[pkscout]

OK, I've got a new beta for folks to test. It's available here.

v.1.4.1.1
- added ability to override artist bio, albums, and similar artists with local info
- fixed bug when using both local and remote images
- added French localization strings and description (thanks to mikebzh44)
- UTF8 encoded message strings

The local overrides are going to take a little explaining. I was moving right along on the file based album and similar artist override when I ran into a problem. By trying to parse a filename, you are limited to the characters allowed by the file system. My test was an album that had a colon in it (which is not OK on OSX), and I was really unhappy with that compromise. So the final solution uses XML files similar to the ones generated by last.FM, but much simpler (i.e. they only include the necessary elements). I think this balances simplicity with the flexibility to have the full range of characters available.

For bio, similar artists, and albums, override is the default and only behavior. That is, if the necessary files exist in the correct locations, data will be pulled locally. Here's the directory structure:

Code:

root
--<artistname>
----extrafanart
----override
------albums (folder with artist album art)
--------albumname.jpg (any XBMC image type supported)
--------anotheralbumname.jpg
------artistbio.nfo (see below for format)
------artistsalbum.nfo (see below for format)
------artistsimilar.nfo (see below for format)
------similar
--------artistimage.jpg
--------anotherartistimage.jpg

Example artistbio.nfo

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<artist>
    <content>This is Christina Aguilera's bio.

This is stuff about Christina.
    </content>
</artist>

Example artistsalbum.nfo

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<topalbums>
    <album>
        <name>Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits</name>
        <image>Keeps Gettin' Better - A Decade of Hits.jpg</image>
    </album>
</topalbums>

Example artistsimilar.nfo

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<similarartists>
    <artist>
        <name>Katy Perry</name>
        <image>katy_perry.jpg</image>
    </artist>
</similarartists>

Let me know what you think and/or if you find anything isn't working as expected.