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SwissDude
Starting Member
Switzerland
30 Posts |
 Posted - 19 Nov 2025 : 08:26:53
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quote:
Originally posted by Hawkeye
So this seems to be the end of Extreme Movie Manager. Too bad. Any alternatives ?
I started using EMDB yesterday and it works great (and is free). Good bye XMM after 20 years of use (all the way back from version 4.8 in 2005) - too bad Alessio has stopped developing it and does not even reply on these forums any more... |
Edited by - SwissDude on 19 Nov 2025 08:27:44 |
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1046 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2025 : 10:32:11
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It's great to hear that EMDB meets your requirements. For me, the database isn't comprehensive enough. In particular, I've accumulated so much material in my xMM database that I can't possibly export and re-import it all. Perhaps I'll take a closer look at the EMDB script during my Christmas break to at least import the cast and crew data.
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www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
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Alferio
Starting Member
40 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2025 : 12:00:56
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| Thanks, Mawu, for your efforts. I also tried using chat gpt to fix the script, but to no avail. I'm also using EMDB, but it's obviously very limited compared to EXMM. What a shame. |
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Kipcior
New Member
82 Posts |
Posted - 19 Nov 2025 : 18:00:38
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| Does any of you know how EMDB derives data from IMDB? As far as I know API is vert limited for non commercial usage and if no API then again scrapping which is always a risk taking into account how quickly imdb changes page code. So even if now, someone actively updates it, still comes with the risk that after some time it will become abandoned (like it happened with XMM. |
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SwissDude
Starting Member
Switzerland
30 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2025 : 07:04:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Kipcior
Does any of you know how EMDB derives data from IMDB? As far as I know API is vert limited for non commercial usage and if no API then again scrapping which is always a risk taking into account how quickly imdb changes page code. So even if now, someone actively updates it, still comes with the risk that after some time it will become abandoned (like it happened with XMM.
EMDB can import data from IMDB. When you edit a movie, select IMDB instead of TheMovieDB. Eric (the author of EMDB) is actively modifying EMDB when IMDB changes the page code (the latest version is from 5 November 2025, which scrapes data from IMDB properly). |
Edited by - SwissDude on 20 Nov 2025 08:34:20 |
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SwissDude
Starting Member
Switzerland
30 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2025 : 07:10:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Mawu
It's great to hear that EMDB meets your requirements. For me, the database isn't comprehensive enough. In particular, I've accumulated so much material in my xMM database that I can't possibly export and re-import it all. Perhaps I'll take a closer look at the EMDB script during my Christmas break to at least import the cast and crew data.
EMDB does import Cast, Director(s), Writer(s) and Sound Composers(s) data. It also imports the trailer (link to YouTube) and the movie's Web Link (if it finds them). |
Edited by - SwissDude on 20 Nov 2025 08:30:23 |
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SwissDude
Starting Member
Switzerland
30 Posts |
Posted - 20 Nov 2025 : 08:26:49
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quote:
Originally posted by Mawu
It's great to hear that EMDB meets your requirements. For me, the database isn't comprehensive enough. In particular, I've accumulated so much material in my xMM database that I can't possibly export and re-import it all. Perhaps I'll take a closer look at the EMDB script during my Christmas break to at least import the cast and crew data.
I have all my movies stored in a single sub-folder on my Synology (over 4000 movies, to make it easier to have them all available on my Plex Server) and EMDB has a "Batch Update" functionality (using TheMovieDB or IMDB as source) and I used this functionality to populate the EMDB database easily. |
Edited by - SwissDude on 20 Nov 2025 08:33:08 |
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Kipcior
New Member
82 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2025 : 11:15:11
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ok, so it is scrapping and there is still a risk then, because at some point author may discontinue updating mechanism or imdb will do something that will effectively block it and we'll end up like with XMM.
Anyhow, looking at XMM situation, it is still worth trying.
I installed EMDB myself and started to check how it can serve to my 5300 items collection from XMM. Initial conclusions are:
1. I was able quite easily to export whole collection from my XMM and import it to EMDB. Although for some reason, the list of fields available to map during the import to EMDB is much more limited than the fields available in EMDB at all. For instance, I see field 'when seen' in the movie form but it is not available during the import. While I do not care much about the fields which can be updated again from IMDB site (like cast: description, rating etc), I do care about the fields that are specific for me and was maintained by myself (location of files, names of drives, custom statuses etc). And here, EMDB offers too less options for me to import them all. Still I can leave with it by cutting some edges unfortunately.
2. While previous step went relatively quickly, the update of movie data was not. When I started with update using imdb for full collection (I know how it sounds for 5,3k items :)) it crushed at some point by closing the application. Then I started to do the update by hundreds and it went without faults however very slowly and required active monitoring from my side.
3. Not sure why but update of movie data and thumbnails import from web/update is a separate option, so effectively I needed to do each movie (or chunk of movies) twice. In XMM it was part of one script or even couldd be done through chains in one operation.
4. 2-3 hours I was able to go through around 500 items, although there might have been some pauses in between as I was not monitoring it all the time. Considering it's a one time activity, still ok, however bear in mind I need to do some action for each chunk of movies. So still considering whether to spend another 20 hours to cover all movies or look closely into other issues I already found.
5. Now, I am not sure if this is some kind of bug or memory issue, but for some reason even though thumbnails were downloaded for all 500 items, and I can see them (picture files) on the local drive (in EMDB workspace), application does not show them for movies starting with 408 up to 500. And this is major bug for me. Will try to remove them and download again and see if this helps.
6. Functionality of EMDB is much more limited then XMM but just to register movies and have some basic data and ability to track their status, search easily etc, it seems satisfactory enough (still have not tried all options).
7. What I do not like is how the options are planned in the user interface. Some of them are in the main header, but some that I would expect there as well, are hidden somewhere in the options. For instance to update the movie I need to go to options and there find appropriate category and search there for correct option (there are few, while I would expect just simple 'update' button on a movie level. I found it not logical sometimes but at the same time, it is something to learn so not a critical thing, yet annoying
8. I also observed that some changes made to the interface, like columns added etc. are not always saved and after opening again, they were gone. And for instance I disabled option to update Titles because in the other titles I keep my own, but still after reopening this was enabled and titles were updated with original titles - my inputs are gone.
These are some initial thoughts. Again, considering XMM as (almost) dead software, EMDB still seems like reasonable replacement for the time being, however it has its cons and problems and until I have a full db updated, I will not yet make any decision and final statement. For instance with XMM there was an issue that it is based on 32bit access db which has limit of 2 GB max size andd at some point I had to make choices and remove some portion of the data, to be able to register new movies there. So wonder, if EMDB is also prone to this kind of risks.
If I used it only to keep track of what I have seen, what to see etc, I would definitely consider moving completely to online services such as Trakt, TMDB etc (I am using local upflix site for this as well). Still if you need to maintain also physical movies located on a computer, NAS etc, then you need extra functionality that is not there. But I do keep track of it in XMM and upflix.
P.S.
My ideal solution would be to have XMM UI on different db (e.g. sql express) buty without source code it is a dream (I tried to fool XMM by building sql db (same structure as original) and use linked tables and while it worked pretty fine for the view, it did not for create/update/delete operations. Perhaps there is a way but I discontinued it at some point. And now, when the problem is somewhere else, it does not even make sense when imdb does not accept connection from XMM.
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Edited by - Kipcior on 21 Nov 2025 11:27:27 |
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1046 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2025 : 16:31:06
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@Kipcior
I think EMDB will not run into trouble concerning database size. There are less data fields and there is no "people database" like in xMM.
We will never get the source code for xMM. And the source code would not help so much. You need a programmer who understands someone else's program code, which is probably uncommented. The MagicScript engine would likely have to be completely rewritten. Anyone who can do all that might as well write a completely new program. By the way: if you're looking for an open-source movie management program with IMDb import:
https://www.antp.be/software/moviecatalog
Assuming Delphi knowledge, you can adapt the program to your needs. |
www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
Edited by - Mawu on 21 Nov 2025 16:31:24 |
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SwissDude
Starting Member
Switzerland
30 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2025 : 19:14:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Mawu
@Kipcior
I think EMDB will not run into trouble concerning database size. There are less data fields and there is no "people database" like in xMM.
We will never get the source code for xMM. And the source code would not help so much. You need a programmer who understands someone else's program code, which is probably uncommented. The MagicScript engine would likely have to be completely rewritten. Anyone who can do all that might as well write a completely new program. By the way: if you're looking for an open-source movie management program with IMDb import:
https://www.antp.be/software/moviecatalog
Assuming Delphi knowledge, you can adapt the program to your needs.
EMDB does have a "people" database, it imports Cast Members (you can specify how many - the default is 5), Director(s), Writer(s) and Sound Composers(s). It also imports links to the trailer (YouTube) and the movie's Web site (if it finds them).
It seems that people in the latest posts here think that EMDB can only import from IMDb, which is not the case, as it can also import from TheMovieDb. |
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Mawu
Senior Member
Germany
1046 Posts |
Posted - 21 Nov 2025 : 20:06:49
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@SwissDude
Of course, EMDB imports cast and crew data – but not the details about the actors (which are displayed on the actor cards in XMM). That's what I meant. It's all very rudimentary compared to XMM – at least for me. Therefore, I need to find some way to import cast and crew data from IMDB into XMM. Thankfully, the TheMovieDB and OFDB scripts, which are also important for me, are still working. |
www.schlemmerkino.de - Die Nr.1 für filmische Leckereien |
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IMDB script does not work correctly