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bionicdonkey

This did not work the way I was thinking it would. I think I know why.

I looked in the database using the SQL Lite Database Browser tool and found that for internal channels, the field iChannelNr contains the "channel number" that I am looking for.

However for external channels (i.e satellite/cable channels via external box) the field iChannelNr always contains "10001", the 'address' of the video/audio inputs on one of the cards. The actual channel in this case is in field ExternalChannel.

There is no single field in the database where the "channel number" in (North American usage) is stored as a numeric value. The closest thing is in strChannel where the first "n" characters are the "channel number" (e.g. "10 WPLG", "67 SCIFI", "300 HBO", etc.)

Unless I missed something, it looks like the current database schema makes this more complex than first suspected. It would be silly to parse the strChannel value for the channel as this is pretty much arbitrary.

One possible change would be to always store the actual "channel number" in the ExternalChannel field regardless of the nature of the channel type (internal vs external.) My "guess" is that this field is used to obtain the value to send out on the IR transmitter to change the satellite/cable box. Always storing the "channel number" in this field would then allow it to be used as both

- an identifier for the channel when using direct channel access, regardless of the channel type;
- a source of the channel value to send to an external satellite/cable box.

Another alternative would be to examine the field bExternal when doing a direct channel access lookup and obtain the "channel number" from the appropriate field depending on the setting of the bExternal value.

------------------------------------
In conjunction with all of this it has occured to me that two other mods would be useful for folks with a large number of channels:

- a 'one-button' selection from the TVGuide would be useful. With the highlight on a channel a single unique button to go to that channel. As it stands now you have to hit "F3" then select from the menu;

- a semi-transparent TVGuide overlay in Fullscreen mode to allow you to bring up the TVGuide and go to a channel directly from there.

Both of these of course should be in the Feature Request category but I thought I'd mention them while they were fresh in my mind.

<blockquote data-quote="Anonymous" data-source="post: 11729">bionicdonkeyThis did not work the way I was thinking it would. I think I know why.I looked in the database using the SQL Lite Database Browser tool and found that for internal channels, the field &lt;u&gt;iChannelNr&lt;/u&gt; contains the &quot;channel number&quot; that I am looking for. However for external channels (i.e satellite/cable channels via external box) the field &lt;u&gt;iChannelNr&lt;/u&gt; always contains &quot;10001&quot;, the 'address' of the video/audio inputs on one of the cards. The actual channel in this case is in field &lt;u&gt;ExternalChannel&lt;/u&gt;.There is no single field in the database where the &quot;channel number&quot; in (North American usage) is stored as a numeric value. The closest thing is in &lt;u&gt;strChannel&lt;/u&gt; where the first &quot;n&quot; characters are the &quot;channel number&quot; (e.g. &quot;10 WPLG&quot;, &quot;67 SCIFI&quot;, &quot;300 HBO&quot;, etc.)Unless I missed something, it looks like the current database schema makes this more complex than first suspected. It would be silly to parse the strChannel value for the channel as this is pretty much arbitrary. One possible change would be to always store the actual &quot;channel number&quot; in the &lt;u&gt;ExternalChannel&lt;/u&gt; field regardless of the nature of the channel type (internal vs external.) My &quot;guess&quot; is that this field is used to obtain the value to send out on the IR transmitter to change the satellite/cable box. Always storing the &quot;channel number&quot; in this field would then allow it to be used as both - an identifier for the channel when using direct channel access, regardless of the channel type;- a source of the channel value to send to an external satellite/cable box.Another alternative would be to examine the field &lt;u&gt;bExternal&lt;/u&gt; when doing a direct channel access lookup and obtain the &quot;channel number&quot; from the appropriate field depending on the setting of the &lt;u&gt;bExternal&lt;/u&gt; value.------------------------------------In conjunction with all of this it has occured to me that two other mods would be useful for folks with a large number of channels:- a 'one-button' selection from the TVGuide would be useful. With the highlight on a channel a single unique button to go to that channel. As it stands now you have to hit &quot;F3&quot; then select from the menu;- a semi-transparent TVGuide overlay in Fullscreen mode to allow you to bring up the TVGuide and go to a channel directly from there.Both of these of course should be in the Feature Request category but I thought I'd mention them while they were fresh in my mind.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Anonymous, post: 11729"] bionicdonkey This did not work the way I was thinking it would. I think I know why. I looked in the database using the SQL Lite Database Browser tool and found that for [b]internal[/b] channels, the field iChannelNr contains the "channel number" that I am looking for. However for [b]external[/b] channels (i.e satellite/cable channels via external box) the field iChannelNr always contains "10001", the 'address' of the video/audio inputs on one of the cards. The actual channel in this case is in field ExternalChannel. There is no single field in the database where the "channel number" in (North American usage) is stored as a numeric value. The closest thing is in strChannel where the first "n" characters are the "channel number" (e.g. "10 WPLG", "67 SCIFI", "300 HBO", etc.) Unless I missed something, it looks like the current database schema makes this more complex than first suspected. It would be silly to parse the strChannel value for the channel as this is pretty much arbitrary. One possible change would be to [b]always[/b] store the actual "channel number" in the ExternalChannel field regardless of the nature of the channel type (internal vs external.) My "guess" is that this field is used to obtain the value to send out on the IR transmitter to change the satellite/cable box. Always storing the "channel number" in this field would then allow it to be used as both - an identifier for the channel when using direct channel access, regardless of the channel type; - a source of the channel value to send to an external satellite/cable box. Another alternative would be to examine the field bExternal when doing a direct channel access lookup and obtain the "channel number" from the appropriate field depending on the setting of the bExternal value. ------------------------------------ In conjunction with all of this it has occured to me that two other mods would be useful for folks with a large number of channels: - a 'one-button' selection from the TVGuide would be useful. With the highlight on a channel a single unique button to go to that channel. As it stands now you have to hit "F3" then select from the menu; - a semi-transparent TVGuide overlay in Fullscreen mode to allow you to bring up the TVGuide and go to a channel directly from there. Both of these of course should be in the Feature Request category but I thought I'd mention them while they were fresh in my mind. [/QUOTE]