STV: GermSage -- Default STV enabling external players and more (v1.6)

[dvd_maniac]

(My birthday was Friday). I can now fully use Sage as my HTPC. Thanks.

Happy belated B-Day Jzaman. Mine is today and I agree. Greg's STV and V4 make a nice present

[dvd_maniac]

Hey Greg,

Been playing around a little more and was just wondering if it would be possible to somehow create .my files for new recordings? I know Cayar's was creating xml files and there is a way to convert them to .my format. But would it be possible to create them directly for new recordings?

[greggerm]

Hmmm - interesting.

Just keep droppin' the hints in there, eah?

Right now I am focusing on other metadata options in addition to .my's - reading and using information rather than creating anything. I think when I start "creating" information, it takes the whole project into a different realm.

On top of that, the .my files are only read if it's a video library file - it doesn't read them for broadcast recordings.... but I see the merit in having them if you are AVC/XVID'ing recordings... hmmmmm.... perhaps down the road. I just can't guarantee it.

More later on!
-Greg

[dvd_maniac]

Just keep droppin' the hints in there, eah?

Who, little old me??

I was just thinking out loud. Yeah, that's it I was thinking out loud.

Seriously though. Yes the reason I wanted creation of recording info is because I do archive (Xvid/AVC) most shows and would LOVE to keep the info if possible.

I am still going through the Studio manual and hoping that I can contribute something to making it happen.

[greggerm]

Bump up post for v1.3 (xml reading abilities)
Thanks to MLBDude and 'Stanger for allowing me to use their code!

[dvd_maniac]

Hey Greg,

I'm just curious and can certainly live without it but is the code borrowed suppose to also import the image using the collection.xml?

Also, AWESOME work!!!

[Polypro]

"Not Found
The requested URL /GermSage_v1.4.zip was not found on this server".


Has it moved somewhere Gregg?

P

[greggerm]

Originally Posted by Polypro

"Not Found

Ayieee -
I'm making some changes to the file right now - v1.4 didn't quite work right with the XML "TV" file creation. I am reworking it to actually create ".my" files for the TV recordings, which the STV will also read. I forgot to remove the download link.

They are MUCH more straightforward to manipulate and use within the SageTV framework, requiring no outside java editing (which may have caused my problems in v1.4)

Sit tight - 1.5 should roll today. If not, by the end of the weekend. Like a moron, I didn't save a copy of 1.3 to provide.

-Greg

[greggerm]

Polypro, et all...
Updated - no longer creates XML files for television recordings, instead does .MY files. Reads the created MYs very nicely as well.
Seems pretty stable for me!
-Greg

[Polypro]

Roger dodger!

Thanks,

P

[dvd_maniac]

Hi Greg,

Everything is working great except for the .my creation process. It seems that it will only create them after I shutdown (Not Sleep) Sage and then restart it.
Note: Not using Service

[greggerm]

Originally Posted by dvd_maniac

Hi Greg,

Everything is working great except for the .my creation process. It seems that it will only create them after I shutdown (Not Sleep) Sage and then restart it.
Note: Not using Service

Odd - it created them as soon as I turned the option on in my test area, and I saw them being created on the fly as the clock rolled to a new hour (and new set of recordings).

Did you let it run a while? Do you still have to restart, or now that the .properties option is set, will it do it automatically.

I could add a button in the setup area to force-run the creation, but that shouldn't be needed.

[nyplayer]

greggerm,

Great STV by the way. I have Just one question. I noticed the STV's that create XML and yours that creates .my files don't create a field for "ORIGINALAIRDATE". I use this to sort my files instead of the EPGID because using the EPGID is not accurate all the time. Is there a limitation where the originalairdate cannot be included in your .my files??


Thank You.

[greggerm]

Actually, I do have it set to populate an OriginalAirDate field - perhaps the variable that drives the field has changed in v.4, as I too haven't seen any .my's created with one in there.

(does some research)

...aah...
My STV (*and any others that used the code) is looking for OriginalAIRDate, while the actual field is OriginalAIRINGDate.

The top of the thread has been updated to v1.6 to correct this error, and some minor tweaking has taken place to display the information on the Detailed Info screen.

-Greg

[dvd_maniac]

I could add a button in the setup area to force-run the creation

I have left it on all day now and it still hasn't created any .my files for new recordings. My Wife is watching something on one of my clients so I can't restart to see if it will do it then again. If it wouldn't be too much trouble...I would like the manual button creation?

[greggerm]

Originally Posted by dvd_maniac

I have left it on all day now and it still hasn't created any .my files for new recordings.

That's mighty bizarre - I just tested it again with the above fixes, and it was working properly for me. I did some playing around on creating a manual use button, but it didn't want to work for me consistantly. I'll see if I can get it to work on a stable basis.

With the workweek starting, I can't promise too much - but it's strange that it doesn't want to refresh and create the MY's. For me, it created them as soon as I exited the setup menus. There was a noticable, 1/2 second hitch in the GUI as it processed, and boom - populated .my files.

Do you have more than one television recording directory?
-Greg

[dvd_maniac]

Nope just one directory. And I even tried refreshing libraries and nothing.

And by above fixes you mean v1.6?

Just restarted and they were created within a minute...

[greggerm]

And by above fixes you mean v1.6?

Yup - when I created 1.6, I also looked at the .my creation to make sure it was being done. On the turn of the hour, I had a pair of .my files pop up in my television directory for the two TV shows that started recording at that time.

I can't understand why it wouldn't be working.

The code has a 'not' statement in it to make sure the .My file creation process isn't still underway. Maybe the variable is getting hung in the "on" state after it completes the job on startup, then doesn't run again because it thinks it's still going?

And when it creates them for me, it takes mere seconds. The bootup occurs, the GUI window appears (and stays black as it creates the .my's), then appears in maybe 2 seconds. Immediately checking the directory, the .my's are there. My TV drive is about 200GB and is nearly full of default quality recordings to give an idea of the amount of parsing it does.

I wonder if it is getting hitched creating a certain MY file? Are ALL your TV shows populated after reboot, or is there one or two (or more) that aren't?

Confuddled,
-Greg

[dvd_maniac]

I do not seem to be having any other issues with recordings popping up. Like I said before, I am having an issue with Archived shows not showing up in the import libraries anymore since I installed your STV (With xml & .my creation) but I think this is more of a core feature.

I tried last night to turn .my creation off in setup, then wait a few minutes and turn it back on. This worked last night but not this morning.

When I first installed and enabled .my creation I noticed within 5 minutes that it created several hundred of them for shows in my import library. So I do not think it is hung-up on anything and I know it is very fast.

Does Archiving them have anything to do with the process? Can you think of a way to manually force the creation without shutting Sage down completely?

[greggerm]

Originally Posted by dvd_maniac

I am having an issue with Archived shows not showing up in the import libraries anymore since I installed your STV (With xml & .my creation) but I think this is more of a core feature.

Ok - I know you've mentioned this, but define it more for me. I am going by the following definations for the terms:

Archived shows - Shows that are still in the Television file directory, natively indexed by the SageTV database, and accessable through the "View Archived Recordings" menu option of the Media Center. MY and XML files are not capable of associating with them, as they have all their information accessable directly through Sage. The viewer selected "Archive Program" in the details menu to classify it as archived.

Imported shows - Shows that are NOT in the television directory, but are located in a Video Import directory. They are not indexed by the native Sage database, and accessable through the "View Imported Videos" menu option. MY and XML files can be associated with them. The viewer placed the file in their import directory to make it an imported video.

Personally, I don't archive too many shows, if any. I have NEVER seen videos that are Archived appear in my Imported area, or vice versa. To me, that's operating properly. I think I am misunderstanding your problem on this one, because when you say that "archived" shows not showing up in the "import" directories, I think everything is working as it should!

As for my Import Video directories, they still seem to have the quirky behavior that besmirched them way back when - sometimes a "Refresh Library" isn't enough to clean up the mess if I am doing file maneuvering. Removing the Import directory from sage, restarting, and re-adding the directory is a near-failproof fix for this occasional (once every 2 months, only after I do a lot of file moving) problem. This isn't what you are experiencing, is it?

Does Archiving them have anything to do with the process? Can you think of a way to manually force the creation without shutting Sage down completely?

As far as Archiving's involvement, from what I have seen in the code, no - it is independant of archiving. Quite literally, I just snipped the code from Cayars which was producing the .XML files, and plopped it into my STV at the same location. Then for 1.6 I tweaked the lines that write the file to produce .my file compatable information rather than .xml files.

When I get home, I'll check to see if .my files have been created for the two "archived" shows I have in my Television directory. I'll also clean them all out and try to test a snap-creation of the .my's and monitor to make sure archived recordings get hit at the same time.

When I tried quickly to make the one-touch button for creating .my's last night, it seemed to work oddly. Fired through fast the first time, but took time the second time and third. I didn't release with it because I need to figure out if I am doing it the right way. I'm sure it's do-able, but like most things, I just need to see what's going on with it.

----> Now for some shots in the dark that you may have already tried...

Perhaps BACKING UP (*sorry for the all caps disclaimer!) your .properties file, and deleting it so that it can refresh? (Obviously involves setting up your import extensions and tuners again, but it may be worth it - or take the larger step seen below.....)

I do all my testing on a "clean" directory copy of SageTV 4 - If you updated from v2 and installed over the top of it, maybe there is some old files or code wrapped inside your directory causing issues? When first playing around with this, I BACKED EVERYTHING UP (SageTV wise, including the IRREMOTE.INI file I use in the \Windows dir) and uninstalled the program, then deleted the original Sage directories entirely. I then installed v4 fresh, and went through the config wizard. I then moved my wiz.bin and irremote back from my BACKUP DIRECTORY, and I had a working and accurate v4 install. Maybe? (If there are problems, you can revert to the wholely intact backups you made)

I'll see if I can trace the behavior of the .my creation - it's a toughie to track as it occurs before the main menu is loaded. If you'd like to take a look, see the Main Menu > Do Before Load hook in Studio to see the code that creates the MYs. That's all there is too it!

More as I find it out..
-Gregor