[mythtv-users] 1 CableDigital Lineup available to chose but need 2 sources from it

[Michael T. Dean]

On 10/16/2007 12:23 PM, David Brodbeck wrote:
> On Oct 16, 2007, at 6:42 AM, Daniel Arfsten wrote:
>   
>> Also, for the guy that told me I can have up to 4 lineups, well  
>> thanks for
>> information I already knew. If you read my statement, it involves  
>> only being
>> ablte to chose 1 CableDigital lineup for my area (yes I have viewed
>> neighboring zip codes but the channels are different), I could create
>> another lineup but NOT using CableDigital which is what I need! One  
>> would be
>> for firewire channels only and hte other would be for s-video in on my
>> pvr-350 which is ALL channels.
>>     
> IMHO this is a badly needed Schedules Direct feature -- the ability  
> to have two copies of the same lineup, with different channels selected.

Why?  Since Myth now has support for using the same lineup for multiple
video sources, adding support to SD to allow multiple lineups with
different channels would be significantly less efficient than the
current approach.  (If anything, Myth should provide a capability to use
one XMLTV grabber's download for multiple video sources--i.e. provide
the same capability it provides for SD users to those who don't have
access to such a great listings source.  ;)

Most users who need to use the same "provider" (i.e. CableDigital) for
multiple video sources do so because some input can receive only a
subset of channels--i.e. the user has an STB that receives /all/
channels and outputs to a PVR-x50 for capture, but also connects the
cable line directly to PVR-x50's for analog-only channels and may
connect the cable line directly to QAM-capable capture cards or use STB
firewire output for unencrypted digital channels.  In this situation--by
definition--any channels in the analog-only lineup and the
unencrypted-digital-only lineup would be duplicated in the all-channels
lineup.  Therefore, we would waste bandwidth downloading the same
information multiple times.  We would also waste TMS/SD processing
resources creating the 3 "customized" lineups rather than simply
providing one lineup (the all-channels lineup) and telling Myth to use
it for 3 video sources, where two use only a subset of the channels.

IMHO, ease of configuration isn't a good reason to be
inefficient/wasteful--especially since configuration is a one-time
process for users and has no impact on ease of use once completed.  (OK,
as I'm the guy who always says, "Delete all...", configuration may occur
multiple times, but learning to configure one lineup for use with
multiple video sources is a one-time process.)

Instead, perhaps those who work through this process can document their
approach and submit patches to Robert for his (much better than the one
I did on the lists) writeup (
http://mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-24.html#ss24.4 ) of how to configure
a system to use one lineup for multiple video sources.  (Patches to the
SGML are preferred, but patches to plain text or even plain text write
ups are accepted.)

(I will admit that users of SD who are using the information for
purposes other than Myth may find the capability to create multiple
lineups from a single provider useful, but, IMHO, those programs should
also create support for using one lineup for multiple "purposes". 
MythTV and XMLTV both support it, so...)

Mike