[mythtv] [mythtv-commits] Ticket #12321: mythfilldatabase adds channels when only-update-guide requested

[Michael T. Dean]

On 11/25/2014 01:52 PM, Gary Buhrmaster wrote:
> On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 6:40 PM, wrote:
>> #12321: mythfilldatabase adds channels when only-update-guide requested
> ....
>> Comment (by Peter Bennett):
>>
>>   The problem with this is ....
> Your originally claimed problem is that Live TV does
> not respect the visible flag.  If that is the true issue
> than I would think that trying to make mythfilldatabase
> work around that issue is the wrong approach.

Well, the visible flag was designed to allow users to hide channels from 
the guide for purposes of EPG display and scheduling while still 
allowing them to have the channels defined in their database.  Since 
there's absolutely no good reason to have a channel defined in the 
database unless it gets used for something, the only thing the channel 
could then be used for is Live TV, which is why Live TV allows the 
tuning of not-visible channels.  (In other words, you can hide the 
CineMAX or other premium channel so your kids don't stumble across it or 
see inappropriate descriptions in the guide (especially for its 
after-hours fare), but you could still watch the occasional movie using 
Live TV.)

For years, people have abused the visible flag as a way of allowing them 
to keep channels in their database "just in case" (not because they 
actually want or use them) or to save them from having to re-delete a 
channel they don't want after a rescan (though, IIRC, rescans have in 
the past--possibly no longer--reset the visible flag, so they still have 
to mark it not visible again).

The plan is to eventually modify MythTV so that we don't have a visible 
flag, but some sort of channel state flag that allows the user to define 
a purpose of a channel--enabled for everything, enabled for recordings, 
enabled for Live TV, enabled for radio, disabled, ... or whatever.  
Until then, its use for anything other than its designed purpose is 
bound to have issues--though those issues wouldn't necessarily be bugs.

Mike