Add cast container routes to resolve issue #1553 #78

heros-os · 2026-01-03T15:28:45Z

Add cast container routes to resolve issue #1553

Cast Container Routes

Overview

Script.skinvariables now provides routes to populate containers with cast information from Kodi's local database. This addresses issue #1553 by enabling cast display when using call_auto with add_dbid.

Available Routes

Movie Cast

Retrieves cast information for a movie by its database ID.

Route: get_dbitem_movie_cast

URL Format:

plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_movie_cast&dbid=<movieid>

Example:

<onclick>Container(50).Update(plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_movie_cast&dbid=$INFO[ListItem.DBID])</onclick>

TV Show Cast

Retrieves cast information for a TV show by its database ID.

Route: get_dbitem_tvshow_cast

URL Format:

plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_tvshow_cast&dbid=<tvshowid>

Example:

<onclick>Container(50).Update(plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_tvshow_cast&dbid=$INFO[ListItem.DBID])</onclick>

Episode Cast

Retrieves cast information for an episode by its database ID.

Route: get_dbitem_episode_cast

URL Format:

plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_episode_cast&dbid=<episodeid>

Example:

<onclick>Container(50).Update(plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_episode_cast&dbid=$INFO[ListItem.DBID])</onclick>

Cast ListItem Properties

Each cast member in the container has the following properties:

Property	Description	Example
`Label`	Actor name	"Robert Downey Jr."
`Label2`	Character/Role name	"Tony Stark"
`Art(thumb)`	Actor thumbnail image	"image://http%3a%2f%2f..."
`Property(name)`	Actor name (property)	"Robert Downey Jr."
`Property(role)`	Character name (property)	"Tony Stark"
`Property(order)`	Cast order	"0"
`Property(index)`	Zero-based index	"0"
`Property(thumbnail)`	Actor thumbnail URL	"image://http%3a%2f%2f..."

Skin XML Examples

Basic Cast List

<control type="list" id="50">
    <left>100</left>
    <top>200</top>
    <width>1720</width>
    <height>600</height>
    <onleft>9000</onleft>
    <onright>9000</onright>
    <onup>50</onup>
    <ondown>50</ondown>
    <orientation>horizontal</orientation>
    <itemlayout width="200" height="300">
        <control type="image">
            <left>10</left>
            <top>10</top>
            <width>180</width>
            <height>270</height>
            <texture>$INFO[ListItem.Art(thumb)]</texture>
            <aspectratio>scale</aspectratio>
        </control>
        <control type="label">
            <left>10</left>
            <top>285</top>
            <width>180</width>
            <height>30</height>
            <label>$INFO[ListItem.Label]</label>
            <font>font12</font>
            <textcolor>white</textcolor>
            <align>center</align>
        </control>
        <control type="label">
            <left>10</left>
            <top>315</top>
            <width>180</width>
            <height>25</height>
            <label>$INFO[ListItem.Label2]</label>
            <font>font10</font>
            <textcolor>grey</textcolor>
            <align>center</align>
        </control>
    </itemlayout>
    <focusedlayout width="200" height="300">
        <control type="image">
            <left>10</left>
            <top>10</top>
            <width>180</width>
            <height>270</height>
            <texture>$INFO[ListItem.Art(thumb)]</texture>
            <aspectratio>scale</aspectratio>
            <bordertexture border="5">colors/white.png</bordertexture>
            <bordersize>5</bordersize>
        </control>
        <control type="label">
            <left>10</left>
            <top>285</top>
            <width>180</width>
            <height>30</height>
            <label>$INFO[ListItem.Label]</label>
            <font>font12_title</font>
            <textcolor>white</textcolor>
            <align>center</align>
        </control>
        <control type="label">
            <left>10</left>
            <top>315</top>
            <width>180</width>
            <height>25</height>
            <label>$INFO[ListItem.Label2]</label>
            <font>font10</font>
            <textcolor>grey</textcolor>
            <align>center</align>
        </control>
    </focusedlayout>
</control>

Updating Cast Container on Info Dialog Open

<!-- In DialogVideoInfo.xml -->
<onload>Container(50).Update(plugin://script.skinvariables/?info=get_dbitem_$INFO[ListItem.DBType]_cast&dbid=$INFO[ListItem.DBID])</onload>

Conditional Cast Display

<!-- Show cast list only when container has items -->
<control type="group">
    <visible>Integer.IsGreater(Container(50).NumItems,0)</visible>
    <control type="label>
        <label>Cast</label>
    </control>
    <control type="list" id="50">
        <!-- cast list control -->
    </control>
</control>

Accessing Specific Cast Members

<!-- First cast member -->
<control type="label>
    <label>$INFO[Container(50).ListItem(0).Label]</label>
</control>

<!-- Second cast member -->
<control type="label>
    <label>$INFO[Container(50).ListItem(1).Label]</label>
</control>

<!-- Number of cast members -->
<control type="label>
    <label>Cast: $INFO[Container(50).NumItems]</label>
</control>

Integration with TMDb Helper

When using with plugin.video.themoviedb.helper's call_auto feature:

<onclick>RunScript(plugin.video.themoviedb.helper,add_dbid=$INFO[ListItem.DBID],tmdb_type=movie,call_auto=1190)</onclick>

The cast container will now be properly populated when the info dialog opens, thanks to the new cast routes.

Requirements

script.skinvariables: v2.1.35+
script.module.jurialmunkey: v0.2.30+
Kodi Version: 19+ (Nexus)

Notes

Cast data is retrieved from Kodi's local database
No external API calls are made
Cast members are ordered by their billing order (as scraped)
If a movie/show has no cast data, the container will be empty
Thumbnails are automatically loaded from Kodi's artwork cache

Troubleshooting

Container not populating:

Verify the container ID (50 in examples) exists in your skin XML
Check that the media item has cast data in the Kodi library
Ensure script.module.jurialmunkey is updated to v0.2.30 or higher

Thumbnails not showing:

Verify artwork scrapers are enabled in Kodi settings
Check that Kodi's artwork downloader has run
Ensure sufficient cache space for artwork

Wrong cast information:

Verify the correct info parameter is used (movie_cast vs tvshow_cast vs episode_cast)
Check that the correct DBID is being passed
Rescrape the media item if data appears incorrect

Related Issues

Issue #1553 - Empty Cast Container with call_auto and add_dbid

Changelog

v2.1.35

Added get_dbitem_movie_cast route
Added get_dbitem_tvshow_cast route
Added get_dbitem_episode_cast route
Updated dependency on script.module.jurialmunkey to v0.2.30

- Added three new routes for cast containers: - get_dbitem_movie_cast (ListGetMovieCast) - get_dbitem_tvshow_cast (ListGetTVShowCast) - get_dbitem_episode_cast (ListGetEpisodeCast) - Updated addon version from 2.1.34 to 2.1.35 - Updated dependency on script.module.jurialmunkey to v0.2.30 - Added comprehensive documentation in CAST_ROUTES.md with: - Route usage examples - ListItem properties reference - Skin XML examples - Troubleshooting guide This enables skinners to populate containers with cast information from Kodi's local database when using call_auto with add_dbid.

Add cast container routes to resolve issue #1553

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR adds three new container routes to script.skinvariables that enable skins to populate containers with cast information retrieved from Kodi's local database. This resolves issue #1553 by allowing cast data to be displayed when using TMDb Helper's call_auto feature with add_dbid.

Key Changes:

Added three new cast retrieval routes: get_dbitem_movie_cast, get_dbitem_tvshow_cast, and get_dbitem_episode_cast
Updated dependency requirement for script.module.jurialmunkey from v0.2.28 to v0.2.30
Comprehensive documentation added in CAST_ROUTES.md with usage examples

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 4 comments.

File	Description
resources/lib/plugin.py	Adds three new route definitions for movie, TV show, and episode cast retrieval, mapping to jurialmunkey.jrpcid module classes
addon.xml	Bumps addon version to 2.1.35 and updates script.module.jurialmunkey dependency to v0.2.30
CAST_ROUTES.md	Provides comprehensive documentation for the new cast routes including API details, ListItem properties, XML examples, integration instructions, and troubleshooting guidance

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Copilot · 2026-01-03T15:31:09Z

CAST_ROUTES.md

+</control>
+
+<!-- Second cast member -->
+<control type="label>


Missing closing double quote in the XML opening tag. The attribute 'type' should be properly quoted as 'type="label"' instead of 'type="label>'.

@copilot open a new pull request to apply changes based on this feedback

Copilot · 2026-01-03T15:31:09Z

CAST_ROUTES.md

+</control>
+
+<!-- Number of cast members -->
+<control type="label>


Missing closing double quote in the XML opening tag. The attribute 'type' should be properly quoted as 'type="label"' instead of 'type="label>'.

@copilot open a new pull request to apply changes based on this feedback

CAST_ROUTES.md

Copilot · 2026-01-03T15:31:10Z

CAST_ROUTES.md

+
+```xml
+<!-- First cast member -->
+<control type="label>


Missing closing double quote in the XML opening tag. The attribute 'type' should be properly quoted as 'type="label"' instead of 'type="label>'.

@copilot open a new pull request to apply changes based on this feedback

Please remove this file. Documentation should be done in the Wiki not as files.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

jurialmunkey · 2026-01-05T21:30:02Z

CAST_ROUTES.md

+
+```xml
+<!-- First cast member -->
+<control type="label>


Please remove this file. Documentation should be done in the Wiki not as files.

jurialmunkey · 2026-01-05T21:30:56Z

addon.xml

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <addon id="script.skinvariables"
-version="2.1.34"
+version="2.1.35"


Please revert this version bump. Version bumps should be done as a separate commit when a release is made not when the code base changes.

heros-os added 2 commits January 3, 2026 15:23

Merge pull request #1 from heros-os/feature/cast-container-routes

c599692

Add cast container routes to resolve issue #1553

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings January 3, 2026 15:28

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of heros-os January 3, 2026 15:29 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

Update CAST_ROUTES.md

44e7286

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

jurialmunkey requested changes Jan 5, 2026

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Add cast container routes to resolve issue #1553 #78

Add cast container routes to resolve issue #1553 #78

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heros-os commented Jan 3, 2026

Cast Container Routes

Overview

Available Routes

Movie Cast

TV Show Cast

Episode Cast

Cast ListItem Properties

Skin XML Examples

Basic Cast List

Updating Cast Container on Info Dialog Open

Conditional Cast Display

Accessing Specific Cast Members

Integration with TMDb Helper

Requirements

Notes

Troubleshooting

Related Issues

Changelog

v2.1.35

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Pull request overview

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