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[CountryBumkin]

There is nothing wrong    - I have just been curious about the EPG Program guide update process - specifically when the guide updates and when the audio analysis is done.

First, I have my EPG program scheduled to update at 8AM every 24 hours (via import of xmltv.xml file). However when I look at the guide data before 8AM it is already updated. I see that a new day was added before the scheduled update time.

For example, yesterday (3/8) afternoon program guide data was available to 3/24/2016, then  today (3/9) I looked a that program guide at 7AM. And it showed that I now had guide data to 3/25, so one extra day of data was added, but it was added before 8AM. I looked again at the data after 8:00Am and there was nothing different/added.

So question 1)  What time does the EPG program guide data actually update?  Is it at 00:01 and new day is added?
I wonder if the guide data for 3/25 is already available in my existing xmltv.xml file and MC just adds a new day to program guide every day at midnight.

Next question, I do not have my "TV recording folder" monitored in Tools>Options>Library & Folders. But the "TV Recording folder" it is monitored "automatically" by MC program.
Additionally, in the Library & Folders>Configure auto-import, I have the box checked "Analyze Audio for audio files" and "Analyze Audio for video files", I assume these choices are also applied to the TV Recording folder - since all of my TV recording have show a value for "Volume Level (R128)".

Question 2) When does the audio analysis occur? It does not occur immediately after the TV show recording completes.
                
 RE: Last night a TV show was recorded at 9:00PM, this morning at 7:00 the show's audio had still not been analyzed, but when I checked again just after 8:00AM the show had now been analyzed. So in this case, it took 12 hours before the TV Show's audio was analyzed. Or did MC wait until 8:00AM (my scheduled program guide update time) to then run the analyze audio function?

[Yaobing]

I can only answer the question on EPG updating time.  I am not sure about how TV recording folder is monitored.

The EPG update is done at the time of your setting, or as soon as possible thereafter.  EPG update does not happen if there is TV activity going on.  That is the reason why it can be later than the set time.  It used to avoid updating even if there is audio activity.  I intended to change that, and may have already done it, and if not, will be done soon.

[CountryBumkin]

That's my confusion. It looks like EPG update is happening before my scheduled time.
When the program guide shows a new day (i.e. going from 3/24 to 3/25) is that considered a "program update" or does that just happen everyday regardless of EPG data being updated?

Also I have 17 days of programing (3/9 to 3/25) in my guide. Is that the same for everyone?
I think I recall someone saying they wanted to get more than 2 weeks of epg data but I see over 3 weeks now.

[imeric]

I can only answer the question on EPG updating time.  I am not sure about how TV recording folder is monitored.
EPG update does not happen if there is TV activity going on.

That's good to know! That would explain why it didn't always fit with the time I had specified.  Yaobbing why change it?  It's probably best/safer to do it when there's no recording...
If it ain't broken....Don't fix it
And besides...You already have tons on your plate !!

[imeric]

That's my confusion. It looks like EPG update is happening before my scheduled time.
When the program guide shows a new day (i.e. going from 3/24 to 3/25) is that considered a "program update" or does that just happen everyday regardless of EPG data being updated?

Also I have 17 days of programing (3/9 to 3/25) in my guide. Is that the same for everyone?
I think I recall someone saying they wanted to get more than 2 weeks of epg data but I see over 3 weeks now.

I specify -d 504 in the command line to get 21 days worth with XMLTV and MC2XML. I think the default is 7 days..Not sure

[CountryBumkin]

How can the default be 7 days if I get 17 days now?
Perhaps the 7 days you refer to is the MC built-in mc2xml (rovi data) - I get my EPG data source from an external (paid) epg data source then import the xmltv file as you do.

[Yaobing]

In standard view we try to display two days in the past, and 17 days in the future (including today), regardless whether we have data for that many days.  The mc2xml command line option allows you to decide how many hours in the future to grab data for.  That is independent of how many days we try to display in Standard view.  I am going to change that 17 to 21 as per your request.

If you select "Friday, March 25" in the date drop down list, you may or may not have any data to show.  Using default settings, mc2xml only gives me data for up to March 18.

[CountryBumkin]

I am learning now - that's why I ask.

So MC will show 17 calendar days in advance, whether or not there is guide data available.

I think it would be nice to go out to 21 days as you said. Worse that could happen is that some of the dates at the end of the 21 day period may not have data depending on which source your data comes from.

[RoderickGI]

I wonder if the guide data for 3/25 is already available in my existing xmltv.xml file and MC just adds a new day to program guide every day at midnight.

I think if you looked in your XMLTV file you would find the data for the extra day is already there, before 8am. Then, as MC only displays 17 days data in Standard View as Yaobing explained, MC just displays the extra day when the date ticks over.

Of course the default number of days displayed in Theatre View is, or used to be, 7 days. That is set by the view rules for file display.

BTW, you guys with 17, 21, or more days of EPG data just make me jealous. I normally get 7 days, but got down to 1 day this week because the broadcaster didn't update the OTA data stream for five days! I suspect there was an issue with adding data for a new channel launched on March 2nd, so they just didn't update the data. 


It would be nice to get an answer to your Audio Analysis question CountryBumkin. I do have my Recorded TV folder monitored by Auto-Import, and I have it configured to do Audio-Analysis, and everything else. But I still see delays in the Audio-Analysis being completed.

Additionally, in the Library & Folders>Configure auto-import, I have the box checked "Analyze Audio for audio files" and "Analyze Audio for video files", I assume these choices are also applied to the TV Recording folder - since all of my TV recording have show a value for "Volume Level (R128)".

I don't think you get Audio-Analysis for Recorded TV because other folders have those flags set. I think you get it because the default settings when a folder is monitored is to have all those flags set. Try it. Add a new folder to the Auto-Import temporarily, and check which flags are set. For me, it was all of them.

As to why your files weren't analysed at 7am, but were by 8am, I suspect that between those times MC got some idle time to do the analysis. I don't recall, but do let your MC Server sleep? If so, then after the last recording the previous night, the PC would have gone to sleep. Audio-Analysis won't start immediately after a recording finishes. I am pretty sure there is a programed delay after a recording finishes, before Auto-Import will kick in. So if your PC went to sleep before Auto-Import started, then you woke it in the morning and did stuff on it, so it wasn't idle long enough to start Auto-Import, then you left it alone for awhile, and Auto-Import started. When you came back at 8am, the analysis had been completed.

Of course MC uses File System Events to detect when media changes, and needs to be analysed. But maybe because TV recordings are writing files for some time, and multiple files when using the JTV format, perhaps File System Events are not used to trigger Auto-Import for that folder, or perhaps there is some other special handling of the folder. If File System Events aren't used to trigger analysis for TV recordings, then MC would fall back to finding the changes every two hours when it runs an Auto-Import Full Scan. I believe the timer for that two hours is an internal MC timer, and the PC clock is not used. Therefore, your PC finishes recording a program, then goes to sleep and the two hour timer stops. When it wakes in the morning, the two hour timer starts up again. The timings would vary, but on average it is reasonable to expect the timer to reach two hours after an hour of being awake in the morning, hence Auto-Import runs between 7am and 8am in the morning.

Simple huh? But all that is guess work, plus a little information gleaned from reading lots of posts. It would still be nice to know exactly what is going on with TV recordings, which appear in MC as media records immediately, but don't get analysed until some time later.

That's good to know! That would explain why it didn't always fit with the time I had specified.  Yaobbing why change it?  It's probably best/safer to do it when there's no recording...
If it ain't broken....Don't fix it

He is going to change it so that the EPG will update if there is only audio activity going on. If someone is just listing to music, there is no reason to delay the EPG update.
If there is TV activity, the EPG update will still be delayed.

[imeric]

He is going to change it so that the EPG will update if there is only audio activity going on. If someone is just listing to music, there is no reason to delay the EPG update.
If there is TV activity, the EPG update will still be delayed.

Makes sense thank you!

[CountryBumkin]

It would be nice to get an answer to your Audio Analysis question CountryBumkin. I do have my Recorded TV folder monitored by Auto-Import, and I have it configured to do Audio-Analysis, and everything else. But I still see delays in the Audio-Analysis being completed.

Why add your "Recorded TV" folder (in Library & Folders as a "watched" folder) when it is already a watched folder. Unless you are doing some optional tagging.

I don't think you get Audio-Analysis for Recorded TV because other folders have those flags set. I think you get it because the default settings when a folder is monitored is to have all those flags set. Try it. Add a new folder to the Auto-Import temporarily, and check which flags are set. For me, it was all of them.

The "Audio Analysis" is global for all watched folders. It's set (under Tasks) to Analyze or not. I see no way to change it on a per-watched-folder basis.
How are you looking at the flags? Do you mean look at the files "tag" to see if it was analyzed or not?

How would you setup MC to NOT apply "Audio analysis" to "Recorded TV" if you still want to apply "Audio analysis" to all your other Videos (rips)? I think it is applied to all videos or none.

As to why your files weren't analysed at 7am, but were by 8am, I suspect that between those times MC got some idle time to do the analysis. I don't recall, but do let your MC Server sleep? If so, then after the last recording the previous night, the PC would have gone to sleep. Audio-Analysis won't start immediately after a recording finishes. I am pretty sure there is a programed delay after a recording finishes, before Auto-Import will kick in. So if your PC went to sleep before Auto-Import started, then you woke it in the morning and did stuff on it, so it wasn't idle long enough to start Auto-Import, then you left it alone for awhile, and Auto-Import started. When you came back at 8am, the analysis had been completed.

It could have just been coincidental that it updated after 8AM. I have not been paying attention to the audio-analyzing schedule prior to the other day. However, I have my computer set to not sleep (when it is plugged in. And it is always plugged in) - but I'm beginning to suspect that it is going to sleep.

I just know that in the example from yesterday, the last recording was at 9PM and the audio did not get analyzed until after 8AM. I was not using the computer during the time in between.

I believe the timer for that two hours is an internal MC timer, and the PC clock is not used. Therefore, your PC finishes recording a program, then goes to sleep and the two hour timer stops. When it wakes in the morning, the two hour timer starts up again. The timings would vary, but on average it is reasonable to expect the timer to reach two hours after an hour of being awake in the morning, hence Auto-Import runs between 7am and 8am in the morning.

This would explain what I saw - if my computer is going to sleep.

[imeric]

In standard view we try to display two days in the past, and 17 days in the future (including today), regardless whether we have data for that many days.  The mc2xml command line option allows you to decide how many hours in the future to grab data for.  That is independent of how many days we try to display in Standard view.  I am going to change that 17 to 21 as per your request.

Excellent news thanks Yaobing! Make sure you keep those 2 days to go back in time!
You may want to change the default in Theater view to also show 21 days:
[TVTime]=#TVGuideStartDate-21d

Still hoping for my 2 days back in Theater view but I know you have a lot of more important stuff to work on.

@CountryBumkin I believe you still use Task schedulers for your rules.  Look at my snapshot that's what I use for my 2 profiles and it works like a charm all within MC.  For some reason if I don't specify full command lines MC gets confused...

[imeric]

And yes we are using the same provider...

[CountryBumkin]

Thanks imeric. My EPG data collection is working fine. Your memory is correct, I let Windows task manager run the mc2xml.exe, but I have also run it through MC. It works fine either way. I have no issues with the program. I'm just curious about the program.

I started this thread because I was curious about when the EPG update process occurred and when the audio analysis of video files process occurred.
I understand the EPG update process now.

1) I'm still not sure about when the audio analysis is done (2 hours after last recording ends, when computer wakes up, when Windows File Systems Event says a file has been modified, or ?).

2) Does the settings at "Library & Folders>Configure Auto Import> Tasks" (analyze audio for video files, get cover art, get movie & TV info), also apply to "TV Recordings folder" (which is not in the Library & Folders "watched" folders list)?

I guess I could just test (#2) this for myself, but I thought asking here would be easier. 

[RoderickGI]

Why add your "Recorded TV" folder (in Library & Folders as a "watched" folder) when it is already a watched folder. Unless you are doing some optional tagging.

I add it mostly for completeness and visibility of all folders being monitored. I used to tag on import for the Recorded TV directory, but I have removed that at the moment. But I just left the folder in Auto-Import anyway.

The "Audio Analysis" is global for all watched folders. It's set (under Tasks) to Analyze or not. I see no way to change it on a per-watched-folder basis.

You know I never actually realised that, since I just turned everything on and left the flags set that way. You are quite correct, and they are global. Even so, the settings there are probably what the Recorded TV folder defaults to, even if it isn't set as a watched folder in Auto-Import configuration.


I still can't help with your 1) specifically. I have seen the situation where at 7am the following morning a program that started recording at 8:30pm was analysed, but a program that started at 8:39pm was not, nor was a program that started at 10pm. That later programs were 90 minutes or more, so it could have been due to duration, and analysis hadn't finished when I checked. But it was a bit of a mystery.

A definitive answer would be nice.