Create a new database entry in case of channel rebranding

[freearhey]

Proposal:

If the channel name changes, instead of editing its description in channels.csv, updating the ID in feeds.csv, deleting old logos, and adding new ones, simply add a new channel and link to it from the old version using the replaced_by field.

Pros:

• two requests will be enough to make all the changes: channels:add and channels:edit
• we will be able to maintain a detailed history of changes for each channel
• old channel IDs will remain valid

Cons:

• a lot of additional records in the database

Example:

Before

id	name	alt_names	network	owners	country	categories	is_nsfw	launched	closed	replaced_by	website
TV4Hits.se	TV4 Hits	C More Hits;Canal+ Hits;Canal+ Film 2;Canal+ Blå/Canal+ Sininen		TV4 Group	SE		FALSE	2004-05-01			http://www.cmore.se/

After

id	name	alt_names	network	owners	country	categories	is_nsfw	launched	closed	replaced_by	website
CanalPlusBla.se	Canal+ Bla	Canal+ Blå;Canal+ Sininen			SE		FALSE	1999-01-01	2004-05-01	CanalPlusFilm2.se
CanalPlusFilm2.se	Canal+ Film 2				SE		FALSE	2004-05-01	2007-11-01	CanalPlusHits.se
CanalPlusHits.se	Canal+ Hits				SE		FALSE	2007-11-01	2012-09-04	CanalMoreHits.se
CanalMoreHits.se	C More Hits				SE		FALSE	2012-09-04	2023-09-14	TV4Hits.se
TV4Hits.se	TV4 Hits			TV4 Group	SE		FALSE	2023-09-14			http://www.cmore.se/

[freearhey]

@StrangeDrVN @Carlinhos027 @amazeyourself @Archrootsda

These changes to the policy don't require immediate action, but since they will ultimately affect thousands of channels, I'd like to hear your thoughts first.

[StrangeDrVN]

Would it be possible to add an option in channel menu to view history of a channel especially when a channel has rebranded >2 times(currently doesn't show up in search)? Eg: Star One ---> Life OK ---> Star Bharat (with logos and launch/closed below it)

[freearhey]

Yeah, I think it can be done.

[BellezaEmporium]

Mixed thoughts on this. Adding tons of different database lines for this do not seem to be the good idea for me. Couldn't that be verified by triggering a Action that basically verifies the issue after merge, checks the old name and the new name, creates the ID off the new name and migrates all of the logos and stuff to the new one ? This would mean blindly trust the bot on the changes, but since the ID is tied to a channel, it could be easier.

[freearhey]

The bot is already capable of transferring logos and feeds to a new ID when a channel's name is changed.

This change addresses a different issue:

When changing a channel name, you currently need to first make a request to update the name and add the old name to the alt_names list, then make another request to add the new logo, and finally make a request for each old logo with the flag in_use=false so that the new logo loads first by default. However, since changing the name automatically changes the channel ID, to ensure the channel description continues to load as before, you must also create one additional request in both the iptv and epg repositories.

In the new system, adding another version of the channel does not affect existing connections in any way.

[Carlinhos027]

I don't understand very much about this, so I don't have an opinion 😅

[freearhey]

It's actually quite simple:

If a channel officially changes its name, instead of editing the old entry, we add a new one using channels:add.

I hope that makes it clearer.

[Archrootsda]

I think it's a good idea. avoid remove logos every time there's a channel name change.
We can also add the period in which the logo was in use instead of removing an outdated logo.
example tags: "horizontal; 2001-2015", in use: "FALSE".