Is there plans in the near future to release updated source code for Plex and or preferably the PMS? I have fallen in love with Plex and I would like to contribute in my spare time if possible. I know the developers have been hard at work cranking out new releases so releasing the source is probably one of the last things on their mind. But, I also know that if no one asks then there isn’t a reason to.
I am sure there are others out there that would like to play with the bleeding edge stuff even if its incomplete.
Hi dustyhair, thanks for your kind words and for your interest.
We always release the source that goes along with Plex for Mac when we make a release, but we are keeping the Plex Media Server source code closed.
In terms of contributing, though, we’ve really tried hard to make the system as open as possible, and the following are all areas where you could dive in:
- Plug-ins
- Metadata agents
- Scanners
- Clients (there are third party clients for iOS, ATV2, etc.)
- Utilities, cool applets (e.g. Plex Web Export).
Thanks again for your interest!
Thanks for the response Elan!
Is the command line Plex Media Scanner considered part of the closed system? Even though I really want to see it all I when i through out PMS I meant the Media Scanner. I looked through the source tree and didn’t see anything that looked like it. Or is it just used as a simple shell and the python scripts are really the man behind the curtain. I know a fair bit of it is handled by the plugins.
A more direct question would be, from Selecting a file to add to adding it into the database with all the metadata where does the system become closed?
And, I do appreciate the way things have been made as open for development as possible.
I believe that the entire process you describe is open. You have the Sanners.bundle in the plugins folder for the default scanners and folder locations for special scanners (like the eyetv scanner) which add the file to PMS. You then have info providers and metadata agents galore now for adding metadata to said file.
What initiates the Scanners.bundle?
From what I can tell for example the Series scanner has a Scan function which passes the path, files, mediaList and subdirs, where it processes the regualar expressions to pass back the EPISODE NUMBER, SEASON NUMBER, EPISODE NAME. Then it adds that info to the mediaList stack.
What processes the stack?
Just trying to get a sense of the bigger picture, from the code I can follow whats going on somewhat but the whole system isn't transparent
The Plex Media Scanner (closed source) is responsible for walking the tree of media, and invoking the Python scanners, and from there entering the media into the database and analyzing the media.
OK thanks! that answers the question. Sad but at least I have the answer. And I know it would take a mountain of work to reproduce and emulate the behavior of the scanner..so with that I will just have to anxiously await its improvements.
what are you wanting PMS to do that it currently isn’t?
I really need it to be able to do single show/movie insertion. I have around 144 TV shows close to 20k of files. It literally takes 20 minutes to just scan my TV shows. And, It doesn’t always catch the add. Like for instance my wife made me download “Jersey Shore” I had to run an update on it twice before it was caught by the database. I don’t mind doing a full scan every once in a while. but if i could just have the one feature to add a single file or single directory or both then it could be easily integrated with SAB or Sickbeard, then I would have access in Plex almost immediately. Granted I can just go browse for the file and then run it but that defeats the purpose and desire behind using Plex.
For me, coming from a computer science background, I know small features tend to get overlooked or even ignored until bigger issues can be solved. But, I also know that simple features can often be the easiest to implement. I know the plex crew has a lot on there plate. I just figured if the source was available I could just do it myself. I have a working knowledge, although a little rusty, of C#, Java, C++, and a little bit of Python so I figured it was something I could handle. Plus, when I see an issue that bugs me I tend to get a little obsessive about it until I can fix it.
I know its a feature thats coming…I just get a little impatient sometimes please forgive me
Trust me, I understand being impatient. Just ask jayman. I have about half of your TV library, and I have no problem adding Jersey Shore. One thing that helps me locate it quickly is going to “Recently Added”. The new show is added there before all of the metadata is downloaded, so you can watch it faster. As for integration with Sickbeard and SAB, there’s an unofficial plugin here. You’d be surprised at how powerful the current plugin scheme really is.
Ill have to give that plugin a look, Ive been aware of it but too busy messing with other parts of my setup to give it a shot.
I wouldn't say I had a problem adding Jersey Shore it more or less just took 45 minutes to show up, and then it fetched the metadata.
Right now my setup is a Windows PMS in a VM and then it connects to my NAS. Ive read in the past that Plex is only content aware if the PMS and the data are all on the same system.
I would have kept the PMS on my mac but there was an issue with playback jumping/skipping and even hanging the program while a library scan was happening.
My thoughts are this, If you allow just one transaction of add and update for one file as the files come in instead of scanning everything every time it should make things run a lot smoother. I think it would also be not a fix for but an avenue around the problem where the PMS crashes while scanning and playing back (the common problem in the windows PMS at least).
I just prefer event triggering vs automatic triggering. Its a different way to look at it i suppose.
gotcha. wasn’t aware of PMS windows issues.
While right now I am content aware. I wasn’t always. I also used the Library Update plugin that shows up in applications. As soon as the Scanner scanned the file change, it showed up in Recently Added. I do agree with you though about the meta scanning of only newly added items.
I never really added applications before. But when i click on add application nothing happens...know of a fix offhand for that?
I figured it out ..nevermind
When you install the plugin Library updater (found in the forums here) with the .plexapp file, it shows up in the Applications section.
Do you know where it is in the forum. Search doesn't bring any apparent results just lots of talk about it. Is it buried in an unrelated topic?
After much searching I found it. Not quite what i want but its something that will make life just a little easier
The next release will make this a bit better ;)
That sounds like a feature and not a bug, that is the library trying to protect you from your wife's taste.
Hey now.
