What is it for?
TV Series Browser is for collecting TV Series Information and allowing full view
of TV Series and Episode information including Fanart, Banners, and Posters.
TV Series Browser also allows managing of media files for Episodes to allow easy
playing of TV Episodes or renaming of media files to a standardized format.
Keep digital copies of your TV Episodes, add them to the program and play
the episodes. TV Series Browser also keep track of the last played episode so a
simple click will take you back for quick and easy playback when watching a Series.
What does it NOT do?
TV Series Browser does not download videos.
Why do you need it?
Some may find it cumbersome to manage their TV Series media files.
TV Series Browser solves some of that with drag-n-drop features allowing the
user to drop hundreds of media files and have them sorted to the proper Series and
Episode. Once added the file can be easily played by double-clicking on an Episode.
Or maybe it is not that simple and media files are not named well enough for recognition?
There is an answer for that, just drop the media files one by one on to the desired episode
then use the File Renaming feature to standardize the filenames.
Or maybe your needs are simpler such as a spur of the moment question about an actor,
role or episode. TV Series Browser provides Series, Season, and Episode details that should
answer just about any question.
What does it cost?
Nothing, nada, nil, null, zero... It is free. This program uses the open_icon_library
for just about all icons. All images and data is retrieved from internet resources
such as tvdb.com and tmdb.org and links to imdb.com.
Run the executable and confirm any prompts. If upgrading to a newer
version just install it and the application will be updated. After installation the
application will execute.
NOTE: Updating an existing installation may cause an inability for data to be used by previous versions
After installation add Series information to the collection by clicking on
Tools--> Search TheTVdB.com. With the search window open type any text
of the TV Series you are looking for. Try to be specific as the more results there
are the longer it will take to load.
To add TV Series to the collection left-click on a Series Banner in the Search window
and drag it into the TV Series list in the Main Window and release the left mouse button.
The Series is added to your collection.
To download the episode information right-click on a Series in the Main Window and
select (Re)Download Episode Data.
NOTE: If the option Auto Download Series Episodes is selected this will occur
on the first selection of a Series if no Episodes are saved in the collection.
Series details are limited to what is displayed on the main screen.
Season Details can be viewed by Right-Clicking on a Season in the right listing
and selecting "Show Season Details". This will open a new window with some basic
Season information, all Writer and Guest Stars, and all artwork related to that
Season.
Episode Details can be viewed the same way as Season Details. Simply Right-Click
on an Episode and select "Show Episode Details". A new window will open with all
relevant Episode details.
To enlarge any image within the application double-click on the image. This will open
a new window displaying the image. This Image Viewer allows changing ratio size of
25% to 200%. Default view size is 50% of original width/height.
Each application window has its own image viewer. This means it is possible to have
Person, Episode, and Series Image Viewers open at the same time.
NOTE: The Image Viewer window size is limited to desktop boundaries such that the window
cannot be wider or taller than the desktop. Because of this some ratios which exceed the
desktop size will cause the image to be distorted.
With the Image Viewer open Copy the image to the clipboard by pressing CTRL+C or
clicking on the clipboard icon at top of the Image Viewer window
Once Episodes are loaded you can begin adding Media File References. This can be
done a number of ways:
1. Drag-n-Drop a Single File on to an Episode
2. Drag-n-Drop Multiple Files on to a Series Banner
3. Drag-n-Drop Multiple Files on to TV Episodes
4. Drag-n-Drop Multiple Files to TV Series (not on a Series Banner)
Dropping a single file on to an Episode will add that file, regardless of name, to
that episode.
Dropping Multiple files on to the Episodes list or in an empty are on the Series list
will add the files base on name and attempt to sort based on Series Title, Season Number,
and Episode Number.
Dropping Multiple files on to a TV Series Banner will prompt to add files only to that
TV Series and disregards Series Title comparison, and will only look for Season Number
and Episode Number in the filename using the Filename Descriptors and Delimiters
in the Configuration screen.
NOTE: In all cases except single file drop any failures to identify Series Title or Season/Episode
number will display in a list.
Click on Tools-->Rename Media Files. If prompted select whether you want to rename
the files for a single Series or all the Series.
A new window will open listing all the found media file references displaying the
Series Title, File Path, Old Filename, and New Filename.
Select the desired format in the Dropdown at top. These formats are configurable
in the Configuration screen under "Other".
Select the desired delimiter from the dropdown at top-right. These delimiters are
configurable in the Configuration screen under "Other";
As the selections are made the filename listing will update to reflect the new format.
Once the desired format is set click on "Apply". A progress bar indicate how far along
it is. If any of the media files are being used a message box will display and the file
rename will be skipped for that file only.
Once complete the window will close and application will be reloaded.
NOTE: If for ANY reason this process does not FULLY complete the file references in
the application may not be properly updated. If this happens it will be necessary to
Drag-n-Drop the files back in to the application.
Most information added can be removed by either right-clicking and selecting the
appropriate "Delete" option.
At present Actor information cannot be removed. The only way to remove this is to
manually remove the actors data file.
At present images can only be removed by removing the Series or manually removing
the graphics cache folder in the graphics data location.
Visit the TV Series Browser Wiki page and post a comment, question, suggestion.
Old Docs
SEARCHING TheTVdB.com
Click on Tools --> Search TVdB.com. In the search window enter the search text
and press Return or click on Search. The result will display in the list at
center of the Search window. Click on a Series in the Search window to load the
banner and overview in the Search window.
SAVING A SERIES
Left click and drag a Series into the Main window Series List to add to your
local database. The first time you click on the series in the main window it
will load the episodes and Series banner. If no series banner exists a generic
text banner will be created on the fly for display only (not save to disk).
EPISODE BANNERS
Many episodes have a banner available. Select an episode, right-click and
select "View Details". Use the option in Tools --> Options -->
"Persistent Detail Window" to keep the window open and update each time an
episode is clicked. Click Tools --> "Get All Episode Banners" to retrieve
all the banners for all the episodes of the currently selected series.
Be cautious in using this if you do not have a fast connection, the only way
to cancel this operation right now is to close the program.
DRAG-N-DROP Media File onto Episodes
To drop a SINGLE file onto an episode, select the file in Windows
Explorer and drag it onto the episode you want to attach it to.
To drop MULTIPLE files onto episodes, select the files from Windows Explorer
you want to add and drag them into the Episodes list view and drop them
anywhere.
Multiple File Drop NOTES:
The filenames do need to have some characteristics for this to work properly.
The file naming conventions recognized right now (version 0.0.2.0) are
'S00E00' or '00x00' or '(#00.00)' (without the single quotes) where 00 is a
number to specify the season and episode number. The series name must appear to
the left of the Series and Episode number in the filename.
Enabling the option "Force Dropped Files to Selected Series" will disregard
the series name when comparing the filename. This means any file matching the
season and episode number of the currently viewed series will be added to the
matching episode.
PLAYING EPISODES
To play an episode which has a media file referenced, noted by a "play button"
icon, double-click the episode or right-click and select "Play Episode".
REMOVING SERIES OR EPISODES
Select the Series or Episode you want to remove. Right-click and select
"Remove Series" or "Remove Episode", respectively, to delete it from your
local data.
NOTES:
Removing items does not remove the local cached graphics data in
"C:\ProgramData\TVSeriesBrowser". If the series is re-added this will
significantly reduce the reload time and network bandwidth usage.
IMDB.com
Clicking on Tool --> Open IMDB.com will start the default web browser and
redirect to http://www.imdb.com/title/<series>, where series is
the series identifier. This will show details of the television series.
OTHER
main window and the Episode Detail window to the right. Neither window
will be allowed to leave the screen workspace.
Click Tools --> Options --> Siamese Windows to enable/disable.