XMLTV <episode-num> format?

[scJohn]

What format(s) of XMLTV element - <episode-num><episode-num> does NextPVR support?

I started out with this:
<episode-num>10.16.</episode-num>

I have moved on to this:
<episode-num system="xmltvns">10.16.</episode-num>

And still no luck. The hangup could be the lack of 'part' information after the second dot. The standard is a little confusing on what to use when there is no 'part' information. Any help on the format(s) NextPVR is looking for would be appreciated.

Thanks.

xmltv_ns: This is intended to be a general way to number episodes and
parts of multi-part episodes. It is three numbers separated by dots,
the first is the series or season, the second the episode number
within that series, and the third the part number, if the programme is
part of a two-parter.

[sub]

What exactly are you trying to do? Season/Episode numbers are not available in the vast majority of EPGs, so there is no real functionality in the application that uses it. i.e., in some scenarios it is known, and stored in the database, but never shown anywhere.

It'll often use this info to build a unique id hash in the database, which the app will use to avoid recording duplicates of the same show, but that's about it.

[MCEabused]

FYI
I found that this format was imported by NPVR
<episode-num system="xmltv_ns">1 . 3/0.</episode-num>
BUT npvr then uses this as a duplicate hash ID in the database ([scheduled_recordings].[event_details] in XML format)
This is unfortunately not unique ID as different program titles with the same series/episode number will be also treated as a duplicate ID and will not be recorded, which I found out to my cost afterwards.
I personally would like the recorded filename to include the Series# and Episode# for use on other devices.

[sub]

This is unfortunately not unique ID as different program titles with the same series/episode number will be also treated as a duplicate ID and will not be recorded, which I found out to my cost afterwards.

Can you give me an example of what you mean?

When a unique ID is generated from this style of xmltv_nz, the title name is included in the ID, so the scenario I think you're describing shouldn't be the case.

I personally would like the recorded filename to include the Series# and Episode# for use on other devices.

This was my original plan, but I found that even that small percentage of users with this info in their EPG, there was only a limited number of shows with this info, so that only end up with a subset of their shows able to include this in the recordings names. The inconsistency didn't seem worth it.

[Graham]

I personally would like the recorded filename to include the Series# and Episode# for use on other devices.

Does this do what you want ...

http://www.nextpvr.com/nwiki/pmwiki.php?...geGrabLite

See paragraph 4 in Configuration.

[MCEabused]

I was getting pending {title like '%program name%'} reoccurring recordings being unmarked for recording, I traced this back to when any earlier recording with the same series # and Episode # but with a different title was deleted.
( actually it was ad trimmed and the file renamed to include the series and episode number outside NPVR)
When I looked in the Database the "unique identifier" was simply the series number and episode number from the XML- there was no program title name at all included in the "unique identifier". The table I think was the [recently deleted][unique identifier]

If it helps I could screenshot the DB for you, after re enabling the epg modification then recording and deleting a program with a episode/series number match to another recording title.

"This was my original plan, but I found that even that small percentage of users with this info in their EPG, there was only a limited number of shows with this info, so that only end up with a subset of their shows able to include this in the recordings names. The inconsistency didn't seem worth it."
Ah pity, having the series# and episode # number in the file name is just So nice.
Epgcollector works well for NZ & UK though

[sub]

I was getting pending {title like '%program name%'} reoccurring recordings being unmarked for recording, I traced this back to when any earlier recording with the same series # and Episode # but with a different title was deleted.
( actually it was ad trimmed and the file renamed to include the series and episode number outside NPVR)
When I looked in the Database the "unique identifier" was simply the series number and episode number from the XML- there was no program title name at all included in the "unique identifier". The table I think was the [recently deleted][unique identifier]

If it helps I could screenshot the DB for you, after re enabling the epg modification then recording and deleting a program with a episode/series number match to another recording title.

If you have it happen again, post all the details, and if there is a problem there then I'll make sure it's fixed.

Quite a long time back I fixed a scenario like you're describing, so definitely shouldn't be the case with the current release.

[MCEabused]

Hi Sub
The NPVR Version used is current at 3.2.9 with patches up to #8 "fix for NextPVR client app for Samsung SmartHub"
I've attached Pic of the Unique_ID from EPG events, please note that "last resort" and "breakout kings" have the same 0:9:0 ID (- a hash collision). the unique ID 0:0:0 is also very common.

I'll try to get an screenshot of a scheduled recording being skipped due to a duplicate ID from another show.

To Graham:
I've tried ImageGrabLite to do just a simple recording filename rename to include Season & episode.
The epgcollector EPG already accurate valid season and episode information tags, which ImageGrabLite seams to ignore and then does it a long online lookup which fails really badly for the NZ programme names and airdates.
I didn't think it would be fair to ImageGrabLite's developer to spend dev time on a minority use for a NZ EPG.

it would really nice to have a simple way to change the filename format inside NPVR, ah the wishlist

[mvallevand]

I've tried ImageGrabLite to do just a simple recording filename rename to include Season & episode.
The epgcollector EPG already accurate valid season and episode information tags, which ImageGrabLite seams to ignore and then does it a long online lookup which fails really badly for the NZ programme names and airdates.

If the npvr.db3 season/episode are correct use the command line optiom --season with iGL

Martin

[MCEabused]

Hi Martin
The season and episode columns in EPG_events are not populated in the built-in NPVR EPG import (they are blank)
Only the Unique ID fields and the XML tags in [Scheduled_Recordings].[event_details] are populated with the season/episode tags. so there is not much for imagegrablite to work with.
I have previously tried the --season option with no luck.

I have been toying with some powershell to insert the season & episode tags into the correct DB fields, but it seams pointless without a simple way to alter the recordings filename format without having pending recording being skipped due to the Duplicate ID problem I'm getting.

It fails the "it must be reliable" test I'm afraid

Hi Sub
Here's the recently_deleted table with some not so unique ID's