STV Import: Favorite Channel Lists

[steingra]

Where can I find the pdf manual that was mentioned for this plugin? I didnt see it anywhere.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by steingra

Where can I find the pdf manual that was mentioned for this plugin? I didnt see it anywhere.

If you download the V0.9.5 version from the download page and extract it with paths - the manual will be in your SageTV directory. On my system that would put it here: "C:\Program Files\SageTV\SageTV\Favorite Channel Lists.pdf". If you still can't find it PM me with your email address and I will email it to you.

BobP.

[bcjenkins]

Hi Bob,

I finally got a chance to sit down and get this stuff going. I have found a way to watch a restricted channel while using the stvi. If I attempt to play a file which asks for parental code, choose no/wrong code, then hit live TV on the remote; it will take me to the channel which recorded the show. (Hope that makes sense)

Also, I found that if I type in a restricted channel in the mini guide, I can't use it afterwards. I did load it before yours as well.

Please let me know if you need more info.

B

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Hi Bob,

I finally got a chance to sit down and get this stuff going. I have found a way to watch a restricted channel while using the stvi. If I attempt to play a file which asks for parental code, choose no/wrong code, then hit live TV on the remote; it will take me to the channel which recorded the show. (Hope that makes sense)

Also, I found that if I type in a restricted channel in the mini guide, I can't use it afterwards. I did load it before yours as well.

Please let me know if you need more info.

B

OK I'll see what I can do to fix these. I have another version in the works that I had hoped to have out before now but I wanted to wait until I got some feed back in case there were problems that I didn't know about - you found some so that's good now I can fix them. I'm currently working on the SageMC version as well as my update so will try to get both versions finished including fixes for the hole you found and better compatiblity with the mini guide by the end of the 4th of July holiday weekend. 5 whole days that I can work on this with my Friday off. I may have further questions for you but I think you gave me enough info to recreate.

BobP.

[bcjenkins]

Very cool. I really appreciate the effort too.. I set up my channel lists and dynamic menus last night for the boys' mvps and it worked except for those couple of issues. I will be out of town for a few weeks starting next saturday and won't be able to test until I return.

B

[BobPhoenix]

OK I finally have the updated version for SageMC of my Favorite Channel Lists plugin complete. It requires flachbar's version of SageMC it will not install correctly on either of mlbdude's - sorry. This will install on top of itself and over version 0.9.5. It will not install on top of any earlier version.

New for this version:

1. Uses flachbar's import utility library so extract the entire contents of the zip file with paths to get the JAR file in the correct directory.
2. Allows all the channel sorting options of the Default STV.
   • You can sort by Channel NUMBER in both ascending and descending order.
   • You can sort by Channel NAME in both ascending and descending order.
   • You can sort a Favorite Channel List in any order you want it to appear.
3. In the Guide menu the Guide Button Command can perform 3 different functions based on the number of times the button is pressed before a timeout occurs. NOTE: The timeout is adjustable in the FCL options menu but if you make it too short you will probably not be able to get two or three presses to work consistently. Also if you have already installed a prior version of this plugin you may need to increase the timeout to get the third press to work. I have upped the default to 400 milliseconds which appears to work for a keyboard. The default for a remote UI (MVP) is still at 800. Note you have a wide range to adjust (50 - 5000) milliseconds.
   • A single press cycles the Favorite Channel List.
   • Two presses will take you to the GuideByChannel menu.
   • Three presses will generate the default action programed with one of the options flachbar has setup.
4. In the GuideByChannel menu the Guide Button Command can perform 2 different functions based on the number of times the button is pressed before a timeout occurs.
   • A single press cycles the Favorite Channel List.
   • Two presses will return you to the Guide menu.
5. You can still change to using Custom1 if you want but if you do the Guide button will only perform the default options from the STV.
6. The MiniGuide in the MediaPlayer will only cycle through the channels in the Current Favorite Channel List.
7. While the MiniGuide is displayed you can cycle the Favorite Channel Lists by pressing the Guide button.
8. The Channel order in the MiniGuide is now set with the same options as the Guide menu. So you can sort by channel number or name or by user selection.
9. You can restrict the Channel Up/Down commands in the MediaPlayer to stay on a specific Favorite Channel List.
10. You can restrict the Guide to a specific Favorite Channel List with Parental Control access like before but now it affects the MediaPlayer menu as well. You will not be allow to change to a channel that is not on the approved list without entering the Parental Lock Code.
11. The Favorite Channel Lists menu now displays the Channel Sequence in the Favorite Channel List just above the green select button.
12. Added the Guide menu to the empty Guide Button in the Detailed setup menu so that you can go directly to the Guide from the Detailed setup menu.

I have included some graphics showing shots of the new features to give you an idea of the new fuctions. I did not include any of the MediaPlayer as the only change in look their is when you have your channels restricted and you try to play a video from your Sage Recordings that was not recorded on an approved channel. In that case a popup menu will display over the PAUSED video asking for the Parental Lock Code.

This plugin will only be included in this post. When I get the Default STV version updated to the save version I will put this into the full ZIP file on the Download page. Also the manual will be updated at that time.

Please post suggestions/feature_requests/bugs to this thread and I will see what can be done.

BobP.

Edit the plugin was removed from this post because it is now available in the regular download listed in the first post of this thread. I left the pictures since I don't have anything in the manual yet.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Very cool. I really appreciate the effort too.. I set up my channel lists and dynamic menus last night for the boys' mvps and it worked except for those couple of issues. I will be out of town for a few weeks starting next saturday and won't be able to test until I return.

B

Now to work on the bugs you found.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Now to work on the bugs you found.

Awesome, looking forward to the results.

Thanks,

B

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

Awesome, looking forward to the results.

Thanks,

B

Just to let you know. I'm hoping to finish up by next weekend. I think I have found and squashed the bugs you found but we'll see.

BobP.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Just to let you know. I'm hoping to finish up by next weekend. I think I have found and squashed the bugs you found but we'll see.

BobP.

I am heading back out of town on Sunday, if you are not able to get to it before then, I won't be able to test until I return in August.

Either way, I am looking forward to the results!

Thanks,

B

[popechild]

Okay, just tried to install the SageMC version of this that was just posted onto SageMC 6.7. Ran into a little difficulty as you can see from the attached screen grab. My entire guide is empty.

Not sure where to go from here...

[gplasky]

Did you actually set up your Favorite channels yet? If you did that type of screen usually means you didn't unzip it into the right directory.

Gerry

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by popechild

Okay, just tried to install the SageMC version of this that was just posted onto SageMC 6.7. Ran into a little difficulty as you can see from the attached screen grab. My entire guide is empty.

Not sure where to go from here...

Check your PM. If you have unzipped this to your SageTV\SageTV directory then send me your STV and properties files and I will see what happened.

BobP.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

Check your PM. If you have unzipped this to your SageTV\SageTV directory then send me your STV and properties files and I will see what happened.

BobP.

Done. Although it might be unnecessary based on gplasky's note, because I haven't set up any channel lists though. I may have missed that part of the install notes, but I just unzipped into the correct directory then opened Sage up and imported. FWIW, I couldn't find anywhere to try to do any setup, but I figured there was a problem as soon as I saw an empty guide and didn't really go any further.

Thanks.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by popechild

Done. Although it might be unnecessary based on gplasky's note, because I haven't set up any channel lists though. I may have missed that part of the install notes, but I just unzipped into the correct directory then opened Sage up and imported. FWIW, I couldn't find anywhere to try to do any setup, but I figured there was a problem as soon as I saw an empty guide and didn't really go any further.

Thanks.

The setup for this is in Detailed Setup > Customize > Favorite Channel Lists. Which if you just imported it will be at the bottom of the customize list. Also if you want some instructions for this go to the regular download and get version 0.9.5. Only unzip the PDF instructions. Note they were done for the default STV but they are mostly applicable to the SageMC version. The biggest differences are the screens will look different for the regular menus. The Favorite Channel List menu should look almost the same between versions.

BobP.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

The setup for this is in Detailed Setup > Customize > Favorite Channel Lists. Which if you just imported it will be at the bottom of the customize list. Also if you want some instructions for this go to the regular download and get version 0.9.5. Only unzip the PDF instructions. Note they were done for the default STV but they are mostly applicable to the SageMC version. The biggest differences are the screens will look different for the regular menus. The Favorite Channel List menu should look almost the same between versions.

BobP.

Thanks - got it working! For some reason, if I imported the .xml and then went to the guide without setting it up, it would give me a blank guide, then the "Favorite Channel Lists" button wouldn't be available in the Customize menu. I had to import the .xml, then go directly to setup in the Customize menu in order for it to be there, but after that it seems to be working great!

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by popechild

Thanks - got it working! For some reason, if I imported the .xml and then went to the guide without setting it up, it would give me a blank guide, then the "Favorite Channel Lists" button wouldn't be available in the Customize menu. I had to import the .xml, then go directly to setup in the Customize menu in order for it to be there, but after that it seems to be working great!

I'll see if I can reproduce that and fix it. Glad you got it working.

BobP.

[BobPhoenix]

OK I have updated the Default STV to fix the problems that bcjenkins reported and I believe they are fixed. I also updated the documentation PDF for the new version. A list of the changes for the default STV is here. And a list of the changes for the SageMC version is here. I have removed the files from the posts in question since they are now included in the main download and either are exactly the same (SageMC version) or updated with bug fixes (Defaut STV version). The documenation explains the new features but if you find anything confusing let me know and I will try to clean it up if I can. I have not looked into popechild's install problem yet with the SageMC version so I may have another update for that and another when I convert the Default STV version to use flachbar's install utility (it's still using the original importer). But other than maybe creating a separate manual for the SageMC version I don't forsee any updates that would require me to split up the two versions into separate posts again.

Suggestions, Requests and Bugs should be posted to this thread and I will look at implementing them.

Also sorry but I'm getting lazy as I should have put the above feature list in the first post but just didn't have the time - maybe later.

BobP.

[BobPhoenix]

OK I have uploaded a new version for SageMC 6.9b users that fixes my import bug that came changes in the SageMC STV. Both the old version and this update are now included in the zip file. If you have not updated to SageMC 6.9b then you need to import FCLforSageMCv1.1.0.xml. And if you have upgraded to SageMC 6.9b then you need to import the file named FCLSageMCv1.1.69b.xml. The default STV version had no changes so no need to download this upgrade unless you are using SageMC 6.9b.

BobP.

[popechild]

Originally Posted by BobPhoenix

I will have to update this plugin for the new beta. It is NOT compatible with 4.1.7. Just tried it myself and while the program guide works the rest does not. The configuration menu item in detailed setup does not install correctly and the main configuration menu for the Favorite Channel lists also disappears. Until I update this do NOT instal it on the 4.1.7 beta. Sorry about that. But does give me an out to make this importable on top of itself now that previous versions don't work.

EDIT: The actual fix for this was be easy and fix is attached to this post. But I would like to update it to install over the top of itself which will take longer. I will work on the import feature and release it as a new version number. Also this STVi should work with earlier versions but has not been tested on anything but 4.1.7.

Edit: Removed the file when new version was uploaded to the downloads section which fixed a bug I introduced in 0.7 - opps.

BobP.

That fixed the problem I was having. Thanks Bob!