[mythtv] Mythfilldatabase and Shepherd (tv_grab_au)

[Max Barry]

Hi Mike,

mtdean wrote:
> On 07/16/2011 05:17 PM, Max Barry wrote:
> That said, I'm all for changing the defaults for execution start and end
> to 0/23 (meaning it's allowed to run at any time of day--so runs would
> be spread out over the whole day, where each would be "seeded" by the
> time the user first ran mythbackend). I'd prefer to see
> mythfilldatabase configured to just work when users run
> mythbackend--without having to realize there's a buried setting that
> limits it to only run in a small time period. Then, any users who
> choose inappropriate/underpowered systems to run the master backend
> and/or database server can find the settings and limit the run. IMHO,
> we should default to a configuration that assumes properly-spec'ed
> systems. :)

I agree, for what it's worth. I can't imagine any grabber is more
CPU-intensive than Shepherd (which has to laboriously compile XMLTV from
web pages), and I don't notice slowdowns on my six-year-old hardware
even though it runs at all different times of the day.

>> (2) MythTV assumes it will be powered on for the scheduled MFDB run, and
>> if it's not--e.g. it's a system that shuts down when idle--it skips that
>> day. Users could thus see a dwindling supply of guide data "days" and
>> think something was wrong with Shepherd. It's a particular problem when
>> combined with (1) above, because systems that auto-poweroff are often
>> off at 2am.
>>
>> (This seems like a universal problem, not Australia-specific, so very
>> possibly it's been addressed since I last looked at it.)
> 
> http://code.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/4961#comment:2

That still requires the system be on at some point during the MFDB valid
window, though. Assuming a default install, if the user's system tends
to be powered down from 2-5am (as mine is), it will run out of guide data.

I guess users with auto-shutdown systems should have been making sure
they changed their MFDB valid window to 0/23, but for whatever reason
some people clearly don't know that.

> Oh, and I should probably mention:
> 
> Run mythfilldatabase at time suggested by the grabber.
> If enabled, allow a DataDirect guide data provider to specify the next
> download time in order to distribute load on their servers.
> mythfilldatabase Execution Start/End times are also ignored.
> 
> which defaults to enabled. Currently, it only works with Schedules
> Direct data, but if the XMLTV community wants to come up with a
> standardized approach for providing this data, I can add support for it
> into mythfilldatabase. Then, each grabber can choose a time using
> whatever approach they want (random times, phone home to the Shepard
> server and ask it for the recommended next run time, ...). 

That wouldn't be ideal for us since we're not the datasource; we don't
have any special knowledge about when would be a good time to run. We
just don't want everybody piling on to a particular source at once.
Changing the default MFDB window to 0/23 would be simpler and better
from our point of view.

Max.