Example: Dexter Season 2 which has four discs. The main title says it is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and Instant by the title information for each disc says it is only available on DVD. I am not sure if this is a bug in the API or the catalog data, but doing the same thing on the main Netflix web site appears to work correctly which suggests the former.
If I do a search using:
http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles with the search term "Dexter Season 2" I get:
It makes sense that Watch Now episodes do not show up under the disc - they are listed separately for each episode.
I'm not sure about the BluRay, but I suspect it has to do with account type - is your account allowed to rent BluRay titles? I don't even see them mentioned in the catalog I downloaded via API, which would make sense since my account can't rent them. That's just my guess, though maybe someone from Netflix could confirm whether I am correct.
I have Blu-Ray access enabled and there is a similar problem with this format too. In fact if you look at the above example the title is also available as a Blu Ray disc but then this format disappears in the disc data.
Discs only appear for a title when there are multiple, rentable discs per title, e..g Dexter, Season 1, Disc 2. Since Dexter Season 1 on blu-ray is already rentable, we don't expose a redundant single disc resource.
Hmm. So that I understand this. The reason that there is no Blu Ray entry is that the parent title on Blu Ray contains all the episodes? If yes, then how does this fit with the fact there is no instant entry? Presumably one can choose to watch a single entry. Looking at the main Netflix site it looks like you can only add all episodes of an instant title. Sorry to be such a bother but I just want to understand the correct behaviour properly before I make changes to my app.
The reason that there is no disc Blu-ray entry is that each disc resource represents some subset of a season's episodes available for renting on DVD. If we flagged it as available on blu-ray, that would mean that subset of episodes, and only that subset of episodes, are available for rental on blu-ray, which is not the case. The same applies to instant, which only corresponds to the season (add all) or episode (add/play).
Another way to think about it is that the disc resource represents a unique rentable item that only contains a subset of a season's episodes. It exists to let someone rent that specific set of episodes, which is not quite the same as a season or a specific episode. Hope that makes sense.
Thanks for explaining that. One last question: is it safe to say that a blu-ray title will never have mutiple discs that someone can rent? I guess what I am assuming is it safe to assume that blu-ray titles are always added as a completed set?
I don't know that it happens today, but there is nothing to prevent a season from spanning multiple discs. The safe way to account for this scenario would be to check formats for any disc resource returned in a discs collection.
With Dexter Season 2 which is available as instant, DVD and Blu Ray the discs only show the DVD format availability.
If I add Dexter Season 2 to my instant queue (using the Netflix web site) then it appears as a single entry.
If I add Dexter Season 2 to my available queue (using the Netflix web site) as DVDs then it appears as a four distinct entries. I can move these entries around in my queue and delete individual entries.
I really don't follow how this works.
With Dexter Season 2 which is available as instant, DVD and Blu Ray the discs only show the DVD format availability.
If I add Dexter Season 2 to my instant queue (using the Netflix web site) then it appears as a single entry.
If I change my format preference in my account to pick Blu Ray over DVD. Then I look at Dexter Season 2 then the web site allows me to add individual Blu Ray discs separately (but this time only 3 are shown). Doing Add All adds all three discs. Again I can delete individual Blu Ray discs and move them around etc.
It appears the web site is able a different set of disc resources when the format preference is set to Blu Ray (3 returned) as opposed to when DVD is the preference (4 returned).
This looks like is contradicts your message above starting with "no worries"?
I guess what I would like to do is replicate the web sites behaviour in my app by the data the API is returning does not appear to allow this.
If the user's format preference is blu-ray and if you add the seasons to the queue for instance, the api adds the blu-ray discs to the queue. This is handled internally. In the title details, there is just an indication of if the title is available on blu-ray. So, did you add to the queue and did it not get added as the 'blu-ray' discs? Or, are you just looking to display the disc listings? Thanks for your input and sorry for the incovenience.
In my app when it displays a title it looks at the catalog reference to see if it has multiple discs. If so, then an additional menu is display which allows the user to pick which (or all I guess) disc to add to their queue. When a disc is added I then update the UI to show that this disc has been added and at what position. This works fine for DVDs. However, if the user what's to add a blu ray version of the disc then the current UI gets confused as the format availability for each of the discs only ever shows DVD (preventing the user from adding a blu ray version of the disc). I guess what I expected was the the disc entries would have format availability of the parent, but then in the example of Dexter 2 the number of disc entries is different (for blu-ray it is 3 but for DVD it is 4) but current API appears to always return 4 (irrespective of whether I have DVD or Blu Ray set as my preferred format in my account).
I think I could what would be great is if the API returned the discs for the format selected. I think I can work around the instant format.
Hi Dave, if you would like to add the blu ray discs, one way to do it is to add the season to the queue and based on the user's preference, the api will add the blu ray disc entries. But, I do see the issue here where if you want to display the individual blue ray disc entries of what might have gotten added. The formats in this sense are user specific and we will discuss about how to represent this in the title details which is a non-user resource. Also, the blu-ray entries have different disc ids and so, it might not be possible to indicate the availability of the parent in the current DVD disc entry, but we might be able to show the disc entries for blu-ray. Thanks.
I was wondering would it be possible when one asks for the disc that the API provides a parameter which can be "DVD" or "Blu-Ray". The API then returns the discs for that format? So in the Dexter case suppling DVD would return 4 entries and Blu-Ray would return 3. Just a suggestion.
Example: Dexter Season 2 which has four discs. The main title says it is available on DVD, Blu-Ray and Instant by the title information for each disc says it is only available on DVD. I am not sure if this is a bug in the API or the catalog data, but doing the same thing on the main Netflix web site appears to work correctly which suggests the former.
If I do a search using:
http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles with the search term "Dexter Season 2" I get:
<catalog_titles>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/index" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles/index" title="index"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/autocomplete" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles/autocomplete" title="autocomplete"></link>
<url_template>http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles?{-join|&|term|start_index|max_results}</url_template>
<number_of_results>7929</number_of_results>
<start_index>0</start_index>
<results_per_page>50</results_per_page>
<catalog_title>
<id>http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963</id><title short="Dexter: Season 2" regular="Dexter: Season 2"></title>
<box_art small="http://cdn-3.nflximg.com/us/boxshots/tiny/70072963.jpg" medium="http://cdn-3.nflximg.com/us/boxshots/small/70072963.jpg" large="http://cdn-3.nflximg.com/us/boxshots/large/70072963.jpg"></box_art>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/synopsis" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles/synopsis" title="synopsis"></link>
<release_year>2007</release_year>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/tv_ratings" label="NR" term="NR"></category>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/genres" label="Television" term="Television"></category>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/genres" label="TV Crime Dramas" term="TV Crime Dramas"></category>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/genres" label="TV Mysteries" term="TV Mysteries"></category>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/genres" label="TV Dramas" term="TV Dramas"></category>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/genres" label="Showtime" term="Showtime"></category>
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/genres" label="Blu-ray" term="Blu-ray"></category>
<runtime>38040</runtime>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/cast" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/people.cast" title="cast"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/directors" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/people.directors" title="directors"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/format_availability" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles/format_availability" title="formats"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/screen_formats" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles/screen_formats" title="screen formats"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/languages_and_audio" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles/languages_and_audio" title="languages and audio"></link>
<average_rating>4.5</average_rating>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles.series" title="Dexter"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/discs" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles.discs" title="discs"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/episodes" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles.programs" title="episodes"></link>
<link href="http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/similars" rel="http://schemas.netflix.com/catalog/titles.similars" title="similars"></link>
<link href="http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Dexter_Season_2/70072963" rel="alternate" title="web page"></link>
</catalog_title>
...
If I then do:
http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/format_availability
I get:
<delivery_formats>
<availability available_from="1243839600" available_until="1277967600">
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/title_formats" label="instant" term="instant"></category>
</availability>
<availability available_from="1241481600">
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/title_formats" label="Blu-ray" term="Blu-ray"></category>
</availability>
<availability available_from="1219104000">
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/title_formats" label="DVD" term="DVD"></category>
</availability>
</delivery_formats>
II then do:
http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/series/70058399/seasons/70072963/discs
...to get the discs.
For disc 1:
http://api.netflix.com/catalog/titles/discs/70101507/format_availability
Returns:
<delivery_formats>
<availability available_from="1219104000">
<category scheme="http://api.netflix.com/categories/title_formats" label="DVD" term="DVD"></category>
</availability>
</delivery_formats>
Which appears to be inconsistent with the main title format availability. Is this a bug or am I doing about this the wrong way?
Cheers, Dave.
Message edited by Dave Jenkins 1 year ago
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
I guess no one has any opinion on this...?
unfair – 2 years ago
It makes sense that Watch Now episodes do not show up under the disc - they are listed separately for each episode.
I'm not sure about the BluRay, but I suspect it has to do with account type - is your account allowed to rent BluRay titles? I don't even see them mentioned in the catalog I downloaded via API, which would make sense since my account can't rent them. That's just my guess, though maybe someone from Netflix could confirm whether I am correct.
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
I have Blu-Ray access enabled and there is a similar problem with this format too. In fact if you look at the above example the title is also available as a Blu Ray disc but then this format disappears in the disc data.
Michael Hart – 2 years ago
Discs only appear for a title when there are multiple, rentable discs per title, e..g Dexter, Season 1, Disc 2. Since Dexter Season 1 on blu-ray is already rentable, we don't expose a redundant single disc resource.
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
Hmm. So that I understand this. The reason that there is no Blu Ray entry is that the parent title on Blu Ray contains all the episodes? If yes, then how does this fit with the fact there is no instant entry? Presumably one can choose to watch a single entry. Looking at the main Netflix site it looks like you can only add all episodes of an instant title. Sorry to be such a bother but I just want to understand the correct behaviour properly before I make changes to my app.
Thanks, Dave.
Michael Hart – 2 years ago
No worries.
The reason that there is no disc Blu-ray entry is that each disc resource represents some subset of a season's episodes available for renting on DVD. If we flagged it as available on blu-ray, that would mean that subset of episodes, and only that subset of episodes, are available for rental on blu-ray, which is not the case. The same applies to instant, which only corresponds to the season (add all) or episode (add/play).
Another way to think about it is that the disc resource represents a unique rentable item that only contains a subset of a season's episodes. It exists to let someone rent that specific set of episodes, which is not quite the same as a season or a specific episode. Hope that makes sense.
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
Thanks for explaining that. One last question: is it safe to say that a blu-ray title will never have mutiple discs that someone can rent? I guess what I am assuming is it safe to assume that blu-ray titles are always added as a completed set?
Thanks again, Dave.
Michael Hart – 2 years ago
I don't know that it happens today, but there is nothing to prevent a season from spanning multiple discs. The safe way to account for this scenario would be to check formats for any disc resource returned in a discs collection.
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
I really don't follow how this works.
With Dexter Season 2 which is available as instant, DVD and Blu Ray the discs only show the DVD format availability.
If I add Dexter Season 2 to my instant queue (using the Netflix web site) then it appears as a single entry.
If I add Dexter Season 2 to my available queue (using the Netflix web site) as DVDs then it appears as a four distinct entries. I can move these entries around in my queue and delete individual entries.
I really don't follow how this works.
With Dexter Season 2 which is available as instant, DVD and Blu Ray the discs only show the DVD format availability.
If I add Dexter Season 2 to my instant queue (using the Netflix web site) then it appears as a single entry.
If I change my format preference in my account to pick Blu Ray over DVD. Then I look at Dexter Season 2 then the web site allows me to add individual Blu Ray discs separately (but this time only 3 are shown). Doing Add All adds all three discs. Again I can delete individual Blu Ray discs and move them around etc.
It appears the web site is able a different set of disc resources when the format preference is set to Blu Ray (3 returned) as opposed to when DVD is the preference (4 returned).
This looks like is contradicts your message above starting with "no worries"?
I guess what I would like to do is replicate the web sites behaviour in my app by the data the API is returning does not appear to allow this.
Thanks, Dave.
priya – 2 years ago
Hi Dave,
If the user's format preference is blu-ray and if you add the seasons to the queue for instance, the api adds the blu-ray discs to the queue. This is handled internally. In the title details, there is just an indication of if the title is available on blu-ray. So, did you add to the queue and did it not get added as the 'blu-ray' discs? Or, are you just looking to display the disc listings? Thanks for your input and sorry for the incovenience.
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
Hi,
In my app when it displays a title it looks at the catalog reference to see if it has multiple discs. If so, then an additional menu is display which allows the user to pick which (or all I guess) disc to add to their queue. When a disc is added I then update the UI to show that this disc has been added and at what position. This works fine for DVDs. However, if the user what's to add a blu ray version of the disc then the current UI gets confused as the format availability for each of the discs only ever shows DVD (preventing the user from adding a blu ray version of the disc). I guess what I expected was the the disc entries would have format availability of the parent, but then in the example of Dexter 2 the number of disc entries is different (for blu-ray it is 3 but for DVD it is 4) but current API appears to always return 4 (irrespective of whether I have DVD or Blu Ray set as my preferred format in my account).
I think I could what would be great is if the API returned the discs for the format selected. I think I can work around the instant format.
Does this make sense?
Thanks, Dave.
priya – 2 years ago
Hi Dave, if you would like to add the blu ray discs, one way to do it is to add the season to the queue and based on the user's preference, the api will add the blu ray disc entries. But, I do see the issue here where if you want to display the individual blue ray disc entries of what might have gotten added. The formats in this sense are user specific and we will discuss about how to represent this in the title details which is a non-user resource. Also, the blu-ray entries have different disc ids and so, it might not be possible to indicate the availability of the parent in the current DVD disc entry, but we might be able to show the disc entries for blu-ray. Thanks.
Dave Jenkins – 2 years ago
I was wondering would it be possible when one asks for the disc that the API provides a parameter which can be "DVD" or "Blu-Ray". The API then returns the discs for that format? So in the Dexter case suppling DVD would return 4 entries and Blu-Ray would return 3. Just a suggestion.
thomas121 – 1 year ago
I was get Dexter series online on http://downloaddexterepisodes.edogo.com/ link. was wondering this source provide me episode online.