Author Topic: NANY 2014 Release - epCheck (Read 354305 times)

skwire · « **Reply #250 on:** January 14, 2015, 01:21 PM »

Monthly view is awesome. Thanks for adding this!
-ziffel66 (January 14, 2015, 11:17 AM)

You're welcome, and welcome to the DonationCoder site.

It might be worth it to have a wrapper in a more robust language for tasks like this that would offload the actual long running task to a background thread... would that be helpful?
-wraith808 (January 14, 2015, 12:07 PM)

Not really since the core of the issue is TheTVDB.com website's speed (at times). Thank you all the same, though.

dallas7 · « **Reply #251 on:** January 14, 2015, 07:22 PM »

So I came over here and found 1.1.5.163 and that seems to unzip all the data but epCheck does enter into (Not Responding) a half a dozen times or so.
-dallas7 (January 13, 2015, 05:06 PM)

The problem is two-fold:

I use the 7-zip application to handle the unzipping so while it's actually unzipping a file, epCheck can't do anything but wait. However, most of the zips are pretty small so the waits here shouldn't affect things much.
The bigger issue at hand is that the TVDB.com site has been really slow lately. Most of the Not Responding is epCheck simply waiting for the zip downloads to finish.

It's rather frustrating as there isn't a whole lot that I can do about it. Sadly, the best advice I can give is to simply leave epCheck alone while it's doing the updates.
-skwire (January 13, 2015, 06:28 PM)

Got it. Thanks for the explanation on the (Not Responding).

I was reporting, verbose as it was, no more unzipping errors as you requested in your #243, “...let me know if you see the error again.”

Is 1.1.5.163 “it” or should we be checking back for 1.1.6 cited in changelog.txt?

skwire · « **Reply #252 on:** January 14, 2015, 07:26 PM »

Is 1.1.5.163 “it” or should we be checking back for 1.1.6 cited in changelog.txt?
-dallas7 (January 14, 2015, 07:22 PM)

v1.1.5.### will become v1.1.6 once I feel confident enough to release it. I made a TON of internal changes so I'm a bit leery about it currently.

msteph · « **Reply #253 on:** January 25, 2015, 03:41 PM »

Jody, I've had no issues at all with 1.1.5.163.

In looking at the new Monthly view, I wonder if a option could be added. Right now, my Monthly view shows the daily programming for 5 weeks. This is of limited use to me because a maximum of only 3 episodes of each day's programming is in view without scrolling and I have four days each week when I have 5 or more shows on those particular days. IOW, a lot of scrolling is necessary if, for example, I wanted to verify that episodes of 'Revenge' are scheduled for the next few weeks.

What if the space in the Monthly view could be toggled to show a single day's schedule for the next few weeks? All the space would be available for viewing Sunday's shows for the entire month. Then I could see at a glance if 'Revenge' was going to skip a Sunday.

Of course, this can already be done in the Weekly view but one has to scroll down through all the days of the week to get to the desired next Sunday, etc.

Anyway, just a thought.

Mike

skwire · « **Reply #254 on:** January 25, 2015, 04:33 PM »

Jody, I've had no issues at all with 1.1.5.163.
-msteph (January 25, 2015, 03:41 PM)

Good to hear. Thank you for the report. I haven't heard any horror stories with the beta so I really ought to get off my duff and release it.

What if the space in the Monthly view could be toggled to show a single day's schedule for the next few weeks? All the space would be available for viewing Sunday's shows for the entire month. Then I could see at a glance if 'Revenge' was going to skip a Sunday.
-msteph (January 25, 2015, 03:41 PM)

Yes, I'm aware that the Monthly view text space is very tight with all those potential listviews. That whole tab actually started as an experiment to see if I could manipulate that many listviews into an actual calendar without the code being (too) messy. Ideally, for a calendar, one would probably use a control more suited to the task, i.e., not a listview. Unfortunately, AutoHotkey doesn't have a better option that I'm aware of. *shrug*

Of course, this can already be done in the Weekly view but one has to scroll down through all the days of the week to get to the desired next Sunday, etc.
-msteph (January 25, 2015, 03:41 PM)

I think the better option would be to just view the given series in the Series tab where you can view the airdates and easily see if a given week is skipped.

As an aside, it looks like the TheTVDB.com folks have completed a server move recently and everything seems much faster in epCheck in regards to searching for new series and updating current ones. Woot.

msteph · « **Reply #255 on:** January 25, 2015, 07:35 PM »

Thanks for responding Jodie.

msteph · « **Reply #256 on:** January 25, 2015, 08:12 PM »

Jody, you're right about using Series view to check on the dates of a given show. It is somewhat slower than seeing all that day's shows in one place. For example, I have 8 shows on Sundays and it would be nice to see them all in one place, but it's certainly not that important.

dallas7 · « **Reply #257 on:** January 29, 2015, 04:26 PM »

Jody, I've had no issues at all with 1.1.5.163.
-msteph (January 25, 2015, 03:41 PM)

Ditto. I agree most of the problems I experienced were TheTVDB related. Very smooth now.

I'd like to disable the "Refresh data every...days" Can I set that to zero, or just set to, say, 14 0r more days which would have the somewhat same effect as I pop into epCheck mostly every 7-10 days? I prefer to do the refresh manually. (Yes, I know... zero makes sense. But there's too much in memory as to recall how well zero doesn't work.)

Thanks!

skwire · « **Reply #258 on:** January 29, 2015, 05:35 PM »

Ditto. I agree most of the problems I experienced were TheTVDB related. Very smooth now.
-dallas7 (January 29, 2015, 04:26 PM)

Good to hear. Thanks for the report.

I'd like to disable the "Refresh data every...days" Can I set that to zero
-dallas7 (January 29, 2015, 04:26 PM)

You can now.

Grab the latest beta build (#166, I think) and set that option to zero.

https://www.donation....msg368839#msg368839

dallas7 · « **Reply #259 on:** January 30, 2015, 03:20 PM »

I re-read my post and I didn't mean to imply the zero didn't work in epCheck - I didn't try it at all which is why I posted up the question. What I meant by "in memory" was my experience with software over the ages. Zero is a tricky thing.

And welcome in epCheck. Thanks!

skwire · « **Reply #260 on:** January 30, 2015, 03:24 PM »

I re-read my post and I didn't mean to imply the zero didn't work in epCheck
-dallas7 (January 30, 2015, 03:20 PM)

No worries.

dallas7 · « **Reply #261 on:** February 11, 2015, 04:56 PM »

1.1.5.166 is working great. How goes 1.1.6? Soon?

Could make a way to select individual series or a profile from the “refresh all series data now” process? I have a profile, Legacy, where I've placed about 20 old series (i.e. Rescue Me, Firefly) so I can jog my memory on certain episodes, seasons, whatever. They're not necessary to refresh so eliminating that profile from refresh would be advantageous. If not by profile, then selecting each individual series regardless of profile would work, too.

I won't bother you with yet another request for other-than-EST time zones. Oops. I just did, didn't I?

What, BTW, is the purpose of the @ column and its ballot boxes in the episodes panel for each series under the Series tab?

Cheers!

skwire · « **Reply #262 on:** February 11, 2015, 05:11 PM »

1.1.5.166 is working great. How goes 1.1.6? Soon?
-dallas7 (February 11, 2015, 04:56 PM)

I haven't added anything since 1.1.5.166 so it's the latest.

Could make a way to select individual series or a profile from the “refresh all series data now” process? I have a profile, Legacy, where I've placed about 20 old series (i.e. Rescue Me, Firefly) so I can jog my memory on certain episodes, seasons, whatever.
-dallas7 (February 11, 2015, 04:56 PM)

I have no plans for such a feature. However, the "Request every # of days" option is a sort of "smart" option in that it only updates series that have changed (based on what TheTVDB.com returns) so you might consider using that.

I won't bother you with yet another request for other-than-EST time zones. Oops. I just did, didn't I?
-dallas7 (February 11, 2015, 04:56 PM)

Timezones + Programming = Kill me now. Take ten minutes and watch this.

What, BTW, is the purpose of the @ column and its ballot boxes in the episodes panel for each series under the Series tab?
-dallas7 (February 11, 2015, 04:56 PM)

Those check boxes are there so you can keep track of which episodes you've watched (if you so desire). I think the @ symbol looks somewhat like an eye and thought it appropriate for that column.

dallas7 · « **Reply #263 on:** February 12, 2015, 04:05 PM »

Thanks for the feedback.

I have "Request every # of days" set to zero (disabled) and use the “Refresh all series data now” button every couple of weeks or so. Do I understand correctly that though the status bar shows it's checking those long ago ended shows in my "Legacy" profile, their data is not being downloaded again and again? Related to that, a continuing series, say for example one with six previous seasons, downloads only the when-made-available data for the seventh season?

Very interesting presentation on time zones. As some one who supported globally networked servers and workstations, I'm familiar with some of those issues but I never ran into anything having to deal with the 16th Century or Great Britain's WWII era 2-hour silliness. I get the point, but the fellow does go a bit overboard.

Wouldn't epCheck need to handle just the USA zones and the Arizona no-DST odd-ball? Just curious; no pressure.

With apologies to Delmore Schwartz... Time is the fire in which we get burnt.

Cheers!

skwire · « **Reply #264 on:** February 12, 2015, 04:22 PM »

I have "Request every # of days" set to zero (disabled) and use the “Refresh all series data now” button every couple of weeks or so. Do I understand correctly that though the status bar shows it's checking those long ago ended shows in my "Legacy" profile, their data is not being downloaded again and again? Related to that, a continuing series, say for example one with six previous seasons, downloads only the when-made-available data for the seventh season?
-dallas7 (February 12, 2015, 04:05 PM)

The "Refresh all" button refreshes everything regardless. The "Refresh every # days" asks the server which series have been updated within a given time frame.

Wouldn't epCheck need to handle just the USA zones and the Arizona no-DST odd-ball? Just curious; no pressure.
-dallas7 (February 12, 2015, 04:05 PM)

No, as there are epCheck users outside the U.S. and plenty of shows are non-U.S. shows as well. It's on my ToDo but don't hold your breath (because I'm certainly not

)

msteph · « **Reply #265 on:** February 15, 2015, 04:35 PM »

Like dallas7, I can report that 1.1.5.166 is working fine.

msteph · « **Reply #266 on:** February 17, 2015, 02:38 PM »

Amusing video on time and timezones.

skwire · « **Reply #267 on:** February 17, 2015, 02:41 PM »

Like dallas7, I can report that 1.1.5.166 is working fine.
-msteph (February 15, 2015, 04:35 PM)

Nice, thank you for the report.

Amusing video on time and timezones.
-msteph (February 17, 2015, 02:38 PM)

Yeah, it is.

mrpeach · « **Reply #268 on:** March 12, 2015, 11:40 PM »

Hi there,

As warned, using the profiles option is still not a great idea. My db was wiped (but I had a backup) presumably as a result.

That aside, stunning program. It's become an important part of my day.

The only thing I would change is to fix the sorting on large episode numbers. It's rather a PITA trying to work around it.

Thanks again,
Peach

skwire · « **Reply #269 on:** March 13, 2015, 12:05 AM »

As warned, using the profiles option is still not a great idea. My db was wiped (but I had a backup) presumably as a result.
-mrpeach (March 12, 2015, 11:40 PM)

Sorry to hear this. Do you recall anything different about it shutting down the previous time before this happened?

That aside, stunning program. It's become an important part of my day.
-mrpeach (March 12, 2015, 11:40 PM)

Thanks...I'm glad you find it useful.

The only thing I would change is to fix the sorting on large episode numbers. It's rather a PITA trying to work around it.
-mrpeach (March 12, 2015, 11:40 PM)

Which column are you sorting on exactly?

mrpeach · « **Reply #270 on:** March 13, 2015, 08:43 AM »

As warned, using the profiles option is still not a great idea. My db was wiped (but I had a backup) presumably as a result.
-mrpeach (March 12, 2015, 11:40 PM)

Sorry to hear this. Do you recall anything different about it shutting down the previous time before this happened?
-skwire (March 13, 2015, 12:05 AM)

There had been some odd behavior just before it happened. Unfortunately I was not paying enough attention to describe it clearly (I thought I had messed up somehow).
I will be using the feature again once I have my db back into shape (I lost a few weeks input) and will pay *much* more attention at that time.

The only thing I would change is to fix the sorting on large episode numbers. It's rather a PITA trying to work around it.
-mrpeach (March 12, 2015, 11:40 PM)

Which column are you sorting on exactly?
-skwire (March 13, 2015, 12:05 AM)

When viewing with series view, there doesn't appear to be any sorting control - I tried all the columns, and nothing changed.
It seems it is fixed on "Episode", but when transitioning between 6 & 8 characters it messes up.

Example:
The.Daily.Show.with.Jon.Stewart.S04E01.Michael.J..Fox
The.Daily.Show.with.Jon.Stewart.S04E0100.Dave.Foley
.
.
.
The.Daily.Show.with.Jon.Stewart.S04E0159.Jewel
The.Daily.Show.with.Jon.Stewart.S04E02.Sandra.Bernhard

Hope that helps!

-Peach

kalvanotherwhen · « **Reply #271 on:** March 16, 2015, 02:08 AM »

Just updated to latest stable release and it keeps getting better,
Thanks Jodi

Feature Request:
In Series Tab
Please Color code Series Titles by status,
IE Ended/Continuing or no status result (so three colors.)
The reason ease of use.
Because the steps getting to Status include:
1.) clicking Series Tab, 2.) clicking individual series title, 3.) waiting for display. (Rather fast enough with a few shows to check but with 100 or so it is a bit slow to check all.)

kalvanotherwhen · « **Reply #272 on:** March 16, 2015, 02:46 AM »

2 Problems?

1.) Artifacts in Series tab view from status notifications at bottom when scrolling.
EpCheck Version 1.1.5.1 on XP SP3
(Probably best to avoid scrolling the tab when notifications occur.)

2.) When scrolling in Series tab scroll locks/stops cannot continue past Marvels Agents of Shield.
Currently I just reverse alphabetization and continue from other end of alphabet to Marvels Agents of Shield.

Thanks for EpCheck

mrpeach · « **Reply #273 on:** March 16, 2015, 07:37 AM »

Various scrolling artifacts seen here as well. Mostly I ignore them or use pg-up/down to avoid them.

I had intended to mention them in my previous post, but apparently that thought got lost somewhere between intention and action.

billo255 · « **Reply #274 on:** March 23, 2015, 08:33 PM »

Love the program. Had put together an app using Excel and VBA pulling data from TVRage and used it for 3 years. Dumped it when I found this little gem. Not surprisingly I had the same occasional delay problem with TVRage the author has had with TVDB although that hasn't been an issue lately with epCheck.

Just to add another voice to the list regarding "artifacts" I've go them as well.

A major issue that seems to be intermittent on my version of epCheck (and what prompted me to join this forum today) is the loss of checkmarks after doing a refresh. This happens when epCheck automatically checks for data or when I use the automated "Refresh All Series Data Now" in the options tab. It does not happen all the time and I don't always notice it right away because it was not affecting all of the series or even all of the episodes in a series. I finally set the automated check to 999 days and had started manually updating each series a couple of months ago by using the Ctrl-R option on the Series tab. That seemed to resolve the problem.

Today, I was in a hurry and hit the "Refresh all Series Data Now" button and when it finished 99% of the episodes on all of the series were unchecked. No error messages and there were no delays during processing. I scrolled through each of the the series and there were a few (1 or 2) episodes check on a handful of the series. No idea what is causing this because it's not consistent and it doesn't happen when I use Ctrl-R.

Note, I have a high-speed internet connection (100mbps) and write to an attached USB 3.0 drive. I've never lost the database even though I've been using multiple profiles. I'm using epCheck v1.1.5 build 1.

-Wish List -
1. Display unwatched back episodes. - Due to my schedule I don't always have time to watch all of the shows that I track so some wind up being unchecked. In the little Excel app I'd built I had a filter that would let me see just a list of all unwatched back episodes on one page, grouped by series for anything unchecked with a date less than today. As I watched them I'd check them off. There have been some series (i.e. Hawaii Five-0) that I don't want to watch the current season until I have a chance to catch-up on prior seasons. Temporarily, I'm setting up a profile for just those shows.

2. Cancelled, Ended, Continuing, Summar - When a show is pulled off the air and I've watched all of the episodes I delete the series from epCheck. Rather than having to scroll through all of the series to see if the status has changed, a tab showing a list of all of the series and the status might be be a useful feature to catch shows that were reportedly being ended but then revived (i.e. Unforgettable and Perception). It might not be 100% effective but would save having to scroll through all of the series after a refresh to see if anything has changed. (Also, maybe the series name could be color coded to identify its status? red=ended/ending, green=continuing, orange=on the bubble?)

Nice job on creating a useful tool for us TV'o'phile's who only want to track our favorite shows.

Bill