tv_imdbp - Online in the Cloud

PROGRAM:

NAME

tv_imdb - Augment XMLTV listings files with imdb.com data.

SYNOPSIS

tv_imdb --imdbdir <dir> [--help] [--quiet] [--download]
[--prepStage (1-9,all)]

tv_imdb --imdbdir <dir> [--help] [--quiet]
[--with-keywords] [--with-plot]
[--movies-only] [--actors NUMBER]
[--stats] [--debug]
[--output FILE] [FILE...]

tv_imdb --imdbdir <dir>
--validate-title 'movie title'
--validate-year 2004
[--with-keywords] [--with-plot]
[--debug]

DESCRIPTION

Very similar to tv_cat in semantics (see tv_cat), except whenever a programme appears with
"date" entry the title and date are used to look up extra data by using the XMLTV::IMDB
package.

--output FILE write to FILE rather than standard output.

--with-keywords include IDMb keywords in the output file.

--with-plot include IDMb plot summary in the output file.

--actors NUMBER number of actors from IMDb to add (default=3).

--quiet disable all status messages (that normally appear on stderr).

--download try to download data files if they are missing (in --prepStage).

--stats output grab stats (stats output disabled in --quiet mode).

--debug output info from movie matching

--movies-only only augment programs that look like movie listings (4 digit 'date' field).

All programs are checked against imdb.com data (unless --movies-only is used).

For the purposes of tv_imdb, an "exact" match is defined as a case insensitive match
against imdb.com data (which may or may not include the transformation of '&' to 'and' and
vice-versa.

If the program includes a 4 digit 'date' field the following matches are attempted, with
the first successful match being used:

1. an "exact" title/year match against movie titles is done

2. an "exact" title match against tv series (and tv mini series)

3. an "exact" title match against movie titles with production dates within 2 years of the
'date' value.

Unless --movies-only is used, if the program does not include a 4 digit 'date' field the
following matches are attempted, the first succeeding match is used:

1. an "exact" title match against tv series (and tv mini series)

When a match is found in the imdb.com data the following is applied:

1. the 'title' field is set to match exactly the title from the imdb.com data. This
includes modification of the case to match and any transformations mentioned above.

2. if the match is a movie, the 'date' field is set to imdb.com 4 digit year of
production.

3. the type of match found (Movie, TV Movie, Video Movie, TV Series, or TV Mini Series) is
placed in the 'categories' field.

4. the url to the www.imdb.com page is added

5. the director is added if the match was a movie or if only one director is listed in the
imdb.com data (because some tv series have > 30 directors)

6. the top 3 billing actors are added (use -actors [num] to adjust).

7. genres added to 'categories' field (current list of genres are Short, Drama, Comedy,
Documentary, Animation, Adult, Action, Family, Romance, Crime, Thriller, Musical,
Adventure, Western, Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, War, Film-Noir, Music

8. imdb user ratings added to 'star-ratings' field.

9. imdb keywords added to 'keyword' fields (if --with-keywords used).

10. imdb plot summary is added (if --with-plot used).

HOWTO In order to use tv_imdb, you need:

1. choose a directory location to use for the tv_imdb database (you'll need about 1 GB of
free space),

2a. run 'tv_imdb --imdbdir <dir> --prepStage all --download' to download the list files
from imdb.com. Or,

2b If you have a slow network connection you may prefer to omit the '--download' flag and
be prompted for what you need to download by hand. See <http://www.imdb.com/interfaces>
for the download sites. Then once you have the files rerun without '--download'.

Note: '--prepStage' sucks a bit of memeory, but you can run each prepStage separately by
running --prepStage with each of the stages (see --help for details).

3. Once you have the database loaded try 'cat tv.xml | tv_imdb --imdbdir <dir> > tv1.xml'.

Feel free to report any problems with these steps to [email protected].

TESTING

The --validate-title and --validate-year flags can be used to validate the information in
the tv_imdb database. For exmple:

tv_imdb --imdbdir . --validate-title 'Army of Darness' --validate-year 1994

Use tv_imdbp online using onworks.net services