Triggering batch files from menu

[JonTom]

I've created a batch file that will
1 - rip a DVD
2 - encode that DVD rip with handbrake

the file works properly when I run it by double clicking in windows, or if I execute it from the command line, but when I run it from a menuitem, part of the code doesn't seem to execute (the DVD rip works, but handbrakeCLI doesn't get called/command line never opens). any idea why that would be?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by JonTom

I've created a batch file that will
1 - rip a DVD
2 - encode that DVD rip with handbrake

the file works properly when I run it by double clicking in windows, or if I execute it from the command line, but when I run it from a menuitem, part of the code doesn't seem to execute (the DVD rip works, but handbrakeCLI doesn't get called/command line never opens). any idea why that would be?

I'm not a windows person, but, are you sure the commandline never gets executed? Does the bat file process end, or does it appear stuck? Maybe the handbrake cli dies quickly because it cannot find the ripped file. When you execute a bat file from within sagetv the working directory is the sagetv home directory, so if the handbrake is looking for a file relative to some other location, then that could cause it to fail.

[JonTom]

I'm using absolute paths, so I don't think that's it. The file

I've put my fragment code below, and the batch code too. After a reboot, it won't even launch DVDFab anymore. Any thoughts?

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE menus SYSTEM "menus.dtd">

<menus>
  <fragment parentMenu="phoenix.menu.lz.videos" insertBefore="Movies-new">
    <menuItem name="phoenix.menu.lz.useritem.ripnick" label="Import a Nick DVD" visible="true">
		<exec cmd="C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\userdata\Phoenix\RipNick.bat" />
    </menuItem>
  </fragment>
</menus>

@echo off

::DECRYPTED DVD DIRECTORY
set DVDFiles=C:\Users\jon\Videos

::VIDEO FILE OUTPUT DIRECTORY
set VidOut=\\OFFICE\sage

::VIDEO FILE OUTPUT SUBDIRECTORY - used for separating different types of import videos
set VidOutSub=NicholasVideos

::DVD DRIVE LETTER
set DVD=D:

::BODY

setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion
%DVD%
CLS
for /f "tokens=5*" %%t in ('vol') do (
	@set VolID=%%u
	goto :gotname
)

:gotname
C:
set FileName=%VolID%
@set VolID=%VolID: =_%
echo %FileName%
"C:\Program Files (x86)\DVDFab 8 Qt\dvdfab.exe" /MODE "FULLDISC" /SRC "%DVD%" /DEST "%DVDFiles%" /REMOVEPGC "yes" /OUTDISC "dvd9" /VOLUME "%VolID%" /CLOSE
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Handbrake\HandbrakeCLI.exe" -i %DVDFiles%\FullDisc\%VolID% -o "%VidOut%\%VidOutSub%\%FileName%.mkv" -e x264 -q 20.0 -a 1 -E copy -f mkv --detelecine --decomb --loose-anamorphic -m -x b-adapt=2:rc-lookahead=50 --main-feature
CLS
echo %VidOut%\%VidOutSub%\%FileName%.mkv Created

[Tomahawk51]

Once you get your answer, I'd generally be interested if you see an approach to map a keystroke/command to call the executable. I can imagine some cool scenerios for doing things from an extender... and having a Harmony 100 means I can have lots of virtual buttons in the LCD display.

[stuckless]

@JonTom - I may have to add some logging to the <exec> function to provide an option that will log the output of the commands to a log file. At least then you'd be able to see what the command is echoing out to the terminal window and... maybe the process is dying for some reason. YOu can check the logs/phoenix.log or the sagetv_0.txt log file to see if it is showing any errors.

@Tomahawk51 - I don't think that we allow for a keybinding to a command or menu, yet.

[JonTom]

I'll check. Additional logging would be great too, thanks.

[JonTom]

Originally Posted by Tomahawk51

Once you get your answer, I'd generally be interested if you see an approach to map a keystroke/command to call the executable. I can imagine some cool scenerios for doing things from an extender... and having a Harmony 100 means I can have lots of virtual buttons in the LCD display.

Using LMGestion keycap makes that easy. Add a phantom device to your harmony for additional codes, and map them to your execs in LM. No need to involve Phoenix/sage at all.

Edit: oh, just saw you said with extenders. I don't know, then.

[JonTom]

The logs don't show anything beyond the menu frag being loaded.

The DVDFab part is working again, but still no luck with handbrake. I checked the process explorer and I see that handbrakeCLI.exe is running but it's using 0 CPU cycles and seems stuck.

Should the terminal window not open when the batch is started? When I run the file manually, I get a command prompt/window and the script runs there (echos to the prompt, etc). That doesn't happen when I trigger the file from the menuitem, and handbrakeCLI.exe is a commandline only interface for handbrake. Is that maybe the problem? DVDFab runs the normal GUI with the attributes set from the commandline so that's a little different...

[Fuzzy]

Try using START commands in your batch file for launching the HandbrakeCLI. It may be that they are being launched in a process tied too closely to the sagetv service, keeping handbrake from accessing something it is needing. try changing your Handbrake line to :

START "HandBrakeCLI" /WAIT "C:\Program Files (x86)\Handbrake\HandbrakeCLI.exe" -i %DVDFiles%\FullDisc\%VolID% -o "%VidOut%\%VidOutSub%\%FileName%.mkv" -e x264 -q 20.0 -a 1 -E copy -f mkv --detelecine --decomb --loose-anamorphic -m -x b-adapt=2:rc-lookahead=50 --main-feature

[JonTom]

That did it, thank you.

[JonTom]

my working code, for anyone who wants it:

@echo off

::DECRYPTED DVD DIRECTORY
set DVDFiles=C:\Users\Jon\Documents\DVDFab

::VIDEO FILE OUTPUT TEMP DIRECTORY
set VidTemp=C:\Users\Jon\Documents\DVDFab\FullDisc

::VIDEO FILE DESTINATION DIRECTORY
set VidOut=\\OFFICE\sage

::VIDEO FILE DESTINATION SUBDIRECTORY - used for separating different types of import videos
set VidOutSub=NicholasVideos

::DVD DRIVE LETTER
set DVD=D:

::BODY

setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion
%DVD%
for /f "tokens=5*" %%t in ('vol') do (
	@set VolID=%%u
	goto :gotname
)

:gotname
C:
@set FileName=%VolID%
@set VolID=%VolID: =_%
@set Filename=%FileName:_= %
"C:\Program Files (x86)\DVDFab 8 Qt\dvdfab.exe" /MODE "FULLDISC" /SRC "%DVD%" /DEST "%DVDFiles%" /REMOVEPGC "yes" /OUTDISC "dvd9" /VOLUME "%VolID%" /CLOSE
START "HandBrakeCLI" /WAIT "C:\Program Files (x86)\Handbrake\HandbrakeCLI.exe" -i %DVDFiles%\FullDisc\%VolID% -o "%VidTemp%\%FileName%.mkv" --main-feature --preset="Normal" -a 1 -E copy:ac3 -f mkv --detelecine --decomb
move /y "%VidTemp%\%FileName%.mkv" "%VidOut%\%VidOutSub%\"
rmdir /s /q "%DVDFiles%\FullDisc\%VolID%"

[JonTom]

I'm now trying to pass the subdirectory via a command line parameter in the menufragment so that I can have only one version of the batch file (
::VIDEO FILE DESTINATION SUBDIRECTORY - used for separating different types of import videos
set VidOutSub=%1
)

but that's not working from the fragment (commandline works fine). I looked at trying START again but the use of "" is problematic. Any ideas why the below cmd line isn't passing the parameter to the batch file (files end up in %VidOut% instead of %VidOut%\%VidOutSub%)

Thanks

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE menus SYSTEM "menus.dtd">

<menus>
  <fragment parentMenu="phoenix.menu.lz.videos" insertBefore="Movies-new">
    <menuItem name="phoenix.menu.lz.useritem.ripnick" label="Import a Nick DVD" visible="true">
		<exec cmd="C:\Program Files (x86)\SageTV\SageTV\userdata\Phoenix\RipConvert.bat NicholasVideos" />
    </menuItem>
  </fragment>
</menus>

@echo off

::DECRYPTED DVD DIRECTORY
set DVDFiles=%USERPROFILE%\Documents\DVDFab

::VIDEO FILE OUTPUT TEMP DIRECTORY
set VidTemp=%USERPROFILE%\Documents\DVDFab\FullDisc

::VIDEO FILE DESTINATION DIRECTORY
set VidOut=\\OFFICE\sage

::VIDEO FILE DESTINATION SUBDIRECTORY - used for separating different types of import videos
set VidOutSub=%1

::DVD DRIVE LETTER
set DVD=D:

::BODY

setlocal enableextensions enabledelayedexpansion
%DVD%
for /f "tokens=5*" %%t in ('vol') do (
	@set VolID=%%u
	goto :gotname
)

:gotname
C:
@set FileName=%VolID%
@set VolID=%VolID: =_%
@set Filename=%FileName:_= %
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\DVDFab 8 Qt\dvdfab.exe" /MODE "FULLDISC" /SRC "%DVD%" /DEST "%DVDFiles%" /REMOVEPGC "yes" /OUTDISC "dvd9" /VOLUME "%VolID%" /CLOSE
START "HandBrakeCLI" /WAIT "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Handbrake\HandbrakeCLI.exe" -i %DVDFiles%\FullDisc\%VolID% -o "%VidTemp%\%FileName%.mkv" --main-feature --preset="Normal" -a 1 -E copy:ac3 -f mkv --detelecine --decomb
move /y "%VidTemp%\%FileName%.mkv" %VidOut%\%VidOutSub%\
rmdir /s /q "%DVDFiles%\FullDisc\%VolID%"

[stuckless]

I answered that in your other post... you need to use the 'args' attribute on the <exec> item to pass args to a command.