Where your data comes from¶

This page explains where MetaMender gets each value, where it puts it, and what it never touches. The short version is the picture; the table and the examples below fill in the details.

The big picture¶

MetaMender reads from:

Your Kodi library: the values your scraper stored, and the ids it found (TMDB, TheTVDB, IMDb).
TMDB (The Movie Database): most fields, in the language of the folder an item is in.
TheTVDB: TV show and episode titles and plots.
IMDb's ratings, from IMDb's public data, which the IMDb Ratings module downloads and keeps up to date on your device.
The FSK, BBFC and Medieraadet websites, for age ratings.
Your NFO files, but only to see whether an item has one; MetaMender does not read what is in it.

MetaMender writes to:

Your Kodi library, and only the fields you ticked in setup.
Its own records, kept in the add-on's data folder: the ids it found, when it checked each field and when the next check is due, the value a field had before MetaMender first changed it, and the fields you locked.

MetaMender never:

changes or creates NFO files, or changes your scraper or its settings;
sends anything about your library to TMDB, TheTVDB, IMDb or the rating sites, other than the lookups themselves (an id or a title to look up);
adds ids it found to Kodi: they stay in its own records;
overwrites a value of an item that has an NFO file (it only fills empty fields there), or a field you locked.

Field by field¶

"Folder language" is the language of the folder the item is in (see setup); "fallback" is that folder's fallback language, if it has one.

Field	For	Asked, in order	When MetaMender writes
Rating and votes	Movies, shows, episodes	TMDB and IMDb, as Rating source says	Adds or refreshes its own TMDB and IMDb ratings beside your scraper's; your scraper's own ratings stay. Which one Kodi shows: see Rating source.
Plot	Movies	TMDB in the folder language, then TMDB in the fallback	Replaces a different plot. The fallback only fills an empty plot.
Plot	Shows, episodes	TMDB and TheTVDB in the folder language (order: Text source order), then both in the fallback (Fallback language order)	As for movies.
Episode title	Episodes	As episode plots	As plots. A generic title such as "Episode 3" counts as no title: it is never written, and one in Kodi counts as empty.
Show or movie title	Shows, movies	TMDB (and TheTVDB for shows), folder language only	Only with Show and movie titles ticked, and only a title the site really has in that language. Never from the fallback language.
Tagline	Movies	TMDB, folder language	Replaces a different tagline.
Genre	Movies, shows	TMDB, folder language	Replaces a different genre list.
Director, writer	Movies, episodes	TMDB	Replaces a different value.
Studio, country	Movies	TMDB	Replaces a different value.
Runtime	Movies, episodes	TMDB	Replaces a different value.
First aired	Episodes	TMDB	Replaces a different date.
Trailer	Movies	TMDB	Replaces a different link.
Age rating	Movies, shows	TMDB for your country, your country's rating site, then other countries converted (details)	Fills an empty rating; replaces a rating from another country's system (switch off with Replace incorrect certifications).

Every row has the same three exceptions:

An item with an NFO file only gets its empty fields filled. A value MetaMender filled there is its own, so it keeps refreshing it.
In a folder without a language, the text fields (plot, titles, tagline, genre) are only filled when empty, because MetaMender cannot tell which language the existing text is in. Again, what MetaMender filled it keeps refreshing.
A locked field is never written.

"Replaces a different value" only happens while a field is not yet settled; see how often a field is checked. Once settled, MetaMender does not look at it again.

How MetaMender knows which item it is¶

To look anything up, MetaMender needs the item's id at TMDB or TheTVDB:

The ids your scraper stored are used first.
A missing id is looked up through the ids Kodi does have, for example the TMDB id from an IMDb id.
An episode without ids (common with the TVmaze scraper) is matched by its season and episode number, but only when the air date (within a day, and only if no other episode of that season aired the same day) or the title agrees. If neither agrees, MetaMender uses nothing from that site. If TMDB and TheTVDB point at different episodes, it uses neither.

A wrong match is worse than none: an episode with someone else's plot is harder to notice than one with no plot. The Details window shows how each id was found.

Two examples¶

An episode plot¶

An episode in a Dutch folder with English as its fallback. Your scraper stored an English plot. Plots are ticked in setup.

Does the item have an NFO file? No, so MetaMender may replace values.
Is the plot locked? No.
Does the folder have a language? Yes, Dutch.
Is the plot due for a check? It is the first check, so yes.
TMDB in Dutch: it has a Dutch plot. MetaMender writes it; the English plot is kept as the original, so you can restore it from the Details window.

Had TMDB had no Dutch plot, MetaMender would have asked TheTVDB in Dutch. Had neither had one, the English fallback would not be used, because the field already has a plot. It stays English until a Dutch plot appears.

A movie's age rating¶

A movie in a Dutch library, scraped with "Rated PG-13". Age certifications are ticked and the country is the Netherlands.

Does the item have an NFO file? No.
Is the current rating in the Dutch system? No, "Rated PG-13" is American. Replace incorrect certifications is on, so MetaMender looks for a Dutch rating.
TMDB's Dutch rating: none.
A Dutch rating site: MetaMender has none for the Netherlands.
TMDB's ratings for other countries: Belgium has none; Germany has 12. Converted to Kijkwijzer that is 12, so MetaMender writes NL:12.

Because it was converted, MetaMender checks the movie again every month for about a year; once TMDB has a real Dutch rating, that one replaces NL:12.