ForTheLibrary - XBMC Library & ForTheRecord PVR Integration

ForTheLibrary

This program automatically adds ForTheRecord recordings to XBMC's video library as soon as they are done recording (and also leaves the recordings available in ForTheRecord natively).

It is similar to (better than) what I have done with SageTV and XBMC.


ForTheLibrary details and download can be found here: http://code.google.com/p/forthelibrary/ (tested with ForTheRecord 1.7.0.0)

User's Guide: http://code.google.com/p/forthelibrary/wiki/UsersGuide

Feature List: http://code.google.com/p/forthelibrary/wiki/FeatureList

Note: For this program to work, your guide data needs to have accurate Season/Episode numbers in it. I built a guide enhancer, called XMLTVDB, for the purpose of doing this. It also has some custom integration into this program. If you don't have Season/Episode numbers in your guide data, you should install XMLTVDB first.

The documentation is currently a little weak. I don't have time right now to make it better. If anyone is willing to help, send me a PM and I'll give you access to the project.

As another SageTV user, where you go I will probably follow. I'm downloading the pacakge right now to look through it. I'm going to put my FTR install back on my list and see how it works. I had stopped because the PVR integration, based on my reading, didn't have everything I wanted. Mostly I wanted to be able to schedule series recordings, and it looks like the PVR branch doesn't do that yet. But mostly I didn't like that the recordings weren't integrated into the XBMC library. Looks like you solved the second problem at least.

(2012-03-13 03:44)pkscuot Wrote:  I had stopped because the PVR integration, based on my reading, didn't have everything I wanted. Mostly I wanted to be able to schedule series recordings, and it looks like the PVR branch doesn't do that yet.

I use the FTR Web Access to do all of the recording scheduling and management. They have a decent web UI for all that stuff.
The XBMC PVR branch UI can add "timers" to record single episodes, but that's about it right now.
The nice thing about the PVR builds is having live TV in XBMC and being able to watch recordings before they are finished. I really don't use these features much since I usually watch things a while after they have aired, but it's nice to have the option.

It's much more important imho to have the recordings in the library as soon as they are done recording

This is excellent!

I have been thinking about this same approach lately as I also find For The Record to be the best scheduler/recorder currently available on Windows. However, I lack the programming skills to do it.

I have installed both of your programs (XMLTVDB and ForTheLibrary) and I am currently testing them. I will let you know if I find any problems.

Some initial feedback...

XMLTVDB successfully used a translation to identify the US version of Being Human. However, XBMC incorrectly scanned the British version of Being Human. Would it be possible to include a tvshow.nfo with the correct TvDB ID if XMLTVDB is used and contains a translation for the processed show?

Many thanks for sharing this.

(2012-03-14 19:58)struggles Wrote:  XMLTVDB successfully used a translation to identify the US version of Being Human. However, XBMC incorrectly scanned the British version of Being Human. Would it be possible to include a tvshow.nfo with the correct TvDB ID if XMLTVDB is used and contains a translation for the processed show?

If you just put a tvshow.nfo file in the directory where the episodes are stored that have the tvdb link to the US show, XBMC will scrape it correctly.

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One quick question. With the SAGETV-XBMC integration, the script would manually archive anything it couldn't match. As I looked through the documentation and settings for FTL, I didn't see anything like that. How does FTL handle things like local/national news?

OK, I feel like an idiot, but I can't figure out how to get this instruction from the user's guide:

"path\to\java.exe" -jar "path\to\ForTheLibrary.jar" "path\to\recording"

to translate into what to put into the Processing Command area of FTR, which asks for:

PATH:
ARGUMENTS:

I've tried:

PATH: path to my java.exe
ARGUMENTS: -jar "path to my FTL jar" %%FILE%%

PATH: java - jar "path to my FTL.jar"
ARGUMENTS: %%FILE%%

PATH: path to my java.exe -jar "path to my FTL jar"
ARGUMENTS: %%FILE%%

PATH: java
ARGUMENTS: -jar "path to my FTL jar" %%FILE%%

I have confirmed that the Processing Command is set to run one minute after the recording finishes and that the schedules have the Processing Command attached to them. I can run FTL from the command line, pass in a path to the recording, and it works fine.

Any suggestions?

Nevermind. After fighting with FTR for two days I still have one channel that basically never tunes correctly and two more than don't tune correctly about half the time. I'm doing a restore right now and going back to SageTV. It may not be supported anymore, but it does have the advantage of being rock solid for me.

(2012-03-16 18:26)pkscuot Wrote:  OK, I feel like an idiot, but I can't figure out how to get this instruction from the user's guide:

"path\to\java.exe" -jar "path\to\ForTheLibrary.jar" "path\to\recording"

to translate into what to put into the Processing Command area of FTR, which asks for:

PATH:
ARGUMENTS:

I've tried:

PATH: path to my java.exe
ARGUMENTS: -jar "path to my FTL jar" %%FILE%%

PATH: java - jar "path to my FTL.jar"
ARGUMENTS: %%FILE%%

PATH: path to my java.exe -jar "path to my FTL jar"
ARGUMENTS: %%FILE%%

PATH: java
ARGUMENTS: -jar "path to my FTL jar" %%FILE%%

I have confirmed that the Processing Command is set to run one minute after the recording finishes and that the schedules have the Processing Command attached to them. I can run FTL from the command line, pass in a path to the recording, and it works fine.

Any suggestions?

I had to try this a couple of times but this works for me...


Name: For The Library (XBMC Integration)
Path: C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe
Arguements: -jar "C:\MyApps\ForTheLibrary\ForTheLibrary.jar" %%FILE%%
When: Run when the recording ends

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(2012-03-14 21:56)pkscuot Wrote:  One quick question. With the SAGETV-XBMC integration, the script would manually archive anything it couldn't match. As I looked through the documentation and settings for FTL, I didn't see anything like that. How does FTL handle things like local/national news?

I am still testing but I did process a show that does not currently exist on thetvdb.com.

The show was archived correctly and appears in XBMC. The data within For The Record (like the description) is shown in XBMC. Understandably, banners and fanart are missing. But it works great!

So far, I am a happy camper...

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(2012-03-16 22:16)pkscuot Wrote:  Nevermind. After fighting with FTR for two days I still have one channel that basically never tunes correctly and two more than don't tune correctly about half the time. I'm doing a restore right now and going back to SageTV. It may not be supported anymore, but it does have the advantage of being rock solid for me.

I am sorry to hear that you are having problems. I was not able to get Argus (For The Record Tuner) to work with all of my ATSC channels. However, I also need an analog tuner which Argus doesn't support.

I am using For The Record with the MediaPortal TV Server. It works great and is VERY stable for me. The initial setup took some work but the results are worth it. I am using it with a HDHomeRun tuner and a HD-PVR.

I have flip-flopped several times between SageTV and For The Record since SageTV sold out to Google. But I am now firmly planted into For The Record. The website integration, management console, and API are top rate.

Let me know if I can help you if you decide to try again in the future.

(2012-03-16 22:41)struggles Wrote:  Name: For The Library (XBMC Integration)
Path: C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe
Arguements: -jar "C:\MyApps\ForTheLibrary\ForTheLibrary.jar" %%FILE%%
When: Run when the recording ends

I could have sworn I tried that variation, but I'll keep it in mind when I decide to try again. I did get a news show recorded and archived the way SAGE-XBMC used to, so at least that was good.

Quote:I am sorry to hear that you are having problems. I was not able to get Argus (For The Record Tuner) to work with all of my ATSC channels. However, I also need an analog tuner which Argus doesn't support.

I am using For The Record with the MediaPortal TV Server. It works great and is VERY stable for me. The initial setup took some work but the results are worth it. I am using it with a HDHomeRun tuner and a HD-PVR.

Yea, I tried the MediaPortal TV Server today. It tunes all the channels fine, but FTR still insists it can't tune my ABC station. And with MediaPortal TV Server, FTR also decided to stop tuning my FOX station. That's when I hit system restore and gave up.

I saw on the FTR forum that other folks were having a similar problem as mine (a station, if tuned once can't be tuned again until you tune to a different channel). Even bradvido88 was having it, but the fix he used didn't help me. I'm hoping the FTR folks can get Argus to be more stable. I really liked FTR, but I need something that records what it's suppose to when its suppose to.

EDITED FOR SOLUTION: SEE BELOW

(2012-03-16 22:41)struggles Wrote:  I had to try this a couple of times but this works for me...

Name: For The Library (XBMC Integration)
Path: C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe
Arguements: -jar "C:\MyApps\ForTheLibrary\ForTheLibrary.jar" %%FILE%%
When: Run when the recording ends

OK, I took another stab at this yesterday. I spent a bunch of time with the MediaPortal TV Server testing channel combinations, and with that program I could do two ATSC channels OR one QAM channel. If I tried to have more than one QAM channel scanning at the same time as anything else, TV Server crashed. That was similar to a problem I used to have with WMC. So I went back to Argus. I finally got Argus stable and tuning all my channels consistently, but when I try to run FTL as a post processing command, FTR still doesn't call it (or at least FTL never runs). Here's what I have in my setup:

Name: ForTheLibrary
Path: C:\Program Files\Java\jre7\bin\java.exe
Arguments: -jar "C:\Users\HTPC\Documents\CustomApps\ForTheLibrary\ForTheLibrary.jar" %%FILE%%
When: Run at a Fixed Time after Program Ends (1 minute)

I looked through my FTR logs, and don't see anything indicating it even tried to do a post processing command, but then I don't know if it even logs that kind of event. I triple checked, and the job is assigned to all schedules. I'm going to try again with Run when recording ends, but I don't have very high hopes right now.

EDIT:Well how about that. Changing FTR to Run when recording ends worked. Now I need to delete that episode of Clifford the Big Red Dog before my wife starts wondering about me (we don't have any kids).