My setup is pretty simple: zap2it --> EPG Collector --> Windows 7 media center
My question is around generic epg data and series recordings. I have my series set to record, but only new episodes. I pull two weeks worth of epg data at a time and update daily. Some epg data is generic. Blue Bloods, for example, on Friday June 5th doesn't list a specific episode yet. It just has a generic description of the series. Windows 7 media center scheduled a recording since nothing about the listing says repeat.
I have two questions:
1) when tv guide updates the listing with a specific episode, will zap2it and then EPG collector scrape and import the updated listing to Windows 7 media center? I think the expected behavior is yes.
2) the episode will of course be a repeat. Will Windows media center know to NOT record? Does it ever update it's scheduled recordings after they're set?
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I'm in the process of writting a memo on how to use zap2it and the arguments to use. I'm guessing that you pull data from zap2it every day, in that case, the zap2it program caches the data you pull for each day and will reuse that data on future days. Once the cache is full, each time you request new data, the zap2it program reuses the data it has cached, and ONLY pulls data from days that it doesn't have cached. So if you are pulling 14 days of data, it caches all 14 days and then process it. The next day when you request 14 days of data, it throws away yesterday day cache, reuses the data from days 1-13 from the cache and zap2it ONLY pulls data from zap2it for day 14. Zap2it does a pretty good job of having up todate information for days 1-7, but data that more then 7 days out is where you get a lot of the generic entries. To get around this problem, zap2it has the -N argument, which tells it how many current days to reload. I use -N 1 in my pull to refresh the next 24 hours. With fixpack 24 or newer, the generic information in WMC gets replaced with the correct information.
1) If you are using zap2it with only a few options, zap2it will cache the data and it will NOT update the generic data. If you tell zap2it to NOT cache the current day (or two), then zap2it will reload those days and it will be passed along to WMC.
2) With generic information, WMC is unsure if the program is new or repeat and will schedule it to be recorded, but once replace with the correct data, WMC will do the right thing.
It seems to me that the data that we get from zap2it is 99.9% good 1 hour out, 99.5% 24 hours out, 99% good days 2-7, but only 97% for days 7 to 14 days out. If you tell zap2it to pull 14 days of data, you are only pulling data from day 14, and reusing data from days 1-13. After a couple of weeks, since we are only pulling data from day 14, ALL the data we have is old and contains lots of generic entries.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
I've been reading several threads and learning more about the topic. Here are my settings:
1) I am pulling from zap2it every day
2) I am using fixpack 25
3) I am using -N 1
4) I am also using -D
5) I've been using 14 days, but I just switched to 10
Here are my issues/findings:
1) it seems like generic data doesn't always get updated in WMC. For example, tonight my WMC guide still has generic data for Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers even though zap2it has specific data.
2) but sometimes it does -- I had generic data for Blue Bloods and all of the Chicago shows that seems to have updated. Bull is still generic -- but that matches zap2it at least.
3) do generic programs need to be marked as series in order to be updated? In other words, do I need the -j tag in my zap2it batch file?
4) I think WMC does remove the scheduled recording once the data gets updated with repeat. The above shows were all scheduled to record, but now they are not.
5) I think checking "set empty previously shown tags to default date" stops WMC from scheduling recordings for generic data. Bull is still scheduled to record, but I don't think checking that box after the fact goes back and overrides old data.
6) somewhat unrelated, but is there a way to make WMC only record one episode of a show with multiple showings? Some dancing show my wife likes on fox shows new episodes on Tuesday and then the same episode on Friday. WMC schedules and records both as new.
If you would like to refer to this comment somewhere else in this project, copy and paste the following link:
My setup is pretty simple: zap2it --> EPG Collector --> Windows 7 media center
My question is around generic epg data and series recordings. I have my series set to record, but only new episodes. I pull two weeks worth of epg data at a time and update daily. Some epg data is generic. Blue Bloods, for example, on Friday June 5th doesn't list a specific episode yet. It just has a generic description of the series. Windows 7 media center scheduled a recording since nothing about the listing says repeat.
I have two questions:
1) when tv guide updates the listing with a specific episode, will zap2it and then EPG collector scrape and import the updated listing to Windows 7 media center? I think the expected behavior is yes.
2) the episode will of course be a repeat. Will Windows media center know to NOT record? Does it ever update it's scheduled recordings after they're set?
I'm in the process of writting a memo on how to use zap2it and the arguments to use. I'm guessing that you pull data from zap2it every day, in that case, the zap2it program caches the data you pull for each day and will reuse that data on future days. Once the cache is full, each time you request new data, the zap2it program reuses the data it has cached, and ONLY pulls data from days that it doesn't have cached. So if you are pulling 14 days of data, it caches all 14 days and then process it. The next day when you request 14 days of data, it throws away yesterday day cache, reuses the data from days 1-13 from the cache and zap2it ONLY pulls data from zap2it for day 14. Zap2it does a pretty good job of having up todate information for days 1-7, but data that more then 7 days out is where you get a lot of the generic entries. To get around this problem, zap2it has the -N argument, which tells it how many current days to reload. I use -N 1 in my pull to refresh the next 24 hours. With fixpack 24 or newer, the generic information in WMC gets replaced with the correct information.
1) If you are using zap2it with only a few options, zap2it will cache the data and it will NOT update the generic data. If you tell zap2it to NOT cache the current day (or two), then zap2it will reload those days and it will be passed along to WMC.
2) With generic information, WMC is unsure if the program is new or repeat and will schedule it to be recorded, but once replace with the correct data, WMC will do the right thing.
It seems to me that the data that we get from zap2it is 99.9% good 1 hour out, 99.5% 24 hours out, 99% good days 2-7, but only 97% for days 7 to 14 days out. If you tell zap2it to pull 14 days of data, you are only pulling data from day 14, and reusing data from days 1-13. After a couple of weeks, since we are only pulling data from day 14, ALL the data we have is old and contains lots of generic entries.
Thanks Carl!
I've been reading several threads and learning more about the topic. Here are my settings:
1) I am pulling from zap2it every day
2) I am using fixpack 25
3) I am using -N 1
4) I am also using -D
5) I've been using 14 days, but I just switched to 10
Here are my issues/findings:
1) it seems like generic data doesn't always get updated in WMC. For example, tonight my WMC guide still has generic data for Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers even though zap2it has specific data.
2) but sometimes it does -- I had generic data for Blue Bloods and all of the Chicago shows that seems to have updated. Bull is still generic -- but that matches zap2it at least.
3) do generic programs need to be marked as series in order to be updated? In other words, do I need the -j tag in my zap2it batch file?
4) I think WMC does remove the scheduled recording once the data gets updated with repeat. The above shows were all scheduled to record, but now they are not.
5) I think checking "set empty previously shown tags to default date" stops WMC from scheduling recordings for generic data. Bull is still scheduled to record, but I don't think checking that box after the fact goes back and overrides old data.
6) somewhat unrelated, but is there a way to make WMC only record one episode of a show with multiple showings? Some dancing show my wife likes on fox shows new episodes on Tuesday and then the same episode on Friday. WMC schedules and records both as new.