[mythtv] [mythtv-commits] mythtv commit: r11310 - in trunk/mythtv by bjm

[Bruce Markey]

Robert Tsai wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 27, 2006 at 09:44:33PM +0000, mythtv at cvs.mythtv.org wrote:
>>       Author: bjm
>>         Date: 2006-09-27 21:44:33 +0000 (Wed, 27 Sep 2006)
>> New Revision: 11310
>>    Changeset: http://cvs.mythtv.org/trac/changeset/11310
>>
>> Modified:
>>
>>    trunk/mythtv/libs/libmythtv/programinfo.cpp
>>    trunk/mythtv/programs/mythfrontend/globalsettings.cpp
>>    trunk/mythtv/programs/mythfrontend/playbackbox.cpp
>>    trunk/mythtv/programs/mythfrontend/playbackbox.h
> 
> I think I accomplish the same use case by configuring my recordings to

There is a similar intent but this is an entirely different
approach...

> be sorted by priority (in title-only mode). This makes it easier to
> navigate to the "important" stuff.
> 
> When would the "Watch List" contents significantly diverge from
> recording priority and hold low-priority items?

So, you haven't even bother to so much as glance at it once before
commenting? That's odd ;-).

When you do look at it, you'll see that it has nothing to do
with priorities at all. In fact, I had tested including priority
as one of the weighting factors but that was counter-productive
which was counter-intuitive. The shows I favor the most, I generally
watch the same night as they record. Shows that I like but are
repeated such as MythBusters, I have set to a lower priority for
flexibility. Reducing the Watch List score for MythBusters would
be bass-ackwards.

Proginfo->recpriority is the assessment of the relative importance
for recording a showing when it is available in the listings and
not directly an approval rating. We all know that a network prime
time show that is only broadcast once gets a high priority and
a favorite cable show that is shown a dozen times a week is set
low. Even the leading commercial DVR has a user approval scale
of -3 - +3 independent of the scheduling sort order. Myth does
not separate the two and you may have fallen into the trap that
one could substitute for the other. However, none of this is
really what the Watch List is about. It is to point out the
series shows that are becoming backlogged.

When first using a DVR, the obvious thing is to watch the titles
that appear on the first page that recently recorded. This is fine
until there is a backlog of two, three or four pages of recordings.
I may notice that there is a new episode of The Contender about to
record but realize that I never watched last week's Contender.

At some point, everyone must do something to go back through the
list and pick out the things that they want to and need to watch
to catch up where they've fallen behind. For you, you may think
of this as watching the recordids with the highest priorities.
You too may watch your favorite shows the same night as they are
broadcast. But what about the medium or low priority shows where
you may have fallen three or four episodes behind?

The Watch List can not tell me what I'd most like to watch
next (that's impossible =). It can, however, point out what I
would need to watch to bring myself up to date and serve as an
aid in selecting the next show to watch. This is working well
for me at this point but I realize that different people have
different habits.

The most important factor is how many recorded episodes are there
for a recordid. The show with the most backlogged episodes tops the
list. Age is a factor for the time since it recorded and frequency;
is it daily or weekly. How soon the next episode will record is a
factor and so on.

The list contains only the one oldest recording for each title
(recordid). Recordings marked as 'watched' and, if selected in
the options, recordings with auto-expire turned off are also
excluded from the list. When an episode is deleted (or marked
as 'watched'), any other episodes for that recordid are excluded
for a period of time. For example, if I have three episodes of
MythBusters then watch and delete the oldest episode on Tuesday,
MythBusters will not be included in the list again until Thursday
when the next oldest episode would appear.

If I was away for a week, for every weekly series I'd be a week
behind. I'd have pages and pages of stuff. You and I both might
start off watching 'high priority' shows first but after that,
what next? The Watch List would point out that I have three
MythBusters with another on the way. After I watch the suggested
oldest episode, everything else moves up a spot where "The
Contender"s with two episodes dating back nearly two weeks gets
the new highest score. I can watch whatever I want whenever I
want but if I elect to choose the things at or near the top of
this list, I would efficiently chip away at the backlog and
eventually get caught up.

Anyway, for years I'd evolved how I'd go back looking for these
things and choosing what the watch next. This just automates the
process of pointing out the things that may fall through the
cracks.

--  bjm