Hi again...

New user here; the search capabilities of this forum are a little limited, so I wasn't able to find an answer to this question yet.

My current movie collection is in a big Excel spreadsheet.  Is there currently any import facility in DVD Profiler?  I can easily convert the spreadsheet to a CSV file or an XML file of any format (hopefully a reasonably simple one), but given I have about 2500 movies listed in there, it would be horrible to have to enter them all by hand.

How can I import all this data into DVD Profiler?

- Tim

Thanks much, mediadogg! As mentioned in the other thread, I installed BulkEdit and SideCar right after posting these questions, so I guess I had the right idea. :-)

I'm hoping that importing of a collection is straightforward - that is, the XML or CSV I use is well-defined and documented, all internal fields (except generated ones like internal ids) are generated, and I don't have to do any "linking" (that is, I don't have to import a collection, then try to match up internal IDs with metadata).  I can't use the UPC codes as I don't have all the packaging material for all DVDs (most, but not all), and scanning 1500 UPC codes would be quite hellish, I think. ;-)

Also, many of my movies are ripped onto hard drive and I no longer have the original materials.

Here's an small subset from my spreadsheet, perhaps you can advise? (Incidentally, the "Pre-Accident" text there is referring to where I accidentally deleted my entire digital collection, and had to re-rip a bunch of discs; it's just a personal status):

-----------------------

dateAddedToSpreadsheet,erased,recoveredFromHTPC,recovered,recoveryState,availableFromNetflix,isPresentInCollection,isWatched,isLoaned,loanedTo,collection,source,country,filmLanguage,originalLanguage,genres,title,edition,version,tvSeriesTitle,tvSeriesSeason,tvSeriesSeasonCount,isTVSeries,isCompilation,isMultiTitle,discNumber,discCount,discName,sideNumber,sideCount,sideName,isCopy,movieReleaseDate,mediaReleaseDate,mediaFormat,physicalMediaType,discLayerCount,discRegion,aspectRatio,director,actors,mediaSource,notes
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Betty Boop : 12 Classic Cartoons,,,,,,N,N,N,1,2,Disc 1,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Betty Boop : 12 Classic Cartoons,,,,,,N,N,N,2,2,Disc 2,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Betty Boop : America's Sweetheart,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Betty Boop : Her Wildest Adventures,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Betty Boop : The Amazing World of Betty Boop,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Betty Boop : The World's First Female Superhero,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Bitter Films Volume 1 : 1995-2005 - Animated Short Films by Don Hertzfeldt,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Cartoon Crazys : Banned & Censored,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Cartoons That Time Forgot : The UB Iwerks Collection,,,,,,N,N,N,1,2,Vol. 1,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Cartoons,Film,,English,English,comedy,Cartoons That Time Forgot : The UB Iwerks Collection,,,,,,N,N,N,2,2,Vol. 2,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,DVD Disc Film,Film,,French,French,drama,... and God created woman,The Criterion Collection,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,DVD Disc Film,Film,,English,English,scifi,"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea",Special Edition,,,,,N,N,N,1,2,Disc One,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,DVD Disc Film,Film,,English,English,scifi,"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea",Special Edition,,,,,N,N,N,2,2,Disc Two,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,DVD Disc Film,Film,,English,English,comedy,7 Faces of Dr. Lao,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,2,Widescreen,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,DVD Disc Film,Film,,English,English,comedy,7 Faces of Dr. Lao,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,2,2,Standard,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
Pre-Accident,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,DVD Disc Film,Film,,French,French,drama,8 Women,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,drama,A Room with a View,Criterion,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,BD,BD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,animation,Aladdin,Diamond Edition,,,,,N,N,N,1,2,Blu-Ray,1,1,,N,,,BD,BD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,animation,Aladdin,Diamond Edition,,,,,N,N,N,2,2,DVD,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,drama,All That Jazz,Criterion,,,,,N,N,N,1,3,Blu-Ray,1,1,,N,,,BD,BD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,drama,All That Jazz,Criterion,,,,,N,N,N,2,3,"DVD One : It's Showtime, Folks!",1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,drama,All That Jazz,Criterion,,,,,N,N,N,3,3,"DVD Two : It's Showtime, Folks!",1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,Italian,Italian,animation,Allegro non Troppo,,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,Italian,Italian,animation,Allegro non Troppo,Tutto Bozzetto 4-DVD Box Set,,,,,N,N,N,4,4,Allegro non Troppo,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,documentary,And Everything Is Going Fine,Criterion,,,,,N,N,N,1,1,,1,1,,N,,,BD,BD,,,,,,,
1/3/2016,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,N/A,Y,,N,,Film,Film,,English,English,drama,Androcles and the Lion,"Criterion : Eclipse Series 20: George Bernard Shaw on Film",,,,,N,N,N,1,1,Androcles and the Lion,1,1,,N,,,DVD,DVD,,,,,,,

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Quoting mediadogg:

Quote:
Yup, you are definitely in the realm of my unpublished stuff, as unfortunately your import will not be straightforward, primarily because you do not have the UPC codes, which DVD Profiler uses as its primary key (oversimplifying here).

Send me a PM to start a private conversation. Since the code is not ready to be released, I am always looking for real world test data. In return, you are likely to get a database ready-made for you, or as close as I can get. Sound interesting?

Sure! What super-special techniques do you have for building these databases?  I'm a software engineer, so perhaps it's something I could come up with as well?  Or is it entirely in the realm of DVD Profiler plugins?

- Tim