Data storage management and scheduling system

An apparatus for scheduling recording, storing, and deleting of television and/or Web page program material on a storage medium in a computer environment, comprising:

• a multimedia recording device that generates a prioritized list of program viewing preferences;
• wherein said list contains a viewer's explicit preferred program selections for recording and derived preferred program selections for recording;
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that compares said list with a database of program guide objects;
• wherein said program guide objects indicate when programs of interest are broadcast;
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that generates a schedule of time versus available storage space that is optimal for the viewer's explicit or inferred preferred programs using said database of program guide objects, said schedule of time versus available storage space tracks all stored programs and programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future;
• wherein said explicit and inferred preferred programs include television broadcast programs and/or Universal Resource Locators (URLs);
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that generates an ordered list of future showings of a specific program of interest using said database of program guide objects;
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that checks showing(s) of said specific program of interest in said ordered list for input source or storage space conflicts with programs previously scheduled for recording using said schedule of time versus available storage space-until a particular showing of said specific program of interest is found having no input and/or space conflicts for the time the particular showing is available such that a recording of said specific program of interest is made as soon as possible and scheduling said particular showing of said specific program of interest for recording;
• wherein said subsystem that checks showings makes a determination of conflicts for an explicitly selected program immediately upon the viewer making the explicit selection of the program to record;
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that sorts said ordered list of future showings upon failure of said subsystem that checks showings to find a particular showing of said specific program of interest having no input and/or space conflicts for the time the particular showing is available;
• and
• wherein the ordering of said ordered list of future showings results in the viewer being presented with any conflicting explicit preferred program selections in order from least impact on programs previously scheduled for recording to greatest.

A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for scheduling recording, storing, and deleting of television and/or Web page program material on a storage medium, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform:

• generating, in a multimedia recording device, a prioritized list of program viewing preferences;
• wherein said list contains a viewer's explicit preferred program selections for recording and derived preferred program selections for recording;
• comparing said list with a database of program guide objects;
• wherein said program guide objects indicate when programs of interest are broadcast;
• generating a schedule of time versus available storage space that is optimal for the viewer's explicit or inferred preferred programs using said database of program guide objects, said schedule of time versus available storage space tracks all stored programs and programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future;
• wherein said explicit and inferred preferred programs include television broadcast programs and/or Universal Resource Locators (URLs);
• generating an ordered list of future showings of a specific program of interest using said database of program guide objects;
• checking showing(s) of said specific program of interest in said ordered list for input source or storage space conflicts with programs previously scheduled for recording using said schedule of time versus available storage space until a particular showing of said specific program of interest is found having no input and/or space conflicts for the time the particular showing is available such that a recording of said specific program of interest is made as soon as possible and scheduling said particular showing of said specific program of interest for recording;
• wherein said checking step makes a determination of conflicts for an explicitly selected program immediately upon the viewer making the explicit selection of the program to record;
• upon the checking step failing to find a particular showing of said specific program of interest having no input and/or space conflicts for the time the particular showing is available, sorting said ordered list of future showings;
• and
• wherein the ordering of said ordered list of future showings results in the viewer being presented with any conflicting explicit preferred program selections in order from least impact on programs previously scheduled for recording to greatest.

A method for scheduling recording, storing, and deleting of television and/or Web page program material on a storage medium, comprising:

• deriving, in a multimedia recording device, an ordered list of future showings of a specific program of interest from a database of program guide objects;
• wherein said program guide objects indicate when programs are broadcast or transmitted;
• determining storage medium memory space and input source scheduling conflicts between showing(s) of said specific program of interest in said ordered list and programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future, the determining step checking a plurality of input sources for input sources appropriate for each showing of said specific program of interest in said ordered list;
• wherein said programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future comprise a viewer's explicit program selections and inferred program selections;
• scheduling for recording a particular showing of said specific program of interest that is found having no memory space and/or input conflicts such that a recording of said specific program of interest is made as soon as possible;
• and
• upon a failing to find a particular showing of said specific program of interest having no memory space and/or input conflicts, sorting said list of future showings, the ordering of said list of future showings results in the viewer being presented with any conflicting showings of said specific program of interest in order from least impact on programs previously scheduled for recording to greatest.

An apparatus for scheduling recording, storing, and deleting of television and/or Web page program material on a storage medium, comprising:

• one or more storage medium;
• two or more input sources;
• a multimedia recording device that derives an ordered list of future showings of a specific program of interest from a database of program guide objects;
• wherein said program guide objects indicate when programs are broadcast or transmitted;
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that determines storage medium memory space and input source scheduling conflicts between showings of said specific program of interest in said ordered list and programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future, the subsystem that determines storage medium space and input source scheduling conflicts checks a plurality of input sources for input sources appropriate for each showing of said specific program of interest in said ordered list;
• wherein said programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future comprise a viewer's explicit program selections and inferred program selections;
• and
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device for that schedules for recording a particular showing of said specific program of interest that is found having no memory space and/or input conflicts such that a recording of said specific program of interest is made as soon as possible;
• and
• a subsystem in said multimedia recording device that, upon a failing to find a particular showing of said specific program of interest having no memory space and/or input conflicts, sorts said list of future showings, the ordering of said list of future showings results in the viewer being presented with any conflicting showings of said specific program of interest in order from least impact on programs previously scheduled for recording to greatest.

A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for scheduling recording, storing, and deleting of television and/or Web page program material on a storage medium, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform:

• deriving, in a multimedia recording device, an ordered list of future showings of a specific program of interest from a database of program guide objects;
• wherein said program guide objects indicate when programs are broadcast or transmitted;
• determining storage medium memory space and input source scheduling conflicts between showings of said specific program of interest in said ordered list and programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future, the determining step checking a plurality of input sources for input sources appropriate for each showing of said specific program of interest in said ordered list;
• wherein said programs that have been scheduled to be recorded in the future comprise a viewer's explicit program selections and inferred program selections;
• and
• scheduling for recording a particular showing of said specific program of interest that is found having no memory space and/or input conflicts such that a recording of said specific program of interest is made as soon as possible;
• and
• upon a failing to find a particular showing of said specific program of interest having no memory space and/or input conflicts, sorting said list of future showings, the ordering of said list of future showings results in the viewer being presented with any conflicting showings of said specific program of interest in order from least impact on programs previously scheduled for recording to greatest.