NetFlix Plugin for SageTV v4

[DwarF]

Support Link:
http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...600#post138600

Early Alpha: It has problems, but try it out if you like and let me know what you see.

Features:
***************************************************************
View your RSS feeds from NetFlix:
My Queue
My Recent Activity
My Recommendations
New Releases
Top 100
Top 25 of a slew of genres

View movie details, with image and description
Add movies to your queue
Removing from your queue
Manipulating the order of your queue
Vote for how you liked a movie (this effects your future recommendations).

Features not yet completed:
- Playing a movie trailer from the Movie Detail Page


This is a plugin to enable the browsing of various RSS feeds
from the netflix website, as well as manipulation of your queue
and voting on recent activity. This plugin is not provided by
nor in any way affiliated with NetFlix.com. You should view the
Terms for Using the Netflix RSS Feeds to know what you are getting
into found at:
http://www.netflix.com/RSSFeeds?lnkctr=mfRSS

LICENSE:
***************************************************************
This software is released under the GPL. Please
see the included LICENSE file.

Copyright (C) 2006 'DwarF' Pullen

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

Use this software at your own risk!

This plugin re-distributes the rss4j library that is too covered by the
GPL. It's own LICENCE can be found under LICENSE.rss4j.txt

The apache commons (all jars prefaced with commons) are redistributed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. Please review it before usage at (http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)

Installation:
***************************************************************
*** always backup your current properties files beforehand ***
(typically)
<Your Sage Install Dir>/sage.properties
and possibly
<Your Sage Install Dir>/sage.client.properties
***************************************************************
1) uncompress/unpack the netflix.tar.gz into a temporary directory (until
I get the install working more smoothly).

2) jars: Copy the jars listed below to your
Sage jars directory (typically) <Your Sage Install Dir>/JARs
netflix.jar (main jar)
jdom.jar (used for local cache)
rsslib4j.jar (used to pull data from netflix)
commons-codec-1.3.jar (dependency for httpclient)
commons-logging-1.0.4.jar (dependency for httpclient)
commons-httpclient-3.0.jar (used to push data to netflix)

3) Goto your Online Services screen (or anywhere you want it to be accessible
from) and open studio (type "ctl + shift + f12").

4) Choose File->Import and select the packaged netflix.xml file.

5) 1.Expand your "Online Services" Menu Item.
2.Expand the "MainMenuContainer" under the "Online Services Menu"
3.Drag A button (looks like a coffee bean) down from the panel on the upper
left to the MainMenuContainer panel with the other buttons.
4. Name the Button "NetFlix" (rightclick Properties) and then Drag and Drop
the "NetFlix - Main" Menu to this bean button.

Viola...you are ready to use the plugin!

There are some bugs with the way I have it configured currently, it is
using a couple theme packages from the STV. I will get that cleaned up
shortly.

Usage:
***************************************************************
Before Using the netflix plugin, pease
You will find the interfaces under
Media Center -> Online Services -> Netflix
(or wherever you placed it) according to the installation intructions above.

Configuration:
***************************************************************
Before you can utilize the plugin, you will need to configure it
from: Media Center -> Online Services -> Netflix -> Configure

You must provide an ID, Username, Password and Cache Dir at a
minimum. If you are behind a Proxy, you will also have to provide
the Proxy URL and Proxy Port. There are interfaces to walk you though all of this so it's not too bad.

You can also hide channels you are sure you will never be intersted in
checking out. This will help in the performance of full refreshes.

Your RSS feeds are chached for the period of one day, with the exception
of your Queue, which is updated every time you interact with it.

All primary settings are stored in your sage.properties files. So if you backup your sage.properties files for other installations, you will be effectively backing up your config for this plugin too.

Problems
***************************************************************
If you experience problems with the application not working for you, there are some extended debugging that can be enabled through your sage.properties.
plugins/netflix/NetFlixLoggerDebug=true
plugins/netflix/NetFlixLoggerStream=file

The first setting turns on debugging. It is likely already set to true for the alpha releases. the stream needs to be set to file (instead of out or err).

This will create a sage.netflix.log file in your cache directory you have configured through the interface. It will contain a great deal of information for your interacations with NetFlix.

[sleonard]

Thanks, I'm looking forward to this plugin. Is there a file to download?

[ToxMox]

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...?do=file&id=49

[insomniac]

so awesome. Ive been looking forward to this one!

I.

[sleonard]

OK, I un-gunzipped dwarf-netfflix-plugin.gz to a temp folder but the only file inside was "dwarf-netfflix-plugin", no file extension and nothing else. I manually added .tar and then unzipped again to a JARs folder and an STVs folder. After that I was able to copy the .jar files and the netflix.xml to their proper places.

After that I'm lost. Instructions say to use Studio to create a Netflix button and Drag the menu titled "NetFlix Main" to this button but their is no "NetFlix Main" because, I assume, netflix.xml has not been imported yet. Also, do we have to manually create a button from scratch (I'll need some more time with the Studio Tutorial) or can we use Nielm's Dynamic Menu to add one?

[DwarF]

Usually, you can un-tar and un-zip in the same command.
ex: tar -xzf netflix.tar.gz

I might just change it to a .zip file. That would likely make more sense for more people. Thanks for the heads up.

You are right about the import. You need to import the netflix.xml before you can drag the NetFlix - Main menu to a button.

I do not suggest modifying your stv unless you have made a backup. But adding a button is really very simple. If you open studio from the online services menu, it will be highlighted by default. Just expand it to see the panel, and the buttons that look like beans below it. Drag a bean from the panel on the left to the panel and drag the NetFlix - Main menu to the bean, and you are done.

I have to run for some errands right now. But I will update the instructions with your enhancements when I get time tonight. Thank you.

[sleonard]

OK, got it installed and working. The basic funcionality seems to be working properly. The UI needs work but I'm sure you're on that. If it would be possible, Cover shots would look awesome and descriptions would be a real plus. Navigation is pretty bad though, esp. in Configuration. Many screens do not have a Back button so getting back one screen becomes impossible with just a mouse. The Left command from a remote often doesn't work either leaving your with only the Back command from a remote that had confusing behavior.
In the screens where you enter the user ID, username, and password, there are 2 panels, upper and lower. The lower is for the keypad entry and once it has focus you can't use a remote to return to the upper panel in order to save the entry.

Also in those screens, one should be able to paste their user ID for example instead of typing it in.

I'll be looking forward to any updates on this promising import.

[DwarF]

OK, got it installed and working.

Awsome!

If it would be possible, Cover shots would look awesome and descriptions would be a real plus.

It should already have this. If you select a movie title from a list, it will bring you to the movie detail screen which has these. It does not unencode the html, so you will still see &quot; instead of " in the descriptions.

I will likely create an option that allows you to display these in the main channel listings also, for those who want to see them there. I kept it similar to the listing on the NetFlix site, and figured it would load faster (I am still pulling the images from NetFlix on demand).

Navigation is pretty bad though...

I am not sure how to do a copy and paste though the UI yet. It was annoying the heck out of me too.

I have posted an updated netflix.zip

ChangeLog:
Changed filetype to .zip instead of tar.gz
Improved navigation on list
Improved navigation on config
Updated install instructions to be a bit more descriptive
UI improvements thoughout

I'll spend some time looking over neilm's install STVi and hopefully can figure a way to make the setup easier.

For this update, you do not have to replace the jars or anything. If you have already installed it, You need to uninstall the previous one. To do this, right click on each Netflix xxx menu, and select "Expand Children" (DO NOT SELECT EXPAND ALL). Then select the entire child hierarchy under the NetFlix Meny you are removing and press delete. Do this for each NetFlix xxx Menu. Then import the new netflix.xml and re-link it to your NetFlix action bean under Online Services.

I appologize for the inconveniences. I am learning. I thought the last UI was bad enough to warrant the inconvenience. This one is highly usable (imo)

[Humanzee]

Can you post some screen shots? I think I'll wait for the STVI but this sounds like this is going to be a great addition for Netflix users.

Thank you DwarF

[sleonard]

Looking forward to the new update. I will try it this evening and let you know what I think.

One thing I forgot to mention was that if you are using Nielm's Dynamic Menu then you must use it to Dynamically add the Netflix - Main button. The good thing is that it is a lot easier than Studio.

[spacecadet]

I installed the plug-in last night and had a lot of trouble with the configuration screens. I was able to get into the keypad entry for the ID, but the Save button wouldn't work and I got stuck on that screen. The back button also didn't work, so I had to shut down the Sage TV UI and start again. There was also another case where I got to the configuration screens, but couldn't get in to enter any of the values (Username, password) - and again couldn't use the back button to get back to the main menu. I had to shut down the Sage TV UI and start again. I also noticed that on a couple screens, the UI elements were cropped off the screen - in particular on the entry keypad for the ID field - the Save, Cancel and Help buttons were all off the bottom of the screen. In the end, I wasn't able to get this configured due to all the navigation trouble I had in the configuration screens. If there is something I am missing, please let me know.

All in all, this looks very promising and I am excited to try it out. Thanks very much for your hard work so far!

[garyellis]

OK, since I am a Blockbuster member, how about a Blockbuster version?

: )

[DwarF]

I'm sorry to hear that spacecadet. When I created the menus, I unfortunately relied on some of the resources of the other menus. This is apparently a no-no in studio if you are going to export menus. I try to test it before putting it up, but I basically have to go though every screen trying every feature or I miss something like the buttons at the bottom there. In the meantime, you can edit your sage.properties(or client properties) directly to add the information you couldn't put in though the config screens.

I will get this resolved later in the week as I get time. Don't give up on it, it'll only get better.

garyellis:
The source code is distributed with the netflix.zip, so you could read though and change some pretty minor stuff to get it to work with BB. They may not have RSS though, I dunno. Then you would have to make a bit more substantial changes. I can give you some help if you like, but don't have time to do it myself.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by DwarF

I will get this resolved later in the week as I get time. Don't give up on it, it'll only get better.

Thanks for the update, DwarF. I tried setting my configuration properties via the sage.properties file, but still am not having any luck. I set my ID, username, password and cache dir, but on the Netflix - Main screen, the screen is blank with only a "Configuration" button at the bottom. If I select Configuration, I get the screen where I can see the property values that I entered manually in sage.properties. From there I can select "Channels'", but that screen is also empty.

Anyway, I will definitely not be giving up on this as I think this plugin is going to be great. Please don't you give up, either, and keep up your hard work - it is appreciatd.

Please also let me know if there is any info I can provide to help you out (screenshots, logs, etc).

[DwarF]

Here is an updated netflix.xml (you have to rename the .txt when you download). It should make configuration easier (and possible I have not had adequate time to test it yet (importing into a fresh stv and starting from scratch to make sure all things work as intended)

It also has some enhancements for showing covers and descritpions within channel listings if you choose. The covers aren't cached yet, that'll be in a future version.

If it cannot detect your configuration correctly, you will not get any channel listings and such. If you manually set the cach dir, you have to use the java escapes. ex:
plugins/netflix/NetFlixCacheDir=C\:\\temp\\netflix

If you want to see a log of what is going on, make these settings:
plugins/netflix/NetFlixLoggerDebug=true
plugins/netflix/NetFlixLoggerStream=file
the file will appear in your configured cache dir. It is truncated and rewritten on each run of sage so it will not get huge on you.

I have run out of steam tonight, but this should get you going. PM me if you want to use IM to talk in real time, I can likely get you going quickly.

[DwarF]

Question about theme-ing. Do you guys think it would be a good idea to use a more custom "red & white" theme or stick with the default?

I want to create some images for buttons such as "Move to Top of Queue", "Add to Queue", "Remove From Queue" etc that get the point across without a lot of letters or cryptic values "Q++".

But, if I am going to do images, I don't want to have to redo them later for different themes. I personally would like to see it look close to the netflix site's red and white, but wanted to get your take on different menus of Sage having wildly different look & feels.

[Humanzee]

Originally Posted by DwarF

But, if I am going to do images, I don't want to have to redo them later for different themes.

I think the netflix colors would be fine, however if you wanted to mix it up just use a complimentary color pallet. If you use some shades of grey for the buttons you can use red or blue or green background and accent colors and it should still look good.

FWIW, I'd work on getting a working STVI built first. Iron out all the functional stuff, and then worry about making it look pretty. I.e. I'm still eagerly waiting for a beta version before trying this out.

[DwarF]

The reason for the question is the main problem people have been having with it is when it relies on themes from the base install stv (the theme links are lost when my elements are exported). And if I am going to spend the time pulling it all apart, I might as well give myself some clear visual indications when I am relying on the base package, rather than the custom one. If portions showed up in the wrong colors, etc, it would tell me pretty quick I didn't do the dependency right (I have to redo the dependency each time I export the menus, so getting it right once isn't enough).

I am not sure I see the benefit of STVi unless it is just so you don't have to import an xml using studio?

If that is the case, I was thinking it would be one of the last steps.

Unless you don't like using studio, I think it is safe for you to use the plugin now. I.E. there is no risk of it doing nasty things (just what all developers think right?). It is pretty benign. It's usable now though minus the more advanced queue management. I will have a new build up tonight with the netflix.xml found in a previous post.

[Humanzee]

DwarF,
I reference the stvi because i know how to do that with out using studio. Its in the manual. Studio is a whole new can of worms which I don't know how to use. I am getting to the point of wanting to learn more about studio but havn't had the time to do so.

In other words, being a shade tree mechanic can be a fun and rewarding hobby but not that many folks want to lift the hood and get greasy.

Its not a matter of safety for me, its a matter of convienience and available time to invest learning the tricks of the trade. Being that this thread is in the Customizations forum instead of the Studio forum I would expect that more of the folks here are user enthusiast types instead of developer types. Thus the more accessable you make your project the more people will be willing to try it and provide feedback.

It's probably an easy install once one is familiar with studio, but the more I screw around with things on this computer, the more often I break something and the more often the wife ends up watching TV in the other room. That isn't always a good thing.

I didn't really follow all that you were saying about dependancy and element exports. So to me it sounds like you have a little more work to do before you are ready to release this as a beta version. If you need to spend time on some graphics first then that is what you need to do. It is just my hope that when you reach the beta point it will be in the form of an stvi, so that the studio weary can also participate.

If you were going to spend 20 hours in photoshop refining icons and buttons vs 20 hours getting all the functional bugs worked out to make a beta stvi happen with crumby looking buttons, I'd rather you spend it on the functional side of things. Thats all I was trying to say.

I look forward to the functions of this plug-in more than any concern over its appearence.

For me the priority features would be:
Search for a movie by name
Add that movie to the Que
Move up or down in Que
Remove from Que

It sounds like all of this is already going to happen so every thing else is just delicious gravy. Thank you for your hard work. Right now my contribution to projects like this is limited to feedback in these forums. I don't mean for that feedback to come across as being critical. I am not trying to insist that you put the cart before the horse. So to speak.

[mkanet]

Can somebody post some screen shots please?