Web App and Desktop App have inconsistent information in Pending Recordings

[MovieWiz]

I have multiple recording directories and I sometimes use the desktop app to change the directory for a specific pending recording (for example, to use a ramdisk to speed up postprocessing).  This works and it always does what I asked.  However, when I later click on the pending recordings in the web app, the details of the recording can be different.  The most common things that are different are the directory and pre/post padding.  Often, they appear to be the default values from the corresponding recurring recording that generated the pending item.

It happens frequently and is usually uncorrectable.  However, it is also random.  Often, it displays the correct information.  I have not be able to determine a pattern.  In any event, the DVR always does what I specified in the Desktop App.

So I am just passing the information along in case someone else also experiences this and can provide additional info.  If I discover something more that could help, I will add to the thread.

When I'm reviewing my recordings for the upcoming evening, I find the web app's grid and scheduling screen to be really nice and would definitely prefer to use that.  However, I end up doing it instead in the Desktop app because of the unreliability of the information in the web app.

[mvallevand]

It sounds like a cache issue I would Ctrl-F5 to refresh the web app. The recording list API is very reliable but changes are not dynamic and even then the browser cache can play a factor.

Martin

[MovieWiz]

Yeah, cache was the first thing I suspected and the first thing I tried. Neither clearing the cache nor Ctrl-F5 changes anything. Even restarting the NextPVR service makes no difference. It really appears to be something that is going wrong when the items are being populated. It's happening to me right now. The target folder for one of my upcoming recordings tonight is wrong in the web app. Like I said, it appears to be a random thing (like anything does when you don't know the cause) but when it happens, it just stays wrong.

This has been happening to me for quite a while. I've never posted because I can't make it reproduceable.

Even though I didn't say so, all the items in the pending list are the same in both apps -- same shows, channels, starttimes, etc. It's just that some of the details are wrong when I click the items in the web app. The most common diff is the target folder but I have also seen pre/post padding be different.

I'm a software developer as well with over 25 years of experience. I promise you, I am not imagining this and it's not something obvious.

[mvallevand]

If the web app is wrong could you post the output from http://ip:8866/service?method=recording....er=pending for the show and tell us what is wrong?

Martin

[BrettB]

It really appears to be something that is going wrong when the items are being populated.  It's happening to me right now.  The target folder for one of my upcoming recordings tonight is wrong in the web app.  Like I said, it appears to be a random thing (like anything does when you don't know the cause) but when it happens, it just stays wrong.

Are the ones that are inconsistent always ones that are from recurring recordings where you have made a change to a specific (current day) scheduled recording for an episode of that recurring recording?

Also have you tried looking at the database row for one of the recordings that appears differently and compared it with a row from one where you've made a change and the appear the same both places?

[MovieWiz]

Yes, in the desktop app, I modified the directory for a pending recording (generated from a recurring recording).  I have attached jpegs showing this.  There doesn't seem to be anyway to get webapp to display the correct information.  Because of this, it makes me extremely cautious about using the webapp to manage my recordings.  So, I always make changes in the desktop app.  I think I have in the past also made changes in the webapp that did not correctly get reflected in the desktop app - however sometime ago -- so memory not clear on that.

It does appear that the webapp is showing the information for the recurring show rather than the specific recording.  Not sure if this is on purpose.  I would think not since you can list the recurring recordings separately using the dropdown.  So, for now, I guess this means that there is no way to review exactly what will be happening through the webapp.

[sub]

It looks like you're looking at an individual scheduled recording episode vs the actual recurring recording

[mvallevand]

What I think he is saying is when you click a pending single recording he is getting a recurring screen (it would be very odd to change the type here)

Martin

[MovieWiz]

sub, absolutely not.  I am looking at a individual airing of a recurring program in both cases.  You can see from the images that I'm in the pending recordings section.

The corresponding airing are displaying different information, in this case the recording directory.  But it really appears that the webapp is displaying information for the series, not the individual airing.  This has to be a mistake because the recurring recordings is a separate list.

In the desktop app, note that all scheduled recordings in the pending recordings screen show as "Record Once" (including items scheduled from recurring shows).  It's been that way since I starting using NextPVR (even in Version 4).  I assure you, these were not shows that I scheduled individual episodes for.

Unfortunately, this had not been 100% reproduceable.  But basically, I schedule a recurring show.  Then, several days later after an EPG update, I change the target directory for one of the scheduled episodes in the desktop app.  Then see how it appears in the webapp.  The webapp won't reflect changes to the directory (or sometimes changes to pre/post padding).

This has been happening to me for several months.  Just never reported it before since I knew I couldn't make it happen reliably and I might not be believed.

Let me be clear.  I do not schedule individual episodes of shows.  The only time I record something individually is something like a news special or sports event. But sometimes I will make changes to the individual pending recordings (like when everything is late on CBS on Sunday nights because of football or to record on a different drive)

[MovieWiz]

I played with this more by changing the properties of the "Burden of Truth" series recording in the desktop app.  Note that the pending recording item is still the same as it was -- it hasn't changed even though the series has.  This is all as expected and what will actually happen when the recording occurs.

But when I click on the same individual agenda item (pending recordings) in the webapp, it always displays the values for the series recording not the individual airing  This has to be a bug since, to me, the whole point of the "pending recordings/agenda"  section is to tell you what is going to happen.  Instead, it is telling me the default settings for that series.