Zap2it Closing Down

[Spartan]

I pretty much just pull webpage source then pass it through a couple of functions to parse the data I need.

mmmk. I am using a library which makes the html page appear as an xml document so that you can use xpath expressions on it -- very handy.

[Ryland]

If you find away to extract that data into the common xmltv file format, then you'll be able to use it in GB-PVR, if not then you wont. (I dont really see how this is any more ethical than the other solution though - I'm sure you dont own the info to do as you please)

I OWN a full copy of BeyondTv and am not using it now because they do not have a Vista64 client and I wanted to try a different PVR. I don't see any ethical problems for using a service that I have already paid them for but can't use because they have been too lazy to actually prep for the Vista launch.

[Dota]

So any solutions for Canadian GB-PVR users? I'm pretty bummed about this haha

[dvasco]

I've been following this topic most of today. I need to say that I am against the idea of scraping web sites since I consider it unethecal. I also believe it would be very unreliable.

I don't consider scraping of a free website for a free program to be unethical. If either of them were fee-based then it would be unethical. I use Yahoo for everything from web searches, news, email, maps, Yellow pages, groups, photos, etc. Meaning Yahoo gets a vast majority of my online traffic. I wouldn't feel bad for using their guide for GBPVR one bit.

[FuzzyPapaBear]

Just tried whurlston's application and got the following error. I'm not a programmer (but I can play one on TV :p) so I have no clue as to what this means.

************** Exception Text **************
System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.mshtml, Version=7.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
File name: 'Microsoft.mshtml, Version=7.0.3300.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a'
at WebBrowser.Form1.Parse()
at WebBrowser.Form1.OnTimedEvent(Object source, EventArgs e)
at System.EventHandler.Invoke(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Timer.OnTick(EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Timer.TimerNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

WRN: Assembly binding logging is turned OFF.
To enable assembly bind failure logging, set the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog] (DWORD) to 1.
Note: There is some performance penalty associated with assembly bind failure logging.
To turn this feature off, remove the registry value [HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Fusion!EnableLog].



************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
YahooTVGrabber
Assembly Version: 1.0.2727.40961
Win32 Version: 1.0.2727.40961
CodeBase: file:///C:/DL/YahooTVGrabTest/YahooTVGrabber.exe
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
AxInterop.SHDocVw
Assembly Version: 1.1.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/DL/YahooTVGrabTest/AxInterop.SHDocVw.DLL
----------------------------------------
Interop.SHDocVw
Assembly Version: 1.1.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.1.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/DL/YahooTVGrabTest/Interop.SHDocVw.DLL
----------------------------------------
Accessibility
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.42 (RTM.050727-4200)
CodeBase: file:///C:/WINDOWS/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Accessibility/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Accessibility.dll
----------------------------------------

[Smoker]

Has anyone thought of putting the web site into gbpvr ?

Before I ventured into pvr'land I had a pvr150 in my main pc and would be able to schedule a show through an interface (scheduler.exe I think) via TitanTV.

So sure you might not have 14 days worth of scheduling local on your pc but if there was a plug-in built so that you went to a screen which was say yahoo.com and then used the up/down/left/right/Ok buttons to select a show to record.

Anyways haven't thought it all out but the idea popped up and thought I'd throw it out here.

[flyswatta]

I had the same results as FuzzyPapaBear - about 2 minutes into it.
I think it's looking for "'Microsoft.mshtml".

[HTPCGB]

Whurlston, I'm having the same problem here. The Microsoft.mshtml file is not being found.

Sub, could you create a temporary sub-forum in the developers section for these types of discussions? This thread is starting to get cluttered up with many seperate ideas. I didn't even know that Whurlston wrote a scraper until I read FuzzyPapaBear's post.

Regards,
HTPCGB

[ajd344]

Wow, I'm really bummed out to hear about this. I dont know if I would consider scraping quite "unethical", but it would certainly drain a lot of bandwidth for the website. For example, that website would be happy for you to check a few listings, and see ads, and go to other parts of their site, etc.

Now, we are not looking at any ads, just downloading all of the pages and extracting what we want. Think about how much bandwidth would be wasted loading the design of the page, etc.

I coded a simple program that extracts numbers from a phone book online, but that was just for me, and to be used a programming example. I dont consider that to be unethical. But if thousands of people are using it everyday 24/7, the bandwidth used would be crazy.

I hope the community can find a solution to this problem.

BTW- Let's all scrape from zap2it's website!! haha!!!

[sub]

I love the fact one of you complained to WelltonWay about my unethical comments here classic lol