looking for a guide to setup a searchscreen with ant movie c

[kasje]

hi all,

i imported some movies (100) in amc and had it all setup like discribed in the french forum with the Xant plugin.

Now i have a movietumbs screen and i managed the get the moviedetail screen also up and running.

But now i'm working on the moviesearch screen.
i posted a screenshot of that screen...14 september post on blog.
http://kasperjr.blogspot.com/

i modified the baddabing screen...and yes i see that there are 100 movies in the database.
First problem...only a few show their names in the filterdetailbox
what are the parameters for filtering tiltle/rating/genre/year/reset and how do i set it all up.

Do i have to direrct the event to the plugin or can i use the normal set filter events from xlobby?

Now when i click on genre, i get all sort of chinees characters.

Thanks

[Marbles_00]

The filtering/searching philosophy should be pretty much the same as how it is done for music etc. You just have to make sure that the proper fields are filled in your AMC catalog as defined in the moviestemplate.xml file (found with your xant.dll).

The template should be similar to the following:

Code: Select all

<item>
      <parameter>$$ITEM_URL</parameter>
      <coverart>$$ITEM_PICTUREFILENAME</coverart>
      <display>$$ITEM_TRANSLATEDTITLE</display>
      <offline>$$ITEM_BORROWER</offline>
      <information>
         <name>$$ITEM_ORIGINALTITLE</name>
         <title>$$ITEM_ORIGINALTITLE</title>
         <sorttitle>$$ITEM_TRANSLATEDTITLE</sorttitle>
         <director>$$ITEM_DIRECTOR</director>
         <runtime>$$ITEM_LENGTH</runtime>
         <plot>$$ITEM_DESCRIPTION</plot>
         <actors>$$ITEM_ACTORS</actors>
         <year>$$ITEM_YEAR</year>
         <genre>$$ITEM_CATEGORY</genre>
         <rating>$$ITEM_RATING/10</rating>
      </information>
   </item>

The main thing you have to know is that the $$ITEM_"WHATEVER" indicates a field in the Ant catelog.

An example of this is $$ITEM_CATEGORY indicates the Category window in Ant. In the example code above, $$ITEM_CATEGORY will be associated with the genre field in Xlobby. If this is the case with your template, then verify that the Category field in AMC is correctly filled out.

Another cool example from the code above is if you fill in the Borrower field in AMC with "True" for any movie, then if you go to F2_Setup/Databases and edit the movie database, you will find the offline check box checked for that particular movie. (A little trick the guys taught me ).

Back to the search, look at one of the other skins to verify you have your search parameters set up properly, but I think it will boil down to having all the nessary fields filled out in AMC.

Hope this was helpful.

[kasje]

thanks marbles,

i understand how the fields works...but i don't know what to use.

If i want to sort the title..what do i typ in then?

see the screenshot http://kasperjr.blogspot.com/
date 15 september

and can i make more then 1 parameter..this is my movietemplate
<item>
<parameter>"%$$ITEM_TYPE $$ITEM_MEDIA" "$$ITEM_URL"</parameter>
<coverart>$$ITEM_PICTUREFILENAME</coverart>
<display>$$ITEM_TRANSLATEDTITLE</display>
<information>
<number>$$ITEM_NUMBER</number>
<name>$$ITEM_ORIGINALTITLE</name>
<title>$$ITEM_ORIGINALTITLE</title>
<sorttitle>$$ITEM_TRANSLATEDTITLE</sorttitle>
<director>$$ITEM_DIRECTOR</director>
<runtime>$$ITEM_LENGTH</runtime>
<plot>$$ITEM_DESCRIPTION</plot>
<actors>$$ITEM_ACTORS</actors>
<year>$$ITEM_YEAR</year>
<genre>$$ITEM_CATEGORY</genre>
<rating>$$ITEM_RATING/10</rating>
</information>

so oke there are 3 parameter, i think,

but do i just typ in the excample screenshot $$ITEM_ORIGINALTITLE or do i have to use one of this 3 ...$$ITEM_TYPE $$ITEM_MEDIA" "$$ITEM_URL

do i have to use the $$ sign to or just the word after the $$item_ ?

you see that i had put an extra information item <number>$$ITEM_NUMBER</number> in there cause all my movies are on cd ...and my cd are numbered..so when i need a movie ..a popup window jumps up to say i have to get cd number x .

[Marbles_00]

Why would you just not use the existing template and only change it minorly to add your number system, which is pretty cool by the way.

<parameter>"%$$ITEM_TYPE $$ITEM_MEDIA" "$$ITEM_URL"</parameter>

I'm not sure if this is a valid statement but I'm not an xml programmer, but it doesn't look right. Three parameters all together with quotations...?

Anyways, to put it as easily as possible, as I have mentioned, $$ITEM_WHATEVER is an editable field within AMC that you enter your data. Now the xant.ini/dll will parse through the AMC file and pull out the fields that are defined in the template and create a movie.xml based on this template. An example of this is it will take the AMC category field, and fill in the xlobby genre field as defined in the template.

So when you goto XLobby setup/database and edit the movie.xml file, below the REMOVE FIELD button is a window with all the xlobby fields defined and setup. These were created by the xant plugin, again, as defined by the movietemplate.xml file.

Now when you want to search you have to create an event that will sort a category on a specific field, and then link that to a button you create. To help you out, lets say you want to search on Year.
1) In your search overlay (or screen) you have a button that you have labeled "Year".
2) Enter XLobby setup/Events and create an event called Search on Year, or something to that effect.
3) Highlight it then goto the XLOBBY commands and find the one called set filter.
4) You have to fill in the Category with the name of your movie category.
5) Under Filter type in "year"
6) Close the setup screen and goto the skin editor and highlight the button you created previously.
7) Link the event you just created to the button under the EVENTS tab.

Once you create your keypad (or it is easier just to use a search screen from an existing skin), with your newly created button, if you select it then start clicking on the year of the movies your looking for, the search will gradually narrow itself down. Example start by clicking on the 1 button...all movies in the year 1 to 1999999999999 that start with 1 will show up, follow with 9...then that will broaden the search from 19 to 199999999 only showing the movies that start with 19. Keep on entering to refine the search.

This is more or less how it is done for searching on Title, Director, Rating, Actor...or whatever fields are defined in the database.

Hope this was helpful.

[kasje]

i used the movietemplate from the xant plugin.

its very strange...i know by now that the xant plugin parses the movies.amc file to make it usable for xlobby...( it makes from an amc database, an xml database, if i'm correct) and when i first did it (started xlobby up) it did what it had to do and showed all my thumbs of my movies in the moviescreen. From there i've made the detail screen and it all works fine. It's showt all the movie details in the right field.
Now, i don't know that it correct but when i press F2 and go to basic...my movie path is empty. So i'm not sure that i have to put something in there cause the xant plugin does that work.


I changed <parameter>"%$$ITEM_TYPE $$ITEM_MEDIA" "$$ITEM_URL"</parameter>...to <parameter>"%$$ITEM_TYPE" "$$ITEM_MEDIA" "$$ITEM_URL"</parameter> but i see no difference.

the trouble is that i did it like u suggested before with year...that works but thats the only one


Quote >>Now when you want to search you have to create an event that will sort a category on a specific field, and then link that to a button you create. To help you out, lets say you want to search on Year.
1) In your search overlay (or screen) you have a button that you have labeled "Year".
2) Enter XLobby setup/Events and create an event called Search on Year, or something to that effect.
3) Highlight it then goto the XLOBBY commands and find the one called set filter.
4) You have to fill in the Category with the name of your movie category.
5) Under Filter type in "year"
6) Close the setup screen and goto the skin editor and highlight the button you created previously.
7) Link the event you just created to the button under the EVENTS tab.

Once you create your keypad (or it is easier just to use a search screen from an existing skin), with your newly created button, if you select it then start clicking on the year of the movies your looking for, the search will gradually narrow itself down. Example start by clicking on the 1 button...all movies in the year 1 to 1999999999999 that start with 1 will show up, follow with 9...then that will broaden the search from 19 to 199999999 only showing the movies that start with 19. Keep on entering to refine the search.

This is more or less how it is done for searching on Title, Director, Rating, Actor...or whatever fields are defined in the database.>>>

i did that before...didn't worked.

damn, oke back to my study days..trying to figure out what i've missed
thanks for your help



[quote][/quote]

[Marbles_00]

I'm not too sure what you are trying to do with the parameter field you have, and I'm going to explain why you should just try with only the $$ITEM_URL in the moviestemplate.xml that came with xant.

If you fill in the AMC URL field with the location of your video files (.ifo,.vob whatever), then this will fill in the xlobby database "Parameter" window. Then if you have specified your file location and have setup your video player under Xlobby Setup/File Types, you won't need to fill in the Movies on the Basic Page. I know that the template may have come with the additional info, but try what was outlined to me in my post below:

http://www.xlobby.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... light=xant

As for the other search variables not working for you, verify that the fields you are trying to search for do indeed exist in the xlobby fields database setup (SETUP/DATABASE/MOVIE/EDIT...below the Remove Field button). The other thing to verify is if you copied over commands/events from another skin, they may have defined a different set of field "names" to search for. For example, in the Vintage skin, to search on rating, the command was looking for the field "star". That doesn't exist in my movie template, and I had to change it to "rating".

Let us know how you do.

[kasje]

pfffft...not simple

i opent the movietemplate.xml that came with xant and i opent the movies.xlm in the database directory..so i could see what the differences were.

When i wanted to see all my movies, when i push the search button..i had to define under events the show movie search event ..with 2 events in it..first the show ABC overlay With overlay screen name : movie search and the set pilter event with the Category : movies and the filter : name.

this was the parameter that i was searching for...name

and then i had to set the different filter events for each button..they all are working now except the filter genre.

When i look between the 2 templates...they all have the same name for this filter....genre. But it didn't work..i still have chinees bits and pieces in the filterdetailscreen.

i wonder if the templates have to be in the same arragements of lines to work together?

i learned now the the movietemplate from xlobby takes over the parameters of the movietemplate.xml from xant. I didn't know that..thanks for the info.

so just one button to handle now...the genre button. but i will find it

the next problem i have is when i search a movie and i click on the movie..the screen return to the mean menu instead of the movie details that i just clicked on...i have no idea how do this with an event? it has to jump to the moviedetailscreen of that movie i just clicked on? any idea's.

The reason why i want to learn this thing with ant completly, is because i have also some 400 erotic anime books (pictures) that i want to put in amc and then into xlobby. The strange thing about this is that there must be a special bd.amc premodded template for amc (specialy build for working with xlobby)...but i can not find it..not on xlobby forum and not on the french forum and not on the amc forum. But thats for later

thanks for the fast help btw

[kasje]

look at my lates screenshot of the moviedatabase
http://kasperjr.blogspot.com/

i just see a few names and there must be 100 movie in it.
And when i click on an empt space left i can see that there is a movie somewhere

i can also not refresh the moviedatabase..it had never worked
and i did not looked at that database cause i was thinking that the xant plugin took this all over.

this is a parameter of a movie in the parameter field of the xlobby movie database :
"%" "Afrika" "http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=540850"

i looks like those 3 parameters from above:-)

btw..the online or offline movie option is not of use for me cause all my movies are always offline

[Marbles_00]

To go from your search overlay/screen to your movie details screen do the following:
1) You should already have an event to GOTO movie details setup (usually if you follow other skin examples, this will be under the Skin/GOTO group).
2) Open the skin editor and goto your search overlay. Select the category that displays your search results. Click on the EVENTS tab and link an the goto movie details event to this category.

**!!VERY IMPORTANT!!**...DO NOT link the goto event to the EVENTS tab within the skin editor/category setup. This will automatically execute the command when entering the overlay. Enter the command to the "General" EVENTS tab within the skin editor.

I hope that was straight forward.

As for the genre display weird characters...I wish I could help you more. Maybe take some screen captures and display them...someone may have a solution for you.

The other thing that I did notice from your screen captures, is that you tried to use the field TRANSLATEDTITLE, but if you look at your database fields, that field does not exist. AMC's editable field "Translated Title" is the $$ITEM_TRANSLATEDTITLE which will get parsed in the xlobby database as sorttitle (what is shown in the <> of the movie template on either side of $$ITEM_TRANSLATEDTITLE). If you want to filter search on that, then the field for the xlobby command would be sorttitle and not TRANSLATEDTITLE.

[kasje]

yes i noticed from that translated title wasn't correct.

Thanks for that return event..it worked.

the problem is that i noticed now that i have only 94 movie in xlobby and i have 100 movies in amc...strange. the last 6 hasn't show up yet in xlobby.

Marbles..do you have msn messenger..maybe its better you took over my computer to have a look

i personnelly think that amc is perfect for most of the databases i wish to create..its so strange i can not find more info on this forum about it.

You also work with amc..can you refresh your movie database in xlobby?

[Marbles_00]

the problem is that i noticed now that i have only 94 movie in xlobby and i have 100 movies in amc...strange. the last 6 hasn't show up yet in xlobby.

Sorry to ask this again but are the proper fields filled out in AMC that match to what is to be parsed from the movietemplate file? Other than that, I'm not to sure what may be going on there. You might have to ask the French team for some help.

You also work with amc..can you refresh your movie database in xlobby?

To tell you the truth, I never refresh the movie database in Xlobby. I always update the Ant Catelog, then the next time Xlobby loads, an updated database is created.

i personnelly think that amc is perfect for most of the databases i wish to create..its so strange i can not find more info on this forum about it.

You could very well set Ant up to do all sorts of databases, it boils down to learning how to write new scripts in for Ant. For that you would have to look more into how Ant works. I know that there exists scripts for game roms, movies (of course), and music being the main ones. With some further knowledge...skies the limit. You have to realize, people here have the basics for what they need, if you want it to do more, just ask if someone has a script done up for what you want...you may be surprised.