NextPVR Recurring Scheduling

[georgewbateman]

Below is a description of the NextPVR Recurring Recording scheduling. I am posting this description for review for help with clarity, completeness and correctness. When I am fairly sure that this description is so, I will be adding it to the NextPVR Wiki.

Thank you in advance.



NextPVR Recurring Recording Scheduling

There are eight recording options for a TV show :

OPT# Recording Option
1 Record Once
2 Record Season (New episodes on this channel)
3 Record Season (All episodes on this channel)
4 Record Season (Daily, this time slot)
5 Record Season (Weekly, this time slot)
6 Record Season (Monday-Friday, this time slot)
7 Record Season (Weekends, this timeslot)
8 Record All Episodes, All Channels

Options 2-7 are recurring recordings. You initiate them once and they remain in effect indefinitely, so that as new episodes of the TV show are aired, they are scheduled to be recorded. Although the statements above are straight forward, the rules for selecting TV shows to be recorded have some hidden subtleties.

[Authors note : I use mc2xml for my EPG. The source is Microsoft Legacy. From the postings I have read in the NextPVR Forum, what follows is applicable to North America. So information on how this is handled in other parts of the world would be appreciated. Also I have searched the Internet for a definition of this UniqueID format but without success. From my search I believe that it is defined and published by Tribune Media Services. A reference to its description/definition from the originator would also be appreciated.]

Some of scheduling choices are based on a value that is associated with each episode of a TV show. That value is referred to as the “Unique Identifier” (UniqueID). The format for the UniqueID is as follows :

TTPPPPPP.EEEE.S/N

TT is a two letter indicator of the type of TV show.

EP – is an episode of a TV show
MV – Movie
SH – general use. SH is one time TV show airings (Non episodic or series shows) and TV shows that appear every day such as news and talk shows. Both EP and SH are sometimes used (with the same TV series number – see blow.) for the same TV show title. The SH identifier is used as a filler in the schedule until the EP UniqueID is available.
SP – Sports

PPPPPP is a unique six digit number assigned to each TV series.

EEEE is the episode number. For EP shows the episode number is unique for each episode. The episode number is NOT a sequence number. For all other types it is zero (0000).

S is the sequence number of a multi-airing episode. Each airing has same episode title. The airings are part 1, part 2, … (Starting at zero.)

N is the number of episodes of a multi-airing episode. An episode that requires three airings would appear as 0/3, 1/3 and 2/3.

The most significant factor in program scheduling is the Settings/Recording “Avoid duplicate recordings where possible” checkbox. When UNCHECKED, every airing will be scheduled. When CHECKED NextPVR uses the UniqueID to determine whether an EP TV show has already been recorded or is already scheduled to be recorded. Only the first airing of the TV show will be scheduled. All airings of MV, SH and SP shows are scheduled to be recorded.

The Electronic Program Guide (EPG) is by default updated every day at 2:00 AM (See Settings/Misc2 EPG Update Hour). After EPG is updated all pending recordings initiated by any recurring recording are removed and all recurring recordings are rescheduled. Obviously new recordings are added in the new shows added by the EPG update. Normally all of the recordings previously scheduled are again scheduled. There are however some special cases where some previously scheduled recordings are NOT rescheduled and some new recordings are added.

If an episode was NOT recorded and the same episode (With the same UniqueID) will be repeated, that second airing will now be scheduled to be recorded.

When there are two recurring recordings for the same program title, one on one channel and the second on another channel, after first recording is successfully completed, followed by EPG update, then NO episode with the same UniqueID will be scheduled.


When a new recurring recording for a TV show is initiated, the first episode to be scheduled is dependent upon from which episode the recurring recording is initiated. For example if a TV show is to be aired on Monday 1 June, 8 June and 15 June. When the recurring recording is initiated from the 8 June airing, then only the 8 June and 15 June episodes are scheduled.

When an episode has been recorded and that episode is NOT deleted, then that episode will not be recorded again as long as the recording remains “on disk.”

When an episode has been recorded and then deleted, whether the episode can be scheduled again to be recorded depends on the value DeletionHistoryDays in config.xml. (Default is 90.) If the episode was recorded prior to DeletionHistoryDays ago then it will be rescheduled.

The size of a time slot is determined by the value TimeSlotMinutes in config.xml. (Default is 90.) It is possible for more than one episode to be scheduled in a time slot by the recurring recording. For example when half-hour episodes with the same TV show title are to be aired back to back (The airings have different UniqueIDs.), then both airings fall within the time slot and both will be scheduled.

When a single episode that was scheduled by a recurring recording is canceled, only that single episode is canceled not the recurring recording (That must be done from the Recordings/Recurring Recording view). The canceled single episode can not be rescheduled using a recurring recording until DeletionHistoryDays has elapsed.

[Graham]

I suspect that NPVR generates it's own UniqueID when there is no UniqueID in the incoming EPG data.

I use XMLTV in the UK. The XMLTV file contains ... <title lang="en">CSI: Miami</title> and <episode-num system="xmltv_ns">9.18/19.</episode-num>

These values are used to populate the title, season and episode columns. The UniqueID column contains "CSI: Miami-S010E019". It is my understanding that this is generated by NPVR at EPG load time using the content of the <title> and <episode-num> fields in the XMLTV file.

The UniqueID column is empty when the <episode-num> field is absent in the XMLTV.

From other posts, it is my understanding that Schedules Direct provides a UniqueID in the incoming EPG data but I have no clue regarding its format (it may be the same as you are getting from mc2xml).

[toricred]

If I am reading this correctly then under Opt 8 there is no protection against duplicate recordings. Is that correct?

[Graham]

Is that correct?

Depends. If " the Settings/Recording “Avoid duplicate recordings where possible” checkbox." is ticked then NextPVR does not record duplicates for All Episodes/All Channels (but the UniqueID needs to be populated).

I dunno what happens if UniqueID is null.

[toricred]

OK good. I have that set.

[jcjefferies]

The Unique ID data format varies depending on the source. In the UK the “Unique ID” is broadcast in the DVB-T (Freeview) EPG data and presumably also with the Freesat EPG for use by PVRs to record “Series” and “Avoid Duplicate Recordings”. NextPVR cannot decode the ID data but EPG Collector can and generates an XML file which can be imported into NextPVR since V2.5.

The format of the data is “/SeriesID./UniqueID.0” in the xml file under episode-num. The IDs can be any alpha numeric character and each channel uses a slightly different format but the third block is always "0". Some channels use up to 20 characters for the SeriesID, some include a channel ID in the SeriesID and others add an “episode number” to the end of the UniqueID like “/SeriesID./xxxxx/003.0". Films or other one off programmes have no series ID such as “/0./xxxxxx.0” and some programmes such as the News have ID a “/0./0.0” .

Unfortunately the data has to be edited before NextPVR can correctly use the ID data. From what Sub has said NextPVR does not use the “SeriesID” but for me it was using the entire “/SeriesID./UniqueID.0” as the “UniqueID” when “Avoid Duplicate Recordings” was set. So I do post processing on the EPG Collector data to set SeriesID to “0” and remove all “/” from the IDs because those channels which include it in the UniqueID confuse NextPVR so they have a blank ID.

[mvallevand]

The UNIQUE_ID from Schedules Direct is different it is exactly the tribune ID as show if you hover over a name in zap2it.com This number does end with an episode number but it is unique and not reset every "season".

Martin