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No backdrops when language parameter used
posted by Nigel BarnesSTAFFMOD on March 9, 2013 at 9:43 AM
When using append_to_response to add images the response contains posters but backdrops is always empty.
http://api.themoviedb.org/3/movie/597?api_key=1234&append_to_response=images&language=en
I realise this is due to adding the language parameter as the iso_639_1 field is null for many (all) backdrops. Can the iso_639_1 field be defaulted to en, or should I make a separate request for images without the langauge restriction?
Reply by Travis Bell
on March 18, 2013 at 3:08 PM
Hi Nigel,
No, this is not the right way to address this.
For backdrops, yes.
The issue here is that most backdrops indeed do not have a language set since most backdrops don't have a language. There are some backdrops that do though, which is why the parameter is optional for backdrops. Movies like Inception for example.
There's an open ticket for the basics of this issue. At some point I'll dedicate some time to figure out the best way to let all combinations be queryable.
Reply by Nigel Barnes
on March 18, 2013 at 3:22 PM
Thanks for the clarification, two requests it is then.
Reply by Stuart Boston
on July 25, 2013 at 8:20 AM
Sorry to open this up again, but I have tried to follow the various threads.
I am trying to search for all appropriate artwork for a movie and for me, that is "chosen language" & "empty language"
http://tmdb.lighthouseapp.com/projects/83077/tickets/133 is closed as invalid, but without an explanation of what to do.
If I query on "en" I loose the empty language artwork (backdrops mostly) and if I leave the language off the call I get ALL artwork for all languages.
The only way I can see to do this call is to leave language off and parse the entire list of artwork looking for my language and empty. Is this the suggested approach or have I missed something?
Reply by Travis Bell
on July 25, 2013 at 10:28 AM
Hi Stuart,
Yes, at this point I deemed it to currently work the way it was designed. There's some backdrops with languages and most without. You can query for all of them without specifying a language and for a language by making sure it's present.
Your best bet is to make a separate call to the backdrops method with no language parameter set.
Reply by Stuart Boston
on July 25, 2013 at 11:07 AM
Ok, as long as I am doing it the "correct" way.
As an aside, you might want to run a clean up script as there are some artwork with empty language ("") and some with "null"s