[mythtv-users] Rerecord large groups of recordings in digital

[Joseph Fry]

>>> The beauty is, that everything you do in the menu can be accomplished
>>> by editing the database.  I don't know what exactly "allow this
>>> episode to rerecord" does... but there is no doubt in my mind that you
>>> could reproduce this in scale with a few lines of SQL.
>>
>> This would be a good approach for me. I am a programmer (actually these
>> days I program in Qt) but sql update queries will be pretty easy for me
>> provided I find the right place to update..
>
>
> Just make sure before you start poking raw data in the database you read all
> of the MythTV source code and understand all of the data constraints and
> requirements, as they aren't expressed in the database.

>> Yesterday I tried deleting all of the 200+ items in oldrecorded for a
>> particular show expecting it forget the old. That did not help. I had to
>> still force recording via the upcoming recordings screen of mythweb.

Did you trigger a scheduler run afterward?

> See, if you don't understand the data and how it's used by the application,
> you can't just edit data to get what you want.  Instead, you may end up the
> data and a) get no noticeable effect, b) get the desired effect and an
> undesired effect, c) not get the desired effect and get an undesired effect,
> or even d) break the application (due to breaking assumptions it makes about
> the data).

Of course tinkering in the database directly is risky.  Doesn't mean
that it should not be done under any circumstances.  Because there is
some real world applicability, and because the poster is a capable
programmer, don't you think it would be more constructive to tell him
what he needs to know rather than to warn him away from doing it.

I realize he could spend time reading through all the applicable code
to determine the way to properly make the scheduler ignore all
previous recordings of a given show... but that is not a very
efficient use of anyone's time.  Not when a quick explanation from an
experienced developer would achieve the same thing in minutes.

> This is /exactly/ why we have a user interface for MythTV.  It allows people
> to use MythTV without spending months (years--I'm still learning all the
> data requirements for MythTV and I do a /ton/ of work related to those data
> requirements) learning the data.

And the limitations of the user interface is exactly why the community
has developed hundreds of scripts to achieve things that the
interface, often wisely, leaves out.  To develop a single purpose
script, he need not know all of the ins and outs of the database...
just the portions relevant to what he is working on.

> Note that just because one speaks SQL doesn't mean they know the MythTV data
> constraints.

I agree with you Mike, manipulating the database is risky, and
requires some understanding about the structure and constraints of the
database.  I just don't agree that before you touch the database you
need to understand every detail about it; especially when others have
that knowledge and can share the relevant bits.