(original thread) US/Canadian/Mexico EPG Zap2it Plugin Released

[bradsjm]

Last update: 01/09/2007

The Zap2it Plugin is for those people using Zap2it (which means US and Canadian users ONLY) for getting their EPG information and who have an always-on internet connection.

The following non-US locations should also work if you use the "fake" zipcodes below instead of a US zipcode

• Bermuda Cablevision: use 147BERM
  Wow World on Wireless - Hamilton, Bermuda: use 366HAMI
  DirecTV Latin America: use 101VENE
  Mexico uses 904MEXI or 954MEXI
  Trinidad Express uses 512TRIN
  Americable International Japan, Inc. - Yokota Air Force Base, JPN: use 782YOKO

The following features have been implemented:

- Automatic background downloads (as long as Media Portal is running or when you next run MP if it wasn't running) at times set by Zap2it for best server load balancing
- Incremental downloads - Only downloads new programs that aren't in your database
- Compressed transfer to minimize bandwidth
- Supports multiple Zap2it lineups (will import all lineups)
- Updates programs for the next 24 hours to catch late schedule changes (Requires 0.2 final)
- Notifies you starting 7 days in advance when your subscription needs to be renewed
- No messing with timezones, if your system date and time is set correctly, things should "just work"
- Ability to specify how you want channel names formatted, e.g. 45 WABC or just WABC or WABC 45 or etc.)
- Channel matching based on name (ala XMLTV) plus HD major/minor channel and broadcast channel number for OTA and analog cable matching.
- Provides additional details on the program description including:
- Repeat flag (Repeat)
- HDTV flag (HDTV)
- Dolby Digital (Dolby Digital)
- Parental Advisories (Violence, Nudity, etc.)

The design goal is to "set and forget" it.


Current downloads:

Zap2It-Plugin-v1.8a-(MPv0.2.2).zip (110.4 KB) MP v0.2.2 stable/stand alone ONLY, NO SVN!
Zap2It-Plugin-v1.8a-TVE3.zip (129.0 KB) TVServer (TVE3)
Zap2It-Plugin-v1.8a-(MP SVN).zip (112.2 KB) MP Recent SVN ONLY

OLD PLUGIN LINK (for historical purposes ONLY)

Instructions:

1. Download the zip file and place the Zap2itPlugin.dll in the plugins\process folder in your main mediaportal installation directory. Make sure you haven't extracted it to a folder below the process directory

NOTES:

Make sure you get the correct version.
If you installed any SVN after 02Jan2007 you will have to use the SVN version.

Again, ONLY install ONE of the plugins, you DO NOT need both the Stand Alone and TVServer versions. I am not sure how MediaPortal would behave (and we do not want to abuse the free service zap2it/DD provides to open source projects).

If you are running MP v0.2.2 stand alone place the Zap2itPlugin.dll file in the plugins\process folder.
Example: C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal\plugins\process

If you are running the TVServer put the Zap2itPlugin.dll file into the Plugins folder in the TVServer folder.
Example: C:\Program Files\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\Plugins

The download zip file contains 2 zip files.
The BIN file contains the plugin dll file and the SRC contains the source code if you are interested.


2. Start the configuration program and go to the plugins section and enable the Zap2it Plugin (it will probably be at the very bottom) by right clicking on it. If you don't see the plugin then you probably have the DLL in the wrong place, go back and check!

3. Configure the plugin by right clicking on it and selecting configure.

4. Enter your Zap2it login and password information (double check to make sure they are correct!). Also, make sure you have a working Zap2it lineup configured already at the labs.zap2it.com website.

5. Hover over the options for online help

6. Do an AUTOSCAN for your channels (if you are using analogue cable or antenna, obviously not if you are using satelite or digital cable where you have an external box)

7. Save and exit the configuration and start MediaPortal.

In about 15 seconds after starting MediaPortal, the plugin should start updating your EPG information and unless you disabled the option in the configuration it will show a popup window telling you it was sucessful. This entire process can take up to 20-30 minutes so please allow this much time for the first run of the plugin.

If you see a sucess message, you are all done. It will now keep your EPG data updated in the automatically while MediaPortal is running.

You will find log information in the logs\epg.log file below your MediaPortal installation directory (tv.log for the TVE3 version).

If you have any issues, please post the contents of your epg.log file to http://pastebin.team-mediaportal.com and post the link.

1.0: 6/6/06

Initial release for testing

1.1: 6/7/06

Updated detection mechanism for repeat episodes from zap2it forum discussion
Fixed minor tooltip issue in config form
Updated automapping to work with analog cable channels that are auto-tuned

1.2: 6/11/06

Fixed repeat detection logic and added original air date if known to program description
Added more information (episode title, show original air date, year and star rating for movies) to description
Allowed user to configure which external input to be used when automatically adding new channels
Removed code that was resetting channel numbers each import, now channel numbers are set on on new channels
Added experimental code to autoset frequency information for broadcast and analog cable channels

1.3: 6/21/06

Fixed a bug when setting channel numbers
Removed experimental code for frequency information
Changed automatic channel adding to only work for digital cable & satellite. For analog cable/OTA you must autotune first then match
Added config option to force a guide update on the next start of MediaPortal
Changed from asynch SOAP to synch SOAP request (should not make any perceived difference)
Added tab for viewing and updating your zap2it lineups and channels without going to the Zap2it web site
Added logic not to skip schedule import if no channels were sucessfully processed

1.4: 6/29/06

Removed dependency on MPListView (reverted to System.Forms.ListView) as I was not using any MP features
Changed the key for weblineup collections to use the internal ID and not channel number (as it is possible to have dupe numbers)

1.5: 7/16/06

Put a check for DIRECTV when Zap2it classifies it as an analogue cable provider
Put a check for when no channels are imported (normally means you didn't autotune) and notify user
Added a popup notify if there is no Internet connection instead of silently failing
Fixed a bug when there is no network connection it still tried to get the next update time from Zap2it

UPDATES: (Post modifications made by natrlhy)

A special thanks to patrick for these updates from this point on! THANKS patrick!!!

1.6: 9/29/2006

Further fixes to prevent crashing when no internet available.

1.7: 10/23/2006

When attempting to MATCH a channel from a lineup that is an OTA Broadcast
will attempt to find a match using the Broadcast Channel Number.
When attempting to MATCH a channel from a lineup that is NOT an OTA Broadcast
(example Cable) will attempt to find a match using the Major Channel Number.
Only if a match is not found using the above will loop through the channels
again checking for matches using reverse logic.
This should not change anything with the way ATSC channels are matched.
I did not know if ATSC channels will always be from a OTA broadcast listing
or if it is possible they could be part of a cable/sat lineup.

1.8: 01/06/07

Fixed bug where NextPoll could get scheduled in the past and never start
Fixed bug in RunEpgImport where the endDate could be set to before startDate
Increased the timeout for managing lineup data in the configuration.
Added code to check for valid ATSC subChannel
Added a DigitalTerrestrialSubChannel lookup that gets the subChannel from Callsign.
Allow zap2it xtvd channel to be a string and try/catch parse for ChannelMajor.
Changed setting to zap2it.xml - MP changed API for internal settings class, making release & SVN incompatible
(TVE3 Only) Re-work of plugin to use with the MP TV Engine.
(TVE3 Only) Added option to match channels by channel number without a frequency
(TVE3 Only) Added Country Selection to pre-select for the auto-added external channels
(TVE3 Only) Added additional log entries that indicate options.
(TVE3 Only) Added optional channel sorting
(TVE3 Only) Added option to delete unmapped channels

v1.8a: 01/09/07

Changed settings back to internal mediaportal
Changed debug output to MediaPortal specified log folder
(TVE3 ONLY) Changed RemoveOverlappingPrograms back to scan all programs

[Commodore 64]

This is a fantastic addition for those of us who have struggled with the XMLTV timezone and format issues. Just take alook att he stickied thread over there in the EPG forum...

Thanks a lot Jonathan and let's get some feedback!

PS: I'm all about Ronco.

[chili]

Bam! the best thing for MP to come in a long time.
Thank you for doing this! I will install later today.

[mzemina]

I LOVE that it now says (Repeat) but I don't know if this a once only occurance, I haven't seen this in other episodes that should also be labeled as repeat (well shouldn't all of broadcast TV be labeled repeat since we are between seasons). Strange that Friends isn't labeled as repeat since it is in syndication and all episodes are repeat.

So far so good!

EDIT: The only thing is that I didn't remember seeing the success message!

Mike

[bradsjm]

Originally Posted by mzemina

I LOVE that it now says (Repeat) but I don't know if this a once only occurance, I haven't seen this in other episodes that should also be labeled as repeat

Thanks for pointing this out. The bad news is that this flag is in the original data and I'm just checking it and it isn't reliable. The good news is Zap2it know and have come up with this formula which can improve the detection of repeats but doesn't solve it completely:

Originally Posted by tmstom

After consulting with our editorial staff, I can report to you that we should, in the future, be able to indicate definitively whether shows are syndicated or first-run. In the current release, however, it is unfortunately an unrealiable proposition to glean this from the "repeat" field.

In the meantime, the best way to distinguish first-run from syndicated shows will be with the Original Airdate (OAD) field.

I'll refer to the Section 4's explanation of xtvd/schedules/schedule/@program. ProgramIDs are 12-character strings beginning with a 2-letter string followed by a 10-number code. The ProgramIDs come in four flavors corresponding to four, 2-letter prefixes: "MV" (movie), "SP" (sports), "EP" (episode), and "SH" (show).
OAD is not included with any MV- or SP-records. For MV records, the year indicates when the movie was produced.

EP-records have proper originalAirDate information. The OAD of a program with an "EP" prefix is the OAD of that particular episode.

Where it gets a little sticky is with "SH" records. SH-records are for programs that lack episodic information. OAD is sometimes included in these records, but it can be misleading. Your example of "Whose Line is it Anyway?" above is a good example. The key point to realize is that with SH-type records, OAD refers to the originalAirDate of the show, not the episode. SH-records lack episode-level granularity for OAD.

HOWEVER, this does not mean that OAD is useless for SH-records. It is useful if you look at the showType attribute, an optional field that distinguishes how a program was originally produced. The showType lets you know whether a program is a series or a one-time program, and this information lets you know how to use the OAD.
Programs with showType of "Short Film" or "Special" are one-time programs, and thus the OAD refers to the originalAirDate of the show itself.

Programs with showType of "Limited Series," "Miniseries," "Paid Programming," "Serial," and "Series" have more than one instance, and OAD refers to the originalAirDate of the first show in the multipart series. Thus, the OAD in these cases is the first time the show ever ran. ("Whose Line is it Anyway?" fits into this category.)

Finally, it must be noted that showType is an optional field in the schema. SH-type programs can have an OAD and no showType. In this case, you won't know whether an SH-program is of type "Series" or "Special." Therefore, you won't know whether the OAD refers to the program itself or the first-showing of a series of programs.

So I've added code to use the logic above and I'll put it in the next build for testing

[mzemina]

Originally Posted by bradsjm

...So I've added code to use the logic above and I'll put it in the next build for testing

Fantastic news! Great to hear!

[wishywashy]

Thank you! Thank you!

Works like a charm for me on two different machines.

[jml]

When I go to my plugins I don't see this listed, and as far as I can tell I put the files in the correct location, any idea what I might have done wrong?

[broadband412]

Wow I'm very happy to see something like this come about. Hopefully I will start getting episode descriptions in my listings. In my opinion, there are conflicts with XMLTV and Mediaportal that prevent info such as episode names from showing up. I will definately try this.

[Commodore 64]

Originally Posted by jml

When I go to my plugins I don't see this listed, and as far as I can tell I put the files in the correct location, any idea what I might have done wrong?

Please install the latest SVN.

Make sure you put the .dll file into the Process directory.