PTVL and Zap2It

[Steph]

I am not very computer literate, but I now use PTVL and Zap2It - will I be able to download by the WEblink to a new url and still use PTVL or will i need to change to another application.

Thanks

[danielk]

Pocket TV Listings is an approved application, so you should not need to change applications. However they may require you to download an update. Please consult their website http://ptvl.thumbsupsoft.com/ for updates on when they become SD compatible and for additional instructions on using or updating PTVL.

[sakarnesky]

I am also a PTVL and Zap2It user. I have tried to contact folks at Thumbsupsoft, and have received no response. The links from the PTVL home page to FAQs, Message Boards, and News are not working. I tried contacting them a few weeks ago, when I learned that Zap2It would no longer be providing listings after Sept. 1, but have received no response. I am not a programmer, and the command line instructions discussed in relation to the Pocket TV Browser mean nothing to me (and I don't know if "Pocket TV Browser" is the desktop version of PTVL, or not, so I don't know if the discussion applies).

Thank you for picking up the gauntlet to provide the community with listings data. I hope that someone will be helping those of us who are a bit on the less than fully computer literate side to set up the applications and listings to work for us.

[rmeden]

I show the same email that they have posed on their web page. Their message board is also down... I would give them a little while to get things together.

Robert

[sslogan]

I also use PTVL and have for many years. Unfortunately, I suspect they are MIA. I have tried email and even snail mail to the programmer on several occassions and have never received any sort of response.

I'd love to be able to get the program working with SD, but I don't think it is going to happen.

If anyone has a good replacement for the program, I'm all ears, but I've never found one quite like it, including the ability to create reminders that will synch up with (in my case) Outlook.

Scott

[jdanitsc]

I am also a PVTL user and believe that they are MIA as well.

The command line that has been discussed has to be hard coded into the program, from what I understand; so unless our Weblink is updated, we may be out of luck. However, I may have come up with a workaround. While I am not familiar with the program, we may be able to use XMLTV and then import the file into Weblink. Weblink is able to take date in XMLTV format and then parse it to a format that our program can then read. However, we need to hear from someone who manages the forums to know if this is feasable. I am not sure that the software will work on a Windows system and it may be that Weblink cannot read the file output and reparse it for the software to read.

If this idea will not work, then we may want to adopt Pocket TV Browser. It may not be as good as PVTL, but it will allow us to use software on our PDAs or desktops.

[rmeden]

I don't know about PTVL, but I do know all about XMLTV.

If PTVL can read a XMLTV file, here's what you need to do... (for windows)

#1. Grab xmltv-0.5.48-win32.zip http://files.xmltv.org
#2. extract the zip to a directory (preferably w/o spaces)
#3. open a command prompt and CD to that directory.
#4. xmltv.exe tv_grab_na_dd --configure (and answer the questions)
#5. xmltv.exe tv_grab_na_dd --days 1 --out=xmltv.xml
#6. import xmltv.xml into PTVL
#7. rock on.

[jdanitsc]

Thank you, I will have to try that.

Hopefully it will work. I know that Weblink has an option under the Tools menu to convert a XMLTV file, so my theory is that it is possible. Nice to know that the $6,000 I spent to get a Masters in Management Information Systems degree wasn't totally wasted, even if I cannot get a job in the IT field. Sometimes it is nice to know system design, if only to figure out things about software.

I may not get to it until Labor Day weekend however. I work for a major secondary lender in the mortgage industry and with all the current upheaval, my workload has gone up not down at the moment. However, I do plan on downloading 14 days of data on the 31st of August and spending the weekend playing with this. If anyone tries earlier, please post something so that we will know if this works or not.

Oh, and before I forget, thank you for offering this service to us. Even if we have to use some workarounds, it is much better than not having our software at all. I have been using PVTL so long, I actually had to buy it. It was long before it was freeware. At this point I am rather addicted to it and would find it very difficult to use anything else.

[sakarnesky]

I too have been using PTVL so long that I had to pay for it! It's a great program, that lets me easily set reminders, so I catch all my favorite programs.

If anyone out there happens to put together a batch file or program to pull the XMLTV data, and then run the import into PTVL, please share. I may also try to experiment with the command line stuff this weekend, but I am definitely no programmer, and I don't anticipate being particularly successful. I may have to try to get my son interested enough to help me get it figured out.

By the way, does the "1" in "#5. xmltv.exe tv_grab_na_dd --days 1 --out=xmltv.xml" mean that it's going to grab only one day's worth of data? If so, can it be set to a higher number? Else, how do you set the numbers of days for which to download data?

Note: When I tried the command line grab, it stopped, because it could not find a directory. Wherever you put the files you extract, I think you need to create the subdirectory ..\share]xmltv. At least, when I created this directory, it appeared to go a bit further.

Thanks again for supporting the community!

[rmeden]

By the way, does the "1" in "#5. xmltv.exe tv_grab_na_dd --days 1 --out=xmltv.xml" mean that it's going to grab only one day's worth of data? If so, can it be set to a higher number?

Yes.. for troubleshooting I suggested you just get one day. The default is 7, SD supports 13-14 depending on the time of day.

Note: When I tried the command line grab, it stopped, because it could not find a directory. Wherever you put the files you extract, I think you need to create the subdirectory ..\share]xmltv. At least, when I created this directory, it appeared to go a bit further.

Did you move xmltv.exe? The share directory is shipped in the zip and it looks for it in the same directory as xmltv.exe