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A program just for fun: DpLink
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DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Sweden Posts: 4,508
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Some of you may have realized by now that programming is one of the ways I cope with being stuck at home, even if that is still volontary here in Sweden. So I wrote a small toy that has no real practical value, but some of you may find it fun to test out. It is probably only useful if you have a fairly large collection.

Here's what it may look like when you start it and you load your DVD Profiler export file. You get a random movie, its director and up to five random cast members:


You double click on of the persons in the bottom row, ant that person goes to the top. You get up to six random movies that the person is credited for:


Double click one of the movies, and that goes to the top. And so on and so on.

It's not 100% perfect; there are a couple of minor bugs that I haven't tracked down. The randomness makes it really hard. But it works fine for the most part. If you should get stuck with a movie that doesn't show any credits, just select File/New random movie.

Download DpLink 1.0.0
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorWigram
Don't blink!
Registered: June 6, 2007
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This is fun, particularly for actors playing many secondary roles in TV Series, e.g.


I imagine cast headshots are not saved in the xml exported file. That's too bad, it would add to the fun to have a face along with the name.

At any rate, thanks for this new toy! 
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Sweden Posts: 4,508
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Glad you like it, Wigram!
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Quoting Wigram:
Quote:
I imagine cast headshots are not saved in the xml exported file.

You're imagining right. And unlike cover scans (and thumbnails) they are not saved as separate images, but - as far as I can tell - embedded in the database files, so not accessible.
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorDJ Doena
Registered: May 1, 2002
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Germany Posts: 6,737
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Quoting Wigram:
Quote:
I imagine cast headshots are not saved in the xml exported file.


There are two ways to have headshots of people. One is using the harddrive and the folder settings in options. But the more commonly used is to store the images in the database (like it is done in the headshot project).
Karsten
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DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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I had identified two problems in DpLink:
- The same title could be listed twice
- Clicking a director could produce a result with no title links

I believe I have fixed both those bugs in DpLink 1.0.1.
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorRander
I hate mondays...
Registered: March 13, 2007
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May I ask what language you are programming in?

Before Windows 95 came along, I was not bad at Borland Turbo Pascal, though I never really got around to doing anything graphical in it. Later, I did a lot of php, and lately I have been looking a bit at Python. But I would like to find something that's not too difficult to do Windows-programs (and if the same source can be compiled to Linux also, that would be a bonus)... 
The future is here. It's just not widely distributed yet. (William Gibson)
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Quoting Rander:
Quote:
May I ask what language you are programming in?

Before Windows 95 came along, I was not bad at Borland Turbo Pascal, though I never really got around to doing anything graphical in it. Later, I did a lot of php, and lately I have been looking a bit at Python. But I would like to find something that's not too difficult to do Windows-programs (and if the same source can be compiled to Linux also, that would be a bonus)... 

That's really two questions; what do I use and what should you use. Let's start with some background.

The two most obvious choices for programming language are C# and Visual Basic. "Classic VB" was introduced by Microsoft in 1990, and became really popular with VB 3.0 in 1993. When Microsoft introduced .Net Framework in 2002 they scrapped Classic VB - much to the chagrin of many VB developers - and introduced VB.Net and C#. Those have very similar capabilities, but new features have usually been introduced in C# before VB.Net. Still, there are very few thing that you can do in C# that you can't do in VB.Net. Unless you have a C or C++ background, VB.Net is most likely easier to learn than C#, but not by all that much.

Then there is the matter of graphical subsystem. You have the older WinForms and the newer - but not really new - WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation). WPF offers far superior capabilities over WinForms, but also has a higher learning curve. Some say that in WPF the complex is made easy and the simple is made difficult. That's not true, but there is a grain of truth in it.

Me, I started programming VB over 25 years ago, and I am a stubborn SOB, so I am not changing to C# unless I am absolutely forced to. Which hopefully will not happen before they carry me out feet first. As regards WinForms vs. WPF, I switched to WPF exclusively in 2004, and I haven't looked back since.

I know very little about Linux, but I doubt that either C# or VB.Net can be easily ported to Linux. If portability is high on your list, then I guess that Java might be a good choice. Since you have a background with Turbo Pascal, you could check out Free Pascal, which I understand is cross-platform. But I doubt it is as convenient as developing C# / VB.Net with Visual Studio, which has a free Community Edition.

That makes everything crystal clear, right? 

Edit: I should add that there is a lot more sample code available in C# than in VB.Net, so you might take that into consideration as well. Although, most of it is easily translated into VB.Net. https://codeconverter.icsharpcode.net/ is a good help.
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
 Last edited: by GSyren
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorGSyren
Profiling since 2001
Registered: March 14, 2007
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Sweden Posts: 4,508
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Just in case anyone is interested (doubtful, but anyway) the multiple titles bug wasn't actually a coding bug, but a design bug. The program was designed to avoid listing the same profile twice when the profiles were picked at random. And that's exactly what it did. What I hadn't taken into account was that there could be double dips, i.e. the same title in different profiles.

The director bug, on the other hand, was totally a coding bug. The first time I encountered a director, I added him (or her) to the dictionary, but neglected to add the profile id. Thus all directors had one profile missing, and if the director only occurred in a single profile, well ...

Oh, well, one can't be perfect every time. 
My freeware tools for DVD Profiler users.
Gunnar
 Last edited: by GSyren
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