[mythtv-users] Star Ratings no longer inserted

[Michael T. Dean]

On 11/29/2014 06:18 PM, Karl Newman wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 29, 2014 at 2:38 PM, glen wrote:
>
>> I am in the U.S. and *do not use schedules direct*. I use webgrabplus
>> with tvguide.com. I have been more than happy with the listings and
>> particularly the movie descriptions. the ratings are from imdb and take the
>> form like this in the xml file:
>> </star-rating>
>>      <star-rating system="imdb">
>>        <value>2.2/5</value>
>>      </star-rating>
>> i am using mythbuntu updates repo, 27.4 and do updates pretty much
>> immediately. system is mythbuntu on precise.
>>
>> i use a manual command with mythfilldatabse to directly put the xml file
>> to the listings. this has worked fine until today i noticed none of the
>> movies any longer had the star ratings.
>>
>> i believe, but am not certain, that is the result of the update from a day
>> or two ago. i have already restored a prior database and as soon as i run
>> mythfilldatabase the star ratings are gone. everything else in terms of
>> listings is fine.
>>
>> if someone either has or can point me to a way to get the previous version
>> before this last update i would really appreciate it.
>>
>> i also tested with mc2xml data (which i know is discouraged), and the same
>> result, no star ratings in the listings.
>>
>> i did read somewhere on the list recently that there was a change to the
>> parsing file of xmltv files and i think maybe that could be it, or possibly
>> i have some other problem that just happenned on my system but i know my
>> restored database was good.
>>
>> i would like to revert to the packages as they existed before the very
>> last download and test if anyone has them or knows of a way to do it.
>>
>> thank you.
>>
>> Not sure you're going to get a lot of support for what appears to be a
> screen scraper which likely violates the terms of use of the website,
> especially when there's a high quality, *supported* data source at a
> more-than-reasonable cost available...

Yeah. Last time you mentioned webgrabplus, I responded with information 
that its use in the US for anything other than Voice of America EPG 
(from voanews.com) would be a violation of ToS because it seemed to only 
support voanews.com and zap2it.com ( 
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/566029#566029 ).

You say that you're using tvguide.com, though the webgrabplus.com 
documentation says that only voanews.com and zap2it.com are supported 
for the US ( http://www.webgrabplus.com/epg-channels#stc_3C ). 
tvguide.com is listed under "Networks" ( 
http://www.webgrabplus.com/epg-channels#stc_24 ). So, it seems that it 
will work for the US and I just didn't understand their documentation at 
the time.

That said, the tvguide.com ToS does specifically forbid use of scrapers 
such as webgrabplus at

https://cbsi.secure.force.com/CBSi/articles/FAQ/CBS-Interactive--Terms-of-Use?template=template_mobileTerms#Acceptable%20Use

(accessible by going to tvguide.com, scrolling to the bottom, and 
clicking on "Terms of Use") where it says:
-----
Without limiting any other provision in these Terms, you agree not to do 
the following, or assist others to do the following:
...
Engage in unauthorized spidering, “scraping,” data mining or harvesting 
of Content, or use any other unauthorized automated means to gather data 
from or about the Services;
-----

While I appreciate your trying to avoid violating the ToS of zap2it.com 
(and, specifically, Gracenote, the providers of the data that Schedules 
Direct makes available), simply switching to use another site for 
grabbing US data won't help. Schedules Direct is the only legal source 
of listings data in the US that does not violate terms of use.

So, basically, Karl said it best. To repeat:

> there's a high quality, *supported* data source at a
> more-than-reasonable cost available

and we'd be happy to help out with any issues that arise when using it.

Mike