SageTV API questions

[wayner]

Using Sagex or some other method is there an easy way to :

• playback MediaFile "123" in SageTV Context "456"?
  
• With the current Media File that is playing back is there a way to move to 600 seconds (or whatever) on the file timeline?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by wayner

Using Sagex or some other method is there an easy way to :

• playback MediaFile "123" in SageTV Context "456"?
  
• With the current Media File that is playing back is there a way to move to 600 seconds (or whatever) on the file timeline?

If you go to the sagex/api directly from a browser, it has a full searchable help page.

http://192.168.1.10:8080/sagex/api

It explains (briefly) how the commands work. If you search for "Watch" you'll see a Watch command that takes a single argument. So you can call it like...

/sagex/api?c=Watch&1=mediafile:MEDIAFILEID

where MEDIAFILEID is the id of the file you want to play.
if you want to play it on a particular client...

/sagex/api?c=Watch&1=mediafile:MEDIAFILEID&context=UI_CONTEXT

where UI_CONTEXT the context ID of the client.

If you search for skip or seek, you'll find a couple of ways to do what you want.

[wayner]

Thanks sean, that works with a couple of caveats.

When I issue the Watch command, as in: "http://192.168.1.99:7070/sagex/api?c=Watch&1=mediafile:41834038&context=0023a5000654"

The file starts playing but if I happen to be in the Main Menu it plays in the top right corner (this is with the Gemstone UI). And if you initiate this playback when the UI is in other states, like a file list, then you may not see video. How do you set playback to the full SageTV window as happens when you start playing back of file from the SageTV UI? In other words how do you make the video player take over so that the UI is no longer on the screen?

Seek Issue
I am trying to use the Seek function, but it isn't working. No matter what I use as an argument it starts at the beginning of the file. The docs say:

Seek
public void Seek(long Time)
Performs a time seek in the MediaPlayer to the specified time. This time is relative to the start time of the metadata for the MediaFile unless a DVD is being played back. In the case of a DVD the time is absolute.
Parameters:
Time - the time to seek the MediaPlayer to in milliseconds

So if I want to do playback 10 seconds in then don't I pass it an argument of 10000, as in

http://192.168.1.99:7070/sagex/api?c=Seek&1=10000&context=0023a5000654

But when I do that it restarts play at the beginning. Am I getting the meaning of relative wrong here?

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by wayner

Thanks sean, that works with a couple of caveats.

When I issue the Watch command, as in: "http://192.168.1.99:7070/sagex/api?c=Watch&1=mediafile:41834038&context=0023a5000654"

The file starts playing but if I happen to be in the Main Menu it plays in the top right corner (this is with the Gemstone UI). And if you initiate this playback when the UI is in other states, like a file list, then you may not see video. How do you set playback to the full SageTV window as happens when you start playing back of file from the SageTV UI? In other words how do you make the video player take over so that the UI is no longer on the screen?

Seek Issue
I am trying to use the Seek function, but it isn't working. No matter what I use as an argument it starts at the beginning of the file. The docs say:

So if I want to do playback 10 seconds in then don't I pass it an argument of 10000, as in

http://192.168.1.99:7070/sagex/api?c=Seek&1=10000&context=0023a5000654

But when I do that it restarts play at the beginning. Am I getting the meaning of relative wrong here?

I have a feeling Seek is seeking from the start of the playback time (which is probably 0). You can try SkipForward, which is likely relative.

As for the watch... if I recall in the stv after it calls watch it transitions to a "Menu" that ends up full screening the video and then providing the overlay controls. I'm sure this can be done from the REST api as well, I just have no idea what the menu/widet is

[stuckless]

to go full screen you can try...

c=ExecuteWidgetChain&1=widget:QISRJ-234858

(with your ui context)

According to the Phoenix 3 stv, that is the id of the widget that launches into full screen.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by stuckless

to go full screen you can try...

c=ExecuteWidgetChain&1=widget:QISRJ-234858

(with your ui context)

According to the Phoenix 3 stv, that is the id of the widget that launches into full screen.

This didn't seem to work but I kind of have a workaround - press home so that you are on the home screen, issue the Watch command and then issue a Play keypress which makes it full screen again.

The Widget commands are likely specific to the UI, so I might need to find that for Gemstone.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by wayner

Thanks sean, that works with a couple of caveats.

When I issue the Watch command, as in: "http://192.168.1.99:7070/sagex/api?c=Watch&1=mediafile:41834038&context=0023a5000654"

The file starts playing but if I happen to be in the Main Menu it plays in the top right corner (this is with the Gemstone UI). And if you initiate this playback when the UI is in other states, like a file list, then you may not see video. How do you set playback to the full SageTV window as happens when you start playing back of file from the SageTV UI? In other words how do you make the video player take over so that the UI is no longer on the screen?

Seek Issue
I am trying to use the Seek function, but it isn't working. No matter what I use as an argument it starts at the beginning of the file. The docs say:

So if I want to do playback 10 seconds in then don't I pass it an argument of 10000, as in

http://192.168.1.99:7070/sagex/api?c=Seek&1=10000&context=0023a5000654

But when I do that it restarts play at the beginning. Am I getting the meaning of relative wrong here?

To go to fullscreen use the API function that emulates sending the "watch" remote control button press. I forget the details, but that's how I used to do it.

[wayner]

Thanks Tom - it looks like the TV commands works with the webUI, as in: http://192.168.1.99:7070/sage/SageCo...654&command=TV

Any idea about moving to a point 600 seconds, on an absolute basis, into the file?