Getting Started (1 Viewer)

[wjw]

The short answer is that you should start by reading the Wiki page. You can ignore the first section as you won't be using the XMLTV GUI - I am assuming that you will use MC2XML as that will get the JSON format data from Schedules Direct.
Concentrate on the section entitled XMLTV Plugin Setup. This bit is important and a bit tedious but you only need to do it once. Also, if you haven't already, you should also read carefully the 2 links I gave in my earlier post.

The really, really important bit is that, whatever grabber you use and however you process the data once you have got it from SD, you make sure that the XMLTV file you want to import into MP is located in the folder as specified when you configure TV Server.

Come back if you need more details and I will try to describe what I did some years ago now!

 

[wjw]

I thought it more appropriate to reply to your latest query in this thread rather than the quite old one.

First, it really doesn't matter which folder you choose run the MC2XML/SED processes in, it's the folder you tell them to put the final TVGuide.xml file that is critical. I attach a screenshot of my XMLTV configuration window. Whatever you put in the highlighted field has to be where you chose to write the final TVGuide.xml guide into.

If you have done this and it still doesn't work then check the contents of that folder to ensure that there really is the .xml file and that it has the data you want in it.

Also, make sure you allow enough time for the import to complete. If you look at the numbers shown on my screenshot it might be helpful to know that this can take 3-5 minutes to import. During that time nothing will happen. If you press the "force import" button and then immediately press the mappings tab, and nothing happens, then the import is under way. If the new mappings window shows immediately up then nothing is happening. You could also have Windows Task manager running to see whether TVServer is consuming any resource at the time.

If this is the case then the only thing left to suggest is that you look at the TVServer logfile. If you really need to do this then make sure you have noted the time that you pressed the import button so that you can reduce the time looking for the relevant part of the logfile. You can post the logfile here and I will be happy to look - but please bear in mind that I am just another user, not a developer!

 

[CyberSimian]

If you look at the numbers shown on my screenshot it might be helpful to know that this can take 3-5 minutes to import.

@dabineri : MP needs to read and parse the xml file, and then update the SQL database with the new programme info.

I use the UK broadcast EPG, but on my system updating the SQL database with programme info for 7 days takes 20 minutes (with an additional 7 minutes for the actual extraction of the programme info from the TV datastream). My HDD is quite slow. If you have installed "TV Server" on an SSD, it might take less time to update the SQL database. But be patient -- allow at least 30 minutes before concluding that it is not working.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[wjw]

@CyberSimian

Thanks for the comment. I tend to forget that my database is on a SSD and does update really rather quickly.

@dabineri

Do allow plenty of time. And I recommend having Task Manager running to see if TVServer is actually doing anything while you are waiting. If you are writing to an HDD you should see quite a lot of disk usage being shown.

 

[dabineri]

WJW, I have spent all day on this and still not working!

Everything is in my C:\EPG folder. When I run mc2xml it shows that it is running in task manager and it does create the xmltv.xml file which looks as if it has the program data in it (by opening this file). I then change the name of that file to tvguide.xml as I believe that is what TV Server is looking for. The TV Server screen says that xmltv.dtd must be in the same folder. Is this correct or should that be tvguide.dtd? When I force IMPORT nothing new shows in task manager so this apparently is not working as I can also click on MAPPING right away and it responds. The wicki says nothing about the SED process. How do I run that manually? Also,could you explain what the third line in your batch file is doing?

Sorry to be such a headache, Thanks for all you support! Errors noted are attached in case useful.

 

[wjw]

I have no idea why this isn't working, so I will try a slightly different approach. If the TVGuide.xml filr is in the folder specified then it has always worked for me.

Please post a full screenshot of your XMLTV configuration window so I can see how you are set up. Then also post a screenshot of the contents of the folder where TVServer has been told where the TVGuide.xml file is.

I suggest you start again from scratch, ignoring my .bat file and the use of SED. This has nothing to do with Media Portal at all and you will not find any reference to it in the WIKI. I use it only to modify the data that comes down from Schedules Direct to adjust the way in which Series/Episode numbers are displayed and has NO reference at all to this process. Set up MC2XML to collect the data you want from Schedules Direct and then use the output from that without further processing - just change the output filename to tvguide.xml (yes, this is the specific file that TVServer is looking for). My reasons for using SED and the whole issue of Series/Episode No. data being displayed are covered at some length in one of the lengthy posts I referred to earlier.

If it still isn't working then, again, I suggest that you post the TVServer logfile that covers the time period after you pressed the import button. Screenshots of any error messages you may get are not really helpful, whereas the detailed log of what TVServer was actually doing may help - although I must stress again that I am not a developer and definitely not an expert on TVServer!

 

[dabineri]

Just noticed this in the tvserver log: "Could not find file 'C:\EPG\tvguide.lst'".
Should this file be present? Where does it come from? does your folder have such a file? Is this perhaps just the stats from the last import?

 

[wjw]

No it does not. Post a screnshot of your XMLTV configuration panel.

 

[wjw]

Just in casew you missed tahis bit in the Wiki:
Import files in new tvguide.lst
A tvguide.lst file is a text file that contains a list of tvguide xml files to import (one filename per line). This would be used where you are using more than one XMLTV grabber or need to import several different xml files. Make sure this is not ticked if you do not have a tvguide.lst as it can cause imports of the tvguide.xml file to fail. When option is ticked, import of the xml:s happen whenever a newer version of the xml files is ready for import, or a new tvguide.lst file is detected.

 

[dabineri]

Good information. Please see attached data.