[bugwelle]

Hi,

this is a feature request that may be useful to third-party media managers like TinyMediaManager or MediaElch.

What is this about?
If possible, I'd like to request a new XML tag in all NFO files, e.g. <generator> that media managers can use to write their details and metadata into.

How could this look like?
I'd like to have these tags (of course names can be changed):

xml:
<generator>                                    <!-- optional tag (all children are optional as well) -->

    <appname>MediaElch</appname>               <!-- can be any string -->

    <appversion>2.6.1-dev</appversion>         <!-- can be any string -->

    <appdata>meta data or similar</appdata>    <!-- can be any data, e.g. multiline string, more tags, etc. | only used by the media manager itself -->

    <kodiversion>18.4</kodiversion>            <!-- numerical representation of the target kodi version | decimals optional | e.g. 18, 18.4 -->

    <datetime>2019-09-09 11:04:10</datetime>   <!-- generation time -->

</generator>

Why?
Media managers do not always keep track of changes in Kodi. If users complain that "Kodi does not read my movies" it's easier to identify the culprit, i.e. the media manager that generates invalid or outdated NFO files.
Furthermore, by having a target Kodi version, media managers can better distinguish how to read NFO files. For example MediaElch reads both old and new ids (imdb/tmdb tag vs uniqueid) in case that "old" NFO files are used.

Current solution
MediaElch does not write any details about itself to NFO files (that will change in the future, though).
TinyMediaManager (if I remember correctly) writes a comment with its version and the current date + time at the beginning of the NFO.

Downside?
More tags. That may not be favorable as it adds more complexity to the existing logic.

Comments are welcome.


Regards,
Andre

[Karellen]

@bugwelle

What is the intention with the tags?
1. Do you want Kodi to read them, maybe into the database, or
2. Do you simply need them visible in the nfo file for reference

If option 2, Kodi will ignore unfamiliar tags, so you would be safe adding them and they will not affect the scraping process.

[bugwelle]

What is the intention with the tags?

Hi @Karellen ,
my intention is to have a "standardized" way to write this kind of metadata. A tag that can be used by all media managers and maybe Kodi itself. I thought about adding a few MediaElch related tags but wanted to suggest a standardized way first. In case that other developers or users approve this idea as well (or don't)
 

1. Do you want Kodi to read them, maybe into the database, or

I don't think this would have any benefit.
Except maybe a tag for Kodi's version. Kodi could notify users if their NFO files are outdated (or just add it to its debug log).

I don't mind if this doesn't make it. It's just a wish that may be useful in the future.

[Karellen]

It certainly sounds like a good idea, but I think you would be hard pressed to make option 1 a reality. Like you said, there would be no benefit for Kodi at all to have this information.

This is something that the media manager developers need to discuss and agree upon for uniformity. And if no-one agrees, there is absolutely nothing stopping you from implementing it in MediaElch. It makes no difference to Kodi as any tags it does not recognise will be ignored.

I don't think the other media manager developers browse the forum to any great extent, so it may be worth pinging them to read your post.

[jjd-uk]

bugwelle makes a valid point that having an agreed format means it can be checked when Kodi is scraping local nfo's and if reported in the debug log that could be useful to have when scraping problems are encountered.

[bugwelle]

@mlaggner, you're one of tinyMediaManager's maintainers if I'm correct.
tinyMediaManager currently writes a simple comment (see code) which it doesn't use otherwise (correct me if I'm wrong).  
Would a `<generator>` tag be useful for you?

@DanCooper, you're the maintainer of Ember Media Manager, right? I haven't used EMM yet because I don't use Windows but would you be interested in this as well?

[bugwelle]

Just FYI: The next release of MediaElch will add such `generator` tag. :-)