Adding command line items to schedules direct

[crawfofd]

Just started using this program and I use Schedules Direct for my epg. I would like to use the -a command line parameter to indicate a new show. Is there anyway to do this??

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place. And thanks in advance to any support you can give me.

[johnsonx42]

I'm assuming you mean the -a parameter for MC2XML?

You'd have to download and setup MC2XML and use it to create an XMLTV file, then map your channels to the XMLTV file instead of using the built-in Schedules Direct support. Then you'd need an "updateepg.bat" file in the NPVR\Scripts directory which would call mc2xml to update the XMLTV file each night.

This assumes you want to actually see an "*" next to new shows in the EPG. If all you want is for NextPVR to record new shows only, it can already do that with the "Record NEW Episodes on this channel" recurring option.

[crawfofd]

johnsonx42, Thanks for your quick reply. What I'm actually looking for is some way to show a new program in the guide. I have used mc2xml in the past with another program and it would put the "*" in the program guide to indicate a new show. Is there a way to do it in NPVR with the built in SD?

Also do you know if it is possible to put the season and episode number in the guide and/or filename.

PS. I just called up the web tool and it seems to have all the info I wanted in the guide. Is there a way to get that info into the guide?

[johnsonx42]

johnsonx42, Thanks for your quick reply. What I'm actually looking for is some way to show a new program in the guide. I have used mc2xml in the past with another program and it would put the "*" in the program guide to indicate a new show. Is there a way to do it in NPVR with the built in SD?

The new episode flag is used only internally, it's not displayed by the stock TV Guide. The TV Listings plugin provides an alternate TV Guide which I think might display that flag.
If TV Listings doesn't do what you want, the only other way (currently) is to use MC2XML as I said.

Also do you know if it is possible to put the season and episode number in the guide and/or filename.

The season/episode number is displayed in the detail pop-up for a program, but not in the guide itself (this might be fixable with just a skin mod). If you want it in the filename, check Settings->Recording->"Use S01E01 file name format if possible"; you'll probably also want the "Use Movie.Name (YEAR) format for movies if possible".

PS. I just called up the web tool and it seems to have all the info I wanted in the guide. Is there a way to get that info into the guide?

the web interface is developed by someone else, so it has different features than the main program. The new episode data is there in the database, it's just not displayed by the stock TV Guide.

[mvallevand]

The new episode data is there in the database, it's just not displayed by the stock TV Guide.

It is available to skinners too.

Martin

[crawfofd]

Thanks again johnsonx42.

mvallevand, what do you mean by skinners??

[johnsonx42]

skinners, as in those who modify the skin files. in this case, npvr\Skin\Default\TV Guide\Guide.xml (or a directory other than Default if you're using a different skin). note that you can only modify the content of the detail area at the bottom of the TV Guide; the content of the grid is provided by the program and can't be changed in the skin (only the position and size of the grid can be changed).

the detail popup when you actually select a program and press enter is ...\Popups\EventDetails.xml.

(that said, I'm not sure Martin is correct; in EventDetails.xml, @subtitle appears to include both the S01E01 info as well as the subtitle text, while in Guide.xml @subtitle is just the subtitle text. I have no idea what the element name of the new episode flag would be. I thought maybe it was included with "@descriptionWithGenre", but it's not, and that element is also not available in Guide.xml)

(seems like sub is cheating a little bit, changing what information a given element includes rather than creating new elements which would then require changes to the skin files to display them; but it's his program, he can cheat if he wants to)

[mvallevand]

skinners, as in those who modify the skin files. in this case, npvr\Skin\Default\TV Guide\Guide.xml (or a directory other than Default if you're using a different skin). note that you can only modify the content of the detail area at the bottom of the TV Guide; the content of the grid is provided by the program and can't be changed in the skin (only the position and size of the grid can be changed).

the detail popup when you actually select a program and press enter is ...\Popups\EventDetails.xml.

(that said, I'm not sure Martin is correct; in EventDetails.xml, @subtitle appears to include both the S01E01 info as well as the subtitle text, while in Guide.xml @subtitle is just the subtitle text. I have no idea what the element name of the new episode flag would be. I thought maybe it was included with "@descriptionWithGenre", but it's not, and that element is also not available in Guide.xml)

(seems like sub is cheating a little bit, changing what information a given element includes rather than creating new elements which would then require changes to the skin files to display them; but it's his program, he can cheat if he wants to)

You can't use sub's Default as documentation, there are often more elements then sub uses in his skins. The first run flag field used to be available as were season and episode. It's true sub might overload one value if it serves his purposes which might breaks someone's skin, but he was usually good at adding values for skinners. I don't know if anyone is skinning for 3.4.8 at this time.

Martin

[rkulagow]

[I work for Schedules Direct]

The raw JSON includes an attribute if the episode is new:

{
"programID": "EP013078551038",
"airDateTime": "2015-06-05T18:00:00Z",
"duration": 3600,
"md5": "3ctkz+pFLq6PN4mBccM9/w",
"new": true,
"audioProperties": [
"stereo",
"cc"
],
"videoProperties": [
"hdtv"
],
"ratings": [
{
"body": "USA Parental Rating",
"code": "TV14"
}
]
},

So it's up to the application to do something with that. The internal scheduling logic may be using the "new" field, but the skinning process (what you're looking at) needs to take advantage of that boolean if it's going to put "New" somewhere in the EPG.

[sub]

The main reason the Guide doesn't show any 'new' indicator in the guide grid by default is because a lot of the EPG sources don't carry this information, so all shows are assumed to be new. ie, too much useless clutter for a large percentage of users.

I could look to add some optional feature in the next release, which could be turned. What would you want shown though? some icon in the corner, different color text, or different color background on those shows, or something else?