Topic: DVDProfiler2HTML (and other tools)

[DJ Doena]

Most of us are using phpDVDProfiler, but yesterday I had nothing else to do, so I carved this little tool:

DVDProfiler2HTML

I consider it a version 0.1, so don't be to hard on me.

What does it? It transforms the exported XML file into a static frameset website that can be designed individually.

Contained in the package are a readme and sample files.

You'll need the .NET Framework 2.0 and a bit of understanding for placeholders.

Let me know, what you think of it.

I've written some other tools, too, that can be found here


If you ever need a tool that does a specific task (regardless of DVD related or not) and it can be programmed in a reasonable amount of time, let me know, maybe I hack it down for you.

[Touti]

Sounds like an interesting tool Karsten, I'm gonna try it later and let you know what I think.

[Tom]

I had started something similar a while ago but never finished it. As my CCViewer can display Profiler skins for each DVD, I had planned to make a generator to create html files for each profile and build a framework around. But with my little HTML knowledge I wouldn't have gotten such a nice framework like Doug did with his DVDCompanion for Profiler 2 and so I never had the ambition to follow this completely through. With some tweaks it would already be possible to generate the profile specific HTML files.
What is implemented is accessable through the command file function (something like a EasterEgg ). With the command
CreateHTMLCollection [ExportFolder]
the html files are generated based on the currently selected skin (haven't tried it for a while so no guarantee that it still works).
If I remember correctly, what is missing is the menu and replacing of the actor links (Doug had here a nice JavaScript based linking of the actors).

[m.cellophane]

I'm happy to see you have an IMDb tool for cast.  But I can't figure out how to use it.  What are "P & P & A" and "P & Parse" and "P & A"? Do I copy and paste each name separately? 

[RossRoy]

I'm happy to see you have an IMDb tool for cast.  But I can't figure out how to use it.  What are "P & P & A" and "P & Parse" and "P & A"? Do I copy and paste each name separately? 

I'm just as puzzled as you about CastEdit... 

Guess, for the time being, it's back to using IMDBtoDVDP, at least until Karsten can shed some light on how to use the program

[m.cellophane]

Guess, for the time being, it's back to using IMDBtoDVDP

Wow, I didn't know about that one! Thanks!   

[RossRoy]

Wow, I didn't know about that one! Thanks!   

You're welcome! 

[DJ Doena]

I'm happy to see you have an IMDb tool for cast.  But I can't figure out how to use it.  What are "P & P & A" and "P & Parse" and "P & A"? Do I copy and paste each name separately? 

Yeah, sorry, I've written the tool for myself and originally never intended to publish it. Therefore the more cryptic buttons.

P & P & A combines "Paste, Parse & Accept".

I know the tool needs a major overhaul, but currently I am involved in other projects.

[RossRoy]

Any chance you could give a quick primer on how to work it? Even knowing what the button label stands for, I still can't make heads or tails of it. I could always look at the code, but who likes to do that? 

[DJ Doena]

Of course I can.

Before I do that, let me explain why the tool is the way it is.

As I said, my tools are written to do a very specific job. And I am only interested in the main actors of a movie, with "main" being every one I know. If I don't know any "Raphael Gonzales" and he doesn't play a role in the movie I can put a face to, I ignore him. Thus, my actors list is often rather short (5-6 names).
The second thing is, I don't care about middle names. It's either part of the first name or the last name. Period.
The third thing is that I want the birth years, if available from IMDb (I always had 1951 for Robin Williams btw).
The fourth thing is, I don't want to look up the birth years every time I use the tool.

These were the goals when I wrote the tool.

How to use the program:
1) I go to the movie page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/
2) I mark & copy the first actor and his role: Sylvester Stallone    ...    John Rambo
3) Which button I now press is dependent of my knowledge about this actor/actress.

Paste:
simply pastes the clipboard into the top text box
Parse:
a) tries to parse the text in the top text box into firstname, lastname and role
b) voice actors have a "(voice)" after their role name, that can be copied, it will be seperated from the role and the "voice" checkbox will be set
c) After the parsing it looks up a local file which contains all actors and their birthyears that I've processed before. If it finds a match, it automatically enters the birth year. If no birthyear comes up, I know that I have to look it up and enter it (unless I already know there is none, "Henry O" comes to mind)
Accept:
takes the data from the fields and puts them into the list fields below
P & P:
does what Paste and Parse do (in that order)
P & P & A:
does what Paste, Parse and Accept do (in that order)

The question is when to use which. I always use PP or PPA. There's no harm in parsing the name immediately after pasting. But I only use the PPA when I am certain nothing can go wrong. For example, I would PPAing Stallone, but not "Miguel de la Cruz". Firstly because I want to check if he was parsed correctly "de la Cruz, Miguel" and secondly because I want to check if he already has a birthyear in my local list.


If you have any recommendations how to enhance the program (let's say a delete button for an already accepted actor/role ), let me know. But no, I am not in the mood the parse the IMDb website.

[RossRoy]

(let's say a delete button for an already accepted actor/role ), let me know.

That would be good!

I am not in the mood the parse the IMDb website.

That's taken care of with the tool I mentioned above

[DJ Doena]

I am not in the mood the parse the IMDb website.

That's taken care of with the tool I mentioned above

I couldn't resist: http://doena-soft.de/dvdprofiler/CastEdit2.zip

The textbox expects the URL of a movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/) or its ID (tt0462499).

Some movies have an additional link that revelas "more" actors. That's what the checkbox is for

Lines are deleteable, cells are editable.

There are two list with known prefixes and suffixes to lastnames. It would be great if someone would test it and especially look if all actors have been inserted or if someone is missing.

[RossRoy]

The textbox expects the URL of a movie (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/) or its ID (tt0462499).

Guess that's not entirely true! I got an error "The URI prefix is not recognized." using only the ID. Works fine with the full link. But I think I found why. After pasting in the ID and clicking Scan Page, it appends the url AFTER the id, so it looks like this: tt1227926http://www.imdb.com/title/

And it looks fine. It added all actors (where does it get the birthyear? does it parse them from IMDb, or is there a local known birthyear file?)

Still haven't had the chance to test the prefix/suffix feature yet though.
The prefix feature seem to work fine. I added a few entries to the txt file to test it out, and it moved to the last name field. 

I love it! Simple, yet fully customizable! Much better than the other tool I listed above. Kudos Karsten!

[DJ Doena]

lol, then I've concatenated the string the wrong way. (I never tried it.  )

I need to clean up the code anyways. Even for a version 0.1.0.1 it looks messy. I hacked it down in a few hours and the code looks like it.

There's even testimg code for the name parser in it, e.g. "Karsten T. von Schramm III" 

Yes the birth years come from IMDb. It follows the actors links and then looks on the actors page for a birth year.

btw: it's 5:15 in the morning, I have been sleeping for only 4 hours and yet I cannot fell asleep again

[RossRoy]

I just finished profiling 14 movies (The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection) using CastEdit2, and I must say, it went like a charm!