Plugin: Schedules Direct EPG (not for v9)

[Slugger]

Only because it appears there is now a support path in place going forward. At the very least, I will have the ability to fork the source code and do what I want if the need arises. It turns out flexibility isn't really what I'm looking for anymore in this area. The reason I was leaving Sage was because I didn't want to get stuck on a dead platform that left me hanging with no working solution when the day came that stuff started to fail. Tivo or another DIY app gave me a support path in such a case, which at this point is all I really want.

I started out with Sage (actually MythTV, then moved to Sage) with the goal of changing the way we watch tv in this house for the better. From 2007-2011 (or early 2012, can't really pinpoint the exact date) I tweaked and fiddled and wrote plugins, installed plugins from others, etc. all to get me closer to the end goal. Google kind of forced my hand, but in reality I think I was pretty much there anyways. From 2012 to today my system has sat in a corner in the basement mostly untouched. It truly is an appliance and one that serves all my needs. In other words, it took 4ish years but I conquered the HTPC project!

So now the fact that Sage is more flexible/open does't really matter to me. With the open source announcement, it means that there is a service path, perhaps -- so I'll continue to use my setup. I don't really plan on doing much, but knowing I can if I need to will keep my current system in place instead of moving to something else. But if the OS version of Sage doesn't take off or isn't providing that service path then I may still head some other direction. I conquered this project once, but I've come to realize that I don't want to climb this hill again (or at least with nothing like the kind of hours I put into it from 2007-2011). If anything resembling that kind of effort is required to keep my setup afloat then I'm probably out. Anyways, it's all speculation until we actually get the source code and the new OS community starts to take shape.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Only because it appears there is now a support path in place going forward. At the very least, I will have the ability to fork the source code and do what I want if the need arises. It turns out flexibility isn't really what I'm looking for anymore in this area. The reason I was leaving Sage was because I didn't want to get stuck on a dead platform that left me hanging with no working solution when the day came that stuff started to fail. Tivo or another DIY app gave me a support path in such a case, which at this point is all I really want.

I started out with Sage (actually MythTV, then moved to Sage) with the goal of changing the way we watch tv in this house for the better. From 2007-2011 (or early 2012, can't really pinpoint the exact date) I tweaked and fiddled and wrote plugins, installed plugins from others, etc. all to get me closer to the end goal. Google kind of forced my hand, but in reality I think I was pretty much there anyways. From 2012 to today my system has sat in a corner in the basement mostly untouched. It truly is an appliance and one that serves all my needs. In other words, it took 4ish years but I conquered the HTPC project!

So now the fact that Sage is more flexible/open does't really matter to me. With the open source announcement, it means that there is a service path, perhaps -- so I'll continue to use my setup. I don't really plan on doing much, but knowing I can if I need to will keep my current system in place instead of moving to something else. But if the OS version of Sage doesn't take off or isn't providing that service path then I may still head some other direction. I conquered this project once, but I've come to realize that I don't want to climb this hill again (or at least with nothing like the kind of hours I put into it from 2007-2011). If anything resembling that kind of effort is required to keep my setup afloat then I'm probably out. Anyways, it's all speculation until we actually get the source code and the new OS community starts to take shape.

I certainly don't know that I could 'take over' any projects at this point, I am anxiously awaiting seeing the source for sage and seeing what of the plugins that are out there could actually be rolled into the core. Tuner support is first for me, but it's always bugged me that many countries had such a hard time setting up their EPG's compared to the built-in status in the states and Canada. For this reason, I'd love to see what it would take to make SD a more primary source of guide data - as it would provide an internationally similar system for all users - if it can be made to work seamlessly...

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I certainly don't know that I could 'take over' any projects at this point, I am anxiously awaiting seeing the source for sage and seeing what of the plugins that are out there could actually be rolled into the core. Tuner support is first for me, but it's always bugged me that many countries had such a hard time setting up their EPG's compared to the built-in status in the states and Canada. For this reason, I'd love to see what it would take to make SD a more primary source of guide data - as it would provide an internationally similar system for all users - if it can be made to work seamlessly...

Yeah, it would make sense to roll in SD as an alternate, but equal epg source though it's a lot of work and a tough sell if the Sage server isn't going away. The expected usage rate would not be very high considering you have to pay for the SD data vs. not paying for the Sage data.

But here's what I'm really struggling with: I have my appliance in the basement and it serves my purposes just fine. I'm finding it very hard to get motivated to move to the OS version for "nice to haves". Could I patch the OS version of Sage to include the SD data source? Undoubtedly. Do I want to? Probably not. Why? I have a perfectly working solution already.

I hate to say it, but someone's going to have to introduce something shiny and new to entice me to move to the OS version on my production box. I'm definitely going to look at, fork, and play with the code, but at a presumably very leisurely pace. Someone's going to have to do something to make me move to the OS version. Rolling in existing plugins into the core is a lot of work and not worth it to me when I already have it all working. Someone adds a new killer feature and gets me to move my prod box to the OS version, well then I might be sucked back in, but it's going to have to be big (I think). In 2007, I was looking for a project to fiddle around with. In 2015, I just want a stable pvr environment and really don't want to go messing around with it all that much. My free time is more scarce now and what I do have for "tech time" doesn't revolve nearly as much around htpc stuff.

[Slugger]

New release of the plugin added to the repository.

* Moves the plugin up to the latest Schedules Direct API (20141201).
* Fixed a bug where channel logos were deleted after every epg update
* Few minor tweaks here and there

Upgrading existing installs should be no issue except the force refresh button from the plugin settings screen might not work if your lineup name was renamed on the new SD API server. Even the slightest change in the text of the name is enough to cause the refresh button to fail. In this case, just reassign your lineup to your input and the new name will be pulled in.

[moodyg]

Thanks for the release, After I updated, the star ratings stopped showing up, i opened the sdjson.epg and there are star ratings in it.

[Slugger]

Indeed... this will require me to fix the api library upstream:

https://github.com/Slugger/sdjson-api/issues/4

And then when I fix that, I'll need to fix the Sage plugin to use the fix from above:

https://sourceforge.net/p/sagetv-add...sues-sdepg/19/

Maybe tomorrow, but probably next weekend. If it's not fixed by then, I'd probably nag me again. The weather is getting awfully nice up in these parts, if you don't nag me to fix it by the end of next weekend, it might not be much before the fall before I'm motivated to look at it again.

[Slugger]

Minor fix release; addresses the missing movie star ratings mentioned above. There seemed to be an issue upstream over the last 24 hours where invalid responses received from Schedules Direct may have resulted in sdepg cache corruption. If you're seeing errors in the logs about unexpected return types and your epg data downloads are failing, just delete your cache (sdjson.epg) file and force an epg update then all should be fine. If you're not noticing any issues then you don't need to do anything.

[KryptoNyte]

I've had girlfriends that delete my cash at least once a week.

[moodyg]

Thank you, it works. Enjoy your summer.

[tvmaster2]

wouldn't it be odd if all the excitement caused by Jeff's announcement, AND the sale of the somewhat price-escalated HD300's all be for nought if there was no EPG?
that would be odd....and lousy

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

wouldn't it be odd if all the excitement caused by Jeff's announcement, AND the sale of the somewhat price-escalated HD300's all be for nought if there was no EPG?
that would be odd....and lousy

Schedules Direct is $25/year

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Schedules Direct is $25/year

that's not my concern, as that is an expense well worth the money. my concern is that Slugger's plugin is the only alternative, and no one having the time or knowledge to keep it functional.

[jt4242]

I've been using this:
http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22/54/59/article.asp
since Google bought SageTV getting data from my SD subscription.

It uses m2xml
http://mc2xml.awardspace.info/

Stéphane at LM Gestion was very helpful when I had any problems.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by jt4242

I've been using this:
http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22/54/59/article.asp
since Google bought SageTV getting data from my SD subscription.

It uses m2xml
http://mc2xml.awardspace.info/

Stéphane at LM Gestion was very helpful when I had any problems.

interesting. how does it interface with Sagetv, with Gestion's app? reliable?

[jt4242]

I've been using it for years now and the only problem I had was when the program on the second link (mc2xml) was updated and I didn't know. Never a problem with the LMGestion side of things.

The mc2xml runs with a .bat file that downloads the .xml data from Schedules Direct - it is in the Gestion XMLTV Importer for SageTV directory. LMGestion is a small program with UI which allows you to set your grabber (mc2xml.bat) and upload the data. The main convenience with the paid version is that you can schedule it to run at a set time daily - I have it send me an email, too, so I know the upload has been done.

There's a section in the program for channel lineups - these are each assigned to a tuner.

Anyway, that's the short version - I've been very pleased with it - I guess I panicked when SageTV was sold and didn't want to be without listings so I grabbed this right away.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jt4242

I've been using it for years now and the only problem I had was when the program on the second link (mc2xml) was updated and I didn't know. Never a problem with the LMGestion side of things.

The mc2xml runs with a .bat file that downloads the .xml data from Schedules Direct - it is in the Gestion XMLTV Importer for SageTV directory. LMGestion is a small program with UI which allows you to set your grabber (mc2xml.bat) and upload the data. The main convenience with the paid version is that you can schedule it to run at a set time daily - I have it send me an email, too, so I know the upload has been done.

There's a section in the program for channel lineups - these are each assigned to a tuner.

Anyway, that's the short version - I've been very pleased with it - I guess I panicked when SageTV was sold and didn't want to be without listings so I grabbed this right away.

The problem with that is the limited Genres. XMLTV Sage Importer can only use 1 Genre. It completely limits the recordings by Genres I believe it only has maybe 5 main Genres. It is outdated as far as Genres go. Also no season episode numbers.
Serie
Movie
News
Sports
other

You will not see Movie / Horror / Thriller etc... Instead you will see just Movie

[Stu Gare]

Originally Posted by jt4242

I've been using it for years now and the only problem I had was when the program on the second link (mc2xml) was updated and I didn't know. Never a problem with the LMGestion side of things.

The mc2xml runs with a .bat file that downloads the .xml data from Schedules Direct - it is in the Gestion XMLTV Importer for SageTV directory. LMGestion is a small program with UI which allows you to set your grabber (mc2xml.bat) and upload the data. The main convenience with the paid version is that you can schedule it to run at a set time daily - I have it send me an email, too, so I know the upload has been done.

There's a section in the program for channel lineups - these are each assigned to a tuner.

Anyway, that's the short version - I've been very pleased with it - I guess I panicked when SageTV was sold and didn't want to be without listings so I grabbed this right away.

I use the paid version also and Previously had it updating
once a day, until last weekend I found the task in taskscheduler.
It's now updating every 5 hours without an issue.

[jt4242]

Sorry - I haven't done much with genres but there is a fairly long list of categories each with sub-categories on can add to - again I don't really use this. This page has the documentation on Categories and ratings
http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22...86/article.asp

But I can add season and episode numbers to the title.

[jt4242]

Originally Posted by Stu Gare

I use the paid version also and Previously had it updating
once a day, until last weekend I found the task in taskscheduler.
It's now updating every 5 hours without an issue.

Yes, I found that a couple of years ago when I installed the LMGestion Remote Keymap - it was the only way I could find to send a sort of stay awake signal to my STB during the night. Our provider has it go to sleep 3 or 4 times a night (and they won't turn it off individually - I tried) and I missed so many recordings because the first keypress woke the box up and instead of recording 686 it would record 86 - sometimes....other times it would end up on 1 - most aggravating.

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by jt4242

Sorry - I haven't done much with genres but there is a fairly long list of categories each with sub-categories on can add to - again I don't really use this. This page has the documentation on Categories and ratings
http://www.lmgestion.net/@en-us/4/22...86/article.asp

But I can add season and episode numbers to the title.

I already tested that here is part of my categories.xml. This is only for series i have all Movies Sports etc... exactly how do you add season and episode when it is not provided in the WMC guide? I am talking about naming the output files with S01E22 ...

<categories>
  <category name="Serie" display-name="Serie" included="Serie" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false">
    <category name="CAT0001" display-name="Action and Adventure" included="Action and Adventure" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT2" display-name="Action/Adventure" included="Action/Adventure" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT3" display-name="Adventure" included="Adventure" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT4" display-name="Animated" included="Animated" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT5" display-name="Arts" included="Arts" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT6" display-name="Awards/Event" included="Awards/Event" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT7" display-name="Baseball" included="Baseball" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT8" display-name="Biography" included="Biography" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT9" display-name="Business" included="Business" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT10" display-name="Collectibles" included="Collectibles" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT11" display-name="Comedy" included="Comedy" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT12" display-name="Cooking" included="Cooking" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT13" display-name="Current Events" included="Current Events" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT14" display-name="Documentary" included="Documentary" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT15" display-name="Drama" included="Drama" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT16" display-name="Episodic" included="Episodic" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT17" display-name="Exercise" included="Exercise" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT18" display-name="Fantasy" included="Fantasy" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT19" display-name="Football" included="Football" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT20" display-name="Game Show" included="Game Show" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT21" display-name="Golf" included="Golf" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT22" display-name="Health" included="Health" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT23" display-name="Home and Garden" included="Home and Garden" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT24" display-name="Horror" included="Horror" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT25" display-name="How-to" included="How-to" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT26" display-name="Interview" included="Interview" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT27" display-name="Lifestyle" included="Lifestyle" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT28" display-name="Miniseries" included="Miniseries" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT29" display-name="Musical" included="Musical" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT30" display-name="Mystery" included="Mystery" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT31" display-name="Outdoor" included="Outdoor" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT32" display-name="Outdoors" included="Outdoors" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT33" display-name="Paid Programming" included="Paid Programming" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT34" display-name="Public Affairs" included="Public Affairs" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT35" display-name="Racing" included="Racing" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT36" display-name="Reality" included="Reality" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT37" display-name="Religious" included="Religious" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT38" display-name="Romance" included="Romance" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT39" display-name="Science" included="Science" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT40" display-name="Science Fiction" included="Science Fiction" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT41" display-name="Soap Opera" included="Soap Opera" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT42" display-name="Soccer" included="Soccer" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT43" display-name="Special" included="Special" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT44" display-name="Suspense" included="Suspense" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT45" display-name="Talk Show" included="Talk Show" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT46" display-name="Travel" included="Travel" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT47" display-name="Weather" included="Weather" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT48" display-name="Western" included="Western" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT49" display-name="Shopping" included="Shopping" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT50" display-name="Consumer" included="Consumer" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT51" display-name="Anthology" included="Anthology" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT52" display-name="Home improvement" included="Home improvement" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT53" display-name="Sports talk" included="Sports talk" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT54" display-name="Crime" included="Crime" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT55" display-name="Fishing" included="Fishing" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT56" display-name="Music" included="Music" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT57" display-name="Variety" included="Variety" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT58" display-name="Motorcycle" included="Motorcycle" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT59" display-name="Soap" included="Soap" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT60" display-name="Educational" included="Educational" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT61" display-name="Nature" included="Nature" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT62" display-name="Fashion" included="Fashion" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT63" display-name="Community" included="Community" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT64" display-name="Children" included="Children" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT65" display-name="Computers" included="Computers" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT66" display-name="Action" included="Action" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT67" display-name="Agriculture" included="Agriculture" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT68" display-name="History" included="History" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT69" display-name="Basketball" included="Basketball" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT70" display-name="Medical" included="Medical" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT71" display-name="Holiday" included="Holiday" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT72" display-name="Sitcom" included="Sitcom" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT73" display-name="Bus./financial" included="Bus./financial" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT74" display-name="Self improvement" included="Self improvement" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT75" display-name="Entertainment" included="Entertainment" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT76" display-name="Boxing" included="Boxing" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT77" display-name="Auto" included="Auto" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT78" display-name="Newsmagazine" included="Newsmagazine" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT79" display-name="Animals" included="Animals" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT80" display-name="News" included="News" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT81" display-name="House/garden" included="House/garden" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT82" display-name="Tennis" included="Tennis" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT83" display-name="Shooting" included="Shooting" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT84" display-name="Standup" included="Standup" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT85" display-name="Sports non-event" included="Sports non-event" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT86" display-name="Auction" included="Auction" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT87" display-name="Paranormal" included="Paranormal" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT88" display-name="Environment" included="Environment" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT89" display-name="Aviation" included="Aviation" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT90" display-name="Hunting" included="Hunting" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT91" display-name="Gay/lesbian" included="Gay/lesbian" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT92" display-name="Gaming" included="Gaming" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT93" display-name="Parenting" included="Parenting" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT94" display-name="Talk" included="Talk" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT95" display-name="Sports event" included="Sports event" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT96" display-name="Wrestling" included="Wrestling" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT97" display-name="Politics" included="Politics" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
    <category name="CAT98" display-name="Military" included="Military" excluded="" generic="false" series="false" not-same-all-channels="false" />
  </category>