Overview

Grabber scripts (grabbers) are used to 'grab' data, and artwork, from different internet websites. My Films provides a number of grabber scripts, as well as a Grabber Editor which allows you to select grabber options, customize MyFilms grabbers, or even create your own grabbers for other websites.

Grabber Scripts

MyFilms uses grabber scripts when you update data and import new films for an AMC catalog type, either within My Films or in AMC Updater:

1. Get Internet film info from the Updates menu on the context menu, to update existing films - by field, selected fields or all fields from internet data. You can even update different fields using different grabbers.
2. Global updates from the Options menu in the main window - import new films.
3. AMC Updater from either the Import button in MyFilms Setup, or a desktop shortcut for each config you create. There are a variety of methods you can use, see AMC Updater and Import Setup for further info.

Of course you may continue to update your Ant Movie Catalog (AMC) database using AMC and its grabber scripts.

See Supported Grabbers for a list of grabbers provided by MyFilms as well as details about each grabber.

Note: As of v 6.0.0, grabber scripts have been updated to grab runtime (duration or length of film) from websites IF media info cannot get the data from your local files, eg. DVDs and Blu-ray Discs (BDs). 

Update Grabber Scripts

As of v 6.0.0 you can update grabber scripts on the Import Tab in MyFilms Setup. You do not need to wait for a new release of MyFilms.

Grabber Types

As of v 6.0.0 My Films supports different grabber script 'types':

• internet details
• cover
• multi (multiple covers)

These types are used to display only the grabber scripts that support the updates you wish to perform. For example, only grabbers that support covers or multiple covers display when using the Cover Manager.

Grabber Script Settings

Grabber Scripts settings are configured in MyFilms Setup > Update Tab and synced to AMC Updater i.e.:

• default grabber to use (preset based on the country you select in the Setup Wizard) 
• the list of grabbers that display in MyFilms (or not) based on the Grabber Filter(s) you choose,
• how the grabber 'matches' films

Grabber Options

There are two types of grabber options:

1. Grabber override options  - apply globally to all grabbers for the selected Config - set in MyFilms Setup > Update Tab.
2. Grabber options - apply ONLY to the selected grabber - but for ALL configs that use that grabber - selected in the Grabber Scripts Editor > User Options Tab.

 Note: You can also map fields using the Grabber Editor, such as adding Taglines to the start of the Description Field.

Grabber override options always take precedence over grabber options!  

Select a Grabber

To select a grabber you can use any of the following methods:

1. Create a new Config using the Setup Wizard
   1. Select your country, the Wizard will automatically select a default grabber for you
2. Change the default grabber in MyFilms Setup > Update Tab (see below for details)
3. Select a grabber whenever you update existing films within MyFilms (the grabbers that display depend on the Filter(s) you select in Update Setup.  

See Supported Grabbers for a list of grabbers provided by MyFilms as well as details about each grabber. The following grabbers are the most common default grabers 

IMDB-Full

As of v 6.0.0,  USA (Full Detail grabbing) is the default country setting for English-speaking countries (or any countries that do not have a localized grabber). It uses the IMDB-Full grabber script, since it supports the extended fields for AMC4 catalog types, such as writers, AKA (alternate titles), and supports all grabber override options as well as more Grabber options. 

IMDB

The IMDB grabber script is designed to be a 'quick' grabber. It searches the IMDb mobile site (m.imdb.com) and grabs ONLY the data from the main IMDB (akas.imdb.com) page:

• No producers
• Up to 15 actors with roles
• Only 1 Aka (Translated Title) - in theory IMDb uses your geo ip to display the AKA for your country if there is one - this does not support the grabber override option for preferred language/country. If no AKA is grabbed 
• Only 1 Certification - in theory IMDb uses your geo ip to display the AKA for your country if there is one - this does not support the grabber override option for preferred language/country

Note: IMDb localized sites (DE, ES, FR, IT, PT) were discontinued by IMDb in 2013, thus the localized grabbers are now obsolete.

NFO grabber

As of v 6.0.0 you may select the AMC4 catalog type with the NFO grabber to grab data from NFO files stored in the movie folder (internet lookup is not required).

Notes:

• The NFO grabber supports the following filenames:
  • <movie filename>.nfo - (note: for multi-part movies that means moviename-CD1.nfo where the first filename is moviename-CD1.avi)
  • <movie filename>.jpg - poster/cover (although you can choose folder.jpg in AMCU DB fields settings)
  • <movie filename>-fanart.jpg for backdrop/fanart (although it also supports images in \extrafanart subfolder).
• Trailer(s) are not grabbed from NFO because most apps save only a trailer URL to NFO, not local trailer path/filenames.
• Collection Cover is not grabbed because there are still so many variations in how they are stored by media managers. However, you can easily add Collection Covers in MyFilms 6.1 (or 6.0.3 in TestMode) in GUI > Updates > Download Collection Cover, if you use a skin that supports the latest features! (i.e. includes MyFilmsDialogImageSelect.xml)
• Director(s) - multiple directors are grabbed even if they are in separate occurrences/tags.
• Producer(s) - grabbed if your media manager supports it - only if the <credits> data (which is usually only Writers) indicates it is a producer. Producers will be grabbed from TMM v2.6 or later.
• Writer(s) - multiple writers are grabbed now even if they are in separate occurrences/tags.
• Language(s) - Spoken Languages are grabbed using TMM 2.6. If you want language from the media info (e.g. audio tracks) select that option in AMCU DB Fields tab.
• Certification - preferred - grabs only the actual rating (not the country) to support the display of certification logos. If your media manager does not write <certification> to NFO, then <mpaa> data is grabbed, but it may include text depending on the media manager/options you choose.
• Studio(s) - all occurrences of Studio are grabbed now even if they are in separate occurrences/tags.
• IMDB Top250 (Rank) - grabbed from NFO files that support it. Note: data only exists IF the movie is in IMDB's Top 250
• TMDB_ID - grabbed only if the NFO file supports it, rather than grabbing the ID which is usually the IMDB ID
• MultiFanart -only \extrafanart is grabbed now, not \extrathumbs as they are often duplicates.
• Runtime - now grabbed from NFO if it exists and no runtime already exists (i.e. has not been imported from Media Info)
• MediaInfo is not grabbed from NFO files (<fileinfo> tags) since, like most apps, MyFilms already imports it via MediaInfo. 

Related

TopicsGrabber Script Editor
My Films provides a unique tool, the Grabber Scripts Editor, which allows you to easily customize and test many grabber script features, as well as create new grabber scripts for your preferred websites.
References

• Supported Grabbers