basically, if the theme contains the new elements, it provide
the full, new capabilities.  If, however, the theme doesn't contain
the new elements, it falls back and only provides the old
capabilities.

> > 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?

I replied to Mike's this morning.  Did it not make it out?

David

> 
> Peter

-- 
David Engel
david at istwok.net