Recordings file name should include date/time, and network ID

[DSperber]

Unless I haven't found how to do it, the default recordings filename does not contain date/time (which is REALLY IMPORTANT).

Nor does it include either station call letters (i.e. network ID) and/or channel number, either or both of which would again be supremely useful.

Are these options that I've missed setting? I would think at least date/time in the file name should absolutely be ON by default (assuming it is a setting). I can make the same case for network ID and/or channel number. Maybe channel number is less valuable, but at least network ID call letters please.

Let the user turn both values off if wanted, but by program install default I feel absolutely date/time should be ON as well as station ID, again assuming you even want to make them optional settings and not just always have them in the file names.

[BrettB]

Unless I haven't found how to do it, the default recordings filename does not contain date/time (which is REALLY IMPORTANT).

Nor does it include either station call letters (i.e. network ID) and/or channel number, either or both of which would again be supremely useful.

Are these options that I've missed setting? I would think at least date/time in the file name should absolutely be ON by default (assuming it is a setting). I can make the same case for network ID and/or channel number. Maybe channel number is less valuable, but at least network ID call letters please.

Let the user turn both values off if wanted, but by program install default I feel absolutely date/time should be ON as well as station ID, again assuming you even want to make them optional settings and not just always have them in the file names.

Neither of these should be defaults! The default naming convention makes unique names for individual show episodes regardless of when/where the were recorded from. That definitely makes the most sense--especially for a default.

If you want, you do have the option of changing to a file naming format by unchecking the "Use S01E01 file naming format if possible" option in the Settings | General screen. I know that it includes the recording start and end time. I can't remember about the channel number/name.

You also have the option of putting something in your postprocessing script file to rename the recording files however you'd like.

[sub]

It definitely doesn't include the channel/network name. I don't see me adding that, and no one has ever asked for it.

If you untick 'Use S01E01 file naming format if possible' then it'll default to a filename format that has the date/time instead.

[mvallevand]

No not missing anything. Most people don't even play files by the filesystem or care about the network but if you don't like context based filename turn off S/E episode naming and you will get the date time.

If the network is a must create a folder for NBC, ABC, CBS etc and create a recording directory for the file and use that when you schedule the recording. To me I see zero value for channel information in the filename for non-commercial use.

Martin

[BrettB]

No not missing anything.  Most people don't even play files by the filesystem or care about the network but if you don't like context based filename turn off S/E episode naming and you will get the date time.

If the network is a must create a folder for NBC, ABC, CBS etc and create a recording directory for the file and use that when you schedule the recording.  To me I see zero value for channel information in the filename for non-commercial use.

The channel number is the 2nd parameter to the postprocessing script. So, you can use it to rename recording files to include that information if you really want to.

[DSperber]

No not missing anything.  Most people don't even play files by the filesystem or care about the network but if you don't like context based filename turn off S/E episode naming and you will get the date time.

If the network is a must create a folder for NBC, ABC, CBS etc and create a recording directory for the file and use that when you schedule the recording.  To me I see zero value for channel information in the filename for non-commercial use.

Martin

Well, I suppose I've gotten used to the file name format used by Windows Media Center after 12 years of use. And of course there are many more channels when cable TV is involved, and everything goes into the one \Recorded TV folder. I find channel ID very useful and informative when browsing the single recording folder. WMC doesn't create sub-folders by show, it's just everything in the one \Recorded TV folder, with program name "major" (i.e. at the start of the file name).

I didn't know about the S/E episode naming option and although that is genuinely of value as well, if I had to lose something I'd give it up to get date/time. Of course S/E is very helpful when you've recorded a repeat, because the order of files in the folder would really represent "original air date" rather than "recording date" which is what will show up if I swap out S/E for date/time.

Another implicit value to having network ID in the file name is that Spectrum cable copy-protects all cable channels (received through my Ceton card). Only OTA broadcast network stations are not protected. And of course all true OTA/ATSC recordings (via my Hauppauge Quad-HD card). So when I'm moving WTV recordings to generate space, I know whether I'm dealing with general copy-freely content that I can move anywhere and to any PC (because these can be played on any PC and any media player program) or DRM-protected content which can only be played by WMC itself on the very same PC and installed Win7 that performed the recording.

NOTE: there is ZERO METADATA in the WTV recording file itself, that WMC utilizes in the presentation of its "recorded programs" listing. If a file is in either the \Recorded TV folder or any of the additional optional folders that are part of the library of "Recorded TV" setting, the list of recordings is simply generated dynamically each time WMC is launched. So if a WTV file disappears (because I manually deleted it, say because I've decided to flush a whole set of recordings by looking at the folder contents using Explorer), it doesn't cause any problem. Conversely, if I copy a WTV file into the folder (i.e. an unprotected copy-freely file say from my other HTPC), then it now will appear in the recording list when WMC is launched. Thumbnails for each program are likewise dynamically created when the list of recordings is presented. The list of recordings presentation has a number of different "sort sequences" you can choose, with my normal display being (a) major by program name, and (b) minor by original air date. But it can be changed dynamically, into many different major/minor sequences. Nothing is permanent or folder-based.

Just as an example, here is a snippet of contents of my \Recorded TV folder for WMC on my "backup HTPC", with recordings from several years ago that I still need to watch (if I ever find the time).

[sub]

Yeah maybe just get used to the NextPVR file name formats. They work pretty well. They evolved to where they are from user feedback over years.

[mvallevand]

I understand but when I look at a filelist like that I can find the date as you also see it on the right and that is good enough for me but if you aren't using S/E naming maybe Plex naming might make the NextPVR date time a little easier to read.

Brett's reference to custom naming using batch files and NSCripthelper https://github.com/sub3/NextPVR/wiki/nscripthelper might be of value to someone like you who wants custom naming to match what they are used to. Consider what would have happened if you made the request to Microsoft back in the day and said you'd like to use NextPVR style naming in WMC because you where used to it.

Sometime feature request are pretty esoteric and certainly no one can say they are bad ideas. I is great NextPVR is flexible enough that you can do it yourself, if you don't like what is offered.

Martin

[DSperber]

Brett's reference to custom naming using batch files and NSCripthelper https://github.com/sub3/NextPVR/wiki/nscripthelper might be of value to someone like you who wants custom naming to match what they are used to.

Martin

Looking at this I would say that the "-rename" option isn't of value to me. It is really only changing the "internal name" of the program in the NextPVR recordings catalog database. It specifically does NOT perform an external rename of the file in the folder. That's really the exact opposite of what I'm proposing that I'd like to achieve, in this discussion for file names.

My bias of course is from WMC use, where there isn't any permanent "database" of recordings with data in it (that perhaps might get corrupted, or obsolete if files are manually deleted from folders using Explorer rather than through the NextPVR GUI to "delete recording", etc.). WMC just always shows whatever files are present in its folders when you ask it to show the recordings list. Again, dynamically constructed contents and sort sequence. If you delete a file or add a file manually, it will disappear from the list or be present in the list the next time you ask for a list of recordings. And it's running 24/7, same as NextPVR server. And the individual files have zero metadata in them, other than the raw TS-like recording exactly as it came off the TV tuner. Thumbnails are dynamically built by taking an M-JPEG frame about 1-minute into the stream. They're not stored anywhere.

I will look at what the post-processing script functionality is, to see if that might better solve my needs. As was pointed out, I'm not used to having sub-folders for each show name, and then further sub-folders for season, etc. I understand this is completely irrelevant if you use NextPVR GUI to browse your recordings through a client. But if I'm at the server PC and looking at things, all of these sub-folders is just not what I'm used to in order to "see what I have". And I guess I'd better not manually delete things else the "database" is now broken for that recording (unless it is "self-healing" and will eliminate detritus found if the TS file pointed to my the database is suddenly gone).

Lot to learn about this.

[mvallevand]

The point of the script is to rename the filename in a batch and then you update the database with the new name.

Martin