[mythtv-users] The PNG Thumbnail generated by Default: Is it used for anything?

Wed May 16 22:59:41 UTC 2007

Mike:

Not that I really care one way or the other on this (whether they're
generated or not) but your argument stating that so long as it doesn't take
up resources it's not an issue is a bit funny.

So what you're saying is it'd be fine by you if I were to add a piece of
code into myth to generate one file name for each character of every
recorded program?  You know when you get 1301_20070516120000.mpg you
wouldn't mind if I created 23 files on disk, all of course of 0 bytes so it
doesn't take up system resources?  Why would I do that?  *shrug* why not?
By your logic I can right?  Doesn't take up resources so it must not be
hurting anything. :)

I think the point is, if they have no use, and we set the option that we
don't want them, why create them?  They clutter up the video directory, they
make deletes a royal pain in the ass, they make searching for specific files
in the video directory a pain in the ass (thank GOD for color LS that's all
I have to say), they make writing code to sim link files to other places a
COMPLETE pain in the ass, and, did I mention, if they're not being used they
are, by definition, USELESS.

Again, i'm not trying to piss off very helpful people on the discussion
list.  You guys have been great and you, personally Mike, have about 10 quad
zillion messages to this list all with alot of good insight and thought to
them...this isn't intended to be an attack.  It's simply stating that at no
point does "It doesn't hurt anything so it's ok to do" really fly.  I can
buy "It's already there and it's a pain in the ass to take out," and if
that's what you mean then so be it...but if "The point isn't that the
thumbnail images are useful or not useful, the point is that they don't use
enough resources to even allow a person <quietly>with control
issues</quietly> to disable them" really is the point then I think the best
argument for an option to get rid of it is:

Complexity Reduction.

Cause frankly, I've now generated a 15 response thread, taking God knows how
much of everyone's time, to ask the question of whether these files are of
any use or not...when just as easily I could have set the "don't generate
them if you don't want them" option and known without asking that they don't
have a use. :)

--Douglas Wagner

On 5/14/07, Bruce Markey <bjm at lvcm.com> wrote:
>
> Michael T. Dean wrote:
> > On 05/14/2007 01:20 PM, Mike Perkins wrote:
> >> Michael T. Dean wrote:
> >> <snip>
> >>
> >>> and has nothing to do with whether they're created--only whether
> they're
> >>> displayed.  Short of hacking the code, you cannot stop the creation of
> >>> these thumbnails.  We create them so that they're available /if/
> they're
> >>> ever needed because doing so doesn't hurt anything.
> >> It would be useful if one could get rid of them.
> >
> > Because you're saying that the 14MiB would be useful...how?  Compared to
>
> Mike, you've focused on disk space as the focal issue which,
> of course should not be an issue. What bugs me is the latency
> as the thumbnails are generated. It has to seek, decode, convert,
> and send data over the network. The extra files in the dir can
> be annoying and a slip up in "rm *.png" could be disastrous.
>
> It used to be that if the option was turned off, the thumbnails
> would not be created but that changed. Now they are created
> automatically to get a head start and this can cause latency
> on the playbackbox even if you've specifically asked not to
> show the previews.
>
> > Having code to turn off preview thumbnail creation is a waste of code.
>
> Um, a one liner? (I won't bother with the ratio of bytes of
> code vs terabytes of recordings ;-).
>
> > Having a setting to turn off preview thumbnail creation is annoying (we
> > have too many settings already).  And, explaining to all the users (who
>
> If the preview option is turned off for all frontends then
> there should never be any pixmaps created.
>
> > The point isn't that the thumbnail images are useful or not useful, the
> > point is that they don't use enough resources to even allow a person
> > <quietly>with control issues</quietly> to disable them.  ;)  If you can
>
> ...interesting...
>
> > convince me of a reason why that 14MiB of space on your recordings
> > directory is important,
>
> Goody, I love a challenge! The Watch Recordings is slow to respond
> at the beginning of new recordings while the data for those 14MiB
> is being generated and written even when the preview option is
> turned off.
>
> >  I will personally write a patch to allow
> > disabling the creation of preview thumbnail images.
>
> Make sure that all frontends have the preview option turned off
> so that none of the frontends (for now) need the pixmaps. If even
> one host has the option set, then enable the automatic pixmap
> generation. Use four spaces for indentation and no tabs (I'll
> test it and catch any badness before commit anyway).
>
> You've given your word so don't go "Dreamz" on us now (oh, yeah,
> you don't watch reality TV ;-). Good luck! It should actually
> be pretty easy and would be much appreciated.
>
> Thanks, Mike,
>
> --  bjm
>
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