Pictures not 'sticking' to entries

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-10 12:17:04

I add a movie, and the image appears when it adds the details and I save the program.
Later the picture isn't displaying. I click on add image and some of them are named from the title of the movie, some are just named *movie123.jpg*
I can add the picture again, but for 1 movie I've added the picture 3 times and still it doesn't appear when you list that movie.
I've just upgraded to 4.2.1 but this happened in the old one too.
In preferences I have ticked *copy picture to catalog folder and link to catalog.*
Does anyone know what's going wrong?

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-11 07:55:25

Do you use a .amc or a .xml file for your catalog?
If it is a .xml you can easily open it with a text editor or a web browser to check how it linked to the picture.
Does it happen for all images/movies or just some? Maybe there is something it does not like on some of the images, but then it should not display either just after adding it (I suppose that it appears just after adding it? it is only later that it disappears?)

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-11 08:49:56

There is a movies.amc and a movies.xml file in the catalog folder. Should the xml file be there?

It's only for some images that it happens. Currently there's about 100 named as movie.jpg

The images always appear when I first add an entry to the database, it's only later when I reopen that the image does not display.

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-11 09:02:25

Weird that you have both

When you open the catalog, which one of the two files is it?
Did you at some point save it under another format or export it?

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-11 11:34:29

When I open it I think invariably it is .amc format. Although I don't always take notice.
I've never deliberately saved it under another format, but I do export it regularly to a csv file. That's for making a text version of my database but only with film title displaying.

I've deleted the xml files now, and also all the movies.jpg files of which I found over 300.
I'm adding back the images for all entries that don't have one and keeping an eye to see if they 'stick' or disappear again.

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-15 13:36:46

I guess I'll just soldier on on my own then

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-15 15:45:11

your previous message didn't really appeal to an additional comment.
Did you had more disappearing image cases after re-adding the missing ones, as mentioned in the previous post?

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-27 20:46:44

I've been linking many more images to films and found that in fact most of the 3400 entries I have are not linked

It could be an update that is at fault?
The preferences is a minefield but I've been right through it and ticked on "Import associated picture (same name of media file)"
Copy picture to catalog folder, and link it to catalog
and under picture naming I've got prefix none, movie info=original title, and extra information=none.
Now what's happening is when there is a movie that does hvae a valid picture file but its not displaying, I click on the open folder button to add it, and when it does it makes a copy of the picture and names it the same as the first one, but with an added number afterwards.
It's all a bloody mess tbh and am sick of it.

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-27 21:58:00

I really don't know what could be the problem since I don't recall having other complain about that.
It may be due to a particular combination of selected options, but there are a lot so I can't guess what without knowing what you have set. Or it could also be due to the way you manage pictures/catalog/etc. but here again I don't know what you do and what options are set, so I can't really help more

I suggested previously to test with a XML catalog to see in the catalog what name it was trying to find: in that file if you open it with a web browser or a text editor you can see for each movie all its info, including the picture name as picture="filename", then you can check what filename it expects and compare it to the filename actually found in the folder where the pictures are.

I'm not sure what you mean by the option "Import associated picture"; where is that one?

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-27 22:43:43

That's in media files importation.

I can open an xml file but have not a clue what the info inside will do for me.

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-28 23:00:51

That option is just for when you import video files: it searches for an image with the same name if it exists.
If you just import a picture, that option has no effect.

For the XML file, as I said you have to look for the "picture" attributes : for each movie you find a <movie...> entry with all its attributes, one of them is named "picture" and contains the name (and possibly path) to the image file.

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-29 12:57:58

This is all I see related to picture in the xml file

Classification: Not Rated 2.35 : 1 English Movies_+1 (Plus One).jpg y žž C Ö R ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 8 DVD 24 10 Items or Less

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-29 14:42:51

Can you send me the XML file (in a zip if it is big) so I can check if I see something strange?
Either by e-mail or via http://ks3.antp.be/upload.php

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-30 05:01:12

I think it sent but not sure

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-30 17:03:21

That's not a catalog in xml format: that's a catalog renamed to .xml, hence why you didn't see what I expected you to find

To convert the catalog to xml you have to do File -> Save As, and select "XML" in the drop down list at the bottom of the window.

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-11-30 17:17:37

I'm bemused as to how then, I've renamed nothing. That file has always been there, there's a backup one too.
I've exported as you said and will upload that now.
As you'll see when you get it, I recognise that over 300 photos were exported with the catalog .xml file. I checked and those 300 are the only ones actually displaying when you click on the movie, so somewhere along the line the other 3200 have lost their links as the other photos are still there, just not displaying.
Sadly I can't view the xml file as it's too big for notepad

Post by **antp** » 2017-11-30 17:55:28

And some special characters cause problem to web browsers for displaying it.
Opening it in a more advanced text editor like Notepad++ works.

What kind of image name are those that didn't lose their links? i.e. those that were exported with the XML ?
Are these named "movie_...jpg" ? Or those with the titles in the file names?
Can you give an example of movie that has lost its picture link, and which name has the picture in your folder if you find it? (maybe named with the movie title then)

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-12-01 11:42:22

The images that were exported with the xml file were all named exactly same as the movie file itself.

Movie 3 Days to Kill has no image, but the image in the catalog folder is exact same as the movie title, and name of the movie file.
Why it's not displaying I don't know, but when I choose it and link it, it sticks.

Post by **antp** » 2017-12-01 12:23:11

But for that movie in the xml file I see that it is supposed to be Movies_11.jpg

boristhecat · Post by **boristhecat** » 2017-12-14 11:42:22

How do you account for that then?
Is there any global way to fix this?