i've noticed duplicates in the schedule listing in vdr.
i use tv_grab.au and xlmtv2vdr to import xmltv listings into vdr. vdr also populates the schedule automatically based on the DVB electronic program guide. i don't know if it's different elsewhere, but the EPG here in Melbourne gives you the details for the current program (on the current channel) and the next program.....this is why i use xmltv to get the next few days worth of program guides.
what is happening is that instead of replacing the schedule entry imported by xmltv2vdr, the DVB listing is added to the schedule, so i end up with schedules like the following:
12:00 - 12:30 Stateline [1] 12:03 - 12:30 Stateline [2] 12:30 - 13:00 Australian Story [3] 12:30 - 13:00 Australian Story [4] 13:00 - 13:40 Foreign Correspondent 13:40 - 14:00 Wild Tails 14:00 - 15:00 Naked Planet 15:00 - 15:30 Pilot Globe Guide
is there any way to make vdr replace a listing rather than add a new one?
this would eliminate duplicates and make it more accurate (the DVB program guide is more up-to-date than the xmltv listing). The DVB entry also has more data (the xmltv listings here usually don't have any details about the program, little more than just the name and the time, while the DVB listing invaribaly has a summary description of the program).
e.g. with the two duplicates above, the first of each pair is from xmltv and has no description, while the second is from DVB and has a useful description.
[1] Stateline (G) Repeat
[2] Stateline VIC news and current affairs presented by Kathy Bowlen. Feature stories and regional reports, interviews with state political, business and community leaders.
[3] Australian Story (G) Repeat
[4] Australian Story The Gathering Storm Pt:2 - Continues the saga of Beth Heinrich, and her 40-year love affair with with a married priest who went on to become Australia's most senior Anglican bishop.
note that the program titles aren't always identical. sometimes there are minor differences in spelling, abbreviations used, or upper/lower case or start/stop time. i think that the best way to handle this is to consider the DVB guide data to be correct, and any conflicting schedule entry to be false....i.e. if a DVB entry is in the same time period as a schedule entry, then just delete the schedule entry.
BTW, this is worse than just a cosmetic annoyance. it also causes duplicate recordings if an Auto-Timer is set in vdradmin....it notices that the schedule says there are two programs on the same channel at the same time that match the auto-timer criteria, so it records both.
craig
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, Craig Sanders (CS) wrote:
CS> i use tv_grab.au and xlmtv2vdr to import xmltv listings into vdr. vdr CS> also populates the schedule automatically based on the DVB electronic CS> program guide. i don't know if it's different elsewhere, but the EPG CS> here in Melbourne gives you the details for the current program (on CS> the current channel) and the next program.....this is why i use xmltv CS> to get the next few days worth of program guides. CS> CS> what is happening is that instead of replacing the schedule entry CS> imported by xmltv2vdr, the DVB listing is added to the schedule, so i CS> end up with schedules like the following:
IIRC, the DVB EPG contains an event id for every event (schedule entry), which is used to identify events and changes. So if the start time changes, they send the same event with the same event id and a different start time, and thete are no dublicates.
Now, the tv_grab.au and xlmtv2vdr use some other source (websites?) to fetch the schedule data. and the websites use different event ids (if at all) than those transmitted over DVB. There you go: you have the same event twice (with two different event ids), one from DVB EPG and one from xmltv2vdr.
one solution would be to disable DVB EPG completely, but then you would lose the detailed summary of the events, which are not imported by xmltv2vdr. Of course, you could check why the detailed description is not imported by those two programs: due to the lack of them in the source they use or just because they don't import the detailed information.
HTH, Sergei
Sergei Haller writes:
IIRC, the DVB EPG contains an event id for every event (schedule entry), which is used to identify events and changes. So if the start time changes, they send the same event with the same event id and a different start time, and thete are no dublicates.
In principle, yes. In practice, either there is a bug somewhere in VDR/vdradmin or the broadcasters are not doing it that way.
I do not use any outside sources but still get duplicate timers (or in worst cases even four) from vdradmin. This leads to a question:
In the case where at some channel the schedule changes so that the event ids are changed for the programs, does VDR delete old events from its data structures?
yours, Jouni
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, Jouni Karvo (JK) wrote:
JK> Sergei Haller writes: JK> > JK> > IIRC, the DVB EPG contains an event id for every event (schedule entry), JK> > which is used to identify events and changes. So if the start time JK> > changes, they send the same event with the same event id and a different JK> > start time, and thete are no dublicates. JK> JK> In principle, yes. In practice, either there is a bug somewhere in JK> VDR/vdradmin or the broadcasters are not doing it that way. JK> JK> I do not use any outside sources but still get duplicate timers (or in JK> worst cases even four) from vdradmin. This leads to a question: JK> JK> In the case where at some channel the schedule changes so that the JK> event ids are changed for the programs, does VDR delete old events JK> from its data structures?
AFAIK, if the broadcaster sends correct data (i.e., the same event id with new start/stop time), then VDRs EPG just replaces the old event with the new one.
if the broadcaster sends a wrong event id or no id at all, you can't do anything about it.
I don't know what vdradmin does.
c ya Sergei
Hi,
Some EPG providers, e.g. SAT1 A, are not using the event id in a correct way. You can use the
NO_EVENTID_ON = <list of channels>
tag in vdradmind.conf to mark these channels. It should work fine than.
Markus
Am Samstag, 12. März 2005 13:30 schrieb Sergei Haller:
AFAIK, if the broadcaster sends correct data (i.e., the same event id with new start/stop time), then VDRs EPG just replaces the old event with the new one.
if the broadcaster sends a wrong event id or no id at all, you can't do anything about it.
I don't know what vdradmin does.
c ya Sergei
Craig Sanders wrote:
i've noticed duplicates in the schedule listing in vdr.
...cut...
imported by xmltv2vdr, the DVB listing is added to the schedule, so i end up with schedules like the following:
12:00 - 12:30 Stateline [1] 12:03 - 12:30 Stateline [2] 12:30 - 13:00 Australian Story [3] 12:30 - 13:00 Australian Story [4]
...cut...
If the program times and / or the titles are not exact, there's very little magic VDR can do. I am using xmltv2vdr and it works very well - but the data I'm using (Radio Times for the UK BBC) seems to be the same as that which is eventually transmitted - thus no conflicts. I have NOT seen cases such as the Australian Story in your example: are there trailing spaces? FYI, I'm using 1.3.22.
The alternative is to populate VDR's EPG ONLY using external programs such as xmltv2vdr. This may require a patch to VDR - I haven't needed this function so I'm not sure how to go about it.
Sean
Craig Sanders wrote:
i've noticed duplicates in the schedule listing in vdr.
i use tv_grab.au and xlmtv2vdr to import xmltv listings into vdr. vdr also populates the schedule automatically based on the DVB electronic program guide. i don't know if it's different elsewhere, but the EPG here in Melbourne gives you the details for the current program (on the current channel) and the next program.....this is why i use xmltv to get the next few days worth of program guides.
what is happening is that instead of replacing the schedule entry imported by xmltv2vdr, the DVB listing is added to the schedule, so i end up with schedules like the following:
12:00 - 12:30 Stateline [1] 12:03 - 12:30 Stateline [2] 12:30 - 13:00 Australian Story [3] 12:30 - 13:00 Australian Story [4] 13:00 - 13:40 Foreign Correspondent 13:40 - 14:00 Wild Tails 14:00 - 15:00 Naked Planet 15:00 - 15:30 Pilot Globe Guide
is there any way to make vdr replace a listing rather than add a new one?
this would eliminate duplicates and make it more accurate (the DVB program guide is more up-to-date than the xmltv listing). The DVB entry also has more data (the xmltv listings here usually don't have any details about the program, little more than just the name and the time, while the DVB listing invaribaly has a summary description of the program).
e.g. with the two duplicates above, the first of each pair is from xmltv and has no description, while the second is from DVB and has a useful description.
[1] Stateline (G) Repeat
[2] Stateline VIC news and current affairs presented by Kathy Bowlen. Feature stories and regional reports, interviews with state political, business and community leaders.
[3] Australian Story (G) Repeat
[4] Australian Story The Gathering Storm Pt:2 - Continues the saga of Beth Heinrich, and her 40-year love affair with with a married priest who went on to become Australia's most senior Anglican bishop.
note that the program titles aren't always identical. sometimes there are minor differences in spelling, abbreviations used, or upper/lower case or start/stop time. i think that the best way to handle this is to consider the DVB guide data to be correct, and any conflicting schedule entry to be false....i.e. if a DVB entry is in the same time period as a schedule entry, then just delete the schedule entry.
BTW, this is worse than just a cosmetic annoyance. it also causes duplicate recordings if an Auto-Timer is set in vdradmin....it notices that the schedule says there are two programs on the same channel at the same time that match the auto-timer criteria, so it records both.
craig
I also have this issue. I think there is a patch that is supposed to address this problem. See http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php/Disable-double-epg-entrys-patch
The patch adds the following options to VDR's EPG setup menu:
Period for double EPG search (min) [minutes] extern double Epg entry [delete/adjust] Mix intern and extern EPG [yes/no] Disable running VPS event [yes/no]
I haven't been able to verify how well the patch works yet but it certainly seems to be removing at least some double entries.
On Sun, Mar 13, 2005 at 09:37:49AM +1100, James Lamont wrote:
I also have this issue. I think there is a patch that is supposed to address this problem. See http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php/Disable-double-epg-entrys-patch
The patch adds the following options to VDR's EPG setup menu:
Period for double EPG search (min) [minutes] extern double Epg entry [delete/adjust] Mix intern and extern EPG [yes/no] Disable running VPS event [yes/no]
I haven't been able to verify how well the patch works yet but it certainly seems to be removing at least some double entries.
thanks, that sounds like exactly what i want.
a period of 5 minutes would probably be about right.
craig
Craig Sanders wrote:
On Sun, Mar 13, 2005 at 09:37:49AM +1100, James Lamont wrote:
I also have this issue. I think there is a patch that is supposed to address this problem. See http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php/Disable-double-epg-entrys-patch
The patch adds the following options to VDR's EPG setup menu:
Period for double EPG search (min) [minutes] extern double Epg entry [delete/adjust] Mix intern and extern EPG [yes/no] Disable running VPS event [yes/no]
I haven't been able to verify how well the patch works yet but it certainly seems to be removing at least some double entries.
thanks, that sounds like exactly what i want.
a period of 5 minutes would probably be about right.
craig
I had to appy the patch by hand, there seems to have been minor changes in eit.c since the patch was written. Let me know if you get it working. So far I've managed to get it to remove double EPG entries that have the same times, but thats about all. It might just be a mtter of playing with the settings.
On Sun, Mar 13, 2005 at 10:14:49AM +1100, James Lamont wrote:
I had to appy the patch by hand, there seems to have been minor changes in eit.c since the patch was written.
the patch applied cleanly to Darren Salt's debianised source of 1.3.22.
ganesh:/usr/local/src/vdr/vdr-1.3.22# cat ../disableDoubleEpgEntrys_0.7.1.diff | patch -p1 patching file config.c Hunk #1 succeeded at 297 (offset 2 lines). Hunk #2 succeeded at 458 (offset 4 lines). Hunk #3 succeeded at 524 (offset 6 lines). patching file config.h Hunk #1 succeeded at 251 (offset 2 lines). patching file eit.c patching file epg.c patching file epg.h patching file i18n.c Hunk #1 succeeded at 3934 (offset 147 lines). patching file menu.c Hunk #1 succeeded at 1856 (offset 1 line).
Let me know if you get it working.
it compiled with no errors, the new package installed OK, and it seems to be working fine so far. no dupes in the current schedule. i'll keep an eye on it, but it looks like the problem is fixed.
craig
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, Markus Ehrnsperger wrote:
Hi,
Some EPG providers, e.g. SAT1 A, are not using the event id in a correct way. You can use the
NO_EVENTID_ON = <list of channels>
tag in vdradmind.conf to mark these channels. It should work fine than.
I used vdradmin a year or so ago and used this setting. It worked very well and I had no more duplicates (on channels like MTV3 in Finland).
-- Somewhere around the place I've got an unfinished short story about Schroedinger's Dog; it was mostly moaning about all the attention the cat was getting. -- Terry Pratchett, alt.fan.pratchett
hello,
Jan Ekholm writes:
On Sat, 12 Mar 2005, Markus Ehrnsperger wrote:
NO_EVENTID_ON = <list of channels>
tag in vdradmind.conf to mark these channels. It should work fine than.
I used vdradmin a year or so ago and used this setting. It worked very well and I had no more duplicates (on channels like MTV3 in Finland).
I just tried - and the effect is hilarious.
There are no more (at least in that extent) places of several recordings of the same program with partially overlapping times or otherwise weird times, but...
... now I get 20-30 times exactly equal timers for each event. It seems to add a new identical timer every once and a while.
I wonder if I'll have energy to try to get involved with the source.
yours, Jouni
On Sat, 19 Mar 2005, Jouni Karvo wrote:
NO_EVENTID_ON = <list of channels>
tag in vdradmind.conf to mark these channels. It should work fine than.
I used vdradmin a year or so ago and used this setting. It worked very well and I had no more duplicates (on channels like MTV3 in Finland).
I just tried - and the effect is hilarious.
There are no more (at least in that extent) places of several recordings of the same program with partially overlapping times or otherwise weird times, but...
... now I get 20-30 times exactly equal timers for each event. It seems to add a new identical timer every once and a while.
I wonder if I'll have energy to try to get involved with the source.
I had same problem (timers jumping to different times) and solved it by putting 'NO_EVENTID = 1' to config file. That disabled event ids on every channel and so far it has worked fine.
Anssi Kolehmainen
-
Anssi Kolehmainen -
Craig Sanders -
James Lamont -
Jan Ekholm -
Jouni Karvo -
Markus Ehrnsperger -
Sean Carlos -
Sergei Haller