Effective use of PSProVerify - burning collections

If you haven't read the article below about Intelli Burn, the collection burning feature for CD's, DVD's and other types of media. Then go read it. This is the tips for that article.

Todays tip is for the burning feature and the tip states that it is rather useful if you:

• Mix collections of different sizes
• Keep it to a minimum of groups

If you mix your burns with a mix of DVD and CD sized collections then the algorithm can better choose 'filler' collections to better utilize the space on the DVD's.

If you have a low count of groups, then it is much easier for the algorithm to mix the different collections as there is lesser constraints.

Following these two tips will give you the best utilization of the DVD's or whatever media you burn to.

Intelli Burn

This article is about PSPV (PSProVerify) intelligent way of burning collections to any type of media. Look at the screenshot below and notice that some collections has been picked. You rightclick and choose 'Burn'

Choosing 'Burn' will take you a new dialog where you can group your collections, on this picture you can set a fill limit. This is a limit which says how much space on the DVD (as example) you want filled before you will burn it. 0% means that you do not care if you burn a DVD with just 1 byte. Choosing 70% means that atleast 70% of the free space on a DVD will be occupied by data. Once you have grouped your collections and set your fill limit percentage, you should 'Get ready to burn'

'Get ready to burn' will take you to the second tab and you can now see how filled the DVD's will be if the suggested burning will take place. Notice the red circles. Click 'Burn select Discs' to proceed with the actual burning

Let's set the fill limit to 70% and the do the process over again. Notice the change of which will be burned.

You should be able to that the grouped DVD with a fill percentage of 66.17% is NOT among the things which will actually be physically burned to DVD's.

One of the intelligent things which the burning feature in PSProVerify has is the selection of what is packed on each DVD. PSPV utilizes a algorithm called backpacking which finds the best combination of which collections to store to utilize as much freespace on the DVD or other media type, as possible. Very smart, and you use a minimum of DVD's to burn a maximum of collections.

Do not choose a large number og collections and do not set a fill-limit with a too high percentage. The algorithm can take extremely long time to finish finding the proper mix of collections to store on each piece of media.

Hunter Superior

When it comes to verifying and sorting your collections against the csvs then you only have a few tools to choose from.

• ScanSort
• The!Checker / PicCheck
• Hunter
• PServeCheck also called PSC or  PSCU
• PSProVerify also called PSPV or PSClite

ScanSort is a commandline tools which works on both the Unix/Linux platform aswell as the Windows. ScanSort dates back to 1999 and the source code public domain and can be download alof of places. The lastest version is considered to be 1.81-2.

The!Checker is a Windows based tool which originates back to 2006. The!Checker or PicCheck which is a common name for the tool must be considered outdated as larger size csvs are more common. If you get nostalgic then you can always have a look here: http://freenet-homepage.de/vhorch/piccheck.htm. PicCheck is considered to be simple and quite easy to learn.

Hunter dates back to 1998-1999 and is also a Windows based application, although rumors of a Linux version exists. Hunter has far more features than ScanSort and PicCheck. Hunter is still used today. You can get it here: http://broquard-ebooks.com/hunter/

PServeCheck is a native Windows based tool which is still maintained today (2009). PSC or PSCU which are common used names for the tool is full featured with a load of very integrated and easy to use functions and methods. PSCU is designed to be easy and yet to be able to handle several thousand different collections. One of the great steps forward with PSCU compared to ScanSort/The!Checker and Hunter is the ability to automatically get updated csvs once they are available. Further more it is able to automatically check your collections and automatically download files which match the csvs you use. PSCU also incorporates csvs with states such as Ongoing, Pre-Final, Final and Re-Burn. It integrates to Nero or ImgBurn and handles drive arrays beyond 10Tb. PSC comes as an integrated part of PhotoServe, but can also work alone. PSCU uses around 50mb memory and is written in C++.

PSProVerify is quite similar to PServeCheck and works on the Windows platform. PSPV is also still maintained (2009). PSPV, which is the common name for the tool is slightly different PSCU as the graphical user interface doesn't look like normal Windows. PSPV uses the Tk GUI for Perl. PSPV it not 100% bound to Windows and should be portable to other platforms, but is not planned to be done by the author (since it is open source, you can do it if you want).  PSPV has a very rich set of features and is extremely integrated and it is designed to set it up once and let it run fully automated, it is not designed for doing everything manualy, although you can. PSPV is known to be fully automatic and draws on several channels for downloading. Especially the very well integrated bittorent integration is appreciated. With PSPV you get almost all of the features of PSCU plus many automated tools for maintaining large collections. PSPV uses around 90->260mb memory and is written in Perl.

The list below may be subject to change as new versions and updates appear. 

Feature	PSCU	PSPV	Description
Automatic CSV download	x	x	You can "subscribe" to several different websites and the tool will automatically download and check the collections you've set to automatically monitor for new csvs.
Automatic collection checking	x	x	Automatically checking of collections based on downloads and changes in csv state or count
Automatic hunting for new csvs and files	x	x	Ability to hunt for csvs and files to match csvs
Automatic download of collection files	x	x	The tools can be set to automatically leeching files if the integration with PS is in place.
HDD space management systems	x	x	PSCU has Simple Collection Management. PSPV has Advanced Collection Management.
Hunting inside RAR and ZIP files	x	x	Ability to unzip/unrar (single level)
Creation of need / miss_wrong csvs	x	x	If not all files in a csv are present then it is possible to create a new csv which holds the file information of the files needed
Fill of need / miss_wrong csvs	x	x	Ability to fill a needs csv. Both have a possibility to mass fill a bunch of need csvs in one run.
Burn to media CD / DVD etc	x	x	Nero and ImgBurn integration, even ISO support
Configurable auto hunt features	x	x	Ability to configure which collections use which folders for autohunt runs. Including 'removed' folders.
Dupe distribitor		x	Ability to fill csvs with files existing in other csvs. Saves leech time, if external dupes are present.
Custom collection and triggers	x	x	Ability to handle your own personal non-official csvs and groups. PSPV has integrated creation of new groups, whereas PSCU needs manual file (.TRG) creation. Both have ability to create new custom triggers in the custom .TRG files.
Official trigger and csv support to (El-Toro / VG)	x	x	Yes, currently ET is offline and only the VG repo array is supported.
CSV/Hunt cache	x	x	Use of cache files for faster checking and hunting.
CSV creation+upload	x	x	Ability for csv maintainers to to create csvs. Upload to the repo array is supported.
Virtual groups	x		Ability to create your own groups and arrange/merge official and custom collections into your own layout and naming
Location / drive view	x	x	Ability to view collections by drives.
Priority on downloads	x	x	Ability to set priority of which is more important. PSCU's feature is rather intuitive, whereas PSPV's could lack some easyness. PSPV's is highly configurable though, and supports more than 6 different priority levels
Bittorent support	(x)	x	PSCU's bittorent support is a somewhat manual experience, whereas PSPV's is highly automatic. Both tools integrate with uTorrent as client.
Find / search feature	x	(x)	Ability to search for triggers and inside csv files. PSCU's is a simple Ctrl+F and automatic wildcard supported. PSPV's needs a few settings to perform similar.
HTML/Excel/XML and csv reports and view exports	x	x	PSCU can export to all types. PSPV mainly to tabulator seperated lists.
Auto setup series	x	x	Configure the tool to automatically setup new collections as csvs appear in channels (if PS is integrated) or present on the repo array
Integrated with PS	x	x	Yes
Support for offline / backuped collections	x	x	Yes
Simulate HDD space management		x	Only PSPV can run a simulated run of the ACM before doing it.
Removal of orphaned csvs / folders		x	Only PSPV can clean orphaned csvs / folders.
Collection recycler		x	PSPV only, rather dangerous. But the feature is used to accumulate a bunch of CD collections into a DVD collection, as example.
Clean up of torrents		x	PSPV only.
Disk verifier		x	PSPV only.
Delete to recycled bin	(x)	x	PSCU deletes to the removed folder by default. Removed folder is a special folder where stuff present in a collection directory is moved to if it does not belong there according to the csv.
Auto update/leech based on stats value		x	PSPV can automatically turn on leeching / updating if a value for a collection is greater than a custom set pre-defined value. Based og the Stats bot. Only for use with PS.
Filters / views	x	x	PSCU = Leeches, Virtual Groups, New CSVs, Maintained CSVs, Marked collections, Auto get CSV collections, Auto update collections, Badly setup collections, Suspended collections, No default setup collections, Ready to burn, Burned, Not setup collected series, All setup collections, Offline collections, All collections, Complete, Incomplete, Ongoing, Pre-Final, Final, Reburn, Favorites, Hidden, Location view, Leech history, Orphaned collections, Priority, Bittorent Seed, Bittorent Locked, Collection hunt and Need check. PSPV = All available collections, ACM auto purge list, Advanced autohunt set, All setup collections, Bad setup, Better CSV existing, Bittorent active, Burned collections, CSV-change history, Discontinued series, Incomplete collections, Leech history, Self maintained collections, Ready to burn, Send history, Custom Filters, and Drives.
Suspend collections	x		Ability to temporarely turnoff a bunch of collections if you detach an external drive or something similar.
Collection size bar	x	x	Shows color schemes based on common media sizes, CD, DVD etc.
Hide offline, burned etc collections by default	x	x	Both tools has ability to filter on / off based on special collection states.
View csv, report etc	x	x	Simple integration to default viewers of reports (.txt) files and .csv files. PSPV does not use the default Windows program for some reason.
View with ACDSee	x		PSCU only.
Explore removed, autorhunt etc folders	x	x	Starts Explorer in the specific folders.
Smart cache	x		Greately enhances speed when checking. For use with PS only.
Restore previous GUI settings	x	(x)	PSCU is able to open the program in the same state as you left it. Columns, tree structure, folde in/out. Everything stays. PSPV opens the last opened trigger/collection group.
Estimated times and speed	x		PSCU displays estimated times on checking and speed on csv creation.
Tray integration, label change and password protect	x		PSCU minimizes to tray, you can change the application name to something else and password protect the program so nobody but you can open it.
Redistribute and alter column sequence	x	(x)	PSCU's works by drag'n'drop. PSPV's needs to edit a list of possible columns and then moved them up/down (left/right) to change sequence.
Sort by column	x	(x)	PSCU can sort both ascending and descending. PSPV only supports ascending sort.
Configurable timer intervals between auto checks		x	PSCU has internal defined timer settings for automatic checking etc. PSPV's can be configured by the user.
Bundles		x	PSPV supports the creation and handle of bundles if sizes exceed a user defined limit. Great if you have ALOT of stuff.
Count indicators		x	PSPV shows a numeric indicator (like Outlook) on how many triggers/collections are setup in a group. Color is also used.
Custom filters		x	PSPV lets you customize filters based on pre-defined filters. Really great for the skilled person.

The issues (good/bad) can be cut down to the following:

PServeCheck

• Fastest tool, both checking and making and hunting.
• Nice GUI.
• Simple and many useful pre-defined filters.
• Works out-of-the-box.
• No special skills needed.
• Lacks bittorent integration compared to PSPV.
• Has Virtual Groups.
• Un-updated help file.
  

PSProVerify

• Most configurable tool.
• Ability to work like a robot, no human intervention needed. Can be very automatic.
• Custom filters. A very powerful feature. 
• Regular expressions (RegEx) skills to a degree are needed.
• Value based leech is a super feature.
• Advanced Collection Management for HDD space.
• Great bittorent support.
• Needs a bunch of configurering.
• No help file.
  

I have heard of people using both tools depending on their task at hand. If you were to go on holiday for 3 weeks, then you can set PSPV to handle things like you were at home and did everything yourself. It will require quite a bit of setup and understanding, but absolutely possible. If you don't leave your computer online for 3 weeks, then PSCU may be the choice. If you're for the easy, fast and simple then the name is PSCU, if you like configurable, tuneable, complex then go for PSPV. Or mix them. But DO NOT HAVE THEM BOTH RUNNING ON THE SAME TIME.

Here's a few screenshots.


PSProVerify









PServeCheck