Updated Digiguide UK Grabber for WebEPG (1 Viewer)

Tony Wall

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    Changes to MyDigiguide.com mean the current (1.7) bundled Media Portal WebEPG grabber for Digiguide just doesn't work anymore, in fact for a long time.

    Not only were the channels completely out of date but also the template required an update and now the user name and password must be posted with a longer (than the original 1 second) delay.

    Finally, if that wasn't enough, the format of the date selection was changed to hexadecimal which has no support at all in the WebEPG URL variables. It was necessary to modify WebEPG.dll to include a new EPOCH_TIME_HEX value to get it working.

    The new grabber file and WebEPG.dll are attached. I guess strictly the WebEPG.dll needs to be delivered as a patch which I will also do correctly following this quick fix. So only use this if you have a Media Portal release before 20th April 2014 (up to and including Media Portal 1.7 final).
     

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    • 20140420 - Code Chief extended WebEPG.zip
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    TNX Tony, will leave this thread open here for the users that still need this.
     

    Tony Wall

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    Yes thanks for the reminder. I will get around to submitting the patch properly. What didn't help was Sky changing their card pairing method so I can't use my PC media centre at the moment for any UK Sky channels. Media Portal is so many times better than the original Sky box, they don't even bother sorting the channels properly.
     

    JJDoherty

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    Hi Tony,

    On what seems to be my never ending quest to get a complete EPG I have turned to DigiGuide until whatever time a fully functional MetaBroadcast Atlas version 4.0 is given a final release.

    I have downloaded and installed your updated WebEPG and DigiGuide grabber file. However I seems to be getting some rather strange gaps in my EPG! I've attached a screenshot which should highlight the issue.

    Screenshot 2014-06-23 15.12.22.png

    As can be seen in the screenshot, the first 3 channels (the second one doesn't come on air until 7pm, so can be ignored in this case) seem to have end times which are incorrect. However the remaining channels seem to be fine. The DigiGuide grabber is only being used for the Irish channels, from "RTÉ One" down to "3e", with all remaining channels using the Freesat DVB EPG data.

    I'm sure it's something simple I'm missing but do you have any idea what it could be?

    Thanks in advance...
     
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    Tony Wall

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    Yes I know it's not perfect, but the last version at least has the episode information which is more critical than the extra "click here for more information" text you can ignore or edit out.

    The first problem with creating WebEPG templates is beyond the simplest sites you can no longer use the WebEPG Designer. It can't be extended either because there is no source available, only for the grabber/TV service plug-in. The main problem though is the templates whilst nice for simple examples are too hit-and-miss, e.g. have inconsistent start/end/newline/whitespace handling.

    With EPG providers, I feel if you're lucky enough to be allowed to read data directly (XMLTV or JSON) then you don't need WebEPG anyway (use the more standard XMLTV). So the only purpose of WebEPG I see is for forcefully extracting data ("screen scraping"). Good... but this is exactly the area where it is weak.

    Anyway I will complete what I started in a few weeks. I've got a lot of ideas in this area but they are so different they will be a different thing altogether. I agree EPG is essential but unfortunately also a big pain.

    If you want to play, try editing the template yourself. You'll need my DLL else you won't event be able to request any data. That was the main fix, good for any template. Just be careful to double-check each time you think it's working (e.g. extra text gone) as you'll most likely find other parts suddenly drop-out (sometimes only a few channels so be thorough). It' a nightmare without a proper GUI or unit test to step-through with a debugger.[DOUBLEPOST=1403548290][/DOUBLEPOST]Import/merge channels is also a grey area in the current code vs GUI options. That will be included in the unit tests I write so potentially improved soon.
     
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    JJDoherty

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    Hi @Tony Wall, thanks for the comprehensive response.

    I suppose, from my perspective at least, I would prefer a more straightforward solution for the provision of EPG data such as an XMLTV or JSON feed. However the data I am looking for, Irish DTT EPG with genre data, my only options are either DigiGuide or, whenever updated to version 4.0, Atlas from MetaBroadcast. So this makes WebEPG my most likely solution at this point, I feel.

    I do look at the templates and I know exactly what you mean with some of the biggest drawbacks being the lack of a proper GUI or test environment once a template is created.

    Thanks for your commitment to making the most of WebEPG. If there is anything that I may be able to help with, then I'd be happy to try, limited in both ability and time as I am!
     

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