Group Genre's (i.e. Movies, New, Sports), new (Asterisk), Testing Forks and General discussions

[NarutoForHokage]

Thanks for the updated TypeScript support! I love it is so much faster to grab data. I might be missing something, but it seems MediaPortal 2 no longer shows genre-based colors in the EPG (like News, Movies, Series) with version 2.2.0. I tested the old Perl version this weekend, and the genre groups still worked there.

[NarutoForHokage]

@jesmannstl I think maybe your pull request addressed this... Is there a way to test your code before it is accepted?

I'll hijack my own discussion topic... Does the New flag add an asterisc (*) like the perl code's guide data to indicate new EPG series/shows?

[ferrellsl]

@jesmannstl I think maybe your pull request addressed this... Is there a way to test your code before it is accepted?

I'll hijack my own discussion topic... Does the New flag add an asterisc (*) like the perl code's guide data to indicate new EPG series/shows?

Yes. And to test it you can either use a text editor to review the raw XML file and look for the *'s, or use the EPG Viewer extension available at the Chrome Web Store.

[jesmannstl]

@jesmannstl I think maybe your pull request addressed this... Is there a way to test your code before it is accepted?

I'll hijack my own discussion topic... Does the New flag add an asterisc (*) like the perl code's guide data to indicate new EPG series/shows?

As long as you add --appendAsterisk to the command line it does

I did extensive testing before uploading the changes

[NarutoForHokage]

@jesmannstl I think maybe your pull request addressed this... Is there a way to test your code before it is accepted?
I'll hijack my own discussion topic... Does the New flag add an asterisc (*) like the perl code's guide data to indicate new EPG series/shows?

As long as you add --appendAsterisk to the command line it does

I did extensive testing before uploading the changes

That helps, but I guess I'm wondering what the easiest way to use the code that hasn't been accepted on the Main? I'm new to github and I'm basically a noob to much of most coding for javascript and understand Perl even less.
Do I download from here:
https://github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml/tree/main

Does it do a zip like the main?
Then follow the instillation instructions like Jeff has on his main location for that "tree"?

Thanks in advance

[jesmannstl]

@jesmannstl I think maybe your pull request addressed this... Is there a way to test your code before it is accepted?
I'll hijack my own discussion topic... Does the New flag add an asterisc (*) like the perl code's guide data to indicate new EPG series/shows?

As long as you add --appendAsterisk to the command line it does
I did extensive testing before uploading the changes

That helps, but I guess I'm wondering what the easiest way to use the code that hasn't been accepted on the Main? I'm new to github and I'm basically a noob to much of most coding for javascript and understand Perl even less. Do I download from here: https://github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml/tree/main

Does it do a zip like the main? Then follow the instillation instructions like Jeff has on his main location for that "tree"?

Thanks in advance

You could also open a terminal in the folder you want the zap2xml folder in and git clone https://github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml.git
then cd zap2xml and run the install command
Or you can download the Zip by clicking on Code on github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml and follow the same install instructions

[NarutoForHokage]

You could also open a terminal in the folder you want the zap2xml folder in and git clone https://github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml.git then cd zap2xml and run the install command Or you can download the Zip by clicking on Code on github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml and follow the same install instructions >

@jesmannstl The Graphic you sent helped, Thank you for showing me!
Not sure why I missed that before, but seems obvious now.
Follow on question... I see that --appendAsterisk is working and I have group colors in MediaPortal 2. I seem to be missing episode and season information. Is that by design? Or did I miss an option to add them? Note: I'll run it overnight tonight, in case they're just not updated yet. Do I need "--includeSeriesGenre"? I had thought it was by default from the separate Pull Request discussion.

[jesmannstl]

IncludeSeriesGenre is by default. Season Episode should be on every program that is not a movie or sports. Unless media portal is expecting a different format

[jesmannstl]

This is probably the issue and a fix https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/episode-number-formats.133701/

[NarutoForHokage]

This is probably the issue and a fix https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/episode-number-formats.133701/

I don't want to wear you out, but I'm still having problems. I'm surprised you did research for me and I'm grateful for it.
Jef's file does read in properly, but I think jesmannstl's doesn't. It simply doesn't read in the file at all most times and with editing after it is generated only a few programs come in.

I think if we could have an option to rename the dd_progid to common in the typeScript tool for users who need it? I have very little clue on what is required for this to work in my case for MediaPortal.
I tested the PowerShell option you mentioned as a potential solution above, but it had non-ascii characters, hexidecimal values and kept throwing errors. I fixed the errors, but ended up with a file very similar to the batch file editing option mentioned below.

I tested the Code mentioned in this batch file from this thread (which I had come across and forgotten about):
https://forum.team-mediaportal.com/threads/filenaming-season-and-episode-numbers-not-working.138238/#post-1245584

Which does work with the updated "historical" perl version of the code as of yesterday. But doesn't with the TypeScript version.

the typesScript method seems to give these errors in the log when using it and then batch file (editing) at the end:
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,727] [8687 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - channel#141 xmlid:124736 name:MeTOONS dbsid:219
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,809] [8769 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - xmltvimport: Reading TV programs
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,819] [8779 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S03E243' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S03E24' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S06E77' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S03E08' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S03E09' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S25E137' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S21E163' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S13E244' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,820] [8780 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - XMLTVImport::CorrectEpisodeNum, could not parse 'S02E61' as plain number
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,822] [8782 ] [SetupTv ] [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)
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,828] [8788 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - Xmltv: imported 142 channels, 18 programs status:tvguide.xml:Invalid XML file:Length cannot be less than zero.
Parameter name: length;
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,829] [8788 ] [SetupTv ] [INFO ] - Xmltv: waiting for database to finish inserting imported programs.
[2025-08-06 11:12:48,829] [8788 ] [SetupTv ] [DEBUG] - plugin:xmltv import done

Help would be greatly appreciated. I assume that Jef and others will abandon the Perl version or stop updating it going forward, so I'd like to get this to work.

I'm going to attach my "xmltv.dtd" file, but I cannot make sense of it. Perhaps someone else can:
xmltv.zip

[jesmannstl]

I'm in the middle of a major update but will see if I can add like --MediaPortal to make the <episode-num-system="xmltv_ns" as the first one listed so it remains the same for anyone else in case that breaks others

[jesmannstl]

Added --mediaportal option to output the "xmltv_ns" episode num first as Media Portal only reads the first entry. If using docker environment MEDIA_PORTAL: TRUE will update the main page later along with dozens of countries than can now be used. This is on the https://github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml fork

[NarutoForHokage]

Added --mediaportal option to output the "xmltv_ns" episode num first as Media Portal only reads the first entry. If using docker environment MEDIA_PORTAL: TRUE will update the main page later along with dozens of countries than can now be used. This is on the https://github.com/jesmannstl/zap2xml fork

Tested the --mediaportal option and it works! I finally have guide data with asterisks for new programs and season/episode data using TypeScript code. I'll post a new discussion on your fork page. Thanks for all your efforts. I don't know why it was easier with the perl code to update the tvguide.xml file after the fact, but I'm glad we have a working solution with the added option.

[jesmannstl]

I looked into if getting rid of the dd_progid was an option but it's what Plex uses