Overview

Update or add missing data to multiple fields in your existing catalog or database, either for all or selected records

Upgrade to AMC4

A good example of updating records using the update tab is when you wish to convert your database from AMC3 to AMC4. See Upgrade to AMC4 for details.

Add or update missing data

Imagine you have imported movies into your catalog or have a catalog with data 'grabbed' long ago. Some data may be  missing - even if the movie was matched and grabbed. You want to add the missing data to your existing catalog to "close the black holes".

Steps

1. On the Database Fields Tab, choose all fields to make sure all data is verified for updates
    You can deselect some fields, like title fields, or fields you have edited, if you want to make sure they do NOT change.
2. On Update Movies Tab, select Operation = Update Record
3. Select "Only add missing data". if you wish to update only empty fields and not overwrite existing data.
4. Select "Update all records" to update the complete catalog. (You may also restrict it to only some records/movies by defining conditions under Parameters).
5. Select the grabber script you want to use for the updates (only if you wish to grab internet data) 
6. If you want to run a "silent update" without user interaction, select "Auto match only". However, if you do so, records, that cannot be auto-matched will not be updated. Thus the default setting is 'Auto match & ask if no match'
7. Test and Apply the changes.

Note: Silent updates work very well, if you use grabber scripts like IMDB / IMDB-Full and the records already contain the IMDB_ID (tt #) 
 For other grabbers that  rely only on title / year  for matching, some movies might be missed unless you manually match them.

 Tip: If you have an existing catalog, you might once update using 'Auto match & ask if no match' to add IMDb ID, then in future you can use 'Auto match only' since AMCU will match based on the IMDb ID (tt#)

Update rating data

As you know, the rating of movies does change over time.Thus, you may wish to update the rating info for your movie collection, especially if you like to use the Minimum Rating Global Filter in My Films (see Filters)

Steps

1. On the Database Fields Tab, choose only the 'Rating' field for update
2. On Update Movies Tab, Operation = Update Record
3. Select "Only update with non-empty data"  to ensure your rating field is only updated if there is a new value found, so you won't loose your old rating.
4. Select "Update all records"  to update the complete catalog. (You may also restrict it to only some records/movies by defining conditions under Parameters)
5. Select the grabber script you want to use for the updates
6. Select "Auto match only"  to perform a "silent update" without being asked for manual matching. Be aware, that only movies that can be auto-matched can be updated (see note below).
7. Test and Apply the changes.

Note: Silent updates work very well, if you use grabber scripts like IMDB / IMDB-Full and the records already contain the IMDB_ID (tt #) 
 For other grabbers that  rely only on title / year  for matching, some movies might be missed unless you manually match them.

 Tip: If you have an existing catalog, you might once update using 'Auto match & ask if no match' to add IMDb ID, then in future you can use 'Auto match only' since AMCU will match based on teh IMDb ID (tt#)

Similar use cases:

The same approach can be used if you want to e.g. update the description from another website, using a different grabber script.  In this case It is important to use the option "Only update with non-empty data", as you do not want to overwrite your existing data with empty data when the data is not available with the selected grabber.

Grab Producer instead of Writers

AMC3 did not support a Writers field, instead you may have grabbed Writers in the Producers field and now wish to use the extended Writers field for AMC4 and grab Producers in the Producers field.

Steps

1. On the Database Fields Tab, choose only Producer field for update
2. On Update Movies Tab, Operation = Update Record
3. Do NOT select "Only update with non-empty data" or "Only add missing data". That way you make sure, the field will always be overwritten, even with empty data, as you want to make sure, there is no old "wrong" data remaining.
4. Select "Update all records" to update the complete catalog.(You may also restrict it to only some records/movies by defining conditions under Parameters).
5. Select the grabber script you want to use for the updates
6. Select "Auto match only" to perform a "silent update" without being asked for manual matching. Be aware, that only movies that can be auto-matched can be updated (see note below). So if you wish to use Auto Match only, you should delete the Producer field first (see Delete Value), or you can use 'Auto match & ask if no match'.
7. Test and Apply the changes.

Note: Silent updates work very well, if you use grabber scripts like IMDB / IMDB-Full and the records already contain the IMDB_ID (tt #) 
 For other grabbers that  rely only on title / year  for matching, some movies might be missed unless you manually match them.

 Tip: If you have an existing catalog, you might once update using 'Auto match & ask if no match' to add IMDb ID, then in future you can use 'Auto match only' since AMCU will match based on teh IMDb ID (tt#)

Update Media Info

The same method can be used if you want to update the media info fields for all films e.g. when a new version of Mediainfo is available. For such an update, no internet matching is necessary, so it can always be performed for all records.

Steps

1. On the Database Fields Tab, Select the media info field(s) you wish to update - for example if you only wish to add the AudioChannelCount (as of v 6.0.0), then select only that field.
2. If you wish to speed up the process and avoid trying to update off-line media. instead of 'Update all Records", you can select a parameter such as Media Type=HDD  or whatever method you use to indicate local/available files in your AMC catalog. 

Related

• Update Movies Tab