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rickm

(NOTE: I'm running Matrix 19.5. I intend to upgrade soon)

I've been scouring the forum and the web but can't find anything similar to my simple nfo file problem.

I have various videos that, as expected, can't scrape. For example, videos from YouTube that are interviews with series creators, cast, etc. All I want is for them to get added to the kodi library, and not just just the "Files" section.

I've uploaded the debug log file to nocatumovi (paste) . It looks like it matches the nfo file to the video file, and opens and closes the nfo file twice, but then declares "VideoInfoScanner: No NFO file found."

I put these files in the "Specials" directory along side the Seasons. I've tried both S00E21 and 0x21 formats in the file name. I've tried a few variations of this nfo file:

<episodedetails>
<title>Buffy the Vampire Slayer.0x21.A_Buffy_Bestiary</title>
<uniqueid type="doco">doco021</uniqueid>
</episodedetails>

The uniqueid is confusing to me. The database field is an integer (which I've also tried) but the nfo file doc gives an example like "home001". Does each nfo file I create like this need a unique uniqueid value, even across different TV series? (Of course I assume it does, but...).

**DarrenHill** · 2023-08-12, 23:44

The forum moderators have determined that banned addons (wiki) are present on your system. To receive assistance here, these banned items must be removed. If a clean log is not submitted within 3 days, then the relevant post(s) will be removed after this time.

**Karellen** · 2023-08-12, 23:47

(2023-08-12, 23:31)rickm Wrote: I have various videos that, as expected, can't scrape

You are using a broken scraper for TV Shows. Change to TVDB v4 scraper.
You are also using a broken scraper for Movies. Change to TheMovieDB Python scraper.

(2023-08-12, 23:31)rickm Wrote: <episodedetails>
<title>Buffy the Vampire Slayer.0x21.A_Buffy_Bestiary</title>
<uniqueid type="doco">doco021</uniqueid>
</episodedetails>

If that is your entire nfo file, then it won't work as there is not enough info. Use one of the templates... https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Templates

Also, just noticed all the Banned Add-ons (wiki) you have installed. Can't help you any further until they are all removed.
The forum moderators have determined that banned addons (wiki) are present on your system. To receive assistance here, these banned items must be removed. If a clean log is not submitted within 3 days, then the relevant post(s) will be removed after this time.

Sidewinder_2011 · 2023-08-12, 23:47

@rickm sorry but got lots of banned addon on your system ,which means you won't getting any help unless you remove all banned addons and post a clean log .

rickm · 2023-08-13, 05:26

Thanks to all who pointed out the banned addons. My initial evaluation install was at least 7 years ago. I used one of those quickstart wizards. It left lots of cruft.

I think I got rid of them all. The banned list mentions <Universal Scrapers>. I have 3 of those which don't have Uninstall options, but they seem to come from "Olympia, Team Kodi", which looks legitimate and is mentioned on this forum.

Here is the debug log: niqikalala

**Karellen** · 2023-08-13, 05:32

(2023-08-13, 05:26)rickm Wrote: I think I got rid of them all.

Most, still a few left. They are the orange coloured items near the start of the log.
If you can't uninstall them, they can be deleted from here... /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/kodi/addons

rickm · 2023-08-13, 05:35

(2023-08-12, 23:47)Karellen Wrote:
(2023-08-12, 23:31)rickm Wrote: <episodedetails>
<title>Buffy the Vampire Slayer.0x21.A_Buffy_Bestiary</title>
<uniqueid type="doco">doco021</uniqueid>
</episodedetails>
If that is your entire nfo file, then it won't work as there is not enough info. Use one of the templates... https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Templates

Oh, I wasn't expecting that answer. According to this doc page, only 3 tags are required: NFO_files/Episodes

I will try a full template as you suggest.

**Karellen**

(2023-08-13, 05:35)rickm Wrote: Oh, I wasn't expecting that answer. According to this doc page, only 3 tags are required:

Yea, I don't know how to make that page any clearer. I'll give it some more thought.
Its meant to read as - Out of all the tags you use these 3 tags must be used.
It's not meant to read as- You only need to use these 3 tags.
You need to include other data, but which you use are up to you.
Maybe I'll just mark more of them as "Required"

rickm · 2023-08-13, 06:20

(2023-08-13, 05:32)Karellen Wrote:
(2023-08-13, 05:26)rickm Wrote: I think I got rid of them all.
Most, still a few left. They are the orange coloured items near the start of the log.
If you can't uninstall them, they can be deleted from here... /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/kodi/addons

Thanks! Looks like they're all gone now. Feels good to be rid of all that crap after all these years.

Log file: cowidikuko

rickm · 2023-08-13, 06:30

(2023-08-13, 05:58)Karellen Wrote:
(2023-08-13, 05:35)rickm Wrote: Oh, I wasn't expecting that answer. According to this doc page, only 3 tags are required:
Yea, I don't know how to make that page any clearer. I'll give it some more thought.
Its meant to read as - Out of all the tags you use these 3 tags must be used.
It's not meant to read as- You only need to use these 3 tags.
You need to include other data, but which you use are up to you.
Maybe I'll just mark more of them as "Required"

Actually, the doc page does seem correct about the 3 required tags. I got my original nfo format to scan just now by adding only the xml version tag at the top!

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<episodedetails>
<title>Buffy the Vampire Slayer.S00E22.2xEX.Beauty_and_the_Beasts</title>
<uniqueid type="doco" default="true">doco001</uniqueid>
</episodedetails>

Am I right that I can leave out the uniqueid field (doco001 above)?

**Karellen** · 2023-08-13, 06:56

(2023-08-13, 06:30)rickm Wrote: Am I right that I can leave out the uniqueid field (doco001 above)?

No, it is must have.
And it needs to be unique even across different series.
TMDB has that episode... https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/95-buffy-t.../episode/7

rickm · 2023-08-13, 07:34

(2023-08-13, 06:56)Karellen Wrote:
(2023-08-13, 06:30)rickm Wrote: Am I right that I can leave out the uniqueid field (doco001 above)?
No, it is must have.
And it needs to be unique even across different series.
TMDB has that episode... https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/95-buffy-t.../episode/7

Looking at the uniqueid table, the uniqueid_id has been created as a unique integer for the 36 files I scanned into the library. The 'value' column is "doco001" for all of my manually scanned nfo files. Since the 'value' is defined as the "ID at scraper site", and with the nfo file I think it will never try to scrape anything, won't this be harmless?

If you do think it's a problem, I can clean it all out and set the value field to be unique. Kind of a pain going forward with the other odd-ball stuff I'd like to create nfo files for. I would write a script to create these files and generate unique value entries by persisting the last-used value somewhere.

BTW, thank you so much for you help and patience!

**Karellen** · 2023-08-13, 07:59

(2023-08-13, 07:34)rickm Wrote: Since the 'value' is defined as the "ID at scraper site", and with the nfo file I think it will never try to scrape anything, won't this be harmless?

It's not about scraping at a scraper site. Its about having a UniqueID in the database for Kodi's internal use.
If you could use a non-UniqueID, then we wouldn't have the UniqueID field.
Using the scraped ID was simply the easiest way of introducing a UniqueID to the entry without someone writing code for it.

rickm · 2023-08-13, 21:22

(2023-08-13, 07:59)Karellen Wrote:
(2023-08-13, 07:34)rickm Wrote: Since the 'value' is defined as the "ID at scraper site", and with the nfo file I think it will never try to scrape anything, won't this be harmless?
It's not about scraping at a scraper site. Its about having a UniqueID in the database for Kodi's internal use.
If you could use a non-UniqueID, then we wouldn't have the UniqueID field.
Using the scraped ID was simply the easiest way of introducing a UniqueID to the entry without someone writing code for it.

I could live without understanding this, but poking around is one way I learn about things...

Looking at the uniqueid table, uniqueid.uniqueid_id is the primary key for the table. It's an integer with the extra flag of "AUTO_INCREMENT". I believe this is the necessary unique ID you're describing.

The uniqueid.value is the text string for the "ID at scraper site", and is allowed to be NULL. The nfo doc and the template & examples even show providing multiple scraper sites and scraper IDs for a single title. In this case, the instruction is given to specify which one scraper and scraper ID is the default. The database structure shows shows that all uniqueid table fields except for uniqueid_id are allowed to be, and actually default to, NULL.

Several other tables and views have fields that are defined as "link to uniqueid table". For example, episode.c20, movie.c09, episodeview.c20. For some reason these fields are text instead of integer, but the content of c20 is definitely the integer number from uniqueid.uniqueid_id (not the uniqueid.value scraper ID).

So, from what I see, anything including nothing can be given as the value in the nfo file tag for uniqueid, and kodi still generates the unique `uniqueid_id` as you described.

Maybe it's from legacy code that name "uniqueid" is used in nfo files for the scraper type (imdb, tvd, etc) and scraper ID? It would be much clearer if the nfo tag was "scraperid" since that's what it's providing. The value given to the nfo file tag "uniqueid" is placed into the uniqueid table as the field "value", not the uniqueid_id which is auto-generated by kodi as being the unique ID that it requires for its internal use.