Installing Slugger's tv guide using schedules direct

[rnadeau]

I noticed that many users have already switched to Slugger's tv guide plugin even though the sage tv guide is still working. Do you folks that have switched know something that I don't or have you done it just to be ahead of the game?
For the folks that use Schedules Direct, what program did you say you were going to use schedules direct with as it doesn't show sagetv as an option. I ask this because I am thinking of doing the switch myself so I don't wake up some morning and have a show not record from lack of program data. I also would like to know if the upcoming Gemstone UI will support Slugger's plugin for tv guide data. Thanks

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

I noticed that many users have already switched to Slugger's tv guide plugin even though the sage tv guide is still working. Do you folks that have switched know something that I don't or have you done it just to be ahead of the game?

I wrote the plugin in response to the Google buyout. It was done to ensure that EPG data was going to be available in case Google were to have cut the EPG server without notice. Given this week's developments, my guess is that the Sage EPG server probably isn't going anywhere anytime soon (if we assume the Google fibre tv thingy is using the same EPG source, which would seem like a good bet).

However, I switched to my plugin permanently because it provides other features that the Sage EPG doesn't provide. Namely, I can manipulate, modify, edit, etc. the EPG data before it gets inserted into the Sage EPG. This allows me to fix EPG abnormalities before the core tries to figure out my recording schedule. My wiki doc talks about some of these scenarios (i.e. the HD flag for most of FOX's prime time programming is rarely set properly, etc.).

You can also manipulate the data for specific channels, time slots, etc. to coerce the core's scheduler to record/not record certain airings, etc. This kind of scripting ability to influence the scheduler is ultimately why I switched and don't plan on switching back.

For the folks that use Schedules Direct, what program did you say you were going to use schedules direct with as it doesn't show sagetv as an option. I ask this because I am thinking of doing the switch myself so I don't wake up some morning and have a show not record from lack of program data. I also would like to know if the upcoming Gemstone UI will support Slugger's plugin for tv guide data. Thanks

For this plugin, you need to download and install mc2xml, it's the program used to pull the data listings from Schedules Direct. The install wiki talks about how to set that up.

Note, however, that the current release of the plugin only supports one Schedules Direct lineup. If you have more than one lineup configured in your SD account then you will have to jump through a series of hoops and workarounds to get the separate lineups to work in SageTV. The next release, which I'm running now, but still need to cleanup and document before I will release it to the repo, contains full multi-lineup support for SD. It will require some setup changes, but otherwise provides full multi-lineup support with SD (provided you're running the licensed version of the plugin). Expect this new release sometime after Labour Day.

[BobbyDing]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Note, however, that the current release of the plugin only supports one Schedules Direct lineup. If you have more than one lineup configured in your SD account then you will have to jump through a series of hoops and workarounds to get the separate lineups to work in SageTV. The next release, which I'm running now, but still need to cleanup and document before I will release it to the repo, contains full multi-lineup support for SD. It will require some setup changes, but otherwise provides full multi-lineup support with SD (provided you're running the licensed version of the plugin). Expect this new release sometime after Labour Day.

Just curious... Does the version your testing now still require mc2xml.exe for accessing SD? Or will the plugin now take care of that?

Bobby

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by BobbyDing

Just curious... Does the version your testing now still require mc2xml.exe for accessing SD? Or will the plugin now take care of that?

Bobby

It will still require mc2xml. The main reason for this is that mc2xml normalizes the xml data between SD and the MS data service, which means I can support both data sources in one plugin. The other reason is that SD/Tribune refused to approve my original code that directly grabbed data from SD. I stopped asking long ago and refuse to beg or otherwise seek their approval. Instead, I simply process the xml data produced from mc2xml. Whether that xml data comes from SD or MS or wherever is irrelevant to my plugin code. All my code cares about is that the xml data is in the format produced by mc2xml.

[ojosch]

Originally Posted by Slugger

For this plugin, you need to download and install mc2xml, it's the program used to pull the data listings from Schedules Direct. The install wiki talks about how to set that up.

Note, however, that the current release of the plugin only supports one Schedules Direct lineup. If you have more than one lineup configured in your SD account then you will have to jump through a series of hoops and workarounds to get the separate lineups to work in SageTV. The next release, which I'm running now, but still need to cleanup and document before I will release it to the repo, contains full multi-lineup support for SD. It will require some setup changes, but otherwise provides full multi-lineup support with SD (provided you're running the licensed version of the plugin). Expect this new release sometime after Labour Day.

When I read in the Wiki, it states the following:

"Service: At this time, only the microsoft legacy service is supported by this plugin, so ensure that option is selected"


But in this thread here, you seem to indicate that the Schedules Direct option in MC2XML is supported.

Could you please clarify what is the case?

Also, could you please let me know how to get the pay version of your Sage MC2XML plugin?

I do subscribe to the Zap2It lineup on Schedules Direct, so will this work out of the box, or do I need to take advantage of the Groovy scripting?


Any answers you can provide would be greatly appreciated...

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by ojosch

When I read in the Wiki, it states the following:

"Service: At this time, only the microsoft legacy service is supported by this plugin, so ensure that option is selected"


But in this thread here, you seem to indicate that the Schedules Direct option in MC2XML is supported.

Could you please clarify what is the case?

Also, could you please let me know how to get the pay version of your Sage MC2XML plugin?

I do subscribe to the Zap2It lineup on Schedules Direct, so will this work out of the box, or do I need to take advantage of the Groovy scripting?


Any answers you can provide would be greatly appreciated...

Schedules Direct is not officially supported with this plugin. It works, but requires some hacks to make it work and it doesn't support things like multiple lineups from your SD account without some additional hacks.

However, at this point, if you're looking to switch and want to use Schedules Direct, I encourage you to wait until I release my new Schedules Direct EPG plugin. Private beta testing is expected to start in a couple weeks and an initial public release should follow shortly there after. The new plugin is much easier to use/configure and will support all configured lineups in your SD account, etc.

If you haven't moved to the mc2xml plugin then wait until the new SD plugin is released.

[cat6man]

thanks slugger.

i'm using two lineups, one for hdhr recordings and one for hdpvr recordings, so i look forward to your new epg later this year.

and of course, thanks again for a wonderful year of SRE and not missing the ends of ballgames!

it is cool also that i didn't even have to override a lot of playoff and world series games............even when teams were tbd. seems like SRE, once the game begins, figures out there is only one playoff game happening and starts tracking it..........very cool

p.s. and thanks for farrell

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by cat6man

thanks slugger.

i'm using two lineups, one for hdhr recordings and one for hdpvr recordings, so i look forward to your new epg later this year.

and of course, thanks again for a wonderful year of SRE and not missing the ends of ballgames!

it is cool also that i didn't even have to override a lot of playoff and world series games............even when teams were tbd. seems like SRE, once the game begins, figures out there is only one playoff game happening and starts tracking it..........very cool

Are you sure that's actually what was happening? If it was, that is not by design. "Teams TBA" requires an override, always. If you're seeing something else, I'd love to see the sre logs for those games.

p.s. and thanks for farrell

What a joke! Anthopoulos is the worst negotiator of all time! I mean, come on! Boston wants Farrell, Boston really wants Farrell and all you can get for him is Mike Aviles!!? WTF is that!!? That's terrible. He should be fired for that! Blue Jays need a middle infielder, a second baseman to be specific. Boston has a pretty good one. Boston ain't going anywhere in 2013 or, let's be honest, 2014. They have no reason to keep him. All talks start and end with Pedroia or else you tell them to get lost. Aviles?? Seriously? Blah!!!