{"id":80,"date":"2017-02-15T19:15:32","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T19:15:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/?p=80"},"modified":"2017-02-15T19:15:32","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T19:15:32","slug":"kodi-virtual-file-system-video-add-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/?p=80","title":{"rendered":"Kodi Virtual File System Video Add-on"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have several media sources across various web sites and computers and wanted a way to\u00a0bring them all together in an organised structure that I can navigate from Kodi. Although Kodi offers adding sources from SMB, NFS, WebDAV etc, I needed a bit more flexibility. \u00a0In my mind I needed to present a virtual file system to Kodi so set out on making this; my first plug-in.<\/p>\n

The concept is very simple. There will be a MySQL database which represents\u00a0the\u00a0file system and the file nodes will have a URL (or endpoint) which points to the physical video file.<\/p>\n

The plug-in was developed with Kodi 16 (Jarvis) on Windows 10.<\/p>\n

Step 1: The Database Schema<\/h2>\n

Now, there are many ways a file system can be represented in a database. In this example I’ve opted for a single table for all the files and folders using a parentid relationship:<\/p>\n

CREATE SCHEMA kodivfs;\n\nCREATE TABLE `kodivfs`.`listing` (\n `id` INT UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,\n `parentid` INT NULL,\n `type` CHAR(1) NOT NULL,\n `name` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,\n `url` VARCHAR(255) NULL,\n PRIMARY KEY (`id`),\n UNIQUE INDEX `id_UNIQUE` (`id` ASC),\n INDEX `ix_parentid` (`parentid` ASC));<\/span><\/pre>\n
type<\/em> is either F for a file or D for a directory.<\/p>\n
Step 2: File and Folder Records<\/h2>\n
I’ll start off with making two “root” folders called Movies<\/em> and TV<\/em>. I will add files directly in to Movies and for TV I will create sub-folders for each\u00a0TV show and the\u00a0seasons.<\/p>\n
Visually the structure will look like this:<\/p>\n
+ Movies\n  - The Shawshank Redemption\n  - The Godfather\n  - Pulp Fiction\n  - Fight Club\n+ TV\n  + 24\n    + Season 1\n      - Episode 1: 12:00 A.M. - 1:00 A.M.\n      - Episode 2: 1:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M.\n      - Episode 3: 2:00 A.M. - 3:00 A.M.\n      - Episode 4: 3:00 A.M. - 4:00 A.M.\n    + Season 2\n      - Episode 1: 8:00 A.M. - 9:00 A.M.\n      - Episode 2: 9:00 A.M. - 10:00 A.M.\n      - Episode 3: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.\n      - Episode 4: 11:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.\n  + Grimm\n    + Season 1\n      - Episode 1: Pilot\n      - Episode 2: Bears Will be Bears\n      - Episode 3: Beeware\n      - Episode 4: Lonelyhearts\n    + Season 2:\n      - Episode 1: Bad Teeth\n      - Episode 2: The Kiss\n      - Episode 3: Bad Moon Rising\n      - Episode 4: Quill\n  + Suits\n    + Season 1\n      - Episode 1: Pilot\n      - Episode 2: Errors and Omissions\n      - Episode 3: Inside Track<\/pre>\n
Insert the two “root” folders, Movies and TV:<\/p>\n
INSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`type`, `name`) VALUES ('D', 'Movies');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`type`, `name`) VALUES ('D', 'TV');<\/span><\/pre>\n
Verify the\u00a0ids for the folders created. In this case, Movies is id 1, TV is id\u00a02:<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Insert records for the movies, ensuring the parentid is correct:<\/p>\n
INSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (1, 'F', 'The Shawshank Redemption', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/movies\/TheShawShankRedemption.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (1, 'F', 'The Godfather', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/movies\/TheGodfather.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (1, 'F', 'Pulp Fiction', 'https:\/\/webserver2.privateserver.com\/movies\/PulpFiction.avi');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (1, 'F', 'Fight Club', 'https:\/\/webserver2.privateserver.com\/movies\/FightClub.mkv');<\/span><\/pre>\n
Create the structure for TV ensuring the correct parentid is used for each level:<\/p>\n
INSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (2, 'D', '24');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (7, 'D', 'Season 1');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (7, 'D', 'Season 2');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (2, 'D', 'Grimm');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (10, 'D', 'Season 1');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (10, 'D', 'Season 2');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (2, 'D', 'Suits');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`) VALUES (13, 'D', 'Season 1');<\/span><\/pre>\n
And then the records for the TV episodes:<\/p>\n
INSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (8, 'F', 'Episode 1: 12:00 A.M. - 1:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season1\/1.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (8, 'F', 'Episode 2: 1:00 A.M. - 2:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season1\/2.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (8, 'F', 'Episode 3: 2:00 A.M. - 3:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season1\/3.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (8, 'F', 'Episode 4: 3:00 A.M. - 4:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season1\/4.mkv');<\/span>\n\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (9, 'F', 'Episode 1: 8:00 A.M. - 9:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season2\/1.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (9, 'F', 'Episode 2: 9:00 A.M. - 10:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season2\/2.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (9, 'F', 'Episode 3: 10:00 A.M. - 11:00 A.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season2\/3.mkv');<\/span>\nINSERT INTO `kodivfs`.`listing` (`parentid`, `type`, `name`, `url`) VALUES (9, 'F', 'Episode 4: 11:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.', 'https:\/\/webserver1.privateserver.com\/tv\/24\/season2\/4.mkv');<\/span><\/pre>\n
… etc…<\/p>\n
Step 3:\u00a0The plug-in<\/h2>\n
Start with creating a new folder called plugin.video.vfsdemo<\/em> and inside there create a new text file called addon.py<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Open addon.py with Notepad (or your text editor of choice) and paste the following code:<\/p>\n
import sys\nimport urllib\nimport urlparse\nimport xbmcgui\nimport xbmcplugin\nimport mysql.connector\n\nbase_url = sys.argv[0]\naddon_handle = int(sys.argv[1])\nargs = urlparse.parse_qs(sys.argv[2][1:])\n\ndef build_url(query):\n    return base_url + '?' + urllib.urlencode(query)\n\nparentid = args.get('parentid', None)\n\nconn = mysql.connector.connect(user='kodi', password='kodi', host='127.0.0.1', database='kodivfs')\ntry:\n    cursor = conn.cursor(buffered=True)\n    try:\n        if parentid is None:\n          query = \"SELECT `id`, `name`, `type`, `url` FROM `kodivfs`.`listing` WHERE parentid IS NULL ORDER BY `type` DESC, name ASC\"\n        else:\n          query = 'SELECT `id`, `name`, `type`, `url` FROM `kodivfs`.`listing` WHERE parentid = {} ORDER BY `type` DESC, name ASC'.format(parentid[0])\n\n        cursor.execute(query)\n \n        for (id, name, type, url) in cursor:\n          if type == 'F':\n            li = xbmcgui.ListItem(name, iconImage='DefaultVideo.png')\n            xbmcplugin.addDirectoryItem(handle=addon_handle, url=url, listitem=li)\n          elif type == 'D':\n            li = xbmcgui.ListItem(name, iconImage='DefaultFolder.png')\n            xbmcplugin.addDirectoryItem(handle=addon_handle, url=build_url({'parentid': id}), listitem=li, isFolder=True)\n \n         xbmcplugin.endOfDirectory(addon_handle)\n     finally:\n       cursor.close();\nfinally:\n conn.close();<\/span><\/pre>\n
The code checks to see if a parentid parameter was passed through to the plug-in, if it was then select the items from the parent folder. It then works it’s way through the results\u00a0calling xmbc.addDirectoryItem() to populate the list you’ll see in Kodi.<\/p>\n
Next create another file in the same folder called addon.xml<\/em> and populate it with the following:<\/p>\n
<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" standalone=\"yes\"?>\n<addon id=\"plugin.video.vfsdemo\" name=\"Virtual File System Demo Add-on\" version=\"1.0.0\" provider-name=\"blog.petejefferson.co.uk\">\n <requires>\n   <import addon=\"xbmc.python\" version=\"2.1.0\"\/>\n   <import addon=\"script.module.myconnpy\" version=\"1.1.7\" \/>\n <\/requires>\n <extension point=\"xbmc.python.pluginsource\" library=\"addon.py\">\n   <provides>video<\/provides>\n <\/extension>\n <extension point=\"xbmc.addon.metadata\">\n   <summary lang=\"en_gb\">Virtual file system provider<\/summary>\n   <description lang=\"en_gb\">Represent a file system using a MySQL backend<\/description>\n   <disclaimer lang=\"en_gb\"><\/disclaimer>\n   <language><\/language>\n   <platform>all<\/platform>\n   <license><\/license>\n   <forum><\/forum>\n   <website><\/website>\n   <email><\/email>\n   <source><\/source>\n   <news><\/news>\n   <assets>\n   <icon><\/icon>\n   <fanart><\/fanart>\n   <screenshot><\/screenshot>\n   <\/assets>\n <\/extension>\n<\/addon><\/pre>\n
Create a zip file\u00a0of the\u00a0plugin.video.vfsdemo folder (in Windows Explorer you can right click and choose Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder). Copy the file to a location accessible from Kodi.<\/p>\n
Step 4:\u00a0Installing to Kodi<\/h2>\n
Navigate to System > Settings > Add-ons in Kodi.<\/p>\n
Choose “Install from zip file” and navigate to plugin.video.vfsdemo.zip.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
And click OK.<\/p>\n
All being well you will see a notification that the add-on was successfully installed.<\/p>\n
Step 5:\u00a0Test<\/h2>\n
Navigate to Videos > Add-ons and select the Virtual File System Demo Add-on.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
You’ll then be presented by the contents of the “root” folder, in this case Movies and TV.\u00a0Going in to Movies will show all files that have that parentid:<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Go up a folder and explore TV:<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
If you have your URLs set up correctly in the database, you will be able to watch your\u00a0videos.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I have several media sources across various web sites and computers and wanted a way to\u00a0bring them all together in an organised structure that I can navigate from Kodi. Although Kodi offers adding sources from SMB, NFS, WebDAV etc, I needed a bit more flexibility. \u00a0In my mind I needed to present a virtual file […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4,5,6],"class_list":["post-80","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-kodi","tag-mysql","tag-python"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.petejefferson.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}