MyVideos deleted my images!

[jchiso]

I have several mpeg2 files of TV Episodes that I have archived over the years saved on a few networked drives. For a good amount of them I had created episodic screenshot images (jpegs) named in the same manner as the corresponding mpegs. I used MyVideos' episode info retrieval tool on several directories and it deleted my images!

Are those images gone forever or have they been incorporated into the "MyDatabase.mdb" file? Is there a way to extract them from the database and return them to their orignal locations?

[reven]

you can extract them, you'll just need to write a little app.

[Jeff]

I believe they are in the MyDatabase.mdb database. I don't know if there is a utility to extract them, but one could certainly be written.

Jeff

[jchiso]

What is the format of the .mdb file?

[reven]

its a microsoft access database.

[jchiso]

I thought so, but did not know what version. I only ask because alot changed from release to release over the years.

[reven]

2000.

[jchiso]

2000.

I was afraid that was the case; I only have v. 97, though I also tried to browse the records in OpenOffice's "Base " app. I cannot view or edit the image field, however. I guess I will have to re-generate the images.

One question, though. If I use the lookup tool again after replacing the images will MyVideos delete them again? If so, what can I do to change the default behavior to leave the original files intact?

[reven]

in the current version you cant do anything. in the next version it will only delete the image if you specify it to do so in a xml file (a details type file to import info like desc, title, genre, actors etc).

the images are just stored in the database as a byte array i doubt you will be able to use access directly to export them.