[mythtv-users] Dup detection broken in some cases - how to fix?

[Michael T. Dean]

On 07/21/2006 12:28 PM, chris at cpr.homelinux.net wrote:

>I have noticed that a lot of the time when shows are current they 
>have good subtitles and descriptions, but when they go into 
>syndication some channels simply list the title without any other 
>information.  With both 0.18 and 0.19, Myth will never consider 
>those shows to have been "previously recorded" no matter what 
>dup-matching method is in use.  If I see one in the listing and 
>select "do not record" then Myth creates the "previously recorded" 
>entry as expected and then *still* flags that episode for 
>recording.  I could replace every recording rule with a power 
>search that checks for subtitle>"" to prevent these syndicated 
>reruns from getting into the list in the first place but that is a 
>hassle (which takes away from the convenience of just seeing a show 
>I like and adding it to the list) and wouldn't be required if Myth 
>would recognize that ""=="" when comparing the listings to the old 
>recordings.  When the shows go into syndication and there's no 
>subtitle or description there's also usually no original broadcast 
>date.
>  
>

That's not considered broken.  Myth records "unidentified" episodes so 
you can start playback and identify them as repeats and delete them.  
Better to record too much than too little.

If you don't want the generic episodes, you can use a custom record 
rule.  Just specify the clause:

program.generic = 0

(I'm pretty sure that also works on 0.19, but if it doesn't let me know 
and I (or Bruce Markey--the guy who really knows :) will get you a 
better answer for 0.19.)

>The other case where dupe detection breaks is when a show is listed 
>on several channels and each one has a subtle difference in 
>punctuation.  I end up recording multiples because "John gets a 
>haircut." is different from "John gets a haircut".  Unlike the 
>blank subtitles and descriptions, this time I don't want to exclude 
>them from the list so a power rule won't help.  What's really 
>needed is for Myth to either drop all non-alphabet characters prior 
>to making the comparison or else use something like soundex 
>comparisons (which would also catch some speeling errors).
>  
>

Once again, I think the record too much is a better plan.  If you have 
"broken" guide data, you can prevent the recordings by marking the 
episode (on one channel) "Never Record".

Mike