Combining Multiple Library Folders in DVDpedia

[BarnabyRudge]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum but not a new DVDpedia user. I used DVDpedia extensively a few years ago cataloging well over 1000 movies. Well, I got out of the habit of cataloging and let DVDpedia fall into disuse. Now my movie collection is completely out of hand and I have returned to DVDpedia in order to take control of this crazy collection. For some reason when I originally was using the software I cataloged my collection in four separate Library folders (I have no idea why). Is there some way to combine them all into one master library folder? I do not want to start cataloging from scratch.

Thanks

[Nora]

Welcome back to DVDpedia! By separate library folders you mean you have four separate data folders for the program (likely stored in ~/Library/Application Support/DVDpedia) or you have separate collections in your database, as listed under the source list on the left-hand side of the DVDpedia window? If it's separate collections you're talking about, what kind of collections are they, i.e. what are the colors of the little collection icons? (Blue means regular collection, green means smart collection and grey means excluded collection). The brown collection icon that appears next to the main Library can only appear once in your database.

You can send us your database file if you'd like and we'll take a look at what's going on. As mentioned before, you'll most likely find the file in your Home folder under ~/Library/Application Support/DVDpedia/Database.dvdpd. Please archive the file before sending it to save space. (Select it and choose 'Archive' or 'Compress' from the File menu. That'll create a new file called 'Database.dvdpd.zip' which you can then attach to the email.)

If you don't see the ~/Library/ folder in Home you can use the Finder's 'Go' menu, hold down the Option key and the Library folder will appear.

[BarnabyRudge]

Thanks for the quick response.

I've been digging through the four library folders and I have some more information. The separate library folders I'm referring to are of the separate collections type located under the source in the left-hand side window. One brown master "Library" at the top and three more blue folders. It appears (based on "Date-added" info) that the variety of folders date from different time periods when I was using DVDpedia regularly. They also seem to date to different Mac computers that I have used over the past 10 years. I guess the multiple Macs used is probably the source of the data confusion. As a result, not all of the data in the blue folders exist in the master brown folder (which is why I was wondering if I could somehow merge them into the master folder).

A quick chart might make this more straightforward:

"Library" - brown folder- 1677 entries - entries added between 2007 and 2012
"HD Library" - blue folder - 933 entries - entries added between 2010 and 2011 - all of these entries are present in the master Library folder (so no problem)
"Library" - blue folder - 947 entries - entries added between 2005 and 2009 - as far as I can tell all of the entries from 2005-2007 are NOT included in the master Library folder (problem)
"Library" - blue folder - 741 entries - entries added between 2005 and 2006 - as far as I can tell all of the entries are NOT in the master Library folder, AND they are all duplicated in the above folder!

Thanks a lot for your help. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[Nora]

That's very mysterious indeed since regular collections (with the blue icon) should always be included in the Library. What you can try is to select each blue collection in turn and from the File menu choose "Exclude from Library" and then "Include in Library" right afterwards. That'll include ALL entries in the Library for sure.

To deal with duplicates afterwards, use the "Display Duplicates" command found under the View menu while you're in the Library. That'll show you all the duplicates and you can select them (use the Command key to select multiples) and delete them.

Or if you'd prefer for us to take a look at your database instead and fix it up as necessary, email it to us. You'll find our email on the Support page. You'll find the database file in your Home folder under ~/Library/Application Support/DVDpedia/Database.dvdpd. Please archive the file before sending it to save space. (Select it and choose 'Archive' or 'Compress' from the File menu. That'll create a new file called 'Database.dvdpd.zip' which you can then attach to the email.)

If you don't see the ~/Library/ folder in Home you can use the Finder's 'Go' menu, hold down the Option key and the Library folder will appear.

[BarnabyRudge]

I'll give it a try. Thanks.

[BarnabyRudge]

Worked great! Now I have just one library folder with all of the movies in it. Just finished deleting the over 800 duplicate entries!

Thanks

[Nora]

Glad to hear it's all back in working order.