[EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

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colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

Ok guys, I just tried a grab and everything is working fine again.

Yes Ben, TV browser does have it's own grabber for Schedules Direct, the whole thing is written in java so I don't know much about it, but it has been working when mc2xml hasn't. As I've got the portable now I'll keep it as a backup as it may come in handy for the future. The only trouble is you have to have java installed to use it which I wouldn't recommend to anyone but as long as you switch off any java browser plugins it shouldn't be much of a security risk.

Anyway normal service is resumed so I'll see you all around. Enjoy summer! :)

Cheers all.
colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

Ben, I've lost the horizontal scrollbar button for some reason.

I tried a reinstall of the extension which didn't fix it and a new install of Firefox which didn't work either.

I also tried the latest portable Firefox and it's showing up using that.

I haven't changed any of my profile settings for ages so I can't understand why the button should suddenly vanish.

I can still scroll left/right using the <> buttons but that's in 30 minute intervals and if I want to make a big time jump I can't do it any more.

Is the gui setting for the button hidden anywhere as I'd like to get it back if possible.

Cheers.
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Benjamin Markson
Posts: 397
Joined: November 19th, 2011, 3:57 am
Location: en-GB

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Benjamin Markson »

colin1951uk wrote:I've lost the horizontal scrollbar button for some reason.
Firstly, I'd recommend that you switch to ESR 52 and not use FF55 - ultimately, FF55 is going nowhere. Come FF57 none of the useful legacy extensions will work at all.

Having said that, I do have an instance of FF 55 and you're right, the 'thumb' isn't there - although, in fact it is there... try dragging the spot where you'd imagine it to be!

I may have a closer look but I make no promises - currently I have nothing setup for testing on FF55. I think I'm still allowed to publish updates but I'm not sure how much longer that will last either so there really is little point. As I say, ESR 52 is the way to go. You may have difficulties going from anything above FF54 to 52 - so a backup profile from FF54 would also be handy.

ESR 52 should be good until sometime next year, by which time hopefully we'll see how all this pans out once the dust settles on whatever incarnations of Firefox are left.

Ben.
XUL is dead. Long live the Google Chrome Clones.
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Benjamin Markson
Posts: 397
Joined: November 19th, 2011, 3:57 am
Location: en-GB

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Benjamin Markson »

Okay, I'm not really sure what's changed. I see in the FF55 release notes that we have this:
Firefox Release 55.0 wrote:Modernized application update UI to be less intrusive and more aligned with the rest of the browser.
...which sounds ominous. In any event, my using: -moz-appearance:none now seems to strip all the styling from the scrollbar thumb. I have no idea why this would be desirable but I suspect it may be a collateral effect of Mozilla no longer wanting extensions to modify the UI. Who knows.

Here are two solutions (both using Stylish):

This first example sets the thumb back to its Mozilla default - you will find that the thumb width may significantly decrease.

Code: Select all

@namespace url(http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul);

@-moz-document url-prefix('chrome://xmltvguide/content/guide.xul')
{
  #XMLTVGuide-guide-scroll thumb
  {
    -moz-appearance: scrollbarthumb-horizontal !important; 
  }
}
This second example maintains my original minimum width on the thumb of 48px. It's a bug-bear of mine that the convention is to allow thumb widths to become absurdly narrow. While this may accurately reflect the length of the scrollbar it can make grabbing the thumb very difficult. I like fat thumbs. :)

Code: Select all

@namespace url(http://www.mozilla.org/keymaster/gatekeeper/there.is.only.xul);

@-moz-document url-prefix('chrome://xmltvguide/content/guide.xul')
{
  #XMLTVGuide-guide-scroll thumb
  {
    background-color: rgb(212, 208, 200) !important;
    border-width: 2px !important;
    border-style: solid !important;
    -moz-border-bottom-colors: rgb(64, 64, 64) rgb(128, 128, 128) !important;
    -moz-border-left-colors: rgb(212, 208, 200) rgb(255, 255, 255) !important;
    -moz-border-right-colors: rgb(64, 64, 64) rgb(128, 128, 128) !important;
    -moz-border-top-colors: rgb(212, 208, 200) rgb(255, 255, 255) !important;
  }
}
Unless I feel there is an overwhelming reason I'm not really tempted to update the add-on itself. I think that post FF52 that there is little value in chasing Firefox any further down its chosen rabbit hole. FF55 seems to be starting to break things in a number of areas. This is only going to get worse.

Should some other incarnation of Firefox emerge as a worthwhile replacement to FF52 (i.e. something that is going to support XUL beyond the middle of next year) I will certainly endeavour to keep all of my add-ons working under that browser.

Ben.
XUL is dead. Long live the Google Chrome Clones.
colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

Thank you Ben. I've only just changed to the esr release and that took ages as it wouldn't accept my bookmarks. Both my backup html file and importing from Interner Explorer wouldn't work. But after trying a zillion times I finally managed to get the backups to load, b***** tempermental thing!

So using the esr now all looks fine and I'm loath to go back to 55x.

I've never heard of Stylish but I found it and it seems simple enough to use so I may try your option 2 on the portable version of Firefox when I've a little more time. If I mess it up it's easier to reinstall portable and try again!

I don't know what's going on with Firefox as like you I never bother to read the release notes but webextensions seems the way Firefox is going and legacy extensions like yours will be no more if I understand it. I assume all authors will have to update their extensions in some way to meet a new spec which no doubt will cause friction between them and the browser. It may also be the change that finally fires Firefox in the foot should those authors choose to desert it. You'll know more than me so I won't speculate over this as it's something I quickly Googled after reading your comments.

Pale Moon was a good alternative but they seem to be losing their way now with extensions so it makes you wonder where it will all end up.

Anyway thanks for getting me back on track and I'll let you know about my Stylish adventures in due course.

Cheers.
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Benjamin Markson
Posts: 397
Joined: November 19th, 2011, 3:57 am
Location: en-GB

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Benjamin Markson »

I think you'll find life easier using ESR 52 if you want to maintain Firefox's functionality beyond FF57.

Stylish allows you to modify CSS on the fly, not only for individual web pages but also for the Firefox UI itself. Sadly, I mainly use it to modify the Firefox UI.

The majority of 'legacy' add-ons will never be updated to webextensions. None of my add-ons will update. This one, for example, uses an SQLite database. SQLite is a proper relational database that can handle large datasets - like 10,000's of TV programmes. SQLite is not supported under webextensions. Lots of things are not supported under webextensions. So even where there is a will there is often simply no way.

I'm not sure about Pale Moon either. I hope perhaps that SeaMonkey may make a last stand. I don't suppose anyone knows just yet. Hopefully there are still enough free-thinking developers who aren't ready to be homogenised.

My general feeling is that we are all a part of Silicon Valley's crusade to perfect the lowest common denominator - the maximum reach with the minimum scope. All the ground won in the 90's to regain control of our computers, and where customisation was king, (a cause not in small part championed by Mozilla) is, I fear, pretty much gone. I don't think enough of the population care any more. They seem happy with the dog food they're given.

Ben.
XUL is dead. Long live the Google Chrome Clones.
colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

I see with Firefox 57x XMLTV Guide is relegated to the bin Ben.

I've just moved up to Windows 10 (from 7) and found that another add-on I used wouldn't work with the esr version on Win 10 so I've had to go back to Firefox mainstream to solve that.

So now I'm back to mainstream as my default browser and I've set up a portable esr so that I can use XMLTV Guide with the scroll bar showing.

I assume with 57x you won't be doing any more work to the add-on so I won't see it at all with that version.

Firefox, once a good browser is now trying my patience and it might be time to look at chrome alternatives or be driven to drink!

Cheers, Colin.
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Benjamin Markson
Posts: 397
Joined: November 19th, 2011, 3:57 am
Location: en-GB

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Benjamin Markson »

For me, FF57 isn't ready for prime-time. Its web extensions are too immature and incomplete. In my case there's no SQLite. This is the SQL database engine that I need to be able to make 100,000's of data rows dance. Having said that, the sheeple probably won't even notice. I suspect that those of us that use a lot of add-ons are in a minority - we are probably just an inconsequential blip on the graphs. :)

I've yet to see a single add-on that's shifted from 'legacy' to web extension that hasn't been diminished in its functionality (if not downright broken).

I'm currently sitting tight on FF52 ESR with a side dish of FF current release where I can keep an eye on where it's going. If sometime next year its crawled back to being something useful I may reconsider. Otherwise I'll be looking around to see what is supporting XUL based add-ons.

I am a little surprised that you have an ESR add-on that works on W7 but not W10 - are you missing a plugin for W10?

Ben.
XUL is dead. Long live the Google Chrome Clones.
colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

Hi all,

Can anyone grabbing data for the My5 channel tell me if you're schedules are fully detailed please?

I'm only getting schedules from 19:00 to 0100 and everything else says Closed. The channel should be open from 09:00 to 04:00 with teleshopping in the remaining slots.

As I've done previously I've tested the channel with portable TVBrowser and it picks up all the data perfectly.

This tends to suggest that mc2xml isn't grabbing all the data properly, but if that is the case I don't understand why just the one channel is corrupt out of all the others I grab.

Is anyone else seeing what I am?

Cheers...Colin
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Benjamin Markson
Posts: 397
Joined: November 19th, 2011, 3:57 am
Location: en-GB

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Benjamin Markson »

Have you seen this: http://forums.schedulesdirect.org/viewt ... =15&t=2966

I currently have all sorts of weirdness going on. For example I just noticed that CITV has gone AWOL. I do have a ticket in to have Oxford moved back to where it belongs.

I don't know what My5 is... is it platform specific? Channel number?

Ben.
XUL is dead. Long live the Google Chrome Clones.
colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

Hi Ben,

Yes I know about the line up changes from a Schedules Direct email sent on the 16th. I was on line up GBR-0001225-DEFAULT which I changed to GBR-1001670-DEFAULT.

My5 is Channel 5's equivalent of ITVBE, a sort of catchup channel I think they call it. It's channel 54 (or I54.97294.)

It's the only channel that isn't being grabbed properly out of the 53 I get.

The data is there, as the TV Browser grabber proves, it's just that mc2xml isn't picking it up and I can't figure why it's just the one channel. If things go awol it's generally many channels that are affected and not just one.

I'm not sure whether to contact the author of mc2xml about it or not.

I'll try another grab tonight and see if that works. If not I'll try the author as some tiny code change maybe affecting mc2xml whereas TV Browser maybe just a bit smarter in the way it does its business.

You can tell Christmas is coming!
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Benjamin Markson
Posts: 397
Joined: November 19th, 2011, 3:57 am
Location: en-GB

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Benjamin Markson »

colin1951uk wrote:My5 is Channel 5's equivalent of ITVBE, a sort of catchup channel I think they call it. It's channel 54 (or I54.97294.)
Okay channel I54.97294 (on GBR-1000083-DEFAULT) - I just fetched it and it's as you describe with no day time programmes, just evening and night time.
colin1951uk wrote:It's the only channel that isn't being grabbed properly out of the 53 I get.
How about I203.49452 (Children' ITV) have you got anything for that one?
colin1951uk wrote:The data is there, as the TV Browser grabber proves, it's just that mc2xml isn't picking it up and I can't figure why it's just the one channel. If things go awol it's generally many channels that are affected and not just one.

I'm not sure whether to contact the author of mc2xml about it or not.

I'll try another grab tonight and see if that works. If not I'll try the author as some tiny code change maybe affecting mc2xml whereas TV Browser maybe just a bit smarter in the way it does its business.
I can't really imagine how it can be mc2xml. Does TVBrowser use Schedules Direct as its data source? Can you see its XMLTV file? Is it carrying My5 as I54.97294?
colin1951uk wrote:You can tell Christmas is coming!
Yup, as others have commented, not the cleverest time to be making changes.

Ben.
XUL is dead. Long live the Google Chrome Clones.
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Yoss1960
Posts: 119
Joined: January 6th, 2013, 11:23 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Yoss1960 »

CITV missing here, too. Not that it bothers me; Nobody watches it in this house (even the youngest enjoys Yesterday or the History Channel over CITV etc.)

Whilst I agree that now is not the best(1) time to make changes, IIUC, things have been forced on them by upstream.

(1) Why do we always say that? There's never a good time. :)
Regards,
¥ø$$1960
"The blindingly obvious is never immediately apparent"
colin1951uk
Posts: 69
Joined: November 17th, 2014, 4:52 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by colin1951uk »

Well the only fix I've come up with is to add a second line up (Sky South) and get JUST My5 from there. It's a different channel number (175) and it's got the full schedules.

You might try a different line up for your CITV and get lucky that way.

Bit of a nuisance having two line ups but it gets the job done.

I have no idea how TV Browser gets the correct data. I've tried looking at it's data downloads but it's mostly gobbledygook. I can see programme/channel names but I can't see any channel identifiers. I just load the line up I want into it's grabber and it does the rest.

I'm a bit loath to raise a ticket on the line up that's seemingly problematical as I know it works in TV Browser so I'll just stay with the two line ups for now and at least get through to the new year with the listings that I want. You never know it may work itself out by then.

I'll probably be quiet for most of the holiday period so good luck and Merry Christmas to all!
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Yoss1960
Posts: 119
Joined: January 6th, 2013, 11:23 am

Re: [EXT] XMLTV Guide and Search

Post by Yoss1960 »

I noticed that, as well as CITV, ITV3+1 was also missing. I took a chance, and raised a ticket with SchedulesDirect (henceforth SD). Today, I received notification that there was an update to the servers to correct the problem(s). Both channels are now available here (FreeView South West - Xmitter, Huntshaw Cross).

Maybe the same is true for other regions. If channels are still missing in your region, it may be worth raising the issue with SD. One small tip; Include your Post Code. I didn't, assuming that the schedule ID would be enough. Apparently, not so, since SD quite quickly emailed me asking for the Post Code used.

Cheers, and I hope you all have a good Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Regards,
¥ø$$1960
"The blindingly obvious is never immediately apparent"
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