WebEPG guide for US

James · 2005-08-09, 22:28

Hi guys,

I was asked how to add channels for the US to WebEPG. First WebEPG is currently able to get guide information from tv.yahoo.com. I know many people are currently using zap2it, however, yahoo requires no login and I've been told the data is just as good. So to start with its supported now. If there is interest I can add other sites (zap2it for example). Let me know. However, have a look at yahoo first and see if it is ok.

Anyway on to the guide.

Adding channels to the US yahoo grabber:

1. Open the grabber config file "grabbers\US\tv_yahoo_com.xml" with notepad. (replace with new version above)

2. Look at the BaseURL and SearchURL
<entry name="BaseURL">http://tv.yahoo.com</entry>
<entry name="SearchURL">/tvpdb?d=tvs&#ID&.intl=us&startdate=#EP OCH_TIME</entry>

3. Load tv.yahoo.com in your web browser

4. Select TV Listings

5. Enter your zip code

6. Enter your provider

7. A list of all your channels comes

8. Click on a channel on the left side

9. A listing of that channels comes for today

10. choose another date (tomorrow for example)

11. tomorrows listing comes up. The URL displayed should now look something like that from the Grabber config file:
http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=1...ate=1123632000

12. What is important is the bit "id=166031202&lineup=us_KY16673&channels=us_MT V".

13. Enter this value in the <section name="ChannelList"> in the Grabber config file like so:

<entry name="mtv.com">id=166031202&lineup=us_KY16673& amp;channels=us_MTV</entry>

Note: & must be followed by amp; so "&"

14. Set the channel ID used by webepg for this channel this is the name="xxxx". This is really the hard part. To try and reduce the number of channels in the webepg db (currently a flat file). It is very important to not make too many channel IDs. So if this channel is a national channel the same all over the US then everyone should use the same ID. If it is a state channel then everyone in the state should use the same ID, and so on. I the case of national channels they only need to be added once (MTV might be an example of such a channel). In general if the guide is the same (same programs, same time) then the ID should be the same, even if we grab the channel using a different location code (the web site is just making a copy of the data for different location codes).

15. Save the grabber config file.

16. Test the grabber file by opening it in a web browser. This will parse the xml and make sure everything it ok.

17. Load webEPG-channels.exe it will automaticall find the new channels

18. Give the new channels a more friendly name. Save

19. Open the Webepg-conf.exe and the new channels should appear with their friendly name ready for use.

Guide to creating channel IDs in webepg:

1. use the domain url of the channel provider

2. if the channel provider has a url in multiple countries (and these channels are not different) ie same content, then use the one from the country of origin or the international one. (check these channel may already be in use by other grabbers - so always use an existing ID when possible). If still no idea post here.

3. if the channel provider doesn't have a web site, then create a url like id with -'s instead of .'s.

See how you go and post here for help. Send me your grabber config and and channels.xml file when finished and I'll merge them into one.

Cheers,

/James

James · 2005-09-05, 23:58

Hi guys,

I have put a new release up on the web. That has a number of the US channels defined (central and eastern timezones).

I would be interested to know which of these channels can be used and for which ones the local channels are required.

It will also allow you to try before you buy (or at least put a bit of work in to define your local channels).

Cheers,

/James

James · 2005-12-07, 06:46

Hi guys,

No response ? No interest ?

I have just added login support to WebEPG. So it should be possible to grab data from zap2it or other sites requiring an account and login.

Is there any interest ?

/James

broadband412 · 2005-12-07, 23:10

Is there some documentation for this program. I would like to use this program to set up my EPG but the program seems more complicated than XMLTV Where can I find documentation on how to set this up? Thanks.

ASiDiE · 2005-12-07, 23:12

I would be very interested in this guide.... IF if was able to pull down dishnetworks...

broadband412 · 2005-12-08, 05:16

I was able to find the documentation for this program with an older version of it on it's web site. This semms very tedious as you have to keep on specifing the exact web site with the listings for that particular channel. For Eaxample, the web page http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=1...5894d&.intl=us is the page for the channel New York 1 as you can see by the address of the web page. The lineup=us part is telling you that I reside in the United States and the NY part in the address is the state in which I reside in and the #s are the identifier of a particular cable company. In my case this # is tied to the guide using cablevision's channel lineup. The letter "d" could represent that it is a digital lineup but I am not sure of this. Now if I am correct you would have to select the channels in config.exe and assigned the channels to their correesponding site/page. Using the address from above, I would enter http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=1...5894d&.intl=us to get the guide data for channel 1? Am I correct? Please explain this to me. If it is this way, then XMLTV seems the easier way to go. Again this is just my theory on how I understand the way WebEPG works. Let me know if this is not so. Thanks.

James · 2005-12-08, 08:39

Hi broadband,

If you read my post at the top of the thread and have a look at the existing tv_yahoo_com.xml file you will find that:

Everything that is different from one channel to another goes at the top of the file in the ChannelList section:

<entry name="Eastern@mtv.com">id=166030899&channels=u s_MTV&lineup=us_Eastern</entry>

The URL is configured in the Listing section:

<entry name="BaseURL">http://tv.yahoo.com</entry>
<entry name="SearchURL">/tvpdb?d=tvs&#ID&.intl=us&startdate=#EP OCH_TIME</entry>

the #ID is replaced with the information for each channel (provided in the above section)

WebEPG needs to know about the channels before hand, so that it can map them into whatever display name you wish to have in your EPG. There is a little bit of work defining the channel, but that is only once off. Then they can be easily configured by all future users.

Hope this helps,

/James

broadband412 · 2005-12-08, 23:32

Hi James, Can you check the tv.yahoo.com.xml file I am working on and see if I am on the right track? If you are willing to have a look, how will I send it to you? Thanks.

James · 2005-12-09, 01:03

Hi broadband412,

You will find the email address in one of the txt files with the older WebEPG releases.

/James

broadband412 · 2005-12-09, 02:47

Thanks James, I sent you the file. Please let me know what I need to fix in the file and what needs to be added and taken away. Thanks.

2005-08-09, 22:28	#1 (permalink)
James Portal Developer Join Date: May 2005 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,348 Thanks: 4 Thanked 55 Times in 34 Posts	WebEPG guide for US Hi guys, I was asked how to add channels for the US to WebEPG. First WebEPG is currently able to get guide information from tv.yahoo.com. I know many people are currently using zap2it, however, yahoo requires no login and I've been told the data is just as good. So to start with its supported now. If there is interest I can add other sites (zap2it for example). Let me know. However, have a look at yahoo first and see if it is ok. Anyway on to the guide. Adding channels to the US yahoo grabber: 1. Open the grabber config file "grabbers\US\tv_yahoo_com.xml" with notepad. (replace with new version above) 2. Look at the BaseURL and SearchURL <entry name="BaseURL">http://tv.yahoo.com</entry> <entry name="SearchURL">/tvpdb?d=tvs&#ID&.intl=us&startdate=#EP OCH_TIME</entry> 3. Load tv.yahoo.com in your web browser 4. Select TV Listings 5. Enter your zip code 6. Enter your provider 7. A list of all your channels comes 8. Click on a channel on the left side 9. A listing of that channels comes for today 10. choose another date (tomorrow for example) 11. tomorrows listing comes up. The URL displayed should now look something like that from the Grabber config file: http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=1...ate=1123632000 12. What is important is the bit "id=166031202&lineup=us_KY16673&channels=us_MT V". 13. Enter this value in the <section name="ChannelList"> in the Grabber config file like so: <entry name="mtv.com">id=166031202&lineup=us_KY16673& amp;channels=us_MTV</entry> Note: & must be followed by amp; so "&" 14. Set the channel ID used by webepg for this channel this is the name="xxxx". This is really the hard part. To try and reduce the number of channels in the webepg db (currently a flat file). It is very important to not make too many channel IDs. So if this channel is a national channel the same all over the US then everyone should use the same ID. If it is a state channel then everyone in the state should use the same ID, and so on. I the case of national channels they only need to be added once (MTV might be an example of such a channel). In general if the guide is the same (same programs, same time) then the ID should be the same, even if we grab the channel using a different location code (the web site is just making a copy of the data for different location codes). 15. Save the grabber config file. 16. Test the grabber file by opening it in a web browser. This will parse the xml and make sure everything it ok. 17. Load webEPG-channels.exe it will automaticall find the new channels 18. Give the new channels a more friendly name. Save 19. Open the Webepg-conf.exe and the new channels should appear with their friendly name ready for use. Guide to creating channel IDs in webepg: 1. use the domain url of the channel provider 2. if the channel provider has a url in multiple countries (and these channels are not different) ie same content, then use the one from the country of origin or the international one. (check these channel may already be in use by other grabbers - so always use an existing ID when possible). If still no idea post here. 3. if the channel provider doesn't have a web site, then create a url like id with -'s instead of .'s. See how you go and post here for help. Send me your grabber config and and channels.xml file when finished and I'll merge them into one. Cheers, /James

2005-12-07, 23:12	#5 (permalink)
ASiDiE Portal Tester Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Age: 32 Posts: 891 Thanks: 6 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts My System	I would be very interested in this guide.... IF if was able to pull down dishnetworks... __________________ I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE!

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2005-09-05, 23:58	#2 (permalink)
James Portal Developer Join Date: May 2005 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,348 Thanks: 4 Thanked 55 Times in 34 Posts	Hi guys, I have put a new release up on the web. That has a number of the US channels defined (central and eastern timezones). I would be interested to know which of these channels can be used and for which ones the local channels are required. It will also allow you to try before you buy (or at least put a bit of work in to define your local channels). Cheers, /James

2005-12-07, 06:46	#3 (permalink)
James Portal Developer Join Date: May 2005 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,348 Thanks: 4 Thanked 55 Times in 34 Posts	Hi guys, No response ? No interest ? I have just added login support to WebEPG. So it should be possible to grab data from zap2it or other sites requiring an account and login. Is there any interest ? /James

2005-12-07, 23:10	#4 (permalink)
broadband412 Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Yrok Posts: 79 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Is there some documentation for this program. I would like to use this program to set up my EPG but the program seems more complicated than XMLTV Where can I find documentation on how to set this up? Thanks.

2005-12-08, 05:16	#6 (permalink)
broadband412 Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Yrok Posts: 79 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	I was able to find the documentation for this program with an older version of it on it's web site. This semms very tedious as you have to keep on specifing the exact web site with the listings for that particular channel. For Eaxample, the web page http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=1...5894d&.intl=us is the page for the channel New York 1 as you can see by the address of the web page. The lineup=us part is telling you that I reside in the United States and the NY part in the address is the state in which I reside in and the #s are the identifier of a particular cable company. In my case this # is tied to the guide using cablevision's channel lineup. The letter "d" could represent that it is a digital lineup but I am not sure of this. Now if I am correct you would have to select the channels in config.exe and assigned the channels to their correesponding site/page. Using the address from above, I would enter http://tv.yahoo.com/tvpdb?d=tvs&id=1...5894d&.intl=us to get the guide data for channel 1? Am I correct? Please explain this to me. If it is this way, then XMLTV seems the easier way to go. Again this is just my theory on how I understand the way WebEPG works. Let me know if this is not so. Thanks.

2005-12-08, 08:39	#7 (permalink)
James Portal Developer Join Date: May 2005 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,348 Thanks: 4 Thanked 55 Times in 34 Posts	Hi broadband, If you read my post at the top of the thread and have a look at the existing tv_yahoo_com.xml file you will find that: Everything that is different from one channel to another goes at the top of the file in the ChannelList section: <entry name="Eastern@mtv.com">id=166030899&channels=u s_MTV&lineup=us_Eastern</entry> The URL is configured in the Listing section: <entry name="BaseURL">http://tv.yahoo.com</entry> <entry name="SearchURL">/tvpdb?d=tvs&#ID&.intl=us&startdate=#EP OCH_TIME</entry> the #ID is replaced with the information for each channel (provided in the above section) WebEPG needs to know about the channels before hand, so that it can map them into whatever display name you wish to have in your EPG. There is a little bit of work defining the channel, but that is only once off. Then they can be easily configured by all future users. Hope this helps, /James

2005-12-08, 23:32	#8 (permalink)
broadband412 Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Yrok Posts: 79 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hi James, Can you check the tv.yahoo.com.xml file I am working on and see if I am on the right track? If you are willing to have a look, how will I send it to you? Thanks.

2005-12-09, 01:03	#9 (permalink)
James Portal Developer Join Date: May 2005 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,348 Thanks: 4 Thanked 55 Times in 34 Posts	Hi broadband412, You will find the email address in one of the txt files with the older WebEPG releases. /James

2005-12-09, 02:47	#10 (permalink)
broadband412 Portal Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: New Yrok Posts: 79 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Thanks James, I sent you the file. Please let me know what I need to fix in the file and what needs to be added and taken away. Thanks.