TivoWebPlus 2.1 Testing and Development

[djl]

I just assumed they were indicative of the same problem, and that you might try clearing the title and reentering it. I KNOW I've seen a post with a more detailed explanation (because it was bugging me a while back) but for the life of me I can't find it...

That post is exactly opposite of what I want to accomplish. He wanted to get rid of the episode title, while I want the option to add an episode title. His post talks about how to remove the title but it assumes the capability is already there. Thanks though.

[Nick at da Mill]

Since TiVo's withdrawal of its UK EPG service, and its replacement with the AltEPG service using different identifiers, every program previously stored on my TiVo is being displayed as Now Showing (see attachment from my test sys.) Any way to correct this?

[djl]

What's the expected behavior here? I thought that any episodes already recorded should show up under Now Playing.

Since TiVo's withdrawal of its UK EPG service, and its replacement with the AltEPG service using different identifiers, every program previously stored on my TiVo is being displayed as Now Showing (see attachment from my test sys.) Any way to correct this?

[Nick at da Mill]

Take a look at the zipped .png. This is occurring when examining the now showing and upcoming episodes for a single program/series.

[djl]

I did look at it, I just didn't get what you meant
To be clear: when you now examine a series, EVERYTHING already on your Tivo shows up where only episodes of that series should be, is that right? Looking at my HD, series is not showing up correctly either (only upcoming episodes are listed) so I wonder if something is just broken in general. Maybe a few others could chime in...

Take a look at the zipped .png. This is occurring when examining the now showing and upcoming episodes for a single program/series.

[ktoyax]

I've been using TWP to schedule recordings on my TivoHD for a long time. I've noticed the same behavior re missing channel info in the Tivo's ToDo list & rebooting when attempting to modify TWP-scheduled recordings on the Tivo. But as long as you leave them alone after you've scheduled them via TWP they record just fine - all of the missing info in the recording object (including the DRM signature) are filled in as soon as the recording starts.

I suspect the problem with the rebooting (and the missing channel info) are due to the missing NPKChannelDefinition object more than anything else. AFAIK no one has figured out how to generate this data on their own. And in fact, creating season passes via TWP requires an existing NPKChannelDefinition object for that channel that it can copy over. (I tend to shy away from creating or modifying season passes via TWP. Typically, I'll schedule a single episode of something new via TWP then create the season pass via the "More..." menu on the Tivo itself after I've watched the recording.)

-psxboy

You are totally correct that the mising NPKChannelDefinition object seems to be the cause of the spontaneous rebooting issue. Using the code fragment created by jkozee here I have modified TWP 2.1 to create the NCD when I schedule a recording (either directly or manually). This now causes the channel number and call sign to be populated in the Tivo's Todo list as well as seems to have fixed the rebooting issue. I can now view, modify and/or cancel the scheduled recording on the Tivo and nothing "bad" (so far :-) KOW) happens.

I want to test my modifications further but when I'm comfortable that they seem to be stable I will post patch files containing the changes.

Thanks again for your help and for pointing me in the right direction.

N.B. Like jkozee I have only tested these modifications on a TivoHD running 11.0.

[ktoyax]

Here are modifications to TivoWebPlus v2.1.b3 to enable it to create a NpkChannelDefinition subobject when it schedules a recording. If a NpkChannelDefinition subobject doesn't exist, my TivoHD will reboot if I try to view, edit or delete a TWP scheduled recording using the Tivo's menus, due to the channel number and call sign being missing from the Tivo's To Do list. (I am able to view/edit/delete the recording using TWP.) I can also get spontaneous reboots, when navigating the Tivo's menus, if a TWP scheduled recording, with a missing channel number and call sign, exists. Neither of these conditions occur with these modifications applied. Note that these modifications were created based on the code fragment, created by jkozee, here.

For manrec.itcl:

Index: modules/manrec.itcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/tivowebplus/TivoWebPlus/modules/manrec.itcl,v
retrieving revision 1.17.2.13
diff -r1.17.2.13 manrec.itcl
356a357,361
> 
>     # Create the NpkChannelDefinition subobject.
>     #   proc create_NpkChannelDefinition contained in the ui_record module.
>     loadModule ui_record
>     create_NpkChannelDefinition $recording $chnsel

For ui_record.itcl:

Index: modules/ui_record.itcl
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvsroot/tivowebplus/TivoWebPlus/modules/ui_record.itcl,v
retrieving revision 1.12.2.10
diff -r1.12.2.10 ui_record.itcl
251a252,254
> 
>     # Create the NpkChannelDefinition subobject.
>     create_NpkChannelDefinition $recording $stationfsid
257a261,295
> proc create_NpkChannelDefinition { recordingObj iStationID } {
> 
> #
> # For version > 7 need to create a NpkChannelDefinition subobject to avoid system 
> #   reboots due to missing channel number and call sign in the To Do list.
> #
> #  input parameters:
> #       recordingObj = newly creating recording dbobj
> #       iStationID   = internal Tivo station id
> #
> 
>   if {$::version > 7} {
>     if [getStationData chinfo $iStationID 0] {
>       set channelNumber $chinfo(stanum)
>       set callSign $chinfo(sign)
>     } else {
>       # If unable to retrieve channelNumber and callSign information set them to "placeholder" values in the
>       #   NpkChannelDefinition subobject. They will be set to the correct values when the recording begins. 
>       set channelNumber 9999
>       set callSign "NA"
>     }
>     set major [lindex [split $channelNumber "."] 0]
>     set minor [lindex [split $channelNumber "."] 1]
>     if {$minor == ""} {
>        set xml "<TvBusEnvelope xs:type=\"TvNpkChannelDefinition\"><channelNumber><major>$major</major></channelNumber><strCallSign>$callSign</strCallSign></TvBusEnvelope>"
>     } else {  
>        set xml "<TvBusEnvelope xs:type=\"TvNpkChannelDefinition\"><channelNumber><major>$major</major><minor>$minor</minor></channelNumber><strCallSign>$callSign</strCallSign></TvBusEnvelope>"
>     }  
>     set NpkChannelDefinition [tvidl serialtodb [tvidl xmltoserial $xml]]
>     foreach item $NpkChannelDefinition {
>       dbobj $recordingObj add NpkChannelDefinition $item
>     }
>   }
> }
>

Note: I have only tested these on a TivoHD running software version 11.0k.

[psxboy]

Nice work, ktoyax! This has always bugged me too... just not enough to do anything about it other than to avoid doing things in the menus that would cause the Tivo to reboot. I've applied your changes to my system & everything seems to be good now.

I had read the discussion of the tvidl process before too and promptly forgotten about it. I didn't connect the dots between that & the ability to create/decode NpkChannelDefinition and other similar objects.

-psxboy

[ktoyax]

I'm glad that someone else can use the modifications! This problem has been bugging the heck out of me for a long time, especially since I couldn't even use the scheduling capabillities of TWP, like you could. Also, I have a second TivoHD being modified today and my hope all along was to be able to schedule recordings on the second unit remotely, since it will be away from my main living areas. So I was extremely happy when I found the work that jkozee had done.

Thanks again for helping point me on the right path to the solution!

[ktoyax]

I have added several new fields and enabled formatting for all windows affected by the UI/RowFormat page. I have enclosed screen captures that show examples of the new fields and formatting parameters as well as usage notes. The changes are self-documented on the UI/RowFormat page.

Now_Playing.jpg is a screen capture showing the Now Playing page with some of the new formatting applied. Functions_and_Formats.jpg is a screen capture of the top half of the new RowFormat page and shows the additional fields and formatting parameters. Usage_Notes.jpg is a screen capture of the bottom half of the new RowFormat page and provides detailed directions on how to use the new formatting and fields. Note that the Row Format shown in Functions_and_Formats.jpg is the one used to generate the output shown in Now_Playing.jpg.

Note from Now_Playing.jpg that I have enabled several different formatting types as well as colors:

The new formatting includes bold, italic, underline and colors, as well as the ability to enclose text and field items in parenthesis, braces and brackets. Also included is the ability to change display sizes, insert conditional page breaks, limit the number of items displayed, as well as a facility to change "Not an Episode" to something more informative. Also included is the ability to create links to the show or series information for all the fields that take the new formatting.

The new fields include channel number, guest stars, hosts, writers, directors, producers, exec producers, release year, show type and genres as well as a text field that enables the formatting of header items.

Two modules have changed: rec.itcl and rowformat.itcl. Because there have been significant changes to each I have included the entire files rather than difference files. They are contained in code.zip. To install the modifications unzip the attachment then place rec.itcl in TivoWebPlus/libs and rowformat.itcl in TivoWebPlus/modules. Then perform a quick restart from the Restart menu.

Note that these changes have only been tested on a TivoHD. Although I have tried to be as generic as possible with the changes, since I have not been able to test these changes on any other platforms please make backup copies of the affected files until you are certain that the new ones work for you. I have also strived to make the changes backwards compatibility with existing Row Format strings.

Please feel free to provide me with feedback on any problems that you may encounter, particularly if you are on a different platform than I am. I would also be interested to know if these changes work for those of you on other platforms. If there are problems I will be happy to work with you to see if we can iron them out.

I hope these modifications prove useful. I made them as a precursor to some other changes that I am planning on making to TWP. If they are useful, please let me know, as this will let me know if I should plan on releasing some of my future planned changes. (If completed, these include changes to the search page to enable HD searching as well as provide for a more detailed results page; a utility to manage NPL and To Do recordings, as well as schedule and transfer recordings, on multiple Tivos; as well as enabling Row Formatting on the Search and Chanlist pages.)

Note: As I make changes to this code, due to bugs or added features, I will note them in future posts but will always link them back to this page for download.

Enjoy!!

[djl]

Nice! If you're interested, take a look at this version of rec.itcl we posted a while back. There had been a lot of chatter about how best to represent shows broadcast in England, and so that version included support for 'Special' and 'Series' as genres, as well as better episode number support.

Also included is the ability to change display sizes, insert conditional page breaks, limit the number of items displayed, as well as a facility to change "Not an Episode" to something more informative.

[John1980]

I've updated the bundle found on the main TWP site:

http://sites.google.com/site/thomsontivo/tivowebplus4

I'm not currently able to test this myself so please let me know if there is an issue/typo (this one was rolled by hand). Please drop a note here if something is broken. The bundle should contain all patches/fixes up to and including post 1057 (in particular 974, 1011, 1019, 1020, 1022, 1027, 1028, 1038, 1039 & 1057).

[ktoyax]

Nice! If you're interested, take a look at this version of rec.itcl we posted a while back. There had been a lot of chatter about how best to represent shows broadcast in England, and so that version included support for 'Special' and 'Series' as genres, as well as better episode number support.

Thank you for pointing out the changes that you had posted last year. Since my intent is to never supercede but to only extend work that had been done prior to any work that I do, I will be rolling into my work all of the changes that John1980 just bundled into the main TWP site (here), which includes your work. I had started with the previous bundle and CVS updates but now that there is a new bundle I am more than happy to include it (I was uncertain as to the protocol of using uncommitted posts). Plus, I have been lurking on this site for many years, being an old Series 1 guy, but have only recently started contributing, whereas you guys have been contributing to this forum for years - so I have no intent of replacing anything that has been done previously. Like all of you have also done, I'm sure, I have already made several changes to TWP that I plan to keep personal, since they are most likely of use only to myself. However, having benefitted from this site for so many years I would like to give back. So if I think there might be any interest in something that I have done, I am happy to take the extra time to "gussy" them up and share them.

I like the idea of having a ## of ## episode number, so thank you for that cool idea. As far as the episode title is concerned, the way that you dealt with it is very similar to the way that I proposed. For my personal use I think I will stay with what I am using, as I like the extra fine granularity. The main difference between our approaches is the Show Type, on my system, has 7 possible items: Serial, Short Film, Special, Limited Series, Series, Miniseries, and Paid Programming whereas you proposed 3 items: Series, Special and Single Episode. However, because your proposal pre-dated mine by a year and since I'm not tied, at all, to any of my concepts I will use your version for my release version and will only use my changes in-house. This way you won't need to change my version back to your version. :-)

[djl]

Just want to publicly thank John for the new bundle, that must have taken a while. I'll echo what he said, if there's a problem with any of these changes post it here (someone will take a look).

I've updated the bundle found on the main TWP site:

http://sites.google.com/site/thomsontivo/tivowebplus4

I'm not currently able to test this myself so please let me know if there is an issue/typo (this one was rolled by hand). Please drop a note here if something is broken. The bundle should contain all patches/fixes up to and including post 1057 (in particular 974, 1011, 1019, 1020, 1022, 1027, 1028, 1038, 1039 & 1057).

[djl]

It's great that there is some renewed interest in Tivoweb, so post whatever you come up with. I think including all seven categories makes sense; I don't remember why I didn't in the first place...

I like the idea of having a ## of ## episode number, so thank you for that cool idea. As far as the episode title is concerned, the way that you dealt with it is very similar to the way that I proposed. For my personal use I think I will stay with what I am using, as I like the extra fine granularity. The main difference between our approaches is the Show Type, on my system, has 7 possible items: Serial, Short Film, Special, Limited Series, Series, Miniseries, and Paid Programming whereas you proposed 3 items: Series, Special and Single Episode. However, because your proposal pre-dated mine by a year and since I'm not tied, at all, to any of my concepts I will use your version for my release version and will only use my changes in-house. This way you won't need to change my version back to your version. :-)