New XMLTV Import Tool

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

It seems to me that the XMLTV grabber for Zap2it allows mutliple lineups (and can produce one XMLTV file for each lineup). So it should be easy to set up.

AFAIK, I cannot configure two lineups from the same provider in zap2it. Is this possible with the XMLTV grabber? I am currently using the digicasa plugin and downloading the full lineup I created in zap2it from a single provider.

Regards, Gabriel

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

AFAIK, I cannot configure two lineups from the same provider in zap2it. Is this possible with the XMLTV grabber? I am currently using the digicasa plugin and downloading the full lineup I created in zap2it from a single provider.

You cannot add more than once the same provider in Zap2it. But in the XMLTV graber you can :

* use more than one configuration file, in each of these configuration select the channels you want to include from the Zap2it lineup.

* there is also a time offset setting in the XMLTV grabber, but I really don't know what it do (I think it rewrite all times to a time zone of your choice, the best choice should be +0000, but you'll have to try).

So I guess you should try the XMLTV grabber, first by having only one XMLTV file, and if this still doesn't work, you can tweak the grabber to use two configuration file and produce two XMLTV files.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[kdorff]

Since I reg'd my SageTV and my SageTV XML Importer I decided to write up a little script so I can completely automate my data import every night. I turned off the XML download in the SageTV XML Importer. Also, I have the WebServer installed. I also have WGet 1.10.x installed. Hopefully I am not duplicating effort, maybe SageTV XML Importer already does all this for me, but, it didn't seem to, so...

Anyway, my BAT file looks like the following

c:
rem download the guide data in a low priority process
cd "c:\program files\sagetv xmltv importer\xmltv"
start /low /wait xmltv.exe tv_grab_na_dd --days 13 --output epg.xml
rem run the xml impoter, again low priority
cd "C:\Program Files\SageTV XMLTV Importer"
start /low /wait STVXMLTVImport.exe /silent
rem import the new guide
cd "c:\winbin\wget"
start /low /wait wget.exe --user=xxx --password=yyy --output-document=x.html http://localhost:8080/sage/ForceEpgUpdate
erase /f x.html

The problems I was trying to overcome: make XMLTV.EXE run in low priority, make STVXMLImporter.exe run in low priority, automatically force the import of the guide into SageTV after STVXMLImporter.exe runs (which didn't seem to be happening).

Thoughts?
Kevin

[StephaneM]

Hello Kevin,

Originally Posted by kdorff

maybe SageTV XML Importer already does all this for me, but, it didn't seem to, so...

The Importer can do this currently :

• The GUI part of the Importer run in Normal priority
• The Importer launch your XMLTV grabber without changing it's priority (so usually the grabber will run in Normal priority)
• The transformation process of the Importer is a background process running at BelowNormal priority

Once the Importer has finished its task, data are not yet in SageTV. SageTV will load the data created by the Importer when it should do it (every 24h). You can force the EPG update with the web guide plugin though.

I don't know what exactly doesn't work for you with the Importer. But you should check that :

1) You installed the full version (using the download link in the e-mail you received)
2) The scheduled task created by the Importer will only run if you are logged on by the time the task should run. If there is no logged on user, the task will not run. So if you are using SageTV in service mode and no user ever is logged on the PC, you'll have to edit the scheduled task to specify a username / password to run it.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[xred]

Is anyone else having problems importing their guide data from the MyTheatre XMLTV export tool? It imported the data from that XMLTV source the first time I ran it, but subsequent imports get no data from that file, even though it has valid data.

Also, it seems like the importer is not importing the actual program description for either the Zap2it or Mytheatre XML files. Is this normal or are any of you successfully getting this info in?

TIA

[StephaneM]

Hello,

Originally Posted by xred

Is anyone else having problems importing their guide data from the MyTheatre XMLTV export tool? It imported the data from that XMLTV source the first time I ran it, but subsequesnt imports get no data from that file, even though it has valid data.

Can you check in the Windows Event Viewer it there are any errors that could indicate a problem during the Import.

Also, If you have made a donation be sure to install the full version of the Importer that was linked to you in the e-mail, otherwise the Importer will not run unattended.

Also, it seems like the importer is not importing the actual program description for either the Zap2it or Mytheatre XML files. Is this normal or are any of you successfully getting this info in?

The Importer should import descriptions without problems.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[marsh9man]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

If you want I can send you a quick and dirty script that will delete any channels you don't want (as well as programs). You can the run this before submitting the data to the Importer.

Regards,
Stéphane.

I would be interested in this script.

Thanks.

[StephaneM]

Hello,

Originally Posted by marsh9man

I would be interested in this script.

You'll find the script in the attached Zip file. Unzip the files contained to the folder of your choice and edit the "constantes.inc" file (in Notepad).

Edit the two parameters :

• sEPGFile : this is the full path for your XMLTV file
• sChannelsToRemove : this is where you list the channels you want to remove from your XMLTV file, just type here all XMLTV IDs separated by a coma.

When you have edited this file to your liking, just double click on the "DeleteChannels.wsf" file and it will delete for you the channels and corresponding programs from your XMLTV file.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[marsh9man]

Thank you very much.
One question though...I am using the donated version which automatically triggers the mytheatre exporter. Any suggestions on how to set this up so that the same channels would automatically be deleted every time from the mytheatre lineup before the xml file is submitted to your importer?

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by marsh9man

One question though...I am using the donated version which automatically triggers the mytheatre exporter. Any suggestions on how to set this up so that the same channels would automatically be deleted every time from the mytheatre lineup before the xml file is submitted to your importer?

For this you'll have to launch the MyTheatre exporter in the script file.

Edit the .wsf file and paste in the code below

Dim oShell
Set oShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

Call oShell.Run("MyTheatre Exporter Path + any args",0,true)

Set oShell = Nothing

The "0" parameter is for launching the process in a hidden window
The "true" parameter is to wait for the completion of the process launched

Replace the "MyTheatre Exporter Path + any args" by the command line used to launch the MyTheatre Exporter.

Note: you'll have to put the executable path between double quotes. For instance :

"""C:\Program Files\MyProgram.exe"" /param1 /param2"

Notice that the string begins with three quotes : one because this is the first string delimiter, followed by two quotes : this how you are supposed to escape quotes within a quoted string.

You can put this right after this line in the .wsf

<script language="VBScript">

Note: depending on how the MyTheatre Exporter works it may not work; especially if the exporter is depending on the "Start in" directory. Currently when the XMLTV Importer launch a grabber the "Start in" directory is the one where the grabber is located. Since you'll be using the .wsf file as the grabber to launch, then the "Start in" directory will be the one of the .wsf file. So you may have to put the .wsf in the MyTheatre Exporter directory.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[xred]

Originally Posted by StephaneM

Hello,

Can you check in the Windows Event Viewer it there are any errors that could indicate a problem during the Import.

Also, If you have made a donation be sure to install the full version of the Importer that was linked to you in the e-mail, otherwise the Importer will not run unattended.



The Importer should import descriptions without problems.

I finally got a chance to check the Windows Event Viewer. Sure enough there are a huge number of both errors and warnings generated whenever I run an import. The warnings are all event ID 505 and the errors are 501. Errors seem to be caused by EGPIDxxxxx already present and warnings are all "no programs added".

My guess is that they are all caused by my MyTheatre based data where the errors are channels that already exist in my Zap2it file and the warnings are for channels that don't exist but refuse to add.

I'm not sure why this is so as it seemed to work the first time (at least partially) but refuses to work at all now.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by xred

I finally got a chance to check the Windows Event Viewer. Sure enough there are a huge number of both errors and warnings generated whenever I run an import. The warnings are all event ID 505 and the errors are 501. Errors seem to be caused by EGPIDxxxxx already present and warnings are all "no programs added".

Ok, these error and warning are not that critical. The "505" warning is expected when you have more than one XMLTV file : the Importer will try to get data for all channels on each XMLTV file and has obviously channels are to be found only on one XMLTV file.

The "501" error shouldn't exist at all, because the Importer always check if the program was already added to the database, so I don't really understand why it does it.

Anyway, could you please send me your XMLTV files zipped as well as all XML files in the Importer install folder. Send both zip files to lmgestion@hotmail.com and I'll take a look at your data.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[kdorff]

I know there is a "/silent" option. What are all the command line options SageTV XMLTV Importer supports? I looked here and on the web site but don't see a list. I vaguely remember there is at least one more.

[StephaneM]

Originally Posted by kdorff

I know there is a "/silent" option. What are all the command line options SageTV XMLTV Importer supports? I looked here and on the web site but don't see a list. I vaguely remember there is at least one more.

This is the only command line option for it.

There is another one for the Beyond TV version which is "/update" but it is not available for the SageTV version as it is only useful for BTV in a multiple machine scenario : that is it only loads into BTV previously imported guide data on another machine.

With SageTV this is not needed as this is SageTV that loads guide data, so if you have more than one server, you can run the Importer on one server and on the other server, modify the xmltv.properties file to point to the location of the 3rdPartyGuide data folder of the first server.

Regards,
Stéphane.

[something fishy]

@StephaneM
With Sage now shipping with and recommending Java 1.4.2_11 is it possible to make your plugin run under the earlier version of Java?

Cheers
Eric

[StephaneM]

Hello Eric,

Originally Posted by something fishy

With Sage now shipping with and recommending Java 1.4.2_11 is it possible to make your plugin run under the earlier version of Java?

No the Java Classes will only work with Java 1.5. The whole point of this Importer is to provide an easy to use setup and wizard. Including a xerces.jar file to copy manually would break the concept.

So I guess you'll have to wait for SageTV to identify the source of the problem with Java 1.5 (I personally do not have a problem with Java 1.5, it just works perfectly).

Regards,
Stéphane.

[StephaneM]

What's new :

• Improved (1.7) : BelowNormal Process priority is used for the Importer and grabbers (when running unattended)
• Changed (1.7) : Zap2it EPGID support is disabled by default. This is because import times are way longer when this is enabled and apart keeping history of watched shows you'll have no real benefits when using Zap2it EPGID (Also the Importer is sometime forced to not use the exact same EPGID)
• Fixed (1.7) : Show descriptions were not imported in some situations.
• Added (1.7) : Hidden options (See the FAQ).

[heffe2001]

Is anybody out there using this to get the PPV schedule or Dishnet? If you are would you care to share your config setup for this thing?

I'm wanting to use it for Zap2It & Dish PPV combined to a real, full epg for my dishnet boxes.

[xred]

Originally Posted by heffe2001

Is anybody out there using this to get the PPV schedule or Dishnet? If you are would you care to share your config setup for this thing?

I'm wanting to use it for Zap2It & Dish PPV combined to a real, full epg for my dishnet boxes.

I'll assume you've done your reading and already have XML files exported from Zap2it and MyTheatre. You will need to add each of these in to the exporter.

Now comes the fun (not) part. You will need to load up the Channel Editor and selectively number the channels you want to use. This means manually assigning a channel number to each of the channels you want to use.... this means that you would most likely assign channels 100-450(ish) to the Zap2it sourced channels, and assign 450 - 600 to MyTheatre sourced channels. You will also need to manually insert a 0 in to ALL the channels you don't use, as the importer does not automatically do it. This can take a long long time, but at the end you should have your mixed Zap2it / Mytheatre sourced EPG.

P.S. If you have channel logos you will need to rename the call sign as well to get your logos back as well.

[heffe2001]

That's the part I was afraid of . What do you do on the MT side for the channels listed that you don't want imported? Set those to 0? I get basically all the channels listed in the guide info from MT.