Change channel by channelNumber or SID (w. code)

[CommGuru]

Isn't that why it says "For N/A users." or something like that?

[hansdegit]

No, it's not like that at all.

NA users usually know their channels by number. We Europeans (well, most of us, I guess) do not. Therefore MediaPortal added the checkbox you describe. However, that puts the channel selection mode into some sort of indexed / offset mode. You can then select 'the fourth channel' in the list by pressing '4' on your remote.

What I'm looking for is this:
- I press '4' on the remote, MP switches to the channel which is labeled '4' (we need an extra column for this in the database). This does not necessarily have to be the fourth channel.Perhaps I have no channels labeled '3' or '2'.

This is common practice in the Netherlands (at least with Casema, Multikabel and TV@Home) where, for instance, the Belgian channels 'een' and 'Ketnet' are on 'channels' 21 and 22 followed by 'TV Noord' on channel 31. There you have it, a gap in the channel sequence. Furthermore, labels '21' and '22' have nothing to do with frequencies whatsoever. Those labels originate from the infinite wisdom of our DVB-C providers, and are subject to change without notice.

On my STB I am able to select the abovementioned channels by pressing 21 and 22 on my remote. In MP however, I have to know at which position (or offset) those channels are stored. To me, this is a bit confusing, because MP has not replaced my STB (yet).

See what I mean? For a full list: check http://mgv.multikabel.nl/images/dtv-...overzicht.html

Edit:
On second thought, what W_Z has come up with is not bad at all. However, I am not that happy with the column and table used by this solution. I still think this column should be in the groupmap table (idchannel, idgroup, channelNr).

[hansdegit]

Would 'SelectionNumber' be a good name for the new column?

[IcePickrg]

This is the appropriate column for the job.

With analog cable in NA, that column is filled with the channel number for the station. Another example is analog antenna signals in NA. In both of these cases, the provider is assigning the channel number, there is no user control. The name "Channel Number" is directly translated into NA channels.

Channel Numbering using grouping is not too bad to deal with until you have 4-5 providers. Most providers don't step on each other with channel numbers, but they do cross boundaries. We could have overlapping channel numbers in different groups (providers). I don't think grouping was made with this in mind.

It has always been a pain for NA to make dummy channels in order to get channel changing by number to work correctly using "favorite" channel numbering of EURO.

I think grouping works great for grouping channels together, but the channel number should not affect grouping, or grouping affect channel numbers.

I would go one step further with the code, and instead of looking at all channel numbers, it looks at channel numbers for the channels in the current group. Using All Channels group would give you access to all provders.

And to look into the future, our digital signals in NA now have ‘–‘ in channel numbers (i.e. 9-2). That would be an interesting column in grouping

[hansdegit]

Okay then, agreed. But the table should be the groupmap table.

[IcePickrg]

My first copy and paste

I have "utilized" WZ__ code to get full screen TV to change channels when channel number is entered. This is a major improvement for NA users! I'm still looking for testers, but I have it installed in 3 different places and it works.

I now use the group "All Channels" and can switch between my cable, ATSC, DISH channels without going into the guide. I just simply enter the channel number to zap. The requirements are the same, in that you need to have channelnumber populated (analog cable, and ATSC populate on scan), And you uncheck indexed channel numbering (non US) in mp setup.

I have attached the tvplugin setup, and the changed code in the zip. the setup is based on today's svn, so install this setupPlugin.msi instead.

Please post your experience.

[fillerguy]

Icepickrg, do you have an updated version (based on a newer build)?

This is an excellent idea! are there plans to make this a permanent addition to the code?

[IcePickrg]

here is a build from last night.

I have talked with WZ__ about this, and he said that he put the channel change by number in full screen to begin with.

I'm not sure how it worked before my code change, but a regular svn allows you to change channel by number in full screen without my fix. WZ_ admits that he forgot about the 2 digit limitation, which I for sure added in this build. Channel number is limmited only by the digit count under mp setup (explained in other posts here). at least 3 lines of my code is worth something

I seen how channel change worked in tvguide.cs, and copied and pasted into tvfullscreen.cs so did I do doubble work? and/or is it looking up the channel twice? - I donno.

As far as it getting into svn? LOL I wish . I'm a hack, not a dev, so unless another dev indorses my code, it will never go in.

Slowly but surely learning code.......

[damaster]

How can I see SID (channel numbers) in TV Server (TVE3)? I only see the channel names and would really like to sort by SID. Do I need this patch or plug-in?

[x4mer]

It's an option in the TVplugin on the client. You need to enable "show channel numbers."

If you want the channel numbers to be correct, then you have to execute the sql query to copy the SID to the channel number column in SQL server. The single line of sql code is shown back at the beginning of this thread.