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

[topster]

Beyond just showing the year, can there be an option to also display the full date? Good for figuring out if I it's a show I missed based on the date.

Otherwise, I'm loving it!

[ubu]

Still needs some sort of bat or cmd to keep it active though. I've have it setup when EPG updates. Might have to setup it up every recording..

If you run EPGExtra from PostUpdateEPG.bat (as per the documentation) the extra info will be added each time the EPG is updated. I'm not clear what you'd achieve by running it more often. It wouldn't do any harm but it would also not do anything since there would be no new programs to process.

[ubu]

Beyond just showing the year, can there be an option to also display the full date? Good for figuring out if I it's a show I missed based on the date.

Otherwise, I'm loving it!

The Zap2it schema does include the full "first aired" date, so this is technically possible.

In deciding what EPGExtra should add to the program description I've tried to strike a balance between adding useful information and inflating the size of the description such that it exceeds the display size (running the risk of truncating the actual description text).

Also, adding the full date would complicate the "undo" capability (I'll spare you the details). By directly updating the GB-PVR database, EPGExtra skates perilously close to breaking one of sub's "unwritten" rules so it's essential that the undo function works flawlessly (returning the DB to its virgin state). This inclines me to an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude.

However, I'll give it some thought and, especially if other users would like to have this option, perhaps add it in a future release.

[topster]

The Zap2it schema does include the full "first aired" date, so this is technically possible.

In deciding what EPGExtra should add to the program description I've tried to strike a balance between adding useful information and inflating the size of the description such that it exceeds the display size (running the risk of truncating the actual description text).

Also, adding the full date would complicate the "undo" capability (I'll spare you the details). By directly updating the GB-PVR database, EPGExtra skates perilously close to breaking one of sub's "unwritten" rules so it's essential that the undo function works flawlessly (returning the DB to its virgin state). This inclines me to an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude.

However, I'll give it some thought and, especially if other users would like to have this option, perhaps add it in a future release.

Thanks ubu!

Since each extra field's width is known, it could just be a question of what the user would like to see -- so if s/he chooses to have the full date, s/he'll have to give up something else, say stereo info, until it "fits' within a certain number of characters.

Just a thought.

[ubu]

Ubu,

That's how I had been doing it! But I've noticed that data is not getting updated? I have to do it manually...

I think you might have hit the wrong "quote" button, tipstir. That's a bit confusing to people who are trying to follow a particular issue within the thread.

I don't know what to tell you about your problem. If you can successfully run EPGExtra from the command line then it is clearly working OK. If it is not being executed correctly from the PostUpdateEPG.bat file then there is something wrong with your bat file. Check the EPGExtra.log file. If it doesn't show today's date as the "Modified" date then it didn't run (and you know how to debug batch files). If it has the right date, look at its contents. Perhaps it will tell you what's going on. That's why I provide an execution log.

[matthrolf]

Would it be possible to have a parameter like -msde that would replace the mid function with substring () in your sql statements? MSDE does not recognize the mid function.

Thanks,

Matt

Below is the error I am getting in the log:

Start time: 8:30:26 PM
Reading program data from Zap2it.xml.....
Programs read: 11660
Updating GBPVR database program descriptions.....
Installed ADO.NET Provider: System.Data.Odbc.OdbcFactory
Installed ADO.NET Provider: System.Data.OleDb.OleDbFactory
...using System.Data.OleDb.OleDbFactory
Error: -2147217900 'Mid' is not a recognized function name.
UPDATE PROGRAMME SET description = substr('(2006) ' || description || ' (Stereo)', 1, 255) WHERE unique_identifier = 'EP8525420030' AND NOT description LIKE '(%' AND NOT description LIKE '%)'
Total db rows processed: 0

A total of 0 GBPVR program descriptions successfully updated.
Stop time: 8:30:27 PM
Elapsed time: 0.013 minutes.

[matthrolf]

MySQL supports both substr and substring for this function, unfortunately M$ was not as smart and allow the use of several names of the function

[matthrolf]

One more kicker...

MSDE doen't like || for concantination It wants +

[ubu]

Would it be possible to have a parameter like -msde that would replace the mid function with substring () in your sql statements? MSDE does not recognize the mid function.

Currently the logic is to use substr() if SQLite is the data provider and Mid() if it's an ADO provider (assumed to be MS Access). EPGExtra doesn't support any DBMS other than these two.

Microsoft, never a proponent of product consistency, confusingly uses substring() for SQL Server and Mid() for Access. Oracle uses substr(). MySQL supports both substring() and substr(). ANSI SQL belatedly settled on substring(). Similar issues surround length() versus len() and '||' versus '+' as the concatenation symbol. It's a mess. So, it seemed easiest to assume that most GB-PVR users would be using SQLite or Access and only provide support for those SQL dialects.

I'm slightly unclear what advantage there would be to running GB-PVR using other DBMS products, especially since sub has standardized on SQLite as the DB of choice (and presumably optimizes his code accordingly). Also SQLite has a very small footprint. If I'm wrong and it turns out that there is a significant demand for MSDE/SQL Server support, I would certainly consider providing it.

Bafflingly, Informix has no substring function at all but cheerfully provides the MORSE() function which will translate a string into Morse code. Immensely useful if you have a need for it, I'm sure.

[sub]

Bafflingly, Informix has no substring function at all but cheerfully provides the MORSE() function which will translate a string into Morse code. Immensely useful if you have a need for it, I'm sure.

That made me chuckle