Hi Myron,
Thanks for the response.
Only after numerous trials and many hours of pulling my hair out did I realize that Kodi wasn't updating the NFO, and that it keeps its own DB. I guess I knew this subconsciously b/c I've used Kodi for years without any client/server plugins like "Emby for Kodi" or "PleXBMC". Also, it does not read the NFO file again after initial scrape, unless you force it to do so. However, when using Emby for Kodi (plugin), I need my client (Kodi) to tell the server (Emby) that media should be marked as "watched" so my user experience is the same across all clients (e.g. not watched on one client, watched on the other). "Emby for Kodi" will do this, but only if you ONLY use the plugin library modules, and NOT the local TV and Movie hubs native to Kodi. I found this out the hard way...I would watch some stuff through the Kodi TV hub and things like movies through the Emby for Kodi plugin folder (basically a pointer to my server). I couldn't figure out why TV episodes would not stay "watched" but movies would. The other issue I had that was compounding the first, was that I had Sonarr set to download "Series Metadata" and "Episode Metadata" in the Emby and Kodi formats. I thought this only applied to the initial download of the show/episode, but what I found out was that during Sonarr's nightly refresh, it would overwrite the existing NFO file, thereby wiping out the "watched" flag...ARGH! Another setting on Sonarr that I think was causing issues was related to File Management. Sonarr renames the files according to my settings but with "Change File Date" set to "Local Air Date", I believe it was AGAIN overwriting my NFO files and killing my watched flag. Neither of these issues are relevant to TMM, but I'm asking the question about TMM because I noticed while troubleshooting that TMM is not READING an updated NFO file. I was using TMM to rewrite the NFO files so that I could have a baseline for testing Emby, Sonarr, and Kodi. I got so frustrated that I was close to abandoning TMM altogether, setting Sonarr to download ONLY the media file (no metadata or art), and using Emby alone for file management, metadata, and art. But I really like TMM, and there are features in TMM that don't exist in Emby, such as the ability to batch edit (especially NFO files), so don't worry, I'm not giving up just yet...
So, after all that...yes, Emby updates the NFO file directly. I have verified this directly. Couple of questions regarding TMM:
1. Does TMM read the NFO files during a source update (e.g. pull in the watched flag)?
If not, can this be added to the feature request list? Like an on/off switch for those that don't want it to read the watched flag from the NFO file?
Taken a step further, you could allow the user to set the "master owner" of each field (watched flag, title, plot, etc.) so that, upon update, if TMM notices a change to a field that it "owns", it can overwrite it with data in the database, and for things that have changed that it doesn't own (e.g. watched flag set by Emby), it can change the database to match the new value. This ability would allow the user to maintain full control of his/her metadata/art while still using the best features of other software (e.g. Emby, Sonarr, Couchpotato).
Having the the TMM database reflect what is stored in the NFO file, and the related art stored in the same folder, would also provide a great baseline for what media SHOULD look like on the client.
2. Apart from "Rewrite NFO for selected TV Show(s)", "Rewrite NFO for selected TV Episode(s)", and the initial scrape of new items, when does TMM edit the NFO file?
Lastly, please don't take my questions & suggestions as complaints...I love TMM. I use it every day and I think it's a great tool...but after going through this ordeal, "total control" is near and dear to my heart.
Thanks,
Matt
