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[NickF]

With the loss of the automatic guide setup on MC because of the Microsoft fiasco over supplying guide data, I have been looking at alternatives.  SBR has previously mentioned EPG Collector so I thought I would give it a try.  I have managed to get it to collect guide data for DVB-S and DVB-T but I am finding that the XMLTVIDs used are the same for a particular channel, whether carried over DVB-T or DVB-S.  There seems to have been a restriction in MC allowing us to use an XMLTVID only once.  This means that I can only have a guide for S or T and that clearly isn't satisfactory.

Why is there this constraint?  Can it be removed please?

Nick.

[NickF]

I would really appreciate answers to the questions on matching of XMLTVIDs to TV Channels.  Maintaining the guide for TV is something of a challenge at present.

1.  Why is there a constraint on using a XMLTVID for only one channel?

This is a critical issue where multiple channels have the same or similar names.  The auto-matching will assign the same XMLTVID to each, then the guide fails to load for one or more channels.  If I run through the process and manually remove unwanted matches, the next time I use the guide setup, Auto Match will, again, match them.  If the ID can only be used once, we need an option to turn off auto match.

2.  Can we run the guide setup process for multiple tuner types and multiple providers and then expect the guide data collection to run automatically for all of them?

I am not convinced that this works reliably.  I regularly find channels with no guide data which causes failure of subscribed recordings and channels disappear from the guide in Theater View.

I am surprised that nobody else is reporting these problems.  Is the use of multiple tuner types (in my case DVB-T and DVB-S) that unusual?

Help appreciated!

Nick.

[Yaobing]

1.  Why is there a constraint on using a XMLTVID for only one channel?

This has to do with how we search for a channel that matches a program.  When we find a channel that has the given xmltvID, we stop searching and try to use that channel.  So the second channel with the same ID is never considered.

2.  Can we run the guide setup process for multiple tuner types and multiple providers and then expect the guide data collection to run automatically for all of them?

Currently not possible. We can add this capability, however...

Both problems can be solve by grouping channels from multiple categories, and then only use one set of program IDs that are associated with one set of channels.  The other channels that carry the same program will automatically be used (i.e. if all your DVB-T tuners are busy, we go to a DVB-S tuner to record the show).  This is on my short list for quite a while but is stalled because of other things I wanted to finish.

[NickF]

Both problems can be solve by grouping channels from multiple categories, and then only use one set of program IDs that are associated with one set of channels.  The other channels that carry the same program will automatically be used (i.e. if all your DVB-T tuners are busy, we go to a DVB-S tuner to record the show).  This is on my short list for quite a while but is stalled because of other things I wanted to finish.

This would be a huge improvement.  I really don't care which tuner type I am using, only the channel or program I want to watch.  I hope this can be done soon as the current arrangement causes me so much grief!

Presumably there would need to be some discipline about channel naming.  It is quite variable at present.

I am very excited about this.  It will transform TV setup.

Nick.

[Sandy B Ridge]

With the loss of the automatic guide setup on MC because of the Microsoft fiasco over supplying guide data, I have been looking at alternatives.  SBR has previously mentioned EPG Collector so I thought I would give it a try.  I have managed to get it to collect guide data for DVB-S and DVB-T but I am finding that the XMLTVIDs used are the same for a particular channel, whether carried over DVB-T or DVB-S.  There seems to have been a restriction in MC allowing us to use an XMLTVID only once.  This means that I can only have a guide for S or T and that clearly isn't satisfactory.

Why is there this constraint?  Can it be removed please?

Nick.

I've had a thought on EPG Collector and how to get it to automatch the xmltvid's for both DVB-T and DVB-S to the right channels.

EPG Collector uses the ServiceID of the channel for the XMLTVID automatically, so will be different for DVB-T and DVB-S.

Now I just need an expression to obtain the Service ID from the TV channel filename, so I guess I need a clever RegEx expert (since I haven't a clue!).

So filename is:

TV Channel DTV 2050 (32-6941)10847000, 0, 2, 5401, 5, 1, 5400, 260, 5403, 2, eng, 5400, 2, 23000, 11700, 0, 0, 27, 2, -1, 2 (DVB-S).tvlb

The Service ID is the number after the hyphen in the initial bracket, in this case 6941

So what I plan to do is to set the XMLTV Tag for my channels to =RegEx(blah, blah). And hopefully it'll set them all correctly.

Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

SBR

[Sandy B Ridge]

OK, I think I may have sorted it...

In EPG Collector I make sure that I include all channels (because there are so many regional variants, the one that is tuned in MC may be different to the one I choose in EPG Collector and for this to work the service IDs need to be identical).

In MC, in my created smartlist of TV Channels I select all (Ctrl A)

->Tag

Select the tag: XMLTVID

Then put in this expression: =Regex([Filename], /#\-(.*?)\)#/, 1)

This then populates all the XMLTV for all channels with the Service ID.

Reload the TV guide and everything is automatically auto-matched.

I haven't tried with simultaneous DVB-T and DVB-S yet, since I still haven't fixed my aerial and have no DVB-T channels tuned currently!

SBR

[MrC]

Btw. No need to escape the dash in the RE.

[NickF]

I've had a thought on EPG Collector and how to get it to automatch the xmltvid's for both DVB-T and DVB-S to the right channels.

EPG Collector uses the ServiceID of the channel for the XMLTVID automatically, so will be different for DVB-T and DVB-S.

SBR

Sandy, this is a nice idea.  I had a try with EPG Collector but found that the guide data didn't include Series and/or Episode names.  With the MC Auto mc2xml solution, Series and Episode names are populated correctly in the fields of the recorded files.  Have you got this working with EPG Collector.   If so, I might have another go until Yaobing gets his improved solution in place.

Nick.

[Sandy B Ridge]

I've not looked at the tags of the recorded files in detail.

When I record stuff, they seem to go to the correct places in theaterview!

For example: all the episodes of 'in the night garden' go automatically into the right series heading under Shows and the same with 'baby jake' etc. All the episode names are then listed in the next screen. Episode numbers I'm not sure about, or genre. Some channels have genre, but not many.

What tags do you think are missing?

SBR

[Jozza]

OMG!!

all the episodes of 'in the night garden'

Don't tell me you're subjected to the Maccapaccawakkasakkamiccamoccamoo as well! I'm hoping my kids grow out of that soon!!

Jozza

[NickF]

I've not looked at the tags of the recorded files in detail.

When I record stuff, they seem to go to the correct places in theaterview!

For example: all the episodes of 'in the night garden' go automatically into the right series heading under Shows and the same with 'baby jake' etc. All the episode names are then listed in the next screen. Episode numbers I'm not sure about, or genre. Some channels have genre, but not many.

What tags do you think are missing?

SBR

For many programs, the Episode name is missing.  With MC's auto EPG process which, I believe, uses mc2xml, the program name is usually structured as:
Series Name: Episode Name. 

I think MC uses this to populate the Series and Name fields for the Recorded TV file.  With EPG Collector, the program name is often simply: 
Series Name. 

So Episode Name is missing.  At the end of the day, it is down to the Guide Provider to supply the required info.

Looking in the supplied xml file for each, there are no specific fields for Series or Episode.  Strange really.

Nick.

[Sandy B Ridge]

Looking in the supplied xml file for each, there are no specific fields for Series or Episode.  Strange really.

Yes, strange. An example programme

The xml for EPG Collector:

Code: [Select]

<programme start="20130127210000 +0000" stop="20130127220000 +0000" channel="6941">
    <title>Ripper Street</title>
    <sub-title>5/8. The Weight of One Man's Heart</sub-title>
    <desc>A string of brilliantly masterminded robberies draw the attention of Reid and his team. Contains some violence. [HD] [AD,S]</desc>
    <category>Entertainment - Drama</category>
    <video>
      <aspect>16:9</aspect>
      <quality>HDTV</quality>
    </video>
    <audio>
      <stereo>stereo</stereo>
    </audio>
    <subtitles type="teletext" />
    <episode-num system="xmltv_ns">13217 .  . </episode-num>
  </programme>
For mc2xml:

Code: [Select]

<programme start="20130127210000 +0000" stop="20130127220000 +0000" channel="I143.759242.microsoft.com">
<title lang="en">Ripper Street</title>
<sub-title lang="en">The Weight of One Man's Heart</sub-title>
<desc lang="en">Crime drama set in Victorian London. A string of brilliantly masterminded robberies draw the attention of Reid and his team, while Drake is confronted with a spectre from his past in the form of his one-time colonel, returned to London to seek redress for the unjust treatment of the Empire's soldiers.</desc>
<credits>
<director>Colm McCarthy</director>
<actor>Matthew Macfadyen</actor>
<actor>Jerome Flynn</actor>
<actor>Adam Rothenberg</actor>
<actor>MyAnna Buring</actor>
<actor>Charlene McKenna</actor>
<actor>David Wilmot</actor>
<actor>Jonathan Barnwell</actor>
<actor>Iain Glen</actor>
<actor>Sam Hazeldine</actor>
<actor>Julian Firth</actor>
<actor>Derek Reid</actor>
<actor>Liam Carney</actor>
<actor>Michael James Ford</actor>
<actor>Lalor Roddy</actor>
<actor>Gus McDonagh</actor>
</credits>
<date>20130127</date>
<category lang="en">Drama</category>
<category lang="en">Other</category>
<category lang="en">Series</category>
<length units="minutes">60</length>
</programme>There's only Title and Sub-title in the data and are effectively identical.
Why the import behaves differently I don't know.


At a guess, I'd say that the Series gets populated if there's a sub-title, but not otherwise.
SBR

[Sandy B Ridge]

Hi Nick,

I loaded both the EPG Collector and mc2xml data into MC and glanced over the tags to make a quick comparison. Basically made a new root view in standard view with 'Limit database to Television Guide' and looked at the tags.  I don't think there's a huge amount of difference in the quality of the data between the two ie. the data that's actually tagged in MC. I'm using the Sky OTA data BTW, not the Freeview so I can't comment on the DVB T data. Neither has anything tagged in the episode.

The only significant difference is 7d for OTA and 14d for mc2xml, and the Genre comes better as Keywords tag for the OTA data (so I've switched the field in the Theaterview Option for genre to 'keywords' instead).

SBR