[mythtv-users] Schedules Direct guide data for AU / NZ

[Phill Edwards]

>
> For those trying this at home, you can find tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite at
> https://github.com/garybuhrmaster/tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite. I downloaded
> it and ran
> $ tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite --info
> but I got an error related to my XMLTV version:
> XMLTV version 0.005067 required--this is only version 0.5.63 at
> ./tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite line 86.
> BEGIN failed--compilation aborted at ./tv_grab_zz_sdjson_sqlite line 86.
>
> I'm running Mythbuntu 14,04 so I presume this would probably be fixed if I
> upgraded to MythBuntu 16.04. But that isn't going to happen tonight so I'm
> going to explore using tv_grab_sd_json instead.
>

Here's a quick update on what I've found so far with tv_grab_sd_json.
1) To install it you need to download the latest XMLTV tar file:
$ wget http://snapshot.xmltv.org/ --output-document=xmltv.tgz

2) Untar it which will create a dir called xmltv-nightly:
$ tar zxvf xmltv.tgz

3) Take a copy of tv_grab_sd_json:
$ cp ./xmltv-nightly-orig/grab/sd_json/tv_grab_sd_json /usr/local/bin/

4) Configure it
$ /usr/local/bin/phill/tv_grab_sd_json --configure
This will ask for info such as config file location, country (I used AUS),
location, Schedules Direct username and password etc. It has the concept of
a lineup and channels for that lineup. I chose to select individual
channels which lets you include/exclude channel by channel. As if's free to
air there's not a massive list to work through.

That didn't take me very long and it returned data very quickly (though I
did limit it to 3 channels for a test). I did a quick comparison of some
guide data for ABC:
$ /usr/local/bin/phill/tv_grab_sd_json --config-file
~/.xmltv/tv_grab_sd_json.conf  --output /tmp/schedules_direct.xml

- Some program descriptions were longer than what I already use (shepherd),
and some were shorter.
- It doesn't always provide the program <length>.Probably not a problem for
MythTV, though.
- Program times are returned in UTC timezone. Haven't worked out yet if it
can be configured with a time offset but again I doubt this is a problem in
a MythTV setup.
- Some of the program ratings are a bit iffy. E.g. "Our Zoo" was rated as
"L" by "Departamento de Justiça, Classificação, Títulos e Qualificação". No
idea what "L" is or who they are.
- It provides <previously-shown> date.
- It provides episode information which could be a big plus. But it doesn't
provide an sub-title. Eg. Title="The Bill", Sub-title="Plato For
Policemen". Perhaps sub-titles aren't needed if the episode information is
good?
- Seems to be quite a few errors in <actor>,
eg <actor>ARRAY(0x3fcc460)</actor>.
- <Date> (i.e. year of program) often seems to be missing.

So from a quick look so far, I'd say it seems to be on par with what I'm
currently getting, except that the program ratings seem to be from all over
the place with ratings we've never heard of in Australia. Hopefully the
existence of episode information might bring some benefits - keen to hear
others' views on that.

Hope this helps kick off a few other investigations. I'll take a look at it
again in more detail when I have more time.
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