[flatten] Automatically Removing Programmes from Series Folders

I have installed this, but will it remove the .hmt file from my "empty" DoI folder and allow it to be deleted, or should I just manually delete this folder?
 
brian said:
I have installed this, but will it remove the .hmt file from my "empty" DoI folder and allow it to be deleted, or should I just manually delete this folder?
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Just delete that by hand. The same thing shouldn't happen in future because it will just skip any file which is use and move it later.
 
brian said:
I have discovered a bug in flatten, and will try to describe what happened.

I was recording "Dancing on Ice", and about an hour into the programme I decided to start watching it by selecting the recording from the Dancing on Ice folder within the Media - Video list. After the recording finished playing, I was returned to the DoI folder which by then appeared to be empty as the programme had been moved by flatten whilst I was watching it (should this happen whilst the file is still in use?).

Checking via webif, it seems that the .hmt file is still remaining in the DoI folder preventing it from being flattened, and resulting in what appears to be an empty folder which should have been deleted.
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I am pleased to report that after watching tonight's "D.o.I" in the same manner as above, I can confirm that flatten 0.0.4 has fixed this issue for me.:)
 
Can we have an easy way to suspend/restart flatten rather than uninstall it? If I schedule a series recording that I don't want flattened, I don't get a chance to mark it .noflatten because the folder doesn't get created until the first programme is recorded, and then soon after it has been recorded flatten has done its work.

It would be good if this could be set up from the SUI, in case one is quickly secheduling a recording in front of the box with no immediate access to the WebIF - an idea I've had is if there exists a first-level folder named "x" flatten is suspended.
 
This was just what I was looking for since moving away from my Toppy. Have now installed the custom firmware & flatten. Thanks to all for developing these useful applications.
 
I have had another instance of flatten not working quite right, and being left with a seemingly empty folder, which actually contains "hmt" and "thm" files.
 
Yes, there was a .ts file which has been moved, together with it's accompanying "nts", "thm", & "hmt" files. Although for some unknown reason I have an "empty" folder remaining which contains another set of "thm" and "hmt" files.
 
Black Hole said:
Can we have an easy way to suspend/restart flatten rather than uninstall it? If I schedule a series recording that I don't want flattened, I don't get a chance to mark it .noflatten because the folder doesn't get created until the first programme is recorded, and then soon after it has been recorded flatten has done its work.

It would be good if this could be set up from the SUI, in case one is quickly secheduling a recording in front of the box with no immediate access to the WebIF - an idea I've had is if there exists a first-level folder named "x" flatten is suspended.
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Bump. I actually do have an impending series recording I don't want flattened. An alternative is if we could predict what the series folder will be called, I could create it manually and give it the right properties (I think there's a .series file or something like that - maybe it could be copied across from another folder, or does it have to be customised?) plus .noflatten. Otherwise I shall have to remember to uninstall flatten at the right time. another idea: could the RS schedule flatten enable/disable events, and mark selected series folders with .noflatten?
 
OK - A recent update to the WebIF has solved the problem:

How To Avoid Flattening a Wanted Series Folder

The Problem

With flatten running, a series recording creates a folder and makes the recording in the folder (as usual), but soon afterwards flatten moves the recording into My Video and deletes the folder, making it a very small time window in which to go in with the WebIF and mark the folder "not for flattening". One can create a series folder oneself, mark it "not for flattening", and move the recording into it, but unless the folder name is precisely correct the next recording in the series will be made to another newly-created folder and then flattened.

Disabling (by uninstalling) flatten temporarily is not ideal, because with it disabled the WebIF no longer offers flatten-related options (ie the OPT+ option to mark a folder "not for flattening", and display of the flatten/noflatten icon). One can disable flatten while the recording is made, then come back later and reinstall flatten, then quickly mark the series recording folder "not for flattening" before flatten does its job - but it's all a bit of a fuss. Alternatively one can FTP (or network-share) a .noflatten file into the folder before reinstalling flatten, but this is doing a job manually which should be what the WebIF is for, and again one still has the fuss of uninstalling/reinstalling flatten.

It is possible to stop flatten deleting a folder by dumping a file (any file that is not a .ts) into it - flatten only moves a file set associated with a .ts file (ie the actual recording) and then will not delete a non-empty folder. This means that broken AR series recordings create folders which do not get flattened. However, unless you uninstall flatten temporarily the window of opportunity is again brief (ie while the recording is being made and until it gets attention).

The Solution
  1. Create your series recording schedule as usual.
  2. Create a folder you wish the recordings to be filed in (any name you like, but immediately below My Video - I don't think this works with deep nesting).
  3. Mark the folder "not for flattening" - this can be done by starting the folder name with "[", creating an empty file .noflatten within the folder using FTP or by networked access, or using the OPT+ options in the WebIF media browser (preferred).
  4. Using the WebIF, navigate to the item in the recording schedule. Click the "more" icon and select "Change Folder". Enter the name of the created folder. This will cause the series recordings to be stored in your folder rather than an auto-created series folder.
  5. The Humax will require a restart before the detail change takes effect. When I tried leaving it to a normal startup (actually when the recording was due to start) the folder change didn't take, so accept the offer to reboot straight away. Thereafter the WebIF listing of the recording schedule shows the recording will be made to your nominated folder (and it does).
 
Now that the webif and RS portal have the facility to change the target folder for recordings, I've been playing around with setting that folder to nothing. The good news is that it works fine so it may be that the flatten package is no longer needed or can be reimplemented in a better way. It is no longer necessary to move the recordings once they are finished, rather they can record straight into the top level in the first place!

The current webif does not allow changing the target folder to null but the next update will enable that. It is already possible through the RS portal.
 
That's cute. I foresee problems with it though, the massaging of the recording schedule requires a restart (if done automatically) and manual intervention (if not).
 
You now have the option to do this either way. Either install flatten and selectively mark folders for no-flattening, or don't install it a selectively change the target folder on series recordings to empty.
 
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