Sub grouping recordings by season in Kodi

[dsreyn]

Using the NextPVR plugin for Kodi, I was wondering if there is a way to sub-categorize my recordings for a TV series by season.  It seems that in general, Kodi supports this, but I can't figure out how to do it in the NextPVR section.  In the main Kodi menu on the left, I have:

Movies
TV shows
Music
Music videos
TV
etc.

I've imported some TV episodes (not from NextPVR) into my Kodi library, and those appear in the "TV shows" section.  The NextPVR plugin populates the "TV" section.  In "TV shows", any show where I have episodes from more than one season has the desired behavior.  For example, if I select TV shows => Titles => Murdoch Mysteries, I get a panel that shows:

* All seasons
Season 3
Season 6

However, in the "TV" (NextPVR) section, if I select TV => Recordings => Murdoch Mysteries, I just get a list of all episodes for all seasons, with no way to sub-select a season.  The season and episode information is there (each episode name starts with something like S02E08), but I haven't found a way to utilize this, other than selecting "Sort by: Name", which at least puts them in the proper sequence.

I have quite a few recordings of a few shows, so sub-categorizing by season would be useful.  From what I found when I was setting up my TV library (the "TV shows" section), Kodi seems to be somewhat picky about the structure of episode filenames (I think the SxxEyy entry needs to be in a specific place).  I have NextPVR (docker version) set up with the default naming and folder structure, but I'm wondering if there's a way to make Kodi "play nice" with that.

Doug

[mvallevand]

The Kodi PVR dev's don't fully support Series/Episode in their file manage.  NextPVR doesn't support this well either.  I figure this is because most of these dev's aren't from the US or Canada.

I have avoided this in the past because I find it annoying to go a layer deeper when you only have one season of recordings (Prodigal Son example), but thinking about it now that I have an option in Matrix to avoid creating directories for movies and one off shows I can probably extend this for seasons.

Let me think about it and if it isn't too much work I will add it for Matrix.

Martin

[dsreyn]

Regarding the extra layer when there's only one season - would it be possible to eliminate the extra layer when only one season is populated? That's how the "TV shows" section works for my non-NextPVR recordings - I just see one layer with the episode list if they're all from the same season, but I have the additional seasons layer if I have episodes from multiple seasons.

Anyway, thanks for considering this.

Doug

[mvallevand]

Yes I quickly made the change in Kodi Matrix for this demo and if I can also also avoid the one season issue I will make it as an option.

Martin

[mvallevand]

I have this code and was wondering if you would be able to test this in Matrix. Installing a portable mode test on Windows is actually quite easy.

The only things that I can think to note

- recordings with no season mixed with recordings with season will show on the main page
- when there are multiple season a season folder is created even when there is only one show for that season.

Martin

[dsreyn]

OK, I did a portable install of Matrix, and I got the NextPVR addon from the repo (the addon claims to be version 6.0.1). I'm not sure if there's something I should do differently to get your latest development version. Anyway, I'm not seeing any season subfolders.

Doug

[mvallevand]

I haven't released it github yet.  I would like to hear comments first   Assuming you are running Win64 this should work. I also includes the 6.0.2 changes which haven't trickled down yet I guess.

To use it turn on the kodi look and feel and also turn on single file display (which does the flattening)

Martin

[dsreyn]

OK, got it working. Overall it looks pretty good, but there is some inconsistent behavior, noted below.

I think the first is related to what you said earlier: "recordings with no season mixed with recordings with season will show on the main page". I have two episodes that show on the main page (not in folders); one is a one-off special (which has no season defined), and I think that's the sort of thing you were referring to. But I also have a single episode of Antiques Roadshow showing at the top level (there's no folder for the show), and this has a season defined (when I hover over it, the panel on the right shows S24E21). But, I also have one episode of Midsomer Murders, and that is in a folder for the series. It's not clear why one (Roadshow) appears at the top level as a "bare" episode while the other (Midsomer) has a folder. By the way, the Midsomer episode doesn't show a SxxExx line in the panel on the right; the NextPVR web interface doesn't show it either. Not sure why, as this is definitely a series with numbered seasons - must be some quirk in the metadata.

Another inconsistency has to do with shows that have a season defined, but all episodes are from the same season. Some of these have a season folder within the series folder, but other don't - the series folder just lists all the episodes (and the SxxExx entries show in the right panel when you hover on an episode). I haven't figured out any common pattern within the two categories (with and without the season folder).

Incidentally, there's a choice in the Kodi settings related to this - it affects the "TV shows" section (which I'm using also, as I mentioned in the initial post), but not the "TV" section (where the NextPVR addon operates). The setting is:

Settings => Media => Videos => Flatten TV show seasons

This has three choices: Always, If only one season, Never

Choosing "if only one season" eliminates the season folder when all episodes are from the same season, which seems like the most natural way to do things. But of course, the setting gives more flexibility. Would a similar setting be possible in the addon?

Doug

[mvallevand]

Right single episodes will and movies will show at the root level if you have single file display on that was already in Matrix after https://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php?tid=60446

Midsomer and Midsomer Murders would not be the same folder in Leia or NextPVR

Are you saying you have a show with just a season folder? I'd need the database for this.

The flatten option should never flatten with more that one season It is not clear what you are asking for here.

Thanks for the feedback.

Martin

[dsreyn]

Sorry, I was just being lazy typing "Midsomer" (this was shorthand for "Midsomer Murders"); likewise when I typed "Roadshow" (for "Antiques Roadshow"). I did not mean to suggest that I have one series called Midsomer and another called Midsomer Murders.

To be more clear:

- I have a single, one-off special (not part of a series) that appears by itself at the top level (that is, alongside the Series folders). This sounds like it is the expected behavior.
- I have one episode of Antiques Roadshow. This also appears by itself at the top level, with no folder for the series. I believe this is also expected behavior.
- I have one episode of Midsomer Murders. This episode does *not* appear at the top level. Instead, there is a folder for the series, and the single episode is in the folder (but the series folder does not contain a season folder). My impression is that you would expect this episode to appear by itself at the top level.

On the second point - shows with multiple episodes, but all from the same season:

- Alfred Hitchcock Hour: I have 31 episodes, all from season 1. There is a "Season 1" folder underneath the series folder. This is the only series with multiple episodes that has a "Season" folder.
- I have several other series with multiple recordings, but all episodes are from the same season. None of these contain a "Season" folder - the series folders just list all the episodes directly.

Also, I have two series where I have episodes from multiple seasons. These are working as expected, with a folder for each season with at least one episode.

Regarding the flattening option I mentioned - I was just saying that Kodi has an option for this, which applies to the "TV shows" part of the library. They've allowed maximum flexibility. I'm not sure I'd want to use the "never" option, but it's there if desired anyway. But the point I was hoping to make (but didn't really articulate well) is that it would be nice to have the option to "flatten" if there's just a single season of episodes present - to allow avoiding the extra level, as I'm currently seeing for Alfred Hitchcock Hour.



Doug