[bluezed]

*** No longer maintained - Feel free to fork the project on GitHub though! ***


script.epg.direct

EPG-Direct
Current version: v0.6.7

I've been working on adapting the great TV Guide by twinther to directly access the data from SchedulesDirect.org and have now come up with this little Addon

In the settings it allows you to pick and choose exactly the channels you want from the SchedulesDirect lineups and then downloads the program data through their JSON-API and populates the local database. So no more generating XMLTV files and scraping websites for the programme data.

NOTE: In order the be able to use this addon you will require a valid subscription form SchedulesDirect.org which will enable you to access the entire channel lineup of legally licenced guide data. They do offer free trials so you can give it a go without making any commitments.

Installation & Config: README
Github-Repo: https://github.com/bluezed/repository.bluezed
Direct download: repository.bluezed-1.1.zip

It's still in the early stages but should be mostly functional. But if you find any issues please post here or raise an issue on my GitHub repo and please don't forget to add a Debug log if possible

Also, if someone would like to do some more in-depth beta-testing then please PM me directly as I can arrange a longer trial period with SchedulesDirect...

[Varming]

This sounds great - will test it tonight!

UPDATE: I tested a bit with the Danish lineups and it only shows a subset of the channels the providers provide - and one of the biggest TV providers is Denmark can't be found at all. So the addon seems to work very fine but the data it gets is somehow limited.

UPDATE 2: The seems to be a limit to how many lineups you can add/remove pr day so I can't test more for today

[gaskell1066]

i cannot seem to get the plugin to login to shedules direct, when putting in my username it keeps saying no settings file has been created?? it wil not let me enter a password?? Please help

[bluezed]

Hey thanks for testing

This sounds great - will test it tonight!

UPDATE: I tested a bit with the Danish lineups and it only shows a subset of the channels the providers provide - and one of the biggest TV providers is Denmark can't be found at all. So the addon seems to work very fine but the data it gets is somehow limited.

UPDATE 2: The seems to be a limit to how many lineups you can add/remove pr day so I can't test more for today

Ok, I don't know how many stations SchedulesDirect cover in each country. The ones I checked (Germany, UK, Austria) seemed to be complete. Could well be that some are missing for other countries though...

Yes, there's a limit on how many lineups you can add/remove per day that's enforced by SchedulesDirect. Guess for testing that's a bit annoying...

i cannot seem to get the plugin to login to shedules direct, when putting in my username it keeps saying no settings file has been created?? Please help

Ah, I think you found a bug This appears to happen if you try to enter user and pass before the actual settings file has been created. Until I can fix it you can just open the settings, click Save once and then it should work ok. Guess the settings only get created at that stage... Will look into a fix...

Thanks guys

[rkulagow]

UPDATE: I tested a bit with the Danish lineups and it only shows a subset of the channels the providers provide - and one of the biggest TV providers is Denmark can't be found at all. So the addon seems to work very fine but the data it gets is somehow limited.

[I work for Schedules Direct]

Please open a lineup issue on our website (where you created your account) and let me know the postal code that you're in, and the provider which is missing. I can contact our upstream to see if the provider is already known to them, and if the lack of data is because of a B2B issue between them, or if we just need a refresh.

[gaskell1066]

is there anyway you can switch the channels around on the epg and move the sorting order around?? also it there anyway you can make the program not be ini reliant as it is not picking up the plugin that i use?? at the moment i have to go into each channel add to favourites then point the epg at that favourite

[bluezed]

is there anyway you can switch the channels around on the epg and move the sorting order around?? also it there anyway you can make the program not be ini reliant as it is not picking up the plugin that i use?? at the moment i have to go into each channel add to favourites then point the epg at that favourite

Yes, with a channel selected in the actual guide open the context menu (C-key on a keyboard) and select "Channels". There's a short description on how you can change the sort order of the channels in that window then.

The ini is a left-over from the original TV Guide and so far I've not looked into changing that system. I've concentrated on linking to the SchedulesDirect JSON-API as a first step and once that's all working smoothly I will look at other areas. However, to not have to use favourits one by one you can take the addons.ini file and edit it to use your plugins, place it somewhere you like and then in the settings change the guide to use your addons.ini file.

Hope that helps...

[gaskell1066]

Thanks for the update, i have now sorted the channel order out :-) The plugin your creating is awesome, as at the moment i am creating my own xml file that i run every morning and your plugin auto-downloads from an API makes things so much easier. I appreciate that you are concentrating on linking to ShedulesDirect at the moment and appreciate all your hardwork. I will just use favourites for the moment as the .ini file isnt behaving itself :-)

[Varming]

For generating the .ini you could use this plugin:
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=282157

and then use the JSON project for the actual EPG.

The only problem I've seen with http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=282157 is that it doesn't work well with the Ruya service... and personally I like the JSON solution a lot more than using XMLTV files.

[bluezed]

Just a quick update to say the Settings issue when it's newly installed should be fixed now.

[Varming]

UPDATE: I tested a bit with the Danish lineups and it only shows a subset of the channels the providers provide - and one of the biggest TV providers is Denmark can't be found at all. So the addon seems to work very fine but the data it gets is somehow limited.

[I work for Schedules Direct]

Please open a lineup issue on our website (where you created your account) and let me know the postal code that you're in, and the provider which is missing. I can contact our upstream to see if the provider is already known to them, and if the lack of data is because of a B2B issue between them, or if we just need a refresh.

It seems Schedules Direct isn't up to date with channel lineups and I don't want to use a lot of time communicating with them to make their service up to date - isn't that what I pay them for..? So I love the idea but the data provider simply isn't good enough (for me) so I'd rather spend some hours setting up the WebGrab+ Plus instead .. hate to use the time but at least I'm then able to get the data I need.

[bluezed]

It seems Schedules Direct isn't up to date with channel lineups and I don't want to use a lot of time communicating with them to make their service up to date - isn't that what I pay them for..? So I love the idea but the data provider simply isn't good enough (for me) so I'd rather spend some hours setting up the WebGrab+ Plus instead .. hate to use the time but at least I'm then able to get the data I need.

Shame... but can understand where you're coming from...

I've now totally switched from my old XMLTV based guide to this one and haven't found any gaps or errors in the lineups yet. But I only have some German and UK channels...

But thank you for trying the addon! I very much appreciate that you took the time

[Varming]

It really is a very nice setup and I would love to use it - I really like your work!

In Denmark all TV providers got 3 packages: Small, Medium and Large. Schedules Direct only show the small setup for most of those - and the only "Large" lineup I found is missing channels that has been around for more than a year.

BUT: Thanks for your great work and time spent!

[rkulagow]

In Denmark all TV providers got 3 packages: Small, Medium and Large. Schedules Direct only show the small setup for most of those - and the only "Large" lineup I found is missing channels that has been around for more than a year.

Hi - based on your username / last name, it looks like you've opened a ticket with us. Thanks for that; we'll work with you to get the lineup updated and as accurate as possible. Please check your email; I sent you a reply yesterday for some additional information.

The lineup information is based on what we get from a provider; (we / our upstream doesn't use web pages because there's a business-to-business relationship / contract that has to be established) and some providers are better than others at letting us know about lineup updates.

[htpcmac]

The backend of the add-on works great. I can fetch the guide and configure the channels in minutes. Very slick and smooth.

Feature request would be an ini free 'browse' section like TV Guide Fullscreen.

I'll be testing this add-on throughout the weekend.

GJ.