More EPG info!

[ukmgranger]

I am using XLMTV to download EPG data at the moment but it seems to only download the very basics about the programmes.

Is there any other source of EPG data that downloads more info (such as actors, subject matter, discriptions etc.)?

[nielm]

This should really be in the UK forum...

try using:
tv_grab_uk_rt --slow
gets episode names, more detailed descriptions, actor + director names,previously-shown (repeat/first-run/re-run) information, and with a patch (in XMLTV CVS, and the alpha Win32 EXE, but should be in 0.5.34), the --get-categories flag also gets category info...

To import the actor names, you need the modified XMLTV plugin in the UK regional forum.

Warning: --slow really means SLOW! This makes it grab an extra web page (minimum 3 seconds) per programme... the --limit-details argument helps helps limit this by getting details only for programmes in a specific time range...
Warning2: --get-categories adds another 35 web page grabs per day, and I have only tested it with a few channels in the config...

[ukmgranger]

I'm about to give this grab a go! Wish me luck
Does the 'categories' have any advantages within Sage?

I have a 1.1 mbps line so it shouldn't take too long to get the data, and I only have 5 channels anyway.

once again nielm - thanx for the information

[nielm]

the --get-categories is now in the the latest released version of XMLTV....
Categories are used by intelligent recording. if it sees you watch a lot of "Drama Series", and IR is enabled, it will automatically start recording them...

The speed of download is not so much affected by speed of connection -- the grabbers have a built in delay between each page fetch to avoid upsetting the data providers by overloading their servers... The advantage of broadband in this case is that you can schedule a grab for 3am, and just leave it to do it's stuff!

[ukmgranger]

I tried the '--slow' thing with partial success.

If I use --slow, several programs seem to be incorrect. This evening there is a film on called 'Sphere' at 20:00. This however gets downloaded as being '5 News Late'.

If I do not use --slow, the information is correct.

Any ideas?

[ukmgranger]

Another problem that I have yet to sort out is that my channels within Sage are not in the right order. Is there any way to correct this?

[nielm]

Your first problem is due to clumping -- 2 shows in same timeslot, displayed in RT guide as 'Film, followed by news' -- is discussed here:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...ighlight=clump

Your second -- re-ordering channel lineup, here:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthr...ghlight=lineup

[ukmgranger]

OK, one thing at a time (as you may now be aware, I am useless with this whole XMLTV thing).

So my current batch file line is:
xmltv.exe tv_grab_uk_rt --slow --days 4 >c:\xmltv\epgdata.xml

am I to assume that this is how my new line should look?
xmltv.exe tv_grep_uk_rt --slow --days 4 --not --clumpidx "" -or --clumpidx "0/" data.xml >c:\xmltv\epgdata.xml

let me know?!?

[nielm]

first use the tv_grab_uk_rt command to get the data.
then use the tv_grep command to filter the data
then copy the resulting file to the sage dir to allow it to import it:

xmltv.exe tv_grab_uk_rt --slow --days 4 >c:\xmltv\data.xml
xmltv.exe tv_grep --not --clumpidx "" -or --clumpidx "0/" c:\xmltv\data.xml > c:\xmltv\noclumps.xml
copy c:\xmltv\noclumps.xml "c:\Program Files\Frey Technologies\SageTV\epgdata.xml"

(if you are using --slow, I really recommend the --limit-details switch)

[ukmgranger]

Superb! That has done the job