I-xmltv updated for YahooXMLTv (adds a new show marker and more)

[Jim_]

Jim,

Thanks for the great program and it works as well as the zap2it version did. Are we safe at this point to start playing with the switches in the updateepg.bat to change date formats and such without getting a hand slapped

I took the liberty of pointing any users of the old zap2it thread over here in case they, like me, were subscribed to it waiting for more info on a new version.

I realize this is still over in the developer's forum but the zip file so far does not have the detailed instructions of the old version for formatting the data. Should we expect to see that info when it goes up on the Wiki or maybe the support forum?

Thanks again.

LOL
Absolutely go ahead and change the date and other switch options to the way you want them. But keep in mind that some of the old switches aren’t available and not all combinations have been tested. Date formatting should work fine.
It’s ok to send people over here from the other I-xmltv thread, the only reason I haven’t done it already is because the zap2it shutoff is still a month away and working on PVR stuff is at the very bottom of my list of things to do in the summertime.

Yes, I’ll update the wiki zip for MCE, and add the Y! version to the wiki page at the same time.
I’ll also make a new readme and UpdateEPG.bat for both versions.
For now, existing I-xmltv users shouldn’t have too much trouble switching over to one version or the other. And zehd’s UpdateEPG.bat example in post #36 should get people up and going with the MCE grabber. Thanks zehd!!!

Once again I cant thank whurlston enough for his efforts. He also went out of his way doing extra work that I didn’t expect making the MCE version compatible with the original I-xmltv and it is very appreciated!
Thanks whurlston!!!
Jim

[Jim_]

Have I got this right: if a show has NO first air date data, it gets marked as an old show? It appears to behave this way - I recently observed a new episode of "The Closer" with no air date, and it was marked as old.

Nope, you have it backwards nothing is ever marked as a rerun.
If a network and epg supplier provide the original air date with the listing, and that date is the same as the listing in the guide, it is marked as new. There are usually countless reruns that do not have a rerun marker in the epg.

Also, gbpvr seems to view, for example, "The Closer" and "The Closer *" as two entirely different shows, so to get all episodes, all the time, you need to set up to record both titles. That has zero WAF here, so new show marker is off anyway. On the other hand, if you only want new episodes (or only old), it's very useful.

All these goodies are only as good as the guide data... :-\

Exactly. The new marker allows you to schedule just the new shows, or just the reruns, or both. Accuracy depends on the station providing the date, most of the ones I watch are 100% but there are a couple of networks that just cant be bothered to reliably provide the info.

WAF.
I guess that’s why they sell automatic transmission mini-van‘s and point n’ shoot cameras.
I’m very glad there are other “options” for people like me.

[mulletback]

Nope, you have it backwards nothing is ever marked as a rerun.
If a network and epg supplier provide the original air date with the listing, and that date is the same as the listing in the guide, it is marked as new. There are usually countless reruns that do not have a rerun marker in the epg.


Exactly. The new marker allows you to schedule just the new shows, or just the reruns, or both. Accuracy depends on the station providing the date, most of the ones I watch are 100% but there are a couple of networks that just cant be bothered to reliably provide the info.

WAF.
I guess that’s why they sell automatic transmission mini-van‘s and point n’ shoot cameras.
I’m very glad there are other “options” for people like me.

So the new show marker is a binary, and the meaning of "no new show marker" is "not known to be new" as opposed to "known to be old".

Oh, I agree with the WAF on this one - with 35 reoccurring recordings scheduled weekly, I'm not about to clutter up by doubling the number of reoccurring to get everything new. My local listings have too many data gaps for the new show marker to be useful.

[Jim_]

So the new show marker is a binary, and the meaning of "no new show marker" is "not known to be new" as opposed to "known to be old".

That works, but I prefer to look at listings with the marker as “listed as new (first airing) by the network” because a listing title is never changed unless it is specifically listed as new by the network.

Oh, I agree with the WAF on this one - with 35 reoccurring recordings scheduled weekly, I'm not about to clutter up by doubling the number of reoccurring to get everything new. My local listings have too many data gaps for the new show marker to be useful.

Hey I completely understand. I stuck with the built-in gbpvr features +comskip &Weather for several months before trying other plugins and utilities, this is just designed around a few wishes I had and no one will offend me if they don’t use it.
I’m guessing that most I-xmltv users also use X-Record and TV Listings, or at least they should be.
I’m pretty sure I explained -why- in depth in the original I-xmltv thread, but I’ll try to cover some of the differences here.
I have 54 reoccurring recordings but none of them are scheduled using the default plugin. I schedule one-off recordings only using GBPVR. All my reoccurring recordings are scheduled using the CDK Scheduler feature of the X-record plugin.

X-Record (CDK Scheduler) avoids the listing overlap problem by deleting the schedule before the epg is updated, this allows gbpvr to replace the old listings with the most recent updated version.
Why is this important? Other than the listing overlaps, some networks don’t send the “new show” information or a description until a day or two before the air date. If the show is scheduled using the default plugin that listing is locked, the guide will never be updated with the new show marker.

X-Record (CDK Scheduler) Allows you to schedule both new and repeat shows in one shot using “partial title match”. You can also prioritize recordings, and suspend / resume them at will. The recording list is saved in a text file so you can add recordings that aren’t even in the guide, I‘ve had it looking for “The Deadly Mantis” on “any channel” for almost a year now, when it finds it, the movie will be recorded. You can also backup the recording list, or even copy it to a different computer.

X-Record (RecTracker & CDK) Allow you to schedule repeats for some shows and not for others. It also maintains a database of your watched shows so you can delete the ones you want to record again. If / when you do a complete re-install and loose your gbpvr database, simply move the database over and everything is as it was.

TV Listings adds another large list of search features when used with the I-xmltv FIND Channel.

When I think of I-xmltv I also think of X-Record and TV Listings because it was designed to work with their added features.

Hope this helps.
Jim

[mulletback]

When I think of I-xmltv I also think of X-Record and TV Listings because it was designed to work with their added features.

Haven't looked at Xrecord for several years, since the early days...have to revisit that...

[Jim_]

Haven't looked at Xrecord for several years, since the early days...have to revisit that...

Yep its never been a secret that I’m a big X-record & TV Listings fan.
“The Closer” listings you reported are all properly marked in my guide and in the xmltv file (even on my development system that does not have X-Record installed).
I could only assume you had them scheduled when you updated the epg, and gbpvr didn’t update the scheduled-to-record listings. As explained in my post above, X-Record deletes reoccurring recordings before the update and re-schedules them afterwards, allowing the guide to be updated with the latest information.

[mulletback]

“The Closer” listings you reported are all properly marked in my guide and in the xmltv file (even on my development system that does not have X-Record installed).
I could only assume you had them scheduled when you updated the epg, and gbpvr didn’t update the scheduled-to-record listings.

Nope, the listings were wrong as they downloaded from Yahoo, wrong in xmltv file etc, before they got into the epg. The offending new "Closer" didn't have a first air date. This just a garbage in-garbage out problem. I can get channel listings for the same cable system using two zip codes - they are different in very subtle, and inconsistent ways. Neither set is consistently correct.

Can't really complain about Yahoo - they have my channels right - zap2itlabs has been wrong for 3 months and will likely never correct it before going dark.

[ww4397]

...
X-Record (CDK Scheduler) ...If the show is scheduled using the default plugin that listing is locked, the guide will never be updated with the new show marker.
...

I thought when Sub added the:

Complete EPG reload (not recommended when using DVB EPG)

feature to the GBPVR config app, that the entire EPG got purged at update time and that any reoccurring recording would be updated with the newest guide data. For example, if a reoccurring recording is originally set for Friday at 8PM, but the network changes the time (a day or two before Friday) to 9PM, the complete EPG reload would detect the time change and start the recording at 9PM rather than 8PM.

Is my understanding incorrect?

Thanks.

[pfarrell]

Hi,

I installed Yahoo Go TV and configured it for my local cable provider. Everything works well when I use it. I have correct guide data an all. I then installed YahooXMLTv and ran the executable. The program produces a large document containing my channels and programs for the guide. I then ran the I-XMLTV program in order to create the YahooXMLTv.xml file. Everything is cool so far. Now I go into the GBPVR configuration utility and reconfigure each of my capture sources to use XMLTV and I specify the YahooXMLTv.xml file that was just created. I saved my changes, updated the EPG and restarted GBPVR. The problem now is that I do not have any data in my TV Guide!

My gbpvr directory did not contain an existing UpdateEPG.bat file so I just copied the snippet from the I-XMLTV readme file into this new file. When I run the update epg, it appears to be running the appropriate binaries and batch files.

Does anybody know what I missed?

I have attached my gbpvr log file.

Any help would be appreciated!

[Jim_]

I thought when Sub added the:

Complete EPG reload (not recommended when using DVB EPG)

feature to the GBPVR config app, that the entire EPG got purged at update time and that any reoccurring recording would be updated with the newest guide data. For example, if a reoccurring recording is originally set for Friday at 8PM, but the network changes the time (a day or two before Friday) to 9PM, the complete EPG reload would detect the time change and start the recording at 9PM rather than 8PM.

Is my understanding incorrect?

Thanks.

I haven’t done the scheduling and overlap tests using version 1xx yet, so I cant say how the new version behaves. And I don’t really want to open a can of worms, I’m just sharing a workaround some of us have been using with previous versions.