Search for actor yields no results and Java Exception

[amg]

I am running SageTV v9 in a docker on unRaid using Schedules Direct. The wiz.bin was copied from a v7 windows install after v9 was installed.

I am encountering an error when I try to search for a Person. Below is from the log when I search for Tom Hanks from the airing for Big.

Sun 3/12 17:49:58.847 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] processOptionsMenu optionsMenu=default:OPUS4A-122528|OptionsMenu:People In Show Options
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.850 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.850 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.850 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=1335 name=Elizabeth Perkins
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.851 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=1335 name=Elizabeth Perkins
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.851 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=55343 name=Robert Loggia
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.851 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=55343 name=Robert Loggia
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.852 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=749 name=John Heard
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.852 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=749 name=John Heard
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.852 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=29840 name=Jared Rushton
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.852 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=29840 name=Jared Rushton
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.853 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.853 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.853 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=1335 name=Elizabeth Perkins
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.853 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=1335 name=Elizabeth Perkins
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.853 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=55343 name=Robert Loggia
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.854 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=55343 name=Robert Loggia
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.854 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=749 name=John Heard
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.854 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=749 name=John Heard
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.854 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=29840 name=Jared Rushton
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.854 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=29840 name=Jared Rushton
Sun 3/12 17:49:58.927 [FinalRender-001d6a4bfb2a@4b8b6b9e] MiniClient did not succeed with menu hint change to:menuName:LiveTVGuide w/ Optional Preview, popupName:People In Show Options, hasTextInput:false, errcode=1
Sun 3/12 17:50:01.820 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] processUserEvent-UserEvent[down] evtTime=Sun 3/12 17:50:01.820
Sun 3/12 17:50:01.821 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:50:01.821 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.528 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] processUserEvent-UserEvent[select] evtTime=Sun 3/12 17:50:02.528
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.528 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] ERROR Could not resolve aliased person back to original person id=62982 name=Tom Hanks
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.528 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] java.lang.NullPointerException
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.Wizard.getAliasesForPerson(Wizard.java:7039)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.Wizard.searchByExactPerson(Wizard.java:7022)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.api.Database$13.runSafely(Database.java:2145)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.PredefinedJEPFunction.run(PredefinedJEPFunction.java:110)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.jep.JEP$CommandEvaluator.evaluate(JEP.java:586)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.jep.JEP.getValueAsObject(JEP.java:428)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.Catbert.evaluateExpression(Catbert.java:641)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.processChain(ZPseudoComp.java:4641)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.processChain(ZPseudoComp.java:4579)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.529 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.actionPerformed(ZPseudoComp.java:4562)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.action(ZPseudoComp.java:3800)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.PseudoMenu.action(PseudoMenu.java:225)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.EventRouter.processUserEvent(EventRouter.java:882)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.EventRouter.run(EventRouter.java:942)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] EXCEPTION in getValueAsObject:sage.jep.ParseException: Error in method reflection of SearchByPerson of java.lang.NullPointerException for:SearchByPerson(Person,"TVD")
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] sage.jep.ParseException: Error in method reflection of SearchByPerson of java.lang.NullPointerException
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.PredefinedJEPFunction.run(PredefinedJEPFunction.java:119)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.530 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.jep.JEP$CommandEvaluator.evaluate(JEP.java:586)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.jep.JEP.getValueAsObject(JEP.java:428)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.Catbert.evaluateExpression(Catbert.java:641)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.processChain(ZPseudoComp.java:4641)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.processChain(ZPseudoComp.java:4579)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.actionPerformed(ZPseudoComp.java:4562)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.ZPseudoComp.action(ZPseudoComp.java:3800)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.PseudoMenu.action(PseudoMenu.java:225)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.EventRouter.processUserEvent(EventRouter.java:882)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.EventRouter.run(EventRouter.java:942)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.531 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:745)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.Wizard.getAliasesForPerson(Wizard.java:7039)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.Wizard.searchByExactPerson(Wizard.java:7022)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.api.Database$13.runSafely(Database.java:2145)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       at sage.PredefinedJEPFunction.run(PredefinedJEPFunction.java:110)
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8]       ... 11 more
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.532 [EventRouter-001d6a4bfb2a@2852cff8] processOptionsMenu optionsMenu=default:BASE-63501|OptionsMenu:Your search returned no results.
Sun 3/12 17:50:02.542 [FinalRender-001d6a4bfb2a@4b8b6b9e] MiniClient did not succeed with menu hint change to:menuName:LiveTVGuide w/ Optional Preview, popupName:Your search returned no results., hasTextInput:false, errcode=1
^C

[EnterNoEscape]

It looks like we're not checking for a null condition because Fiber always had the real names for all of the Persons. Unfortunately Schedules Direct does not provide nearly as much data as Google did and doesn't provide any way to get that information outside of the shows airing right now. I didn't want to provide an alias as an original name (because it's not correct), but it doesn't look like we have a choice if we are trying to do lookups like this. The way I'd attack it is to put the alias in as the original name and always overwrite the original name any time we encounter an instance of the original name. It's just very inefficient logic and I'm thinking I'd rather just handle the null pointer exception and remove all of that alias error logging instead because then we won't have incorrect aliases.

[amg]

I just started looking at the code, so forgive me if I'm off base....

I think there may be an issue in my DB. I dumped the DB by setting dump_db_on_startup to true.

In my Wiz.dump, I have a number of Person objects with extID with negative numbers. I think this means it is an alias and there should be another Person object with a non-negative extID, but there is not. Am I correct?

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by amg

I just started looking at the code, so forgive me if I'm off base....

I think there may be an issue in my DB. I dumped the DB by setting dump_db_on_startup to true.

In my Wiz.dump, I have a number of Person objects with extID with negative numbers. I think this means it is an alias and there should be another Person object with a non-negative extID, but there is not. Am I correct?

That's what I was describing above. I didn't mention how it knows they are aliases, but I was explaining how we can't get the original person object from Schedules Direct which leads to this problem. There are two ways to fix this detailed above. I'm leaning towards handling the NPE instead because we end up overwriting original person objects which can temporarily remove their image links until the end of the EPG update.

[amg]

Still following up on this. Had some time to look into the code and the JSON returned from Schedules direct, trying to come up to speed.

Using Bruce Willis as an example, since he is in my wiz.bin with a negative extID of -9653.

I found an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with Bruce Wilis and this is his cast entry:

  {
                "billingOrder": "02",
                "role": "Guest",
                "nameId": "9653",
                "personId": "9653",
                "name": "Bruce Willis"
            }

Now by the isAlias() in SDPerson

  public boolean isAlias()
  {
    return personId != null && personId.length() > 0 && personId.equals(nameId);
  }

this makes the entry an alias.

Why is personId == nameId an alias?

so in SDUtils.java:512 getPerson()

    if (person.isAlias())
      personId *= -1;

The (once valid?) ID for Bruce Willis becomes negative. Once it has a negative ID, searching by person no longer works.

[EnterNoEscape]

If you haven't already, upgrade to v9.0.14. The null pointer issue should be resolved.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by amg

Still following up on this. Had some time to look into the code and the JSON returned from Schedules direct, trying to come up to speed.

Using Bruce Willis as an example, since he is in my wiz.bin with a negative extID of -9653.

I found an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with Bruce Wilis and this is his cast entry:

  {
                "billingOrder": "02",
                "role": "Guest",
                "nameId": "9653",
                "personId": "9653",
                "name": "Bruce Willis"
            }

Now by the isAlias() in SDPerson

  public boolean isAlias()
  {
    return personId != null && personId.length() > 0 && personId.equals(nameId);
  }

this makes the entry an alias.

Why is personId == nameId an alias?

so in SDUtils.java:512 getPerson()

    if (person.isAlias())
      personId *= -1;

The (once valid?) ID for Bruce Willis becomes negative. Once it has a negative ID, searching by person no longer works.

You are right about the alias being wrong. I don't know how I didn't catch that sooner. It's only an alias if the personId doesn't match the nameId. I pushed a commit to correct this logic.

[amg]

The NPE was fixed after 9.0.14 ( a few days). I built the latest on my dev machine, and I now get results for person searches.

Will there be any other ill effects for the thousands of people in the DB that are now aliases?

Still wondering about alias though. From an episode of Shades of Blue, Drea de Matteo's person entry:

            {
                "billingOrder": "03",
                "role": "Actor",
                "nameId": "202520",
                "personId": "200635",
                "name": "Drea de Matteo",
                "characterName": "Tess Nazario"
            }

Why would this entry then become an alias? What is it an alias to? It seems like an alias would be an entry that points to another real-person. The personId is the ID that SD uses to look up metadata, I cant find a use for the nameId, yet.

Sorry if I'm becoming a pain, just trying to understand the code.

[EnterNoEscape]

Schedules Direct doesn't really explain what's going on here very well. It does explain the that personID is used to get images. It doesn't explain that if the personID does not match the nameID, it's a former name/alias. The nameID correlates with a name. The personID correlates with the actual person which will not change regardless of what they call themselves today.

There really aren't any significant problems with having an alias, but no actual person. The alias from what I can tell is mostly just used to improve searches.

The request/implementation in SageTV starts being discussed in detail here.

Edit: You're right about the post 9.0.14 fix. I was looking at the wrong commit when I said that.