[mythtv] Frequency Grabbing

[Pedro Palhoto]

Hi,

The "standard" way to get the TV frequencies configured in MythTV (outside of 
North America) is by checking the provider's frequency listing, 
cross-reference the appropriate frequency ID and add it to the channel in 
question, either via mythtv-setup or mythweb.

If you want to sell a Media Center / PVR appliance, the customer won't want to 
enter 50+ frequencies by hand, they should be able to select the provider and 
their location, then automagically have their channels with the appropriate 
frequencies set and sorted to the provider's default ordering. This is a step 
after grabbing the programs via the XMLTV tv_grab_* scripts; for the purpose 
of this thread, let's just imagine it happened automagically too, i.e. via 
GUI.

I have searched for threads discussing frequencies but I haven't yet found 
anything similar to what I am proposing.

Analogous to the "tv_grab_*" scripts that grab the channel programs, shouldn't 
there be "freq_grab_<country>_<provider>" scripts that grab the frequencies 
from TV providers? Should it be in the XMLTV package or in some other 
structure? Don't forget that a MythTV Grab-Frequency Administration GUI 
dialog also needs to be produced (that'll be my job).

The Caixa Mágica Linux distribution will be developing a simple python script 
to grab frequencies from http://www.tvcabo.pt/TV/PlanoFreq.aspx .

What are the general thoughts on this topic?

Thanks,
-- 
Pedro Palhoto
Lisbon, Portugal
Media Developer @ Linux Caixa Mágica
http://www.caixamagica.pt/