New XMLTV Import Tool

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by uni

the greek chars are not displayed in SageTV Program Guide screens. SageTV is supposed to have unicode support.

SageTV and the XMLTV Importer both supports unicode. However when 3D Acceleration is used with SageTV a rendering problem may occur with some characters (characters are not displayed at all, instead you see a space).

To fix this, add : ui/use_texture_maps_for_3d_text=false

into Sage.properties (if you don't use the SageTV service) or into SageClient.properties if you are using the SageTV service or a SageTV client.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[pjwerdna]

Originally Posted by doc

Yes, its a radio times problem. See this thread

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29395

I'm hoping someone at radio times comes back off holiday pretty soon.....

If youre using a DVB-T tuner you could always switch to the broadcast EPG.
It doesnt work 100% of course (only does now and next for some channels), but it's better than nothing.

[DreamWeb]

Hello. I'm still trying to figure out this tool.

I'm using the Unregistered Trial of the latest Sage.

The first time I created an XMLTV file it worked wonderfully. I had 5 days of full EPG data.

However, I have since run the importer 2-3 times since then and go through all the steps (using the wizard) but it doesn't add the new data to the existing data inside of Sage. I'm down to one day remaining on my EPG guide.

A workaround is to remove the video source and re-add it (thus, re-importing the EPG data entirely).. but there has to be a better way than this?

I was under the impression that if I ran the tool again, it would add the new data to the existing data. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks so much!

.david

[StephaneM]

Hi David,

Originally Posted by DreamWeb

I have since run the importer 2-3 times since then and go through all the steps (using the wizard) but it doesn't add the new data to the existing data inside of Sage.

The Importer only converts data for SageTV, then SageTV will load the data all alone, either every 24h or when you configure the video source (changing the lineup or enabling / disabling a channel).

The Importer can also force SageTV to load the guide data upon conversion completion by using the Web Server plugin (though to access the settings you must not use the Import Wizard).

Regards,
Stéphane.

[DreamWeb]

Hi StephaneM.

So, if I leave it for over 24 hours it should import the new data automatically, correct?

I guess that's where the problem is. Because for whatever reason it's not loading that data automatically.

In the web interface it reads that "Last EPG Update: Jan 5, 2008 2:12:23 AM". But I don't see anything as having changed with the data. The data runs out this evening at midnight. Despite the fact that I used the importer program just yesterday and the XML file it created has enough data to last (at least) the next 4 days.

Am I still misunderstanding something?

Thanks for your reply.

.d

[momotan]

The importer fails to work for me. I have tried it on 3 different sagetv boxes and it's always the same problem. I give the location to load the .xml file in the wizard, when it looks for a sample program so i can set the time zone, it says no programs found in xmltv file. If i continue, it eventually says xmltv file could not be opened, could not find xmltv.dtd. As well, there is no error in the event viewer or the log file.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by DreamWeb

So, if I leave it for over 24 hours it should import the new data automatically, correct?

Yes, every 24 hours, starting from the first import (when setting up the source).

In the web interface it reads that "Last EPG Update: Jan 5, 2008 2:12:23 AM". But I don't see anything as having changed with the data. The data runs out this evening at midnight.

You can review:

* The windows Event Viewer Log, to see if the Importer is working correctly (though if you says that the XML files produced by the Importer does contains data for 4 days)

* The C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\LM Gestion\SageTV XMLTV Importer\GuideData\sage.plugin.log will show you the most recent guide data loading in SageTV (so the date time here should be the one listed in the Web Server plugin)

You can also check the C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\xmltv.properties to verify that SageTV will load the guide data from the right place.

If you are using Windows Vista verify that the # files were not virtualized by mistake (in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ProgramData)

Regards,
Stéphane.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by momotan

it eventually says xmltv file could not be opened, could not find xmltv.dtd.

This is your problem : XMLTV DTD not found. The FAQ does offer you a solution for this.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[DreamWeb]

Thanks for your reply StephaneM.

I did as you instructed.

I checked the Event Viewer / Sage Utilites.

The last entry was at 5:02:37 AM on 1/5/2008 for STV XMLTV IMPORTER.

I then checked the Web server and it says the last EPG update was

Last EPG Update: Jan 5, 2008 2:12:23 AM.

Hmm... those don't match.

I then checked the sage.plugin.log

05-01-2008 05:04:02,203 Found lineup n°1 : XMLTV Lineup

I then checked the xmltv.properties file in the SageTV directory

ThirdPartyGuideDataPath=C:\\Documents and Settings\\All Users\\Application Data\\LM Gestion\\SageTV XMLTV Importer\\GuideData

I think this looks correct.

So, there is a problem somewhere in there because the Web isn't showing the same time as the logfile. You can probably help decipher that better than me !

Any further suggestions?

Thanks !

.david

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by DreamWeb

So, there is a problem somewhere in there because the Web isn't showing the same time as the logfile. You can probably help decipher that better than me !

So it seems. My best guess would be that the guide data loading at 5 AM has not completed successfully and that's why the Web Server isn't reporting it.

So you'll have to take a look at the sage.plugin.log file. The log line you pasted here is logged when SageTV is getting the lineups. This is called when you are in SageTV configuring videosources and the XMLTV lineups are displayed so you can choose one.

But when SageTV loads guide data, the log will begin with : "Start EPG update for lineup n°x".

So to really see what happens, use the Web Server plugin and click on the "Force EPG Update" link on the home page. Then wait a few seconds and check the sage.plugin.log file.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[DreamWeb]

I just forced an EPG update using the webserver.

This is what the plugin.log says

06-01-2008 00:23:46,978 Setting SageTV lineup
06-01-2008 00:23:46,978 Reading Lineups File
06-01-2008 00:23:46,978 Reading Programs File : Programs0.xml
06-01-2008 00:23:47,041 Adding programs to SageTV DB
06-01-2008 00:23:47,494 728 programs added
06-01-2008 00:23:47,494 Reading Episodes File : Episodes0.xml
06-01-2008 00:23:47,556 Adding airings to SageTV DB
06-01-2008 00:23:48,384 1147 airings added
06-01-2008 00:23:48,384 End Update

But I don't see any data added to the EPG. I ran out as of 27 minutes ago.

.d

EDIT - OK, sorry about this. I may have been wrong about the EPG.xml file having updated content. It looks like it doesn't. Do I have to manually grab the XML content from my provider each time? The importer doesn't take care of this?

[motobarsteward]

Stephane,
I now have a FreeView DVB-T card in my system as well as my two Sky boxes on an MCE500 card. There are quite a few channels that are the same on both lineups. For example, BBC1 is common to FreeView and Sky. To get it on Sky, you dial in chanel '101' but to get it on FreeView, you dial Channel 4 on the MyTheater network tuner. I am quite happy that I can configure your application so that SageTV realises that BBC1 is the same on both lineups and it is quite happy using the FreeView turner as the prefered source. My problem is that these channels now appear twice in the Program Guide. Is it posible to configure things so that these duplicates only apear once, and at the Sky Channel number?

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by DreamWeb

Do I have to manually grab the XML content from my provider each time? The importer doesn't take care of this?

With the donator edition of the Importer, you can configure the Importer to use a XMLTV grabber (you'll find those settings in the Classic GUI, not in the Wizard).

Then if you schedule the Importer to run automatically within the Import Wizard, or by editing the Windows scheduled task created by the Import Wizard, it will automatically launch the XMLTV grabber and wait for it to finish to do its job.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by motobarsteward

My problem is that these channels now appear twice in the Program Guide. Is it posible to configure things so that these duplicates only apear once, and at the Sky Channel number?

For this all you have to do is to use as ID for the duplicated channel the same XMLTV ID as the original one.

However, SageTV will either choose the Sky number or the Freeview number to be displayed in the guide. If you want to have the sky number, then edit the .frq file to change the channel number for freeview, and change it accordingly in the Importer (this is what I do personally).

Also, I would love to have your input about your setup. I will release soon a network encoder that use DVBViewer as the recording engine. I'm currently using it with two DVB-T and one DVB-S (+CAM) tuners. Only on instance of DVBViewer is needed to make all this works. And my network encoder is a service that can record either in MPG or TS format as well as extract Teletext subtitles on the fly (if you choose TS as the format).

However, you have to create lineups (again!) in the network encoder. So in my case, I must create three lineups (two are identicals of course). In this lineups, you only have to specify : TTX subtitle page number if any, and channel number (the one you want to use in SageTV).

My question is how would you want to setup your lineups, especially numbering the channels (Note: I'll assume that the channels list in DVBViewer is as clean as it could be, that is right after scanning for channels, you delete the unneeded one).

Obviously, I'll certainly update the Importer, so that it can use the network encoder lineups (and avoid another remapping).

You can tell me about this at lmgestion@hotmail.com (anyone else can feel free to tell me their stories about it also). What I'm concerned about is that for some of you numbering the channels can be long and tiedous task, whereas for me it is not that a long task.

Note: I have not planned to extract the EPG data that DVBViewer can download from the tuners

Regards,
Stéphane.

[motobarsteward]

Stephane,I'm using MyTheatre to access the DVB_T card as it's not on my server. I guess I will need to use the same channel numbers when I create the favorite list as they appear in Sky. I'll have a go and let you know.

I've just removed Vista from my PC and had to SlipStream in SP2 into XP to get this machine stable. It may be a couple of days until I'm back to where I was!

[paulb]

I've set up the Importer (2.8) with the latest release of SageTV and have it working with a single lineup. However when I try to set up a second lineup I'm confused as to how to define the second lineup.

Logically in the channel editor I expected to create a new lineup on the lineup tab (XMLTV Lineup 2) and then go into the channel editor and edit the lineup number to be this second lineup i.e.2 (It's actually a drop down box). If I do this and look back to the first lineup (XMLTV Lineup) the lineup number has changed from 1 to 2 as well. So if I run the importer now I do end up with a second lineup but I'm not convinced that the first lineup is generated too.

I'm using 2 * Hauppauge DVB-T, both lineups are the same.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong here?

Thanks in anticipation

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by paulb

when I try to set up a second lineup I'm confused as to how to define the second lineup.

Based on your hardware and the fact that you say that both of them need the same lineup: you therefore do not need another lineup.

When setting up your second DVB-T cards in SageTV just tell SageTV that you are using the same XMLTV lineup as the first one.

Logically in the channel editor I expected to create a new lineup on the lineup tab (XMLTV Lineup 2)

Up there it is ok.

and then go into the channel editor and edit the lineup number to be this second lineup i.e.2 (It's actually a drop down box). If I do this and look back to the first lineup (XMLTV Lineup) the lineup number has changed from 1 to 2 as well. So if I run the importer now I do end up with a second lineup but I'm not convinced that the first lineup is generated too.

However, this is not the way to do it here. The channel editor is very simple in it design: he is channel centric (and not lineup centric). So basically if you want a channel to be on two lineups, you have to see this channel two times in the editor (in the main channel list and in the additionnal channel list).

Therefore if you really wanted to have a 2nd lineup with the exact same channels, you have to duplicate all the channels in the additionnal channel list and assign them the lineup n°2. When duplicating the channel you have two choices :

* keep the same ID as the original one : this way SageTV will know it is the same channel and show only one in the EPG
* create a new ID : this way SageTV will see it as new channel and show both the duplicate and the original

Regards,
Stéphane.

[paulb]

Stephane

Thank you, now I understand, I was stuck in thinking that your Importer worked as my previous one did. I've taken the easiest route and used one lineup.

Would I be correct in thinking I will need to create a second lineup for the composite input from my second satellite system? Which will not have any of the channels in the first lineup.

Also do you know if your Importer will co exist with Nielm's web based user interface. On upgrading from V5 I had issue after issue and eventually did a clean install, the web interface is one feature I lost along with links to all my previous recordings.

Thanks again

paul

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by paulb

Would I be correct in thinking I will need to create a second lineup for the composite input from my second satellite system? Which will not have any of the channels in the first lineup.

Yes, you are correct. You need a new lineup when a video source doesn't share the exact same channels list with other video source.

Also do you know if your Importer will co exist with Nielm's web based user interface.

Yes it can, moreover the Importer can use the web server plugin to force epg update in SageTV.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[jimbobuk]

I've used sage for years, always with the old school XMLTV setup.. for whatever reason the files that have worked for ages just didn't update when i forced an update. I decided to start afresh and use this tool, and have gone through the steps.

I have everything present, i think. I've removed my old source and am trying to add a new source.. all the instructions for using XMLTV are old and just say to do

select tuner
enter TRIAL as your access code
enter 00000 as your zip code
select XMLTV

well i see no place to enter TRIAL, and just putting 00000 as my zip doesn't work.

The only options i have are

Use US, Canada, or XMLTV Guide Data with this source
Use tvtv Services Guide Data with this Source
Do Not Use Program Guide Data with this source

I presume option i) is the preferred option, on selecting that i just get

Cable or Satellite
Local Broadcast (over-the-air)

no xmltv option, and as i said i cannot enter trial, and 00000 as zip doesn't work.

Does this mean that i don't have it working at all, for xmltv to not show up? I always used to use epgdata.xml in the sagetv folder, i've since removed this out of the way for fear that the old setup and new setup were confusing each other.

I have the xmltv.properties file

ThirdPartyGuideDataPath= the documents and setting path that contains files generated by your tool

it also has the LogPath set too.

the path pointed to by ThirdPartyGuideDataPath has

categories.xml
channels.xml
clone_channels.xml
import-log.xml
lineups.xml
lookup.xml
ratings.xml
settings.xml

and a folder GuideData containing

Episodes0.xml
Lineup.xml
LineupInfoByIndex.xml
Programs0.xml

my sage properties i changed from xmltv.XMLTVInputPlugin to the recommended XMLTVInputPlugin

My xmltv folder inside sagetv has

Channel.class
Channel.class.old
Episode.class
Episode.class.old
Program.class
Program.class.old
Show.class
XMLTVImportPlugin.class
XMLTVImportPlugin.class.old

the import plugin has the date 28/03/2007 02:44

The .old files are possibly from when i installed your tool and gave it the full oldschool path of c:\program files\frey technologies\sagetv

this created another folder sagetv inside the current one, so i first moved files and then worried it may not link up properly i uninstalled and reinstalled giving the path

c:\program files\frey technologies

instead, which then worked correctly in the right sagetv folder.

Basically i'm at a loss.. could someone point me out how to get into the xmltv mode, i really wished this could be explained somewhere, as all the references to TRIAL, and 00000 don't seem to be relevant anymore. Unless its just broken and thats why the options aren't working.

Anyone's help is really appreciated, be nice to have my machine working again.