[PDX_Mark]

In a PVR I can enter a number on a remote or a keyboard like "45" and jump to channel number 45. I can not enter 45.1 from most remotes, for lack of a "." button,  but I can on a keyboard. If I do so on a keyboard I do not jump to channel 45.1. 
 
North American ATSC OTA TV channels  are often numbers with decimals like 45.1 or 7.6. These numbers are usually carried over from the PVR back-end to the user as they are familiar channels.

Many MCE remotes have "*" and "#" keys . I know some Gateway and HP models do. These are directly mappable in the MCE remote addon utility for Kodi on Windows as I recall. However, even if I permanently map "*" to "." , so I can enter 45.1, I swill will not jump to channel 45.1, because the PVR will not jump to a channel with a "." apparently. 

Since there is a need and these buttons seem to have no other common use, it would seem logical that entering 49*1 might serve to jump me to channel 49.1. This kind of replacement is also quite common when entering IP addresses, such as on a VoIP or analog phone keypad.  

I believe there is a certain amount of PVR framework that is Kodi, and not specific to the PVR client. I believe that is the part of the PVR client that processes the input?? I also recall there is an IP address keyboard input in Kodi which should also accept "*" in place of "."

It just seems logical to me so I make it a "feature request" which has the following parts:
Allow "*" to substitute for "." in numeric input for PVR channel selection
Allow PVR to respond to numbers with decimals , so one can jump to that channel
Allow other windows such as IP address input dialog to replace the inputted "*" with "."
Perhaps there is a similar use for the "#" key?

[ksooo]

Regarding channel numbers with a dot should jump to the channel: What you request as a feature here should already work. If not something broke.

Regarding asterisk or #: you could use a custom key mapping for this.

EDIT: I just tested and I can jump just fine to a channel with a number containing a dot when entering that number with my keyboard. If I map a key on my remote to the dot, things also work as expected.

[PDX_Mark]

With Next PVR addon, and no modifier for Keyboard  (no keyboard.xml) on Windows 10 x86-64 Home Kodi 19.4 any time I press the "." key on keyboard I am taken to the right in the Guide schedules, as If I am using ">" key which on EN-US keyboad is on the same key but not being selected in this case.

Now if I go to TV (without Guide) and enter 49.1 I am jumped to channel 491 and the "." is ignored

Then I went into the other room where I have a completely different set-up it is Libreelec Kodi 19.4 with Xbox remote and no keyboard modifiers other than the default ones from libreelec

Doing exactly the same tests I got exactly the same results, again with a keyboard, so no at least in NextPVR it does not happen that way. I have also TVHeadend server installed somewhere and will see if I can create a similarly numbered channel to test it but I think the test results already show me that Kodi interprets "." as ">"

That is all with keyboard BTW, and on two different OSes so remote configuration is not an issue. One confirms the other also with the exact same behavior, so it is not a fluke on one system.

So what you say is the default behavior apparently is not

[PDX_Mark]

I read my previous post (which apparently I can not edit) and aside for some corrections for clarification , I also wanted to say that this Phillips remote also shows "." and "#" on the same button. https://www.ebay.com/itm/252348205067

[PDX_Mark]

Damn why can I not edit my posts? That should be "." and  "*" on the same button!

[ksooo]

Now if I go to TV (without Guide) and enter 49.1 I am jumped to channel 491 and the "." is ignored

So what you say is the default behavior apparently is not

Ah, you are talking about the Guide window. Giving the correct context helps in most cases. ;-) I was assuming you are talking about switching channels in TV/Radio fullscreen using numeric input. There, the key mapping is slightly different and more intuitive than in the Guide window. You can directly use the dot there.

In the Guide and the Channels window, default keyboard mapping for the dot is to jump "forward in the time line" (technically SkipNext action). What you want can be achieved with dot key on the numpad or with longpress dot (on the 'normal' dot key).

Not saying this is intuitive, but this is how it is configured by default.

Again, you can create a custom keymap to change the default behavior.

[PDX_Mark]

I just fired up the Mac OSX 10.15 with Kodi 19.4 and the same NextPVR client to discover exactly the same behavior as noted on Windows and Linux, so at least the Next PVR client on Kodi 19.4 acts that way on 3 platforms Windows 10, Linux (Libreelec), and OSX 10.15 . All were tested with a 'Real keyboard" . I am pretty sure that rules out any possibility of any custom keyboard.xml , as the Mac I used has never has anything like that installed. The Mac is used for testing the PVR on Kodi only when I need to test.

So at least in the case of NextPVR the "."  when typed on the keyboard does not work.

There were still other parts to this OP as well . Lets us not forget them. Kodi should recognize "*" and convert it to "." for PVR and other numeric input

[PDX_Mark]

And BTW you seem to be missing the point. what I am talking about , is a recommendation for the 'Default behavior", so that it is more intuitive and requires less customization.

I know the "*" can be programmed to output "." but most users are not coders and do not want to get under the hood to define when a button should be "*" and when it should be ".". I know from 10+ years of using Kodi what can be done and have done most everything at one point or another but the idea is to make it a better "Out of the box" experience, especially considering the claim is the MCE remote work "(mostly) Out of the box".

When things are not natural or are counterintuitive but have a work-around that makes the set-up of the whole solution more cumbersome. Also consider that in cases like mine although Kodi appears identical on Libreelec, Ubuntu and Windows,  I want (as probably do others) identical behavior on all platforms running Kodi that means modifying a few different platforms (libreelec is not the same as linux as it does not use Lirc, as I recall) .        

I am not looking for the work - around, I know it exists. I know how to implement it and not asking how other than possibly how to identify those keys on various platforms. I am making a "feature request" because the existing functionality is counter-intuitive out of the box. It makes a lot of work , especially for a new user to grasp how to make it all work. The default behavior is more important than you seem to admit.

In any case even if I do the button mapping, it still will not work as expected from the guide nor from TV, only from switching from channel to channel. That it ONLY works switching from channel to channel also proves the point that it is incomplete.

And BTW I thought the "<" and ">" were to navigate the guide but it turns out it is in fact the "," and "." but what kind of logical sense does that make? They work more like a "page left" or "Page right" where as the normal arrow left and arrow right move left and right one step at a time. Seems like an mistake to me. I can see the logic in "<" and ">" to page left/right but see no logic in how it is now.

Just FYI ....

On Windows 10 , the MCE Remote addon, it  has Ctrl + Shift + 8 for the * key. I find no reference to what this hotkey combo does, but I changed it to "." and no joy so apparently my HP remote is using a different signal for the "*" key than the dev used when he wrote that addon.

[ksooo]

If you think this is an issue, open an issue at github.com/xbmc/issues

[PDX_Mark]

If you think this is an issue, open an issue at github.com/xbmc/issues

Yea I do not do that anymore it seems that there is always someone who is too negative, so I have up on reporting bugs that way it has always been a waste of time , especially with the devs of Kodi. I post the issue here and hopefully the devs will have the good sense to make it more logical especially if others chime in. Otherwise I will be in for defending my suggestion which will get me nothing but frustration.

On a side note two observations:

In the keymap editor addon Global > PVR > Channel Number Separator (last entry)  allows the remote to produce "." on the channel list and guide but having issues still getting it all to work at the same time, with a Live TV channel running and numeric input too.

On the subject of numeric input I discovered that by default Libreelec (using the MCE remote config, NOT DEFAULT MULTI REMOTE CONFIG) allows the use of the numeric keypad to be used to input Alpha characters using multiple presses of the same key ex press the "2" key  three times for letter "b" and the "*" is used for Upper lower case Not sure what the  "#" is used for. Not sure how this is achieved in Libreelec but seems quite handy. would be nice to replicate it in Windows to have exactly the same behavior.

[ksooo]

It’s all up to you, but if you want to make the issue official, open an issue. This is the way to get attention of the devs.

BTW: I’m one of those devs and it is pure luck that I stumbled over this thread. ;-)