[mythtv-users] DataDirect data incomplete?

[Yeechang Lee]

Robert Tsai <mythtv at tsaiberspace.net> says:
> I seem to have lost all my xmltvid values in the "channel"
> table. Are they important? I seem to have my listings back, so
> things seem OK, but I know they I used to have xmltvid values
> (possibly downloaded from DataDirect?

Good question. Before you raised the issue I'd have said "But of
course!" in that Grey Poupon guy's voice, because the xmltvid is what
mythfilldatabase uses to ID the listings it needs, right? But that
can't be completely right, because in normal situations no one needs
to fill in the xmltvids himself. Here's how the process would work
were I to add a new OTA video source:

* Scan for channels in mythtv-setup.
* Use mythtv-setup's channel editor to fix the callsigns. (This is
  important as one wants to make sure that identical channels on
  different video sources share the same callsigns. See
  <URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/216512#216512>
  for details.) This means renaming callsigns like "KTVU-HD" to
  "KTVUDT," since the latter is what labs.zap2it.com uses.
* In mythtv-setup, choose Input Connections|Fetch channels from
  listing. This calls mythfilldatabase, which contacts
  labs.zap2it.com's DataDirect program-listing feed. As long as I've
  created an appropriate DataDirect lineup ahead of time and have
  linked it to my OTA video source, this step will update the
  DataDirect lineup with (and only with) the channels my OTA scan just
  found; all others will be turned off within DataDirect. (This fact
  confused me for a while until I realized what was going on.)
* Look at the channel editor (or, after starting mythbackend,
  MythWeb's channel info page). The xmltvids have been filled in
  automatically.

Note that last step. Presumably, mythfilldatabase filled in the
xmltvids with the callsigns I edited earlier. But, of course, if it
can do that, what does it need the xmltvids for? I join Robert in
scratching my head.

-- 
Yeechang Lee <ylee at pobox.com> | +1 650 776 7763 | San Francisco CA US