Freeview in Australia is the alliance of all FTA channels and provides the on-air EPG to TV's and STB that meet their approval.
As such this is the most up-to-date and comprehensive guide I have seen - including series and episode informattion.
If possible I believe a site.ini for this would be a great addition.
http://www.freeview.com.au/tvguide/
You are here
Freeview Australia
Mon, 2014-06-23 08:50
#1
Freeview Australia
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Program Development - Jan van Straaten ------- Web design - Francis De Paemeleere
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I too would like to see a siteini for Freeview Australia... Anyone up for the challenge ?
Thanks Blackbear199 - I have moved on from Webgrab+ but have tested this today.
Works great and gives me another alternative :>)
Once again thanks for your efforts
Awesome stuff Blackbear199... much appreciated.
Will give it a go over the weekend.
Cheers
Have done further investigation, and find that none of Title, Series or Episode number work for me.
I am in Perth and have made the requisite cnhanges as outlined. The base program data times and description are accurate.
If you are to have another look at this I would appreciate the series and episode number before the title (where they exist).
ie. SXXEXX Title of the episode.
My previous solution no longer works so I am back to yourtv.com.au which works well but does not have series or episode information.
Thanks again for your efforts
You beat me to it lynchmob...
I too am having issues with this.
After importing the XML file into Media Portal i have noticed lots of holes in the guide.
Below is a snippet of my Media Portal log...
2016-04-01 19:32:10,740] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E138' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,742] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E188' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,743] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E126' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,745] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E118' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,746] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E186' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,747] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E161' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,749] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E185' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,750] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E66' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,752] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E66' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,753] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S35E145' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,754] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E57' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,756] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E31' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,757] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E7265' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,758] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E483' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,760] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E67' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,761] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E83' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,763] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S14E93' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,764] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E2' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,765] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S35E146' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,767] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E2' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,769] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E211' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,770] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E31' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,772] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E61' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,773] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E7266' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,775] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E67' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,776] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E484' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,778] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E186' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,779] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E0' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,780] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S4E10' as plain number
[2016-04-01 19:32:10,782] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [INFO ] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'E186' as plain number
Hope this helps...
Cheers
Again, Thank your for your time and effort in doing this.
I've tried the new .ini file but still getting hundreds of errors in my log file.
I have attached it for you to look at...
Cheers
Nah still no good...
Attached another log file for this run..
Still having issues although now i'm seeing a different error in my MP log. - Attached
Yes i do have the xmltv.dtd in the same folder...
I have also attached known working tvguide.xml that you can use a reference if it helps...
Cheers.
Tried this .ini file...
Getting this error within MP log :
[2016-04-05 05:59:55,967] [Log ] [XmlTvImporter] [ERROR] - XML tv import error loading C:\ProgramData\Team MediaPortal\MediaPortal TV Server\xmltv\tvguide.xml err:Length cannot be less than zero.
Parameter name: length
at System.String.Substring(Int32 startIndex, Int32 length)
at TvEngine.XMLTVImport.Import(String fileName, Boolean deleteBeforeImport, Boolean showProgress)
Have no idea what this means....
I have just tried this freeview.ini and it is working well for Melbourne.
A question, in the category field would it be possible to ignore or remove "Closed Captions".
Thanks for your help Blackbear, this is much faster than what I had currently set up to get the episode data from imdb and yourtv.ini.
Thanks that worked, my attempt was close but not quite right.
Its funny I requested someone with enough knowledge to create a freeview.ini exactly two years ago to the day. It's great that you have managed to do it, your work is a worthy entry into the EPG Channels page.
Hi once more. I am mystified why my guide.xml still has no information for Subtiitle, Series and Episode information.
I have dumped a txt file for today showing the on-screen info and the output from the frreview.ini and what I get from the yourtv listing.
I can see the tags in the freeview.ini corresponding to the data such as data-episode, data-episodenumber and data-series but nothing appears in guide.xml
Below is the information - could not attach file for some reason
This is a data dump from the freeview program guide
<div class="start-end episode " data-title="M*A*S*H" data-eventdate="10:00am" data-endtime="10:30am" data-servicename="ONE Perth" data-synopsis="Colonel Potter becomes grumpy when he catches the mumps and his condition is worsened when Winchester gets the same disease and has to be quarantined with him." data-other="Sitcom | Series" data-episode="Heal Thyself" data-duration="30" data-episodenumber="17" data-programid="100305" data-year="" data-ratings=" (PG)" data-language="English" data-extra="" data-series="8" data-mediafilename="699481_SERIES_55757.jpg" data-crid="crid://perth.onehd.ten.au/55757E1147273" data-channelid="101406070681" data-regionid="101" data-cast="Alan Alda, Loretta Swit, Jamie Farr, Gary Burghoff"><h3><cufon style="width: 64px; height: 15px;" alt="M*A*S*H" class="cufon cufon-canvas"><canvas style="width: 77px; height: 22px; top: -5px; left: -2px;" height="22" width="77"></canvas><cufontext>M*A*S*H</cufontext></cufon></h3><span>10:00am-10:30am</span></div></div><div class="col-xs-2 borderRB p100305"
This is what currently appears in the guide.xml file with freeview.ini
<programme start="20160405100000 +0800" stop="20160405103000 +0800" channel="ONE">
<title lang="en">M*A*S*H</title>
<desc lang="en">Colonel Potter becomes grumpy when he catches the mumps and his condition is worsened when Winchester gets the same disease and has to be quarantined with him.(n)</desc>
</programme>
This is the guide.xml from yourtv.com.au
<programme start="20160405100000 +0800" stop="20160405103000 +0800" channel="ONE">
<title lang="en">M*A*S*H</title>
<sub-title lang="en">Heal Thyself</sub-title>
<desc lang="en">Colonel Potter becomes grumpy hen he catches the mumps and his condition is worsened when Winchester gets the same disease and has to be quarantined with him(n)</desc>
<credits>
<actor>Alan Alda</actor>
<actor>Loretta Swit</actor>
<actor>Jamie Farr</actor>
<actor>Gary Burghoff</actor>
</credits>
<category lang="en">Sitcom</category>
<rating system="AU">
<value>PG</value>
</rating>
</programme>
This is what I am hoping to see
<programme start="20160405100000 +0800" stop="20160405103000 +0800" channel="ONE">
<title lang="en">M*A*S*H</title>
<sub-title lang="en">S08E17 Heal Thyself</sub-title>
<desc lang="en">Colonel Potter becomes grumpy when he catches the mumps and his condition is worsened when Winchester gets the same disease and has to be quarantined with him(n)</desc>
<credits>
<actor>Alan Alda</actor>
<actor>Loretta Swit</actor>
<actor>Jamie Farr</actor>
<actor>Gary Burghoff</actor>
</credits>
<category lang="en">Sitcom</category>
<rating system="AU">
<value>PG</value>
</rating>
</programme>
Sorry for the late reply... just got home from work.
I did check the file .Its about 4 mb in size and i have no problem opening it in a txt editor. weird...
UPDATE:
Have tried the latest .ini file and no more errors in MP log. Well done Blackbear !! You are da man !!
All seems good now ! Will report back in coming days if i come accross any issues .
Cheers.
Yep... thats the one i used, along with : index_temp_1.modify {replace|2016|0}
Cheers
Hi Blackbear199.
Yes region 101 Perth this new ini is great works well. Can't see the problem with waht I was using before but not good with the hieroglyphics :>)
If I can be cheeky - can the script autofill to two decimal places
ie. S08E03 for example rather than S8E3.
All good Blackbear.... It seems to be working ok now since the .ini in post #16.
Guide no longer has any holes\gaps and MP logs have no more errors.
Cheers
Freeview website is down... lol. I wonder if it has anything to do with us
update.. never mind... its back
No. Using episodesystem=xmltv_ns
Think Blackbear199 was referring to me - I am using episodesystem=onscreen for my data.
ini file in post 25 works well for me in Perth but I am not using mediaportal.
I use an old system, TV Scheduler Pro, and the data now imports correctly with series and episode details.
I think Blackbear was responding to my post 31 asking for padding in series and episode numbers.
Thanks Blackbear199 back using Webgrab+ this works brilliantly. :>))))
Once more thanks for your help
also using this one - having problems with the YourTV being out by a day for some channels so switching to FreeTV - so thnx for the work on that one!!
got two issues however - would be great if you can identify a solution for that!!
1) the guide.XML and therefore the MCE guide shows a quote (') as ' - example Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This happens both in title and contents
2) my path is WebGrab - no post processing - then BSE and then into MCE. I know Freeview has a "movie" indicator but that doesn't seem to be picked up and passed on to MCE. Result - no "purple" movies in the guide...
Great work - keep it up (plse)
Dennis
Hi I also noticed this as well my recordings have the same problem as above.
This is an example of guide.xml from today.
<programme start="20160406050000 +0800" stop="20160406053000 +0800" channel="ONE">
<title lang="en">Hogan&apos;s Heroes</title>
<sub-title lang="en">S03E10 One in Every Crowd</sub-title>
<desc lang="en">An American prisoner of war has information on Hogan that he wants to sell to the Germans.</desc>
<credits>
<actor>Bob Crane</actor>
<actor>Werner Klemperer</actor>
<actor>John Banner</actor>
<actor>Robert Clary</actor>
</credits>
<category lang="en">Comedy</category>
<rating system="AU">
<value>G</value>
</rating>
</programme>
index_actor.scrub should be multi if a separator function on it
The new replace rules work well to remove special characters. You may consider adding one more to the apostrophe list to fix actor names.
index_actor.modify {replace|'|'}
Also SBS sometimes has season info in the description eg. (S.4 Ep.8). The lines below will change the format for PVR searches to (s4e8)
index_description.modify {replace|(S.|(s} *Fix SBS season in description eg. (S.4 Ep.8) to (s4e8)
index_description.modify {replace| Ep.|e}
I use a Topfield PVR, for those interested in converting the resulting guide.xml to TGD (Topfield Guide Data), Mei or ICETV format as a post process you can use a program called:
EpgToPvrs
https://sites.google.com/site/epgtopvrs/
Thanks heaps Blackbear... you're a legend !
Cheers
When looking into a slight (user created) problem I had, I discovered another URL can be used for EPG data: http://www.freeview.com.au/umbraco/surface/tvguide/SendFeed. The data required for the POST is as follows (italics are my comments; data format similar to the one used in blackbear's ini file):
changeperiod: 1 [not sure what this is used for]
day: 2
hour: 6 [start time of EPG fragment]
minute: 0
month: 7
RegionId: 73 [Sydney]
service_id: 0 [Channel number - zero equates to all channels]
year: 2016
After the local stations here in Sydney decided to chnage their station names again I tried to generate a fresh Channels.ini file so to keep the mapping with the callsigns in sync. Unfortunately when I run the Channel File Creation process I'm left with a channel.ini with only 10 entries in there. Tried a couple of things - made sure I'm using a single day, dummy entry in there an force full update. Always same result.
Must be something simple but I'm not familiar with the code enough to debug for myself. Any help plse??
thnx
Dennis
After the local stations here in Sydney decided to change their station names again I tried to generate a fresh Channels.xml file so to keep the mapping with the callsigns in sync. Unfortunately when I run the Channel File Creation process I'm left with a channel.ini with only 10 entries in there. Tried a couple of things - made sure I'm using a single day, dummy entry in there an force full update. Always same result.
Must be something simple but I'm not familiar with the code enough to debug for myself. Any help plse??
thnx
Dennis
Brilliant - thnx for that - back in business!!!
Is anyone having problems with the Freeview grabber over the last few days? I think the website may have changed layout and disrupted the code.
I am getting no response from any channel and the channel creation tool is not working, even after following the posts above.
Melbourne region 94.
It has been working well over the last few months, thanks in advance for any help.
same problem for the Sydney guide - index page (http://www.freeview.com.au/umbraco/surface/search/TVChannelFeed) not found. Blackbear - you know what is wrong and can you fix it (or let us know how to)??
thnx
I'm also having the same problem - seems freeview may have changed their layout.
Thanks Blackbear - I have had a quick look at yourtv.com.au but cannot get anything going with that.
Hopefully you can find a solution for us
Hi Blackbear199, I am an Aussie living in China. I have been using Freeview EPG also but it just fell over for the reasons outlined. I tried the new versioin of YOURTV and generated the Perth channels in line with my time zone. Unfortunately when I generate the timetable it shows all channels with the same Channel 9 timetable, not the individual ones. The channels are listed but they all show the same information. I have updated the YOURTV.COM.INI file and replace the first ##region## with 101 for Perth. What am I doing wrong? It does not appear to be reading the individual channels correctly. Thanks
Hi Aussieabroad, I don't know what your problem is but have just got this working this morning for Perth.
Attached are my working yourtv.ini file and webgrab+.config - try these and see if they work for you.
Thanks Lynchmob, will give it a try tonight, appreciate the update. Thanks again
What do you think Blackbear - is this one going to work or should I activate plan B (switch EPG's) before the current guide runs out and rebelion will break out in my place?
YourTV is an alternative but the data is a bit basic - especially the series episode titles. Foxtel might be the best bet?
thnx & keep up the good works!!
Worked great Lynchmob, I had set up the wrong timezone info and therefore did not generate the full and correct channel listing. Much appreciated. Yourtv up and going now....:). Do you know, by chance, how to setup the colour categories in the TV Guide add-on? I would like to highlight news and current affairs
Sorry Aussieabroad I cannot help but imagine, depending on what you are using as a frontend, this would use the category field.
I am discussing other issues with Blackbear and suggest any further questions are moved to the yourtv thread.
http://www.webgrabplus.com/content/yourtvcomau-0
With Freeview out of action I had a quick try of Freepg but found it incomplete so now rejigging to use YourTV again. Set the whole thing up - get channels and run. Strangest thing ever - some channels (9GEM, 9Life, ABC news) are 24 hours out while others such as 9 and 9HD are fine. Have attached the two files I'm using - they look fine to me. I read the problems caused by headers like Today and Tomorrow but was under the impression that that was solved.
Any help appriciated!!
With Freeview out of action I had a quick try of Freepg but found it incomplete so now rejigging to use YourTV again. Set the whole thing up - get channels and run. Strangest thing ever - some channels (9GEM, 9Life, ABC news) are 24 hours out while others such as 9 and 9HD are fine. Have attached the two files I'm using - they look fine to me. I read the problems caused by headers like Today and Tomorrow but was under the impression that that was solved.
Any help appriciated!!
that work great - thnx for that - guide loaded and data quality seems quite consistent. Did notice that a couple of movies didn't get tagged properly as MCE didn't "make them purple" in the guide. Not sure if that is an issue with the source data or a mapping problem??
Also the Channellogo isn't captured properly - it repeats the urlchannellogo, which is correct, for the first station for all other stations..
thnx!
logos works perfect - thnx for that
As for movies - here's what the grabber produces in Guide.xml:
</programme>
<programme start="20161108203000 +1100" stop="20161108224000 +1100" channel="9Go!">
<title lang="en">Beverly Hills Cop</title>
<desc lang="en">A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills(n)</desc>
<credits>
<director>Martin Brest</director>
<actor>Eddie Murphy</actor>
<actor>Judge Reinhold</actor>
<actor>John Ashton</actor>
<actor>Ronny Cox</actor>
</credits>
<date>1984</date>
<category lang="en">Comedy</category>
<country>USA</country>
<rating system="AU">
<value>M</value>
</rating>
</programme>
after enrichment through MDB I get:
</programme>
<programme start="20161108203000 +1100" stop="20161108224000 +1100" channel="9Go!">
<title lang="en">Beverly Hills Cop</title>
<desc lang="en">Beverly Hills Cop...A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills
[imdb description: Directed by Martin Brest. With Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton, Lisa Eilbacher. A freewheeling Detroit cop pursuing a murder investigation finds himself dealing with the very different culture of Beverly Hills.] (n)</desc>
<credits>
<director>Martin Brest</director>
<actor>Eddie Murphy</actor>
<actor>Judge Reinhold</actor>
<actor>John Ashton</actor>
<actor>Ronny Cox</actor>
</credits>
<date>1984</date>
<category lang="en">Comedy</category>
<country>USA</country>
<rating system="AU">
<value>M</value>
</rating>
<star-rating system="imdb">
<value>4/5</value>
</star-rating>
</programme>
neither is interpreted by MCE - after importing with BigScreenEPG - as a movie
This is from an older guide.xml, grabbed from Freeview.com.au when it was working. This one was picked up as a movie by MCE so it looks like the Category:Movie is what triggers MCE to "paint it purple". No idea if YourTV.com.au actually contains that information...
<programme start="20161102013500 +1100" stop="20161102030500 +1100" channel="7flix NSW">
<title lang="en">The Saint Takes Over</title>
<desc lang="en">When his friend is wrongly accused of murder, the Saint travels to America(n)</desc>
<credits>
<actor>George Sanders</actor>
<actor>Wendy Barrie</actor>
<actor>Jonathan Hale</actor>
<actor>Paul Guilfoyle</actor>
<actor>Morgan Conway</actor>
<actor>Robert Emmett Keane</actor>
</credits>
<date>1940</date>
<category lang="en">Murder/Mystery</category>
<category lang="en">Movie</category>
<rating system="AU">
<value>PG</value>
</rating>
</programme>
That worked great - it indeed generates a second category line but MCE is quite happy with that and now applies the right colour to movies (and makes the Movie Guide work!) Strange that the developers of the website didn't use that element in the display - would be handy for viewers..
This now is by far the best guide for Australia FTA - let's hope they keep the code the same for a while..
thnx!!
Hi all,
I have actually just uploaded my new freeview.com.au INI for the updated site if anyone is still interested.
It currently only supports xmltv EP names but I plan to update it with normal naming standard. It works nicely with NextPVR.
Link to INI in own post: http://www.webgrabplus.com/content/updated-freeviewcomau-australian-epg-scraper
Cheers
hey @Blackbear199. thanks a bunch for this ini file. the freeview data is great!
I've just started to play with webgrab and currently have it spitting out a file for tvheadend, WMC and now PlexDVR. I've noticed that within PlexDVR, all the news programs are being detected as Movies. I've got some IceTV data to compare to, and their data just has "News".
Just curious what I could add to my ini file to ignore/remove ALL "Series" categories? Any chance you have some advice?
Thanks again!
Cheers
Thanks Blackbear! That definitely removed the program type from the XML but Plex is still not happy. After having a bit of a play with various xml changes, it seems Plex wants an original-air-date to identify shows that don't have an episode number.
So here is my question - is there any way to have webgrab automatically add a episode-num system="original-air-date" value (even if it's just a static value of 01/01/2017) to any program that has a Series program type?
edit: nevermind! easily fixed with some post-download sed scripting :)