EPGExtra - new tool adds date, ratings, repeat, CC, Stereo to program descriptions.

[ubu]

Well, sorry all for dragging you through this goose chase for nothing.

Not to worry. Nobody else has had too many issues with getting EPGExtra working, so I guess I've got off lightly.

changed in Config to Zap2It, let it update, finished successfully. Got C:\Zap2It.xml !!

Ran the EPGExtra.exe manually from CMD:

Code:

Start time: 01:19:00
Reading program data from Zap2it.xml.....
Programs read: 6817
Updating GBPVR database program descriptions.....
...using System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteFactory DB Provider Factory
Rows updated: 0.....
Rows updated: 0.....
Rows updated: 0.....
Rows updated: 0.....
Rows updated: 0.....
Rows updated: 0.....

A total of 0 GBPVR program descriptions successfully updated.
Stop time: 01:21:05
Elapsed time: 2.090 minutes.

Is this normal? "total of 0 "??

Not entirely. But let's look on the bright side. You are running an apparently successful EPG update using the Zap2it plugin. The c:\zap2it file must be good because, as you can see, EPGExtra read data for 6817 programs from it. Then, for each program it read, it built a template to update the description and then tried to update the program data in the gbpvr database. The sad part is that it didn't find any of those programs in the gbpvr database. Which is pretty strange. :confused:

So, what could cause this? If the update put the programs in the zap2it.xml file it implies that it put them in the gbpvr SQLite database also. If it's not finding them that must mean either the database didn't get updated or that, somehow, you are pointing at a different SQLite .db3 file.

Do you have more than one copy of GB-PVR installed (or even vestiges of an older installation)? EPGExtra locates the gbpvr database by reading the Windows registry to find where you have GB-PVR installed and then reads the config.xml file to see if you are using MS Access or SQLite. You could also try a Windows Find on "*.db3" to double check. From your output, it certainly seems to have found a SQLite database file somewhere.

If you don't already have a copy, download SQLite Spy (actually I prefer SQLite Db Browser - either will do) and open the gbpvr.db3 file in your gbpvr directory. Look at the "Programme" table and see if it has data. Now open the c:\zap2it.xml file in Wordpad (not Notepad, you won't be able to read it) and do a Find on "<program id". Write down a couple of these ids. Now go back to SQLite and look for these ids in the "unique_identifier" column of the Programme table (in Db Browser you select the Programme table on the Browse Data tab, click on the search button next to the table name, select the unique_identifier colum from the pull-down and enter the id value below it) and see if they exist in that database. All this will give us some clues (whether we can interpret them is another matter ).

If the last bit is making you totally glaze over, just zip up the .db3 file and the zap2it.xml file and I'll take a look.

[madcat]

Do you have more than one copy of GB-PVR installed (or even vestiges of an older installation)?

There is an older version (96.12) under Program Files\devnz\Copy of gbpvr (I just did a haste copy/paste before the first upgrade to 97.*). Mind you it does not have config.xml nor db3 files.

EPGExtra locates the gbpvr database by reading the Windows registry

which reg-key?

From your output, it certainly seems to have found a SQLite database file somewhere.

There is an empty one: i never created it myself, I bet you that...

Code:

c:\>dir *.db3 /s/b
c:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\empty.db3
c:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr\gbpvr.db3
c:\>

...and see if they exist in that database. All this will give us some clues (whether we can interpret them is another matter ).

Ok, so :
1) The "PROGRAMME" tables contains data
2) The xml contains "program id".
3) Wrote few down, found them like you said.
4) Each appears twice! I guess it's wrong - as it is called "unique_identifier"!
See image:


So? Is it the "empty.db3"?
Or the non-uniqueness of the unique identifier?

If the last bit is making you totally glaze over, just zip up the .db3 file and the zap2it.xml file and I'll take a look.

Not at all, after I dragged you for nothing for that long, I better invest some effort in it myself

EDIT! EDIT!
Renamed the "empty.db3" to somehting non-db3, and re-executed EPGExtra manually, and voila!

Code:

Start time: 11:16:12
Reading program data from Zap2it.xml.....
Programs read: 6817
Updating GBPVR database program descriptions.....
...using System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteFactory DB Provider Factory
Rows updated: 970.....
Rows updated: 991.....
Rows updated: 1005.....
Rows updated: 1030.....
Rows updated: 1036.....
Rows updated: 1083.....

A total of 1171 GBPVR program descriptions successfully updated.
Stop time: 11:17:58
Elapsed time: 1.769 minutes.

c:\Program Files\devnz\gbpvr>

Now, how do I see the changes? is it immediate? what to look for in the guide to know it worked?

Thanks for the great support.

[ubu]

Renamed the "empty.db3" to somehting non-db3, and re-executed EPGExtra manually, and voila!

Code:

Start time: 11:16:12
Reading program data from Zap2it.xml.....
Programs read: 6817
Updating GBPVR database program descriptions.....
...using System.Data.SQLite.SQLiteFactory DB Provider Factory
Rows updated: 970.....
Rows updated: 991.....
Rows updated: 1005.....
Rows updated: 1030.....
Rows updated: 1036.....
Rows updated: 1083.....

A total of 1171 GBPVR program descriptions successfully updated.

Excellent! We have "lift-off".

FYI - I doubt that either of the issues you identify was causing the problem. The empty .db3 file is used by the GB-PVR database conversion program and contains a "virgin" gbpvr database structure which is copied to gbpvr.db3 and then filled with data from your original Access .mdb file (that's my take on what happens - it may have other uses).

It is normal to have duplicate program entries in the Programme table. The zap2it.xml file "normalizes" the data into sections for "program" (each unique program) and "schedule" (each instance of a program being broadcast during the time period). GB-PVR collapses this data into a single "denormalized" structure (presumably for run-time execution speed) so unique_identifier refers to the "unique" program while the oid of the row is equivalent to the "schedule".

My guess is that simply re-running the whole process fixed the problem. One possibility is that the previous time you ran the EPG Update you hadn't closed the config program before you ran EPGExtra. I don't think GB-PVR actually commits data to the database until you click OK in the config app (one example is that, when you run Upate EPG the first time for a capture source, the new channels show up in the Capture Source tab but don't show up in the Channels tab until you close config and then start it again).

Now, how do I see the changes? is it immediate? what to look for in the guide to know it worked?

Well, as advertised on the wiki and in the documentation :p , anywhere the program description shows up in GB-PVR (TV-Guide, recordings, etc.) you will now see additional info (date, ratings, CC, etc.) in parenthesis at the beginning and end of the description. You've probably noticed this by now.

So now, if you add EPGExtra to your PostUpdateEPG.bat file, all this should happen automatically and you can go back to playing with your LED light gizmo.

[capone]

Does it take as long on a normal update as the original setup run? It's been going for 40min now (still using mdb, 6950 programs in zap2it.xml).

[madcat]

All working now!
thanks a lot for the great support. Enjoying the new data... (and the LED gizmo... now all I have to do is connect the gizmo to the EPG data!).

Cheers.

[ubu]

Does it take as long on a normal update as the original setup run? It's been going for 40min now (still using mdb, 6950 programs in zap2it.xml).

Are we talking about the GB-PVR EPG update or the EPGExtra run? The GB-PVR update is just writing out the zap2it.xml file which should be very fast (seconds). EPGExtra is pretty dumb. It just reads the xml file and updates the existing gbpvr database each time it's run. So, no, there shouldn't be any difference between first time execution and subsequent executions. I show around 9000 programs in my zap2it.xml file and EPGExtra runs in approx 2.5 minutes.

[capone]

Maybe there's something it doesn't like about 96.8 or access or both, because it just ran and never got to the end. I know it wasn't done or hanging because it was using resouces (after an hour I switched it to below normal priority so I could watch tv). Undo ran the same way.

I'm sure it would work fine if I was using 97.9 and the new DB. I'll just hang on until then. It's some nice extra info.

Are we talking about the GB-PVR EPG update or the EPGExtra run? The GB-PVR update is just writing out the zap2it.xml file which should be very fast (seconds). EPGExtra is pretty dumb. It just reads the xml file and updates the existing gbpvr database each time it's run. So, no, there shouldn't be any difference between first time execution and subsequent executions. I show around 9000 programs in my zap2it.xml file and EPGExtra runs in approx 2.5 minutes.

[ubu]

Maybe there's something it doesn't like about 96.8 or access or both, because it just ran and never got to the end. I know it wasn't done or hanging because it was using resouces (after an hour I switched it to below normal priority so I could watch tv). Undo ran the same way.

I'm sure it would work fine if I was using 97.9 and the new DB. I'll just hang on until then. It's some nice extra info.

From my original post on this thread:

EPGExtra replaces the EPGMovieDate utility which is still available for .Net 1.1 users. Both EPGExtra and EPGMovieDate can be downloaded from the wiki.

EPGMovieDate will definitely work with 96.8 (not as much functionality as EPGExtra, though). Or, as you say, wait till you do the upgrade to 97.9.

BTW - EPGExtra should (in theory) work with earlier GB-PVR releases but it does require that .Net 2.0 be installed. Could that be the problem?

[capone]

I have .net 2.0 installed, so I'm fine there. I was going off the wiki where it said it should work w/ older versions (under requirements). I realize that wasn't a guarentee, but I was willing to give it a shot.

I'ts not a problem, but thx for the reponse. Again, from what I'm reading, it sounds like it works fine for folks w/ 97.7. I'll be updating in not too long, anyway.

[David]

Not sure. Don't have HD myself so I've never looked. I'll check it out. I can see it would be really important if you do have an HDTV.

I took a look at my zap2it.xml file and found that there is a flag for HD programming. It would be very nice if you could add it. I'd like to see it added to the show name so that I could schedule based on the HD flag.

I understand that the flag will only be as accurate as the information from zap2it. I suspect that some programming may be HD but not flagged as such.

I can send my zap2it.xml file if that would help.