[vbat99]

Tested with Windows Helix 14.0 and Raspbmc Helix 14.0

Add tv source (has 11 shows, two of which have no episodes)
Set to TV Shows, Local Information only (All shows are scraped with Media Companion, so have local nfo and artwork)
Select yes to scan.

Library shows 11 Tv Shows, two of which have no episodes. Perfect.

Now, go settings -> Video -> library -> Clean Library and select Yes.
Clean zips through very fast.

Head back to Tv Shows and check...now only showing 9 Shows, and only the shows that have episodes.

This is a Stock install. No extra Addon's, no advancedsettings.xml file.
Tv source is on a Nas, SMB, and drive is spun up.

Now, when I add a TV Episode to one of the empty shows, in this instance Sherlock, and have this scraped by Media Companion, and then do a Library Update on Helix, the show and episode do not get added to the Library.

If I then go to Files, and select the tv source, and select 'Scan for New Content', Both missing shows are found and added to the Library. Till I do a Clean library, and the empty show is removed.
Finally, if I remove the episode from Sherlock, so it now has no episodes, and do a Clean library, it is again removed from Helix Library.

Help and thought would be appreciated.

[Karnagious]

What would you expect from a Clean other than to remove items in the database that have no playable media files?

Removing shows with no episodes is a feature (core function), not a bug. If you delete all the episodes, the show SHOULD disappear from the library. If it doesnt, then why bother Cleaning?

Given that, it would be a significant bug if a library scan added back TV Shows that were just removed by a Clean. What point would Clean be if you had to run it EVERY time the library was updated?

[Ned Scott]

Actually, there's some disagreement in this area about what the behavior should be. This is actually quite common, especially for people who prune after watching things but want to keep track of in-progress shows.

In v14 the behavior was changed so that empty TV shows would be cleaned out unless you have <hideemptyseries> set to "true" in advancedsettings.xml (wiki). See https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/5643

Personally, I would have rather had the cleaning of empty series be a separate setting, as there is value in seeing all the shows you are watching, and right now the only choice is to remove them or hide them. However, I can understand the logic of why this was done.

Thankfully, in v15, this is being re-evaluated and it looks like we will likely get both settings separated again, and they'll be exposed as GUI options: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/6024

[tvtv]

id say it should be an option to select... i can see from both sides here, annoying when you have gone to the trouble to setup faves but yet populated them (but you may wish to just tidy up missing episodes or even double entries)

thanks Ned for mentioning this:

Thankfully, in v15, this is being re-evaluated and it looks like we will likely get both settings separated again, and they'll be exposed as GUI options: https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/6024

[vbat99]

I agree with Ned, that should have been an option under library to hide empty shows.

That it removes the show is wrong, specially if. The show folder is present in the source, and has an nfo.

But my main problem is, when an episode is put with the show, that the show does not get added back to the library.

On the pi, I did set hideempty to true, but it didn't scrape the show. I didn't try scan for new content and then and clean.

For what it's worth, and hoping in v15, clean library should only remove shows and episodes if they no longer exist.

[menakite]

On the pi, I did set hideempty to true, but it didn't scrape the show.

Did you add it under <video>?

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <video>
    <hideemptyseries>true</hideemptyseries>
  </video>
</advancedsettings>

However, that only prevents removing the show on a library clean.
Adding a file should have changed the path hash and get it added again. I think you can fix it by "touching" its directory:

Code:

$ touch /path/to/the/show

then update your library.

For what it's worth, and hoping in v15, clean library should only remove shows and episodes if they no longer exist.

That'd make a lot of sense to me, but I think I'll add a separate setting (as mentioned in the PR) as I think there will be some disagreement on this (random example: Karnagious wouldn't like it).

[vbat99]

On the pi, I did set hideempty to true, but it didn't scrape the show.

Did you add it under <video>?

Code:

<advancedsettings>
  <video>
    <hideemptyseries>true</hideemptyseries>
  </video>
</advancedsettings>

However, that only prevents removing the show on a library clean.
Adding a file should have changed the path hash and get it added again. I think you can fix it by "touching" its directory:

Code:

$ touch /path/to/the/show

then update your library.

Yes, On the Pi I already had an advancedsettings.xml file, as I had <importwatchedstate>, and <dateadded> entries.

I will do some experimenting in Windows Kodi again, before I play with the Pi (Wife annoyed it wasn't showing some series, and then annoyed with me doing the experiments) LOL.

I think it will be easiest to go FIle -> select source -> Scan for new content, making sure I have <hideemptyseries>true.

Your comment to use

Code:

$ touch /path/to/the/show

would work on the Pi, but what about windows? As I see it, there is still a bug if, as you mentioned,

Adding a file should have changed the path hash and get it added again

but it isn't happening, even for Helix on Windows.

---

For what it's worth, and hoping in v15, clean library should only remove shows and episodes if they no longer exist.

That'd make a lot of sense to me, but I think I'll add a separate setting (as mentioned in the PR) as I think there will be some disagreement on this (random example: Karnagious wouldn't like it).

I feel it should be an option to Hide the empty shows from library view, not to eradicate them completely from the database.
If you have z:\TV\The Voice (US) folder, and your source for TV is z:\TV\, then any Tv Show within the source should be in the database.
But, if you delete the folder The Voice(US) or move it out of the source for TV, then it should be removed from the database, as only then is it not available.

I know, only my two cents worth. And someone should update the Wiki, as it still has <hideemptyseries>false</hideemptyseries> as the default, if now on Helix true is the default. link

[Ned Scott]

The wiki is updated for that setting. The default is still "false", because empty series aren't hidden, they're removed completely.

[vbat99]

The wiki is updated for that setting. The default is still "false", because empty series aren't hidden, they're removed completely.

Doh! Sorry fingers tapping faster than the brain could think.

---

Thinking then, that hideemptyseries isn't actually the correct logic.

As if True, we should be hiding them...(but we're making them visible and stored in the database)...but with false, they are being removed...? I'm not spock, but think that is illogical capt.

[Ned Scott]

Yeah, it's very wacky right now, but thankfully it's getting replaced in v15 with two GUI settings :)

[vbat99]

Reading 6024 discussion now, and I can see how easy it is for mis-interpertation of idea's.

Thanks Ned Scott and menakite, at least I wasn't going crazy. Still, I now have to add a setting to everyone's Kodi Helix device, and remember about it till the next version of Kodi. (meaning I have friends who I maintain, upgrade their XBMC/Kodi units).

Cheers

---

I really have to do some testing with advancessettings and hideemptyseries, cause I just read anaconda post 4 days ago, and it's a bit confusing

@HitcherUK currently empty TV shows (empty = no episodes) are removed silently, so artwork etc are lost. In Helix they're kept if <video><hideemptyseries>true</hideemptyseries></video> is added to advancedsettings.xml, but that doesn't work if you want them shown in the library.

I take it from this comment, that even with hideemptyseries to True, that they still won't show in the library.. -> but that doesn't work if you want them shown in the library.

[Ned Scott]

Correct. This just prevents them from having to be rescanned each time. A real fix won't be in until v15.

[vbat99]

So been playing with a Openelec Isengard beta on my Rbp 2, and this setting of hideemptyseries is just not right.

It should be an option for one function, not for two. I, probably the minority, prefer to keep a full list of TV Shows, empty or with episodes, specially when I use addon like Next Aired.
<hideemptyseries> should be just to hide in the TV Library, not also to stop them being removed during a library clean.

Add an option like <cleanemptyseries>true</cleanemptyseries> to allow the Clean library to remove empty series make far more sense.

I couldn't find any option in Library Settings to keep the Empty Series, and find it annoying that once a clean library is done, next library update adds them all back in again.

Please can someone make sense of this logic?

[Ned Scott]

Yes, that's exactly what we've been talking about. There has been work to change the behavior and use different GUI settings for each function. Unfortunately, the change did not get added to v15 and I'm not sure why.

[vbat99]

@ned Scott.

Thanks Ned for the reply. I was hoping I had missed a Gui setting. I did spot there was no further chatter on https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/6024 since 1st Feb, so was hoping it had come to fruition in V15.

It's more a nuisance at this time, so with luck, we may see this in J?? V.16 Kodi.