Copy EPG data of one channel to another? (1 Viewer)

[d3cadent]

Hi there,

I would like to copy programme info from one channel to another.
My provider has no EPG for some HD channels. However, the same channel is also available in SD format, which indeed has EPG data. Now, I would like to retrieve EPG for the SD channel and use it on the HD channel. How's the best way to do this?

 

[mm1352000]

How's the best way to do this?

There are multiple ways. The best way depends on your preference.

One way is to merge the channels.
Another way is to use an external EPG grabber/source. Both XMLTV and WebEPG plugins enable you to specify which EPG data is linked to each channel, and the same EPG data can be linked to more than one channel.

 

[d3cadent]

I will definitely look into merging.
Extra question: will this leave me with the option of watching specifically the SD or HD channel at wish? Or do I need to make a permanent decision which one will be the one available?

WebEPG / XMLTV: currently no data source for my region. I am an avid XMLTV user, but after the latest site change of our local programme portal, XMLTV / WebEPG can not grab programme data anymore (at least this is the situation right now, may change later - depending on XMLTV developers). This is why I have to resort to DVB EPG data.

 

[regeszter]

Extra question: will this leave me with the option of watching specifically the SD or HD channel at wish? Or do I need to make a permanent decision which one will be the one available?

The TVServer will select the available tuner by priority.

 

[d3cadent]

Well, and what happens if both channels are on the same tuner? These are channels of the same provider. Can I control which one I wish to view?

 

[Nervesagent]

I wrote a MS Access form to take care of this for me. You'd need to know how to install an odbc driver and create a form with a button though..

Here's my code:

Dim sSource As String
Dim sTarget As String
Dim ssql

With Form.Recordset
If Not Form.Recordset.EOF = True Then
    Form.Recordset.MoveLast
    Form.Recordset.MoveFirst
End If
While Not Form.Recordset.EOF = True
    sSource = Form.Recordset("Channel")
    sTarget = Form.Recordset("CopyToChannel")
    ssql = "SELECT program.* INTO tblTemp FROM program WHERE program.idChannel=" & sSource
    DoCmd.RunSQL ssql
    DoCmd.RunSQL "UPDATE tblTemp SET idchannel=" & sTarget
    DoCmd.RunSQL "UPDATE tblTemp SET idprogram=NULL"
    DoCmd.RunSQL "INSERT INTO program SELECT * FROM tblTemp"
    DoCmd.RunSQL "DROP TABLE tblTemp"
    Form.Recordset.MoveNext
Wend
End With
End Sub

 

[d3cadent]

Here's my code:

Although external tool, it still does the job.
Can you schedule this to run at times, or do you need to launch it manually?

 

[Nervesagent]

You can use autorun on opening the .mdb and you can put that in a task scheduler.

Currently I've started writing a standalone tool (in vb or powershell, don't know yet) just for this purpose (and to keep up with my programming skills)

 

[Nervesagent]

For anybody who wants to mess with it.
I've kinda extracted the epgcopy part from my extensive Ms Access - MediaPortal toolkit which I use to maintain channels and stuff.
I havent tested my install instructions but let me know if you run into any issues.

 

[d3cadent]

Thank you, Nervesagent.

There is one small error (or something is different on my machine then on yours): when running the command "UPDATE tblTemp SET idprogram=NULL" I get an SQL error that idprogram cannot be null. Anyway, a "UPDATE tblTemp SET idprogram=idprogram + 500000" is just as fine.

Two other possible options for running the queries besides MS Access:
- use Windows Scheduler to run the SQL queries from a batch file
- MySQL has an internal feature called Event Scheduler that can be used for running scheduled query batches, without external scheduler.

Anyway, MS Access is also a possible tool. I just don't have it installed on my media server...