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DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar ContributorNewEnglander
Registered: 11/13/2003
Registered: March 13, 2007
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United States Posts: 1,911
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Dan, Ken posted this in the "Credited As" topic of this same forum...

Quoting: Ken Cole
Quote:
When I considered options for resolving name linking issues due to variations in how cast and crew are credited, there were two main candidates - the credited as system in use today, and a linking system.  Linking works well with name variations but doesn't work well with one-off credits, and complicates the birth year solution to credit uniqueness.  On the other hand, the credited as solution requires consistency in the common name to work well.

There seems to be much duress over determining the "correct" common name for each cast/crew member, when in fact what is needed is merely consistency.  I've prepared an online lookup that will allow searching the global cast and crew databases to determine the more common credited as name.  Note that whether or not credited as field is currently used as intended, the lookup will remain valid as long as the cast/crew entries follow the credited as standard.  Importantly, changing the common name for particular DVDs to align with the most common credited as field will have no effect on the lookup.

Before I roll out the lookup functionality, I want to make sure that this solution is workable to the community.  Pick it apart, tear into it, I'm thick skinned.
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DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorTracer
Registered: March 13, 2007
United States Posts: 951
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I'm pretty sure Ken's response was the common name should be the most commonly credited as name that is currently in the DB. 

Example the main DB has Alf Humphries 12 times and has Alfred E. Humphries 23 times. Then the most commonly credited as name would be Alfred E. Humphries.  In this example you would only need to change the 12 entries that have Alf Humphries to have the common name of Alfred E. Humphries but, yet still retain the credited as "Alf Humphries" for those profiles.
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DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantDan W
Registered: May 9, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
Posts: 980
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Let me illustrate ONE of the problems I see with this system...

Step 1:
Person A contributes 6 of those 12 profiles with the "proper" linking in them. Several minutes for this procedure alone. (Can't forget sourcing and so forth) Anyone still trying to figure out what a "Proper" reference for birth year is?

Step 2: Everybody else who has those 6 profiles gets to preview the updated profile and accept it or not. (keep in mind that we are only talking about 1 credited person). at least 1 minute for each person who has 1 of these profiles (multiplied by the number they have).

Step 3:
Person B  contributes 3 more of the profiles.

Step 4: repeat of step 2

So far we have countless man hours (thousands at minimum) tied up in nothing more than making a link for one credited individual. BTW, this does not include any of Ken's time (probably delegated to a part-timer) making sure it's correct.

With just this, how many users are going to do it?


Step 5: never-mind ------ I'm already worn out and I haven't even begun to touch on the number of times I will see each profile come back for an update because of the second, and third, and fourth, and fifth, etc., etc., credited individuals who are in this same profile. Then we get to add the normal ping-ponging that we see. Then there are the regular updates for CoO, and genre reorder, and .......


Why can't we fix just one thing and be done with it?

Must we always adopt a system which creates an infinite number of updates for each profile, for that one field alone?



Ken,
___ = ___ = ___ = ___ = ___

It's done once and everybody is finished. Why put your customers through all of this when it can be done in the main DB ONE TIME and it's complete????
Dan
 Last edited: by Dan W
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantDan W
Registered: May 9, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
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On second thought, Ken's "part-timers" might like this new "linking system" because it will certainly keep them busy. In-effect, it offers job security for those "part-timers" due to the increased work load they will see.

I would say that money could be better spent but that would depend on your perspective.

So, I guess there is an upside to this after-all. Initially, I didn't see one.
Dan
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantRifter
Reg. Jan 27, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
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Quoting Dan W:
Quote:
On second thought, Ken's "part-timers" might like this new "linking system" because it will certainly keep them busy. In-effect, it offers job security for those "part-timers" due to the increased work load they will see.

I would say that money could be better spent but that would depend on your perspective.

So, I guess there is an upside to this after-all. Initially, I didn't see one.


Well, for what it's worth, I don't think that's much of an upside for all that to-in' and fro-in'!  I guess maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand what seems to me to be an insane obsession with linking all these names together.  Is there some sort of arcane pleasure in seeing every last movie somebody is in displayed on the screen?  I'm completely mystified because I've never had a problem keeping track of names.  If somebody mentions a movie I can usually tell you who was in it, and vice versa (unless you're talking about some artsy-fartsy art house flick that 17 people saw).  It just really seems like a complete waste of time and effort for little real return.
John

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DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantGraveworm
Registered: April 7, 2007
United Kingdom Posts: 357
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Quoting Rifter:
Quote:
Well, for what it's worth, I don't think that's much of an upside for all that to-in' and fro-in'!  I guess maybe I'm just not smart enough to understand what seems to me to be an insane obsession with linking all these names together.  Is there some sort of arcane pleasure in seeing every last movie somebody is in displayed on the screen?


So why have cast and crew at all? For me it's a nice piece of functionality. I can't tell you everyone who was in every film and probably not all the films that even a very well known actor was in even if you limit it to my collection. I use DVDprofiler to catalogue my collection but far more to chose films to watch for me and very often for guests and friends. If I, or they, fancy seeing a film with a particular actor, then it's nice to be able to find them without having to search all possible credited entries. Also having watched a film and having my interest sparked by a performance to see who played that and what else they are in? or even "Oh where have I seen him before"

In the future I'd like to be able to add disks by performing searches to the online database. Fields could be Genre Rating and cast or crew member. It would work much better with some common name functionality.
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantOzziBlu
Watch It, Like It, Buy It
Registered: May 20, 2007
Australia Posts: 9
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Thanks Guys for your help on this subject
Cheers

Geoffbro
DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantDan W
Registered: May 9, 2002
Registered: March 13, 2007
Posts: 980
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Don't get me wrong folks; I would like to link these credits just as much as any of you and the last thing I want to see is the credits to go away. I will find another program if it comes to that and I'm sure I'm not alone on that score. The reality is, I don't believe for a second, Ken would remove them.
Dan
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