NFO files/TV shows

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NFO_files

TV shows

Requirements

TV Shows require the following nfo files

1. One nfo file for the TV Show. This file holds the overall show information
2. One nfo file for each Episode. This file holds information specific to that episode

For one TV Show with 10 episodes, you will require 11 nfo files.

If you choose not to use nfo files for each episode, but only for the main TV Show, then the tvshow.nfo file must contain a valid <episodeguideurl> to allow online updates. If not, only episodes with .nfo files will be added.

TV Shows and Episodes must abide by the standard naming conventions even if you are using nfo files.

If using a Parsing nfo, then only one tvshow.nfo is required. No episode nfo's are required.

The order of importing metadata is as follows:

1. nfo file. If no nfo file exists, then
2. Depending on your scraper settings for your source, either
   1. Online scraper sites- if a scraper is set in your source settings
   2. Nothing- if Local Info Only is set

When Kodi locates the nfo file it will load the *.nfo file and:

1. If the file is a metadata nfo, Kodi will import the meta-data directly into the library from the .nfo file or
2. If the file is a parsing nfo, Kodi will parse the nfo file for a direct URL to the scraper info page, then scrape the online metadata.
3. If the file is a combination nfo, Kodi will parse the nfo file and scrape the online metadata, then import the metadata from the nfo file.

Known Issues

The parsing nfo has been reported as broken for TV Shows and Episodes.

nfo Placement

Correct placement of the nfo file is essential. Regardless of what settings you have set for the source and scraper, Kodi will always search for and scrape a nfo file if it is available. Failing to save the file in the correct location, as detailed below, will force Kodi to either:

1. Scrape the metadata from the online source set in your scraper or,
2. If you have Local Info Only set as your scraper, then no entry will be made into the library.

TV Show

One TV Show nfo is required. Be aware the nfo filename is actually tvshow.nfo. This is not meant to indicate that it is replaced with the name of the show.

Naming & Saving conventions for your TV Show *.nfo files:

Saved TV Show as	File Name	Save Location
All formats	tvshow.nfo	f:\MyTVShows\iZombie\tvshow.nfo

TV Episode

One nfo file for every episode is required.

Naming & Saving conventions for your TV Episode *.nfo files:

Saved Episodes as	File Name	Save Location
BluRay Structure:	index.nfo	f:\MyTVShows\iZombie\iZombie S01E01\BDMV\index.nfo
DVD Structure:	VIDEO_TS.nfo	f:\MyTVShows\iZombie\iZombie S01E01\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.nfo
Single Episode file in directory:	<EpisodeFileName>.nfo	f:\MyTVShows\iZombie\iZombie S01E01\<EpisodeFileName>.nfo
All episodes in TV Show directory:	<EpisodeFileName>.nfo	f:\MyTVShows\iZombie\<EpisodeFileName>.nfo

TV nfo Tags

The only required tags are indicated below in the tables. All other tags are optional. Of course, the less tags used, the less information that will be scraped into the library unless you are using a parsing or combination nfo.

See also: Databases

TV Show Tags

The following table lists the XML tags available for the TV Show in Kodi. Children tags are displayed correctly with parent tags.

NFO (xml) Tag	Required	Multiple	Notes
<actor> <name></name> <role></role> <order></order> <thumb></thumb> </actor>	No	Yes	The <order> tag determines where in the list the actor will appear. 0 = first in the list Supports "clear" attribute
<aired></aired>	No	No	Not used
			Unknown
<dateadded></dateadded>	No	No	Date the file was added to library. Can be altered in advancedsettings.xml
<displayepisode></displayepisode>	No	No	Not used in TV Shows
<displayseason></displayseason>	No	No	Not used in TV Shows
<episode></episode>	No	No	Number of episodes in TV Show
<episodeguide> <url cache=""></url> </episodeguide>	Yes/No	No	Required if no or missing episode nfo's
<fanart url=""> <thumb dim="" colors="" preview=""></thumb> </fanart>	No	No	Path to available TV Show fanart. Multible <thumb> entries allowed. dim=Dimensions
<id></id>	No	No	Scraper site ID
<genre></genre>	No	Yes	Supports "clear" attribute
<lastplayed></lastplayed>	No	No
<mpaa></mpaa>	No	No
<originaltitle></originaltitle>	No	No
<outline></outline>			Not Used
<playcount></playcount>			Setting this to 1, or greater, will mark the TV Show as watched if the importwatchedstate flag is set in advancedsettings.xml
<plot></plot>
<premiered></premiered>	No	No
<ratings> <rating name="default" max="10" default="true"> <value></value> <votes></votes> </rating> </ratings>	No	No
<resume> <position></position> <total></total> </resume>	No	No	Not used for TV Show
<runtime></runtime>	No	No	Minutes only
<season></season>	No	No	Used to display total number of seasons in TV Show
<showtitle></showtitle>	No	No
<sorttitle></sorttitle>	No	No	Allows alternate title sort without modifying show title in library.
<status></status>	No	No	Continuing or Ended show
<studio></studio>	No	Yes	Supports "clear" attribute
<tag></tag>	No	Yes	TV Show tags
<tagline></tagline>	No	No
<thumb aspect="" type="" season=""></thumb>	No	Yes	Path to TV Show and Season artwork
<title></title>	No	No
<top250></top250>	No	No
<trailer></trailer>	No	No	Path to TV Show trailer
<tvshow></tvshow>	Yes	No	The top level parent tag for the nfo file. All other tags must be contained within these two tags
<uniqueid type="unknown" default="true"></uniqueid>	No	No	Scraper site ID
<userrating></userrating>	No	No
<year></year>	No	No

TV Episode Tags

The following table lists the XML tags available for TV Episodes in Kodi. Children tags are displayed correctly with parent tags.

For multi-part episodes, simply add multiple <episodedetails> XML blocks in succession.

NFO (xml) Tag	Required	Multiple	Notes
<actor> <name></name> <role></role> <order></order> <thumb></thumb> </actor>	No	Yes	The <order> tag determines where in the list the actor will appear. 0 = first in the list Supports "clear" attribute
<aired></aired>	No	No	Original air date of the episode
			Unknown
<credits></credits>	No	Yes	Writers
<dateadded></dateadded>	No	No	Date the file was added to library. Can be altered in advancedsettings.xml
<director></director>	No	No
<displayepisode></displayepisode>	No	No	Used to place Special Episodes in the correct viewing order
<displayseason></displayseason>	No	No	Used to place Special Episodes in the correct viewing order
<episode></episode>	No	No	Episode numbering
<episodedetails></episodedetails>	Yes	No	The top level parent tag for the nfo file. All other tags must be contained within these two tags
<fileinfo> <streamdetails> <video> <codec>h264</codec> <aspect>1.777778</aspect> <width>1920</width> <height>1080</height> <durationinseconds>2626</durationinseconds> <stereomode></stereomode> </video> <audio> <codec>mp2</codec> <language>eng</language> <channels>2</channels> </audio> </streamdetails> </fileinfo>	No	No	While it is possible to manually set the information contained within the <streamdetails> tag, there is little point in doing so. Kodi will always overwrite this data when it plays back the video file. In other words, no matter how many times you try to manually set it, it will be overwritten the moment the video is played
<id></id>	No	No	Scraper site ID
<genre></genre>	No	Yes	Supports "clear" attribute
<lastplayed></lastplayed>	No	No
<mpaa></mpaa>	No	No
<originaltitle></originaltitle>	No	No
<outline></outline>
<playcount></playcount>			Setting this to 1, or greater, will mark the TV Show as watched if the importwatchedstate flag is set in advancedsettings.xml
<plot></plot>
<premiered></premiered>	No	No
<ratings> <rating name="default" max="10" default="true"> <value></value> <votes></votes> </rating> </ratings>	No	No
<resume> <position></position> <total></total> </resume>	No	No
<runtime></runtime>	No	No	Minutes only
<season></season>	No	No	Season the episode belongs to
<showtitle></showtitle>	No	No
<status></status>	No	No	Not used in Episodes
<studio></studio>	No	Yes	Supports "clear" attribute
<tagline></tagline>	No	No
<thumb></thumb>	No	Yes	Path to episode artwork
<title></title>	No	No
<top250></top250>	No	No
<trailer></trailer>	No	No	Path to TV Show trailer
<uniqueid type="unknown" default="true"></uniqueid>	No	No	Scraper site ID
<userrating></userrating>	No	No
<year></year>	No	No

Sample nfo Files

Provided below is a sample nfo file for the TV Show and for Episodes to assist with the manual creation process.

Press Expand at right edge of the green bar to view

TV Show nfo

Sample TV Show nfo

TV Episode nfo

Sample TV Episode nfo

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