Library: Remote APIs for SageTV

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by razrsharpe

you should be able to do sagex.api.Global.GetUIContextName() as well... unless stuckless is rerouting that to his own ui context logic....

I pretty much do that now (see the second System.out.println() in my example code) but the problem is that the results change over time.

Argh! My kingdom for a way to set a property in the client's property file

[JREkiwi]

Really beyond my understanding, but have you tried sagex.SageAPI.getUIContext() or is that the same as what you're using?

John

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I pretty much do that now (see the second System.out.println() in my example code) but the problem is that the results change over time.

Argh! My kingdom for a way to set a property in the client's property file

I guess the only 100% reliable way to is pass the context into your api I do that now for only for the Play() api method, because I can risk getting the wrong context.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

OK, I'll give that a shot. I've never used the sage API directly, I've always used sagex and to a lesser extend Greg's wrappers. I poked around but could not find any instructions on how to call the API directly.

I did find the API specification here: http://download.sage.tv/api/index.html

But I'm still a novice at Java and can't really figure out how to invoke the methods in Java. Is it as simple as using SageTV.api.("methodNameHere", parm1, parm2)

Yeah, something like that... except i think the params have to be passed as an object array.

SageTV.api("GetUIContextName", new Object[] {param1, param2})

you can pass null as the object array, if the sage api command doesn't accept a parameter.

Originally Posted by Fonceur

Any chance you could simply save the initial value and reuse it, instead of constantly querying for it?

The problem is what do yo use to store/retrieve it? ie, it can't be a static variable since other extenders would end up overwriting it. You could use a ThreadLocal (which is what the sagex api does as well), but that has some issues on its own. GetUIContextName() was never meant to be called outside of the UI, and so , in Java, it may be somewhat unpredictable. I think Jeff has added code to make GetUIContextName() work in Java, but mayber there are still some outstanding issues.

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by stuckless

You could use a ThreadLocal (which is what the sagex api does as well), but that has some issues on its own.

thats what ortus does/did... it works pretty reliably (as near as i can tell anyway jphipps would have to comment on if they have more issues with it bc it works well for my needs but dont use it that much)

GetUIContextName() was never meant to be called outside of the UI, and so , in Java, it may be somewhat unpredictable. I think Jeff has added code to make GetUIContextName() work in Java, but mayber there are still some outstanding issues.

yes he did for 7.0... but perhaps there are still issues... you should be able to call Global.GetUIContextName() from java if called from the UI widget chain....

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by razrsharpe

... you should be able to call Global.GetUIContextName() from java if called from the UI widget chain....

See my sample code above, I use that method and it does not consistently return the same thing.

[PLUCKYHD]

I use uicontext heavily from SMM api and never have any issues.

I use the sagex.api.GetUIContextName() if I just want the name for storing however when passing it as a UIContext in the sagex.api I use the

new UIContext(sagex.api.GetUIContextName)

I haven't had any issues with SMM using these methods.

[tmiranda]

I *think* I finally cracked it. I created a this method:

    public static String getUIProperty(String Prop, String Default) {

        try {
            return (String)SageTV.apiUI((String)SageTV.api("GetUIContextName", new Object[]{}),"GetProperty", new Object[] {Prop, Default});
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            return null;
        }
    }

and so far I think it's working. I'll be doing more testing this weekend.

Plucky - I tried your way and for some reason I just could not get it to work. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I sure can't figure it out.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I *think* I finally cracked it. I created a this method:

    public static String getUIProperty(String Prop, String Default) {

        try {
            return (String)SageTV.apiUI((String)SageTV.api("GetUIContextName", new Object[]{}),"GetProperty", new Object[] {Prop, Default});
        } catch (Exception ex) {
            return null;
        }
    }

and so far I think it's working. I'll be doing more testing this weekend.

Plucky - I tried your way and for some reason I just could not get it to work. I'm probably doing something wrong, but I sure can't figure it out.

I have a feeling that you'll find that it will suffer the same unpredicable nature... it's doing exactly what the sagex apis is doing... except you are not using sagex apis

public static java.lang.String GetProperty (UIContext _uicontext,java.lang.String PropertyName, java.lang.String DefaultValue) {
  Object o = sagex.SageAPI.call(_uicontext, "GetProperty", new Object[] {PropertyName,DefaultValue});
  if (o!=null) return (java.lang.String) o;
  return null;
}

sagex.SageAPI.call is a very thin layer on top of the native sage api that is there to allow the sagex apis to be proxied remotely, but when running in embedded mode, it just passes through to the native api.

public class EmbeddedSageAPIProvider implements ISageAPIProvider {
	public Object callService(String name, Object[] args) throws Exception {
		return sage.SageTV.api(name, args);
	}

	public String toString() {
		return "sage://embedded";
	}

	public Object callService(String context, String name, Object[] args) throws Exception {
	    return sage.SageTV.apiUI(context, name, args);
	}
}

So, while your code is all on one line... it's still doing the exact same thing... Let us know you make out.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by stuckless

I have a feeling that you'll find that it will suffer the same unpredicable nature... it's doing exactly what the sagex apis is doing... except you are not using sagex apis

I thought the same thing, but so far it's working. Of course I haven't really given it a good stress test yet - I'll report back when I have firmer results.

BTW - After using the "raw" SageTV class I appreciate even more the work you and Greg have done to make our lives easier. Thanks!

[stuckless]

There's new 7.1.5 version of the sagex-apis in the repository.

- adds the new apis that were added in 7.1.5 (provided you are are running 7.1.5).
- adds xml/json serialization support for SeriesInfo, Plugins, and Favorites.
- adds support for scaling thumbnails, logos, and album art

[jreichen]

I'm running 7.1.5.1 and getting an error when trying this URL: http://192.168.1.10:8080/sagex/api?c...all&3=1&4=true

Too many args; Your Arg Count: 4; Required Arg Count: 1

I only see 1 GetChannelLogo API in the javadocs and it takes 1 parameter. That doesn't match Sage's 7.1.5 release notes.

[Narflex]

I'm uploading the new API documentation files that have the other one in it. Small typo in the comments that preventing both from showing up.

[Narflex]

I then noticed the new AddShow and AddAiringDetailed weren't showing up either....uploaded them again with that fixed too.

[bradvido]

EDIT: updating to 7.1.5 fixed this issue!

I'm using version 7.0.23.3 and it seems the GetTranscodeJobSourceFile is not working as expected:
This:

http://192.168.88.10:8080/sagex/api?c=GetTranscodeJobSourceFile&1=161

Returns this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<SeriesInfo>
  <SeriesTitle><![CDATA[Law & Order: Special Victims Unit]]></SeriesTitle>
  <SeriesDescription><![CDATA[The detectives that are part of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit investigate crimes of sexual nature. While the focus of the other shows in the ``Law & Order'' franchise largely deal with murder cases, the SVU detectives frequently deal with crimes, such as rapes, in which the victim survives and assists authorities in the investigation. The series features a cast of veteran actors, lead by Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay.]]></SeriesDescription>
  <SeriesCategory><![CDATA[Crime drama]]></SeriesCategory>
  <SeriesSubCategory><![CDATA[]]></SeriesSubCategory>
  <SeriesHistory><![CDATA[]]></SeriesHistory>
  <SeriesPremiereDate><![CDATA[1999-09-20]]></SeriesPremiereDate>
  <SeriesFinaleDate><![CDATA[]]></SeriesFinaleDate>
  <SeriesNetwork><![CDATA[NBC]]></SeriesNetwork>
  <SeriesDayOfWeek><![CDATA[]]></SeriesDayOfWeek>
  <SeriesHourAndMinuteTimeslot><![CDATA[]]></SeriesHourAndMinuteTimeslot>
  <SeriesInfo>
    <SeriesTitle><![CDATA[]]></SeriesTitle>
    <SeriesDescription><![CDATA[]]></SeriesDescription>
    <SeriesCategory><![CDATA[]]></SeriesCategory>
    <SeriesSubCategory><![CDATA[]]></SeriesSubCategory>
    <SeriesHistory><![CDATA[]]></SeriesHistory>
    <SeriesPremiereDate><![CDATA[]]></SeriesPremiereDate>
    <SeriesFinaleDate><![CDATA[]]></SeriesFinaleDate>
    <SeriesNetwork><![CDATA[]]></SeriesNetwork>
    <SeriesDayOfWeek><![CDATA[]]></SeriesDayOfWeek>
    <SeriesHourAndMinuteTimeslot><![CDATA[]]></SeriesHourAndMinuteTimeslot>
    <SeriesImage/>
    <NumberOfCharactersInSeries>0</NumberOfCharactersInSeries>
    <SeriesID><![CDATA[]]></SeriesID>
  </SeriesInfo>
  <NumberOfCharactersInSeries>8</NumberOfCharactersInSeries>
  <SeriesID><![CDATA[316978]]></SeriesID>
</SeriesInfo>

It is returning series info, but the docs say it should be returning a sage.MediaFile...
Perhaps there is a simple change in your code to reference the correct call? I'll try updating to the latest version and see what changes

Thanks for the help!

[cncb]

I noticed that the new channel logos in the beta are not currently showing up with the API.

[stuckless]

I've updated the sagex apis to 7.1.5.2. Hopefully this should now include the new apis that were published.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by cncb

I noticed that the new channel logos in the beta are not currently showing up with the API.

Will the http api be able to access these new logos? Thanks.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by cncb

Will the http api be able to access these new logos? Thanks.

I think it should be able to access the new logos. I'm simply calling the api and converting it to a regular image. I'm not sure if sagetv is allowing it to be accessed or not. ie, if the channel logs are hosted on a remote site, then the GetLogo api may not return a usuable image that can be "remoted" (at least not easily).

Have you tested the it to see if works or not?

[jreichen]

Is this the right URL?

http://<server>:<port>/sagex/api?c=GetChannelLogo&1=channel:11150&2=Large&3=1&4=true

Here's the result I get:

<Result><![CDATA[]]></Result>