Custom Scraper Time Date Format

[xd3l]

Hello, I’d like to be able to add images and artwork for all my games, but Scraper has only worked once and after that slows down terribly and never yields any fruit.
It is for this reason that I am making my own custom artwork and descriptions. The one thing I am lost on though is the Time Date Format.

Here is a look at my PC list, I just want it to read 1994 for the release date, but intead it tells me the exact year, month, and day.
I want to be able to zero out the month and day, but if I add zeroes then the 1994 gets lost and it says the release date is unknown.

<?xml version=”1.0″?>
<gameList>
<game>
<path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/Alone1.bat</path>
<name>Alone in the Dark</name>
<desc>Inspiring and influencing a whole slew of games, from Resident Evil to Tomb Raider, Alone in the Dark was the first third-person, 3D action title and surely one of the scariest games anyone had seen at that time. Based loosely on the style and substance of the stories of H.P. Lovecraft, Alone in the Dark was very unsettling. The player took on the role of a paranormal investigator trying to escape from a manor haunted by a ghostly pirate, an animated suit of armor, a freakishly scary tree, and more zombies than you could shake a stick at. Though the graphics seem dated today, they were cutting edge at the time.</desc>
<image>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/pc/Alone1-image.jpg</image>
<releasedate>19920707T000000</releasedate>
<developer>Infogrames</developer>
<publisher>Infogrames</publisher>
<genre>Horror</genre>
</game>
<game>
<path>/home/pi/RetroPie/roms/pc/Alone2.bat</path>
<name>Alone in the Dark 2:</name>
<desc>Edward Carnby returns in this sequel to the popular ALONE IN THE DARK, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. This time, Ed’s been called on to solve the kidnapping of Grace Saunders and subsequent disappearance of a fellow investigator named Stryker. You’ll control Carnby through this mysterious epic taking on 15th century pirates, voodoo witches, and other immortal enemies. Can you break the spell and return these beasts to the ranks of the no longer living?</desc>
<image>~/.emulationstation/downloaded_images/pc/Alone2-image.jpg</image>
<releasedate>19940719T000000</releasedate>
<developer>Infogrames</developer>
<publisher>Infogrames</publisher>
<genre>Horror</genre>
</game>
</gameList>

[xd3l]

And just after I post, I figured at least part of it out.

<releasedate>19940719T000000</releasedate>

The first four numbers are of course the year it was released (1994).

The next two are the month (07)

Followed by the day (19)

And then the T which stands for time, and then (Hour,Minute,Seconds).

I can leave the Time as pure zeros and it is fine with that, but what I want to know is how to get this to accept if I do not know the month or day either?

Also, some game art and info just don’t show up even though my links are 100% correct. (not reflected in the example given).

[Floob]

Have you tried the scraper from sselph?

[xd3l]

I can’t even get that guide to work. I just want to know how to do this manually.

[xd3l]

I managed to get things worked out. In one place there was a typo, in the other places I do not know what was up, but I re-typed out the lines for the games that the info and image were not showing up in and now they work.
All I need now is to figure out how to get around the dating issue.

To speed things up though, I might be interested in getting the alternative Scraping tool working if someone can help me where the guide seems to be falling short.

[Floob]

@xd3l
If you let me know what step in the video doesnt work for you and the error you get, I’ll try to help out.

[xd3l]

THank you, I did manage to get the correct file and extract it to where it needed to be this time, but…

…after resetting Emulation Station, nothing is different. I presume I have to move the list and image files to their proper directories in /home/pi/.emulationsation first?

[Floob]

It should all happen automatically. Make sure ES is closed before you scrape. I think thats covered in the video if you want to see how to check.

[xd3l]

Stupid mistake, I forgot to close Emustation.

So can I delete all the lists and images from the .Emulationstation folder in HOME/Pi now?

[Author]

Posts