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Announcing: Name Variants for Cast & Crew - Version 2
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DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
Sita Sings the Blues
Registered: March 14, 2007
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What's This?

A utility for generating a report of cast and crew entries in your DVD Profiler collection that are different, but most likely refer to the same person.

Feature Highlights in Version 2

  • Much faster due to native code.

  • Improved name matching algorithm with variable spelling tolerance and better results for omitted and swapped name parts.

  • Choice between separate and merged analysis of cast and crew.

  • Maintains an Exclusion file for incorrect name variants (false positives), which is updatable just by a mouse-click directly from the generated report.

  • Can automatically exclude all variants that are already covered by the Alias.cfg of Tom Gaines' CCViewer.

  • Customizable report format. You decide, whether details such as production year or UPC should appear in the report.


  • Requirements

  • DVD Profiler 2.4/2.5 (InterVocative) or DVD Profiler 3.0 (Invelos)

  • Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP or newer.

  • Microsoft XML Parser (MSXML) 3.0 or newer. Installing either MSXML 4.0 or 6.0 is strongly recommended.

  • Optional: DVD Profiler Automation Object 1.0.2 or newer, for jumping directly from a DVD in the report to DVD Profiler.


  • Download at http://www.geocities.com/goodguy_dvdpro/

    As the discussion about common names has resurfaced, it seems about the right time for this major revamp.

    Feedback is appreciated. Enjoy.
    Matthias
     Last edited: by goodguy
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantdvdoug
    As seen on Slashdot...
    Registered: March 13, 2007
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    MS are withdrawing support for MSXML4 in a few months btw.
    Doug

    DougWeb.org - my personal site.
    TWSNBN.com
    Unofficial DVD Profiler Resource Centre - serving hundreds of users every month!
    DVD Profiler Wiki
    DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorTomGaines
    Registered Sept. 24, 2001
    Registered: March 13, 2007
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    One minor problem with the report.
    In the cast of "From Russia With Love" there is the following credit:
    ?  as  Blofeld
    This questionmark causes problems. Because of it, every actor entry appears in the report as a variant to the "?".


    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Version 2.0.1 is available.
    It fixes a bug with names that do not contain any meaningful characters (as reported by Tom).
    Matthias
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Quoting dvdoug:
    Quote:
    MS are withdrawing support for MSXML4 in a few months btw.

    That's too bad, because MSXML 4.0 is still faster than MSXML 6.0, although the performance differences are not THAT significant.

    MSXML 3.0 (which is the fallback recommended by MS) on the other hand is really slow and handles large files very poorly. I tested Name Variants with a large collection file of 50 MB and it runs about 50 times faster (really) with the newer versions.

    Anyway, here is a direct link to the MS download page for MSXML 6.0 SP1.
    Matthias
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Version 2.0.2 is available.
    Bugfix for finding changed last names in cast, e.g. Robin||Wright = Robin|Wright|Penn.
    Matthias
    DVD Profiler Unlimited RegistrantStar ContributorDaddy DVD
    Lost in Translation
    Registered: March 14, 2007
    Netherlands Posts: 2,366
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    Thanks, I'm sure this tool will come in handy with the new as credited system!
    Martin Zuidervliet

    DVD Profiler Nederlands
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
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    Version 2.0.3 is available.
    Names for new localities #32 to #39 added (Argentina, etc).
    Matthias
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Version 2.0.4 is available.
    Names for new localities #40 to #42 added (Austria, etc).

    This gets a bit annoying, so I will probably change the program to read the Localities file directly instead of issuing an update for each batch of new localities. However, it's low priority, meaning it may take a while until I get to it.
    Matthias
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Version 2.0.5 is now available.
    Jumping from a DVD in the report directly to DVD Profiler is now supported for both DVD Profiler 3.0 and 2.4/2.5.

    In order to use this, you also need to:
  • Install the latest version (1.0.2) of the DVD Profiler Automation Object from my website.

  • Re-create the report file with the new version of Name Variants.
  • Matthias
    DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar Contributorm.cellophane
    tonight's the night...
    Registered: March 13, 2007
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    Thank you, Matthias, for this program. I'm using it extensively.
    ...James

    "People fake a lot of human interactions, but I feel like I fake them all, and I fake them very well. That’s my burden, I guess." ~ Dexter Morgan
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Don't be alarmed, this is not another update.

    I'm planning to turn Name Variants into a plugin, effectively making it not only a reporting tool, but a Name Variants Editor.

    Basically this means, you will be able to pick one of the name variants for a person as the common name and the program will update all the affected DVDs accordingly to enable full cross-linking. The existing variants will be moved to the Credited As field.

    I am currently in the early design stage, so this is your chance to tell me what you like or don't like about the program, and what additional features you may want to see in a future version.
    Matthias
    DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar Contributorm.cellophane
    tonight's the night...
    Registered: March 13, 2007
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    Quoting goodguy:
    Quote:
    I'm planning to turn Name Variants into a plugin, effectively making it not only a reporting tool, but a Name Variants Editor.

    Basically this means, you will be able to pick one of the name variants for a person as the common name and the program will update all the affected DVDs accordingly to enable full cross-linking. The existing variants will be moved to the Credited As field.

    That sounds fantastic!

    Quoting goodguy:
    Quote:
    I am currently in the early design stage, so this is your chance to tell me what you like or don't like about the program, and what additional features you may want to see in a future version.

    I have trouble keeping track of what I've evaluated. The exclusion thing seems tricky because I don't want to preclude certain names from popping up in the future as my collection changes. Also, I have situations where I've determined that the names don't belong to the same person but I have no way to record that. I'm just learning to use it, so perhaps there's a way...
    ...James

    "People fake a lot of human interactions, but I feel like I fake them all, and I fake them very well. That’s my burden, I guess." ~ Dexter Morgan
     Last edited: by m.cellophane
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
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    Quoting m.cellophane:
    Quote:
    The exclusion thing seems tricky because I don't want to preclude certain names from popping up in the future as my collection changes.


    You won't. The exclusion is context-sensitive. To quote myself from the Readme:

    Quote:
    The context is either defined by the names and the DVDs they appear in, or by the names only. For DVD Profiler 3.0, the birth year is considered a part of the name.

  • Assume, you have a person P with the name variants V1 and V2.

  • You exclude V2, which effectively excludes P from subsequent reports.

  • You add a new DVD, which also contains V2. But this V2 may or may not be the same V2 as on previous DVDs. If your exclusion context is name & appearances, V1 and V2 of P will be reported again, and you can re-evaluate the exclusion. If your exclusion context is name only, the exclusion is still in effect.

  • Now you add another DVD, introducing the new variant V3 of P. Since V2 has been excluded only in relation to V1, all three variants of P will be reported again, allowing you to re-evaluate the exclusion. This will happen regardless of the exclusion context you have chosen.

  • Long story short, when using the exclusion file in the names & appearances mode (which is the default), you don't have to worry. If a peviously excluded name appears on a newly added DVD, it will show up again in the next report you create.
    Matthias
     Last edited: by goodguy
    DVD Profiler Desktop and Mobile RegistrantStar Contributorm.cellophane
    tonight's the night...
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    Quoting goodguy:
    Quote:
    To quote myself from the Readme:

    The problem is that I read and didn't understand the Readme.          I think I get it now. Thanks for the re-explanation. 
    ...James

    "People fake a lot of human interactions, but I feel like I fake them all, and I fake them very well. That’s my burden, I guess." ~ Dexter Morgan
    DVD Profiler Unlimited Registrantgoodguy
    Sita Sings the Blues
    Registered: March 14, 2007
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    Quoting m.cellophane:
    Quote:
    The problem is that I read and didn't understand the Readme.       

    Hm, English isn't my native language, so if you want to suggest any improvements to the text...
    (Although I thought the example was pretty straightforward)
    Matthias
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