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Short answer: No.
Long answer: There would be no point. As long as Invelos is up and running, there is no way that we could create an alternative client that would come anywhere near DVD Profiler. And even if we wanted to, we couldn't access the online database. And what's the point of an alternative client without an online database.
The sad reality is that if (or when) Invelos goes down, we can either use DVD Profiler offline to just keep managing our local databases, or switch to an alternative program.
Anyway, creating something like an alternative client would be an enormous task, and even if I do have too much time on my hands I doubt that I would live long enough to see it completed. 
Now, DJ is still a young man ...  | Posted: Topic Replies: 132, Topic Views: 40501 |
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BirthYearCheck 4.7.2
Well, here's another update. There are two main reasons for this.
- I realized that changing sort order made hidden rows visible again, so I had to change how this was done.
- There was an update for the browser component, CEFSharp, that indicated that the old version could have security issues.
Apart from that, since I had to update the program anyway, I added the possibility to configure what DVD Profiler's Main Window Title is - in case you're using a translation that has changed that title.
I also changed some functions that used the Windows API so they use AutoIT instead. AutoIT functions are probably just wrappers for the API, but they're easier to use so they hopefully work just as good or better.
PS. I toyed with the idea of headlining this with "BirthYearCheck 4.7.2: Jason Lives" just to tie in to "The Final Chapter" from version 4.7.0. Or perhaps even "Json lives". But since there are no changes to how I use json in this version, it seemed a bit too farfetched.
If I had thought about it from the beginning, I could have named the exclusion file "Voorhees.json". And I could have released that version on Friday the 13th. I like little jokes like that. But that's just 20/20 hindsight now ...  | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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| Personally I tend to use DvdpScheduler for exporting, but that's a bit of overkill unless you also intend to use its scheduling and other functions. | Posted: Topic Replies: 1, Topic Views: 2003 |
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Since so many of my tools depend on an export file, I thought that it might be a good idea to create a tool that makes it as easy as possible to export all or selected profiles.
You can configure the export file names if you don't like the defaults, and you can (or rather must) select a folder to store the exports.
Then just select All, Owned, Filtered or Flagged and click Export. Voila! Of course, DVD Profiler must be running when you do this, and it works with or without HTTPJolie.
Download version 1.0 from here. | Posted: Topic Replies: 1, Topic Views: 2003 |
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I forgot something ... 
In order to set focus on DVD Profiler from CommonNameScanner I use the main window title to identify it. So right now
Scan flagged profile(s) only works if that title is exactly Invelos Software DVD Profiler.
Some translations change that title, and I had intended to make it configurable in CommonNameScanner. I forgot. Sorry about that. However, I hesitate to create a new version and release it unless someone actually needs it.
So, if you want to use CommonNameScanner together with a DVD Profiler translation that has a different main window title, just let me know and I'll happily fix that. | Posted: Topic Replies: 8, Topic Views: 5867 |
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CommonNameScanner 1.1
It occurred to me that it might be useful if it was easier to scan just one profile (or a few profiles) without having a fully up-to-date export file. You might want to check a newly updated profile before you contribute it, for example.
So this version includes Scan flagged profile(s). This will automatically create a temporary export from just the flagged profiles and load that. That's a really quick way to check your profile before contributing. | Posted: Topic Replies: 8, Topic Views: 5867 |
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I think I should try to clarify the different approaches to better linking:
1. Collate the names and Credited-as names in you collection in order to help create better linking locally. This is what NameCheck does, and - I believe - also goodguy's NameVariants. Maybe DJ Doena has done something like this, too. I'm not sure.
2. Screenscrape the result from the CLT, and then access the profiles for each hit in order to weed out the different persons that "hide" under that name. This is what CLTBoss + CLTinfo does, and also what goodguy's Credit Lookup Plus does.
3. Access the data from the common names thread and compare them to the names in you collection in order to let you update your profiles to use common names, whether it's needed for linkage in your collection or not. Using common names is mostly for the benefit of the online database so that downloaded profiles have correct linkage. This is what CommonNameScanner is used for.
Unfortunately goodguy left the community a long time ago, and I don't know if his programs are available for download anymore. I'm not even sure if Credit Lookup Plus works any longer. I think it needed the old Internet Explorer.
There may well exist other tools or plugins that I have overlooked. Feel free to chime in if you know of any. | Posted: Topic Replies: 8, Topic Views: 5867 |
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Quoting hyrd0x:
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Is this a replacement for http://gsyren.ownit.nu/NameCheck/NameCheck.html ?
No, I wouldn't say so. Unlike NameCheck this uses the common name thread to find possible common names. Different approaches to the same problem. You decide which is more useful to you, or use both. | Posted: Topic Replies: 8, Topic Views: 5867 |
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CommonNameScanner 1.0
Do you find it important that cast/crew in your collection link correctly? Then you are probably interested in finding common names. This is a program that scans your collection (via an XML export of it) in order to find where common names may be needed.
It shows potential common names. But you must still make sure that the names found are the same person. Actor William L. Thomas is sometimes credited as Bill Thomas. But that doesn't necessarily mean that he is the same Bill Thomas as the Costume Designer of that name. Probably not.
On the other hand, Franco Groppioni and Francesco Groppioni would most likely be the same since they are both credited as Sound.
You can hide entries, exclude entries, sort entries, filter entries etc. It's all explained in the help file. You can also save the result to a .csv file that can be loaded into a spreadsheet, if you prefer to work that way. | Posted: Topic Replies: 8, Topic Views: 5867 |
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| I have also had a contribution declined becauce I mentioned IMDb as an invalid source. Since then I always use the less specific term ”a third party database” just to avoid this. Obviously not a new profile, though. | Posted: Topic Replies: 17, Topic Views: 10353 |
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Quoting SpikyCactus:
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I sometimes wonder if the ability to clone profiles to generate new profiles is more trouble than it's worth.
I feel the same. That's why I wrote ContributionLookupPlus to facilitate following contributions back to the original first contribution.
In order to check cast and crew I use CastCrewCheck, taking the starting point either from the current profile, or from IMDb via DJ's CastCrewEdit.
Although I have to say that checking crew for newer films can be a headache. You may have to read through many hundreds of credits in an end credit roll that may take 15 minutes or more. Why they insist on crediting everyone from the director down to the person who empties the waste paper baskets (only a slight exaggeration) is beyond me. | Posted: Topic Replies: 17, Topic Views: 10353 |
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DvdpScheduler 2.6.6
Something, most likely a Windows update, has caused a certain command in AutoItX to stop working. This made DvdpScheduler hang after it had finished a backup. You had to close and restart it for it to start working again. I had hoped that the latest version of AutoItX had fixed that, but apparently not, so I had to find a work-around. This now works as intended again. | Posted: Topic Replies: 28, Topic Views: 27873 |
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Quoting Wigram:
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Was it a new profile? In my experience, provided the upc from the back cover and the profile id match, anything goes in the first approval. The rational is that the community hawks will correct it in later submissions.
I doubt that. You don't normally check the contribution notes when you download a profile. At least not unless something really stands out, like lots of uncredited cast. So the problem wouldn't be noted until someone contributes an update, which may take a long time (if ever). And in the meantime people could copy the incorrect cast and crew into other profiles. I find it hard to believe that Ken would have approved such an "anything goes" procedure. | Posted: Topic Replies: 17, Topic Views: 10353 |
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| Well, it's possible that it was elevated to manual screening, but the screener just made a mistake. | Posted: Topic Replies: 17, Topic Views: 10353 |
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| That doesn't look like US locality. | Posted: Topic Replies: 5, Topic Views: 4017 |
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Thanks to the help from ObiKen I have found and corrected the problem.
So here is BirthYearCheck 4.7.1 - The Even Finaller Fixeder Chapter! 
And a PS to all: You really should check out mediadogg's HTTPJolie plugin if you haven't already done so.
It really improves many of my tools! Especially BirthYearCheck. | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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Quoting ObiKen:
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I'm not sure if this is relevant ...
Of course it is relevant! I really want my programs to work for everyone. I have PM'd you. | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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Just FYI, I have created a blog that describes some of my tools. I did this mostly so I could link to it from the Facebook group
DVD Profiler Users. I figured that some of the participants there may not have kept up with what's happened in the tools department.
You guys here hopefully have kept up, but just in case, you can read the blog here: DVD Profiler tools 101. | Posted: Topic Replies: 1, Topic Views: 2454 |
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BirthYearCheck: The Final Chapter.
Oh, promises, promises. Well, I think I can at least guarantee that you won't see BirthYearCheck Part 5: A New Beginning.
Anyway, the reason for this update is two-fold. First, I realized that the Exclude fix from version 4.4 had somehow been unfixed (or, perish the thought, it was never really fixed at all). Now it is really fixed.
Second, I realized that I have the short term memory of a goldfish. While using BirthYearCheck, when I selected Search title in IMDb and I had clicked on the correct title in the title list that came up, I hit ctrl-F to find the person I was looking for and ... I forgot who it was I was looking for. I had to switch back to the previous tab and check. Duh! I thought that it would be so much easier if the name could be searched automatically once I came to the cast/crew listing in IMDb.
After implementing that search function, I went through my collection like butter on a hot tin roof. Or something. Maybe this is really the final chapter. 
So, I give you - ta daa! - BirthYearCheck 4.7 | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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My Life is Murder. Aussie crime show with Lucy Lawless.
I thought I didn't like Lucy, but it turns out I was just Xenaphobic.  | Posted: Topic Replies: 99, Topic Views: 22959 |
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Quoting mreeder50:
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I do run DVDP and BYCheck in elevated mode. Should I remove that and try again?
That would be my suggestion. | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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Quoting mediadogg:
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GSyren tools use TCP mode to send commands, which does not require DVD Profiler elevation.
Just to clarify; in TCP mode you should not run DVD Profiler in elevated mode. A program in normal mode cannot communicate with a program in elevated mode. Theoretically, running both my tools and Profiler elevated ought to work, but it didn't work when I tried it. I didn't put any effort in finding out why, though. | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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BirthYearCheck 4.6
"You didn't think this through, did you?" 
Said me to myself, when I started updating birth years for real in my collection. I realized that I needed to flag the entries that I updated so I could contribute them later. But of course I forgot to do the Ctrl-F in BirthYearCheck before I did the update. And after the update, the row was already hidden. I could, of course, unhide the hidden rows, but that would kind of defeat the purpose.
The solution was obvious. I should let BirthYearCheck flag them automatically when an update was performed. So I implemented that. Settings updated:
Now you can decide to flag all updates, or just the ones that you set to 9999 (or none at all). And I must say that I really should have thought of this from the beginning. It makes fixing birth years so much easier. Well, live and learn.
Just remember, if you already have flagged items in Profiler, clear them before you start updating. Save them first if you need them later. Just don't mix flags that you set for different purposes.
Remember, you need HTTPJolie (or if mediadogg cooks up something compatible for FTP). The program will work without it, but these functions will be disabled. | Posted: Topic Replies: 66, Topic Views: 23512 |
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You cannot synchronize directly between two instances of the iOS app. You would have to upload the collection from one and then download it to the other.
I you have a PC and Wi-Fi, you might consider getting the Desktop program. Through Wi-Fi you get 2-way synchronization, so you can sync both your iOS apps against the Desktop. And the desktop program offers a lot more features than the iOS app does. | Posted: Topic Replies: 5, Topic Views: 3200 |