[falafael]

got a little problem with the columbo tv show, i have 8 episodes that belong in season 10 that are specials, but i cant get kodi to see them, i have named that special 1, and special (episode), but no luck..rare i get specials on, but missus likes columbo, so any advise could be appreciated
thanks!

[blossom24]

Hi falafael,

Specials belong in Season 0

Even though your specials are part of Season 10, you should name those Specials as Columbo S0E01, Columbo S0E02 etc (or whatever your naming format is)

Check out the Specials page for Columbo at TVDB http://thetvdb.com/?tab=season&seriesid=...7838&lid=7

[themusj]

I have my Columbo file names for the special like so, Columbo - 0x01 - Death Hits the Jackpot. However, they are also showing up in the listing for Season 10. I tried to add an extra 0, like Columbo - 00x01 - Death Hits the Jackpot and that didn't help. I saw one post which said to go by the TVDB numbers. I don't see anything close to a naming scheme like 0x01. They are just listed in sequential order 1, 2, 3. Is there some special place to see the actual numbers Kodi will use?

[Karellen]

@themusj

they are also showing up in the listing for Season 10.

Yes, that is expected as that is the way it is set on TheTVDB website.

This is an extract of the info for that episode from TheTVDB site...

XML:
<Episode>

  <id>1630661</id>

  <Combined_episodenumber>1</Combined_episodenumber>

  <Combined_season>0</Combined_season>

  <DVD_chapter></DVD_chapter>

  <DVD_discid></DVD_discid>

  <DVD_episodenumber></DVD_episodenumber>

  <DVD_season></DVD_season>

  <Director>Vincent McEveety</Director>

  <EpImgFlag>1</EpImgFlag>

  <EpisodeName>Death Hits the Jackpot</EpisodeName>

  <EpisodeNumber>1</EpisodeNumber>

  <FirstAired>1991-12-15</FirstAired>

  <GuestStars>|Rip Torn|Betsy Palmer|Warren Berlinger|Antony Ponzini|Jamie Rose|Gary Kroeger|Penny Santon|Brit Lind|Marilyn Tokuda|Robert Alan Browne|Daniel Trent|Donald Craig|Peter Schreiner|Dona Speir|Gerry Okuneff|Webster Williams|Shane McCabe|Locky Lambert|</GuestStars>

  <IMDB_ID>tt0101603</IMDB_ID>

  <Language>sv</Language>

  <Overview>After winning a $30 million lottery, photographer Fredy Brower, who wishes to keep the money a secret from the wife who is divorcing him, arranges with his uncle, wealthy jeweler Leon Lamarr (Rip Torn), to pretend the lottery ticket is Lamarr's, until the divorce is final. Little does Brower know his uncle is having an affair with Brower's wife. Lamarr kills Brower in order to keep the lottery winnings for himself.

</Overview>

  <ProductionCode>82236</ProductionCode>

  <Rating>8.0</Rating>

  <RatingCount>5</RatingCount>

  <SeasonNumber>0</SeasonNumber>

  <Writer>Jeffrey Bloom</Writer>

  <absolute_number>59</absolute_number>

  <airsafter_season></airsafter_season>

  <airsbefore_episode>4</airsbefore_episode>

  <airsbefore_season>10</airsbefore_season>

  <filename>episodes/70369/1630661.jpg</filename>

  <is_movie>0</is_movie>

  <lastupdated>1533796579</lastupdated>

  <seasonid>17838</seasonid>

  <seriesid>70369</seriesid>

  <thumb_added></thumb_added>

  <thumb_height>300</thumb_height>

  <thumb_width>400</thumb_width>

</Episode>

Notice towards the bottom of the list the <airsbefore_episode>4</airsbefore_episode> and <airsbefore_season>10</airsbefore_season>. This is TheTVDB telling Kodi to place the episodes before episode 4 in season 10.

You should still have a Specials listing also at the top of the Seasons list.

It is a bit tricky to remove this...
1. Export your library to Separate Files
2. Find the NFO Files for those episodes you want to change. Should be sitting right next to the Video file
3. Edit the file and delete those two tags and then save the files
4. Refresh the show and episodes.

I have also moved this thread to Metadata Scrapers forum.

[themusj]

So I would delete the lines in bold since this episode is a special and should not be included in season 10. And then do this for all the episodes showing up twice.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<episodedetails>
    <title>Death Hits the Jackpot</title>
    <showtitle>Columbo</showtitle>
    <ratings>
        <rating name="tvdb" max="10" default="true">
            <value>8.000000</value>
            <votes>5</votes>
        </rating>
    </ratings>
    <userrating>0</userrating>
    <top250>0</top250>
    <season>0</season>
    <episode>1</episode>
    <displayseason>10</displayseason>
    <displayepisode>4</displayepisode>

[themusj]

I assume too I have to re-import these files? I now have a nfo for each movie and tv in the same directory as the movies and tv shows. Or does it now read those .nfo files where the movies and tv shows are at?

[Karellen]

So I would delete the lines in bold since this episode is a special and should not be included in season 10

Correct.

And then do this for all the episodes showing up twice

Yes, for each Special that you only want in the Specials listing, and not inserted into Season listings, edit the NFO Files for each of them.

I assume too I have to re-import these files

Yes. Call up the Information Page for that show... https://kodi.wiki/view/Basic_controls#Information_Page

Select Refresh
It will ask you to "Ignore local Files and scrape from the Internet" (or similar wording) Select No because you want to refresh from the NFO Files.
When it asks to "Refresh Episodes also", select Yes

I now have a nfo for each movie and tv in the same directory as the movies and tv shows

Yes, you now do. Consider them a backup of your library. Or just do a search for nfo from your file browser on whatever operating system you are using and delete them.

does it now read those .nfo files where the movies and tv shows are at

No, Kodi does not use the NFO files unless
1. you perform a Refresh as you did above
2. The movie or TV Show is not already in your library and you perform an Update Library.

[themusj]

Thank you!. Worked great plus I learned a lot of useful information. Very much appreciate your help!

[themusj]

Follow up question. As I add new content, in order to get the new nfo files, I will have to export everything again. Will that overwrite the pre-existing ones with the same information or will it make copies?

If exporting them makes copies, I would soon have bunches of them.

If it overwrites them, will the nfo files contain the same information that was 'refreshed'? I am assuming so, but would like to be sure.

Ideally, it overwrites them and the artwork with the current information in the database.

I recently installed the Program Add-on backup. Not sure it is needed with the ability to export the above information?

[themusj]

Think I found the answer:

The final option is Overwrite Old Files.

Choosing Yes will overwrite the existing nfo files and artwork. This is useful if you have modified your metadata such as changed the artwork, created or modified movie sets, etc. Any movies/tv shows/music videos that were not present since the last Export will have the nfo and artwork exported to their directory.

Choosing No will add nfo files and artwork to those movies/tv shows/music videos that do not already have them. eg they are new and added after the last export. If you made changes to a movie/tv show/music video that already has an nfo created, these changes will not be exported.

[Karellen]

Great, looks like you found the answers.

Just to confirm...

- Only one nfo file can exist per movie/tvshow/episode. This means the previous one will be overwritten.
- The export function will export new information you previously "refreshed" into the library. If it is in the library, then it will be exported.

Personally, I run the export once every two weeks. It saves any changes I made as well as preserving my Watched status, Resume Points and Play Counts. In addition to those 3 items, I also modify the Genre as well as Certification to reflect the ratings used by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, as many movies (and all TV Shows) don't have (or have incorrect) Australian certification ratings at the scraper sites.

If you are using the Program Add-on backup simply to backup your library, then it is not required as the NFO Files are the backup.