adding files to mylist is torchure :O

[haplodb]

is there no other way to add series than selecting each episode individually?

i mean i started adding naruto 1-98 and then when i was finished my head was going to explode.

if there was an option to edit the episodes/group tag then it would be so much easier.

would go something like

Naruto Eps 98 / Seen 98 etc...

and then when you open the list you could simply imput values like:

Naruto Ep 1-30 Location:HD Group: ANBU

Naruto Ep 1-98 Location: HD Group: AonE

and for the file size/info you could directly point to the folder and scan or something like that.

i understand that its supposed to be a user shared database, but it would be good if you could make personal lists with better control



many thanks to the anidb team for providing this cool website

[Der Idiot]

and for the file size/info you could directly point to the folder and scan or something like that

AOm does that.
http://www.anidb.net/client/
but you have to have the files on hdd. hashing from cd/dvd might produce errors at the moment. thats at least what petriw (one of the developers) recommends. I have done it several times myself, but so far produced no errors. well still better to listen to the man

aom is the fastest and best way to add files imho. another way is via Chii[AR]. but you should know how to use IRC to use her:
http://www.anidb.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=683

[Ultima]

You also can use the ed2k dump.

1. Hash all your files in emule or any other ed2k client
2. Copy the ed2k links to the clipboard
3. Click ed2k dump on the website, then paste all the links into the window. Note the Please do not add more than 50 ed2k links at once! message.
4. You can set the state of the files, set whether they have been watched or unwatched, then click add.
5. An result page will load, stating which files were added to your mylist.

I hope that helps.

[Skywalka]

Aside from that it is supposed to work this way - you should only be able to add files that you actually have (hence the option to mass dump ed2k links or to use AoM to do it for you) or alternatively you could add all files manually which is such a pain in the a** that nobody does it and this is intended

[pelican]

Aside from that it is supposed to work this way - you should only be able to add files that you actually have (hence the option to mass dump ed2k links or to use AoM to do it for you) or alternatively you could add all files manually which is such a pain in the a** that nobody does it and this is intended ;-)

I had reason, when I joined, to add hundreds of files that I no longer have, nor have the ed2k links for (because I didn't get them from ed2k). If this was not an intended use of the db, why the `deleted' state? I'm going to assume, despite your suggestion to the contrary, that the lack of a feature to make this less painful hides no malicious intent.

[Skywalka]

Yeah well I never understood the "deleted" status anyway, since it also counts towards the size of your Mylist.

Anyway, AniDB ist largely about sharing the stuff you have, hence the ed2k links and all the hashsumns - it is aimed at the active filesharing community.

I am sorry that the way the DB works is not aimed directly at you, wich would be users who do not have or share the files they had before and watched them - or - users who were not here long enough to have their mylist grow while they use it. It might be a rough start - it was for me too back last year when there was no AoM utility areound and I had to get all the files from all my CDs and DVDs to get them hashed. Because of this and for instance the fact that after three months or so additional hash sumns were added as new fields in the DB (sha1 and md5) I still keep all my files on harddisks, for it takes roughly 45 minutes to get a DVD-R hashed and it is a bit tiresome to do that 200 times.

So you see, even I who is a bit more what the DB desires in a user had a rough start, and this is intended. It isn't "malicious" in any way, it is was the DB was designed for. You can't blame a knife for not beeing a fork.

[nwa]

I started the same way, at first I added all the stuff manually to mylist with marking each file and then clicking the add to mylist button...
now I only add files with ed2k links, 90% of stuff I add via Chii in IRC

I think it's not that troublesome to add them this way, the ed2k way is of course much easier

[pelican]

...

So you see, even I who is a bit more what the DB desires in a user had a rough start, and this is intended. It isn't "malicious" in any way, it is was the DB was designed for. You can't blame a knife for not beeing a fork.

However, a relatively simple addition such as is being discussed here and which has been discussed before to provide a painless way for adding large numbers of files given only an episode range and group is in no way incompatible with the basic nature of this fork. A real spork might not be the most handy utensil, but software is a different matter.

[Skywalka]

However, a relatively simple addition such as is being discussed here

I am a bit confused now.

I read the whole thread again and I didn't find a request for something specific.

and which has been discussed before to provide a painless way for adding large numbers of files given only an episode range and group is in no way incompatible with the basic nature of this fork. .

In EXPs opinion it is, what I wrote was a reflection of what he told me back in February. I myself requested such an addition myself because of the fact that I saw some series on DVD/TV and was unable to add them to my mylist as "watched" in an easy manner.

I guess once generic (shadow) files are implemented you might have a stronger point for this. People for instance who saw the whole Sailor Moon Series or maybe Dragonball might have a point if they ask to be able to add all the files of a series to their mylist instantly. Once that code is implemented you might then ask EXP to enable this feature for all the files of a group.

BUT (and that is the main point here): this enables users to simply mass add files to their mylist without checking if they really have these files at all.

You adding files you think you had one day by a certain group invalidates the database already. You do not _know_ that you had these files for you cannot physically check them for their CRC hash. Back in the day we did not hash the files at all and the result was a large variety of files for each episode, all playable, some with different sizes and lots with the same size and a different CRC for the transfer methods on IRC tend to be unreliable.

AniDB has the goal to make the most valid files available to the Anime fans of the world. Options like the one you request really (honestly, they really do) contradict AniDBs purpose.

EXP told me back then that AniDB is not so much a list of what you saw in your life and to help make a list of that, it is in fact a help to list every _file_ you have and (in a way) you have to prove that to the DB via ed2k hashes.

I always objected because it is kinda easy to use Chii on IRC to add files to your mylist without hashes and by simply using text commandos, which can be a lot faster than clicking something on the website. But then again that means you have to visit the IRC channel and not too many of the users are willing to do that.

The current restrictions prevent users from simply adding files to their mylist massively and I have to admit after a long debate with myself I now support this idea. It already is a nuisance that after users added files to their Mylist that they do not really update the file status and that some series which have at least 40 files in the status "shared" then tend to have one or two shares on AR #3 server. In the end if it all would be user definable, we would end up with a DB that is not that useful anymore.

A real spork might not be the most handy utensil, but software is a different matter.

What is a "spork"?

[DonGato]

I guess once generic (shadow) files are implemented you might have a stronger point for this.

You know they are already in (I mean generic files support)?!

Spork = device containing both bowl and teeth (combination of spoon and fork)

[Skywalka]

Yeah I know, that's what I meant - once they are fully integrated (wahaha answered a bug report about a generic file and stated that the system is not fully implemented and bug tested).

[Guest]

I still don't get what is so bad about mass adding? Let's take a real life example (at least for me). I download episodes via IRC, BT or whatever means. Now, I don't have the time to watch them every week, or lost interest after a few eps but still decided to keep on dling to watch it later or whatever. They are sorted in 20 different directories on 5 different partitions. Now I watch them all in a row and want to add them to anidb. Obviously, all the eps are already in there, with correct hash etc, because all the other people who watch the anime regulary added them.

Why can't I say now: Hey, I watched all HnG from R-F, instead of clicking 45 times, or starting up aom, adding 10th of directories and waiting 10mins till all the files are hasfed? Even if I didn't watched all Episodes of HnG by R-F, but some from E-F, nobody does care besides me, as I'm not adding files, but episodes. Yes, I now have corrupted the database because I have added incorrect entries, but the chances that anybody will notice it are next to zero.
If you want to add FILES, then yes, you should be required to actually have the file. But only for mylist managment, I don't see why this restriction is necessary.

CU,
lamer_de

[DonGato]

Yes, I now have corrupted the database because I have added incorrect entries, but the chances that anybody will notice it are next to zero.

As if the current way can avoid that.
I still click on the 75 entries without checking file by file.
BTW, that you stored the correct file doesn't mean you will have it like that after some time. Corruption happens in whatever media you can get.

[kidan]

@lamer_de:

If you've still got the files on HDD then hash them (either with AOM, emule or some external-tool) to get their ed2k-links and then ed2k-dump them all at once and voilla you're done. additionally you'll notice, if a file is corrupted (witch is not that unlikely when using IRC and BT).

[Skywalka]

The reason lamer_de is that you can't be sure you really have the file and if we enable all users to just add the fileentries totally easily manually, then the numbers behind each file ID become useless and we could just remove them. That's the reason EXP told me back then and I just tell you know.

And if you ask me you can as well simply add shadow/generic files in the future. Or do you really care that you watched a specific series from a specific group - if you can't be sure that it's really the group's file because you did not hash it and checked whether it was the correct one.

And still, I guess you know that on IRC it takes you about 20 hits to enter a whole series by one group to your mylist?

!add blaseries by blagroup

Done. There are no numbers behind the files on IRC. You won't know how much a file is shared or not there and you won't be able to click all the little green arrows on IRC that easily... at the moment these are the two worlds EXP created and I for my part am really content with it. I can understand why you aren't since I thought the same way back in Jan/Feb but then again I am a real freak when it comes to getting correct info into the DB (hence my high number of CREQs).