Difference between revisions of "Channel icons"

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(Add details of where new channel icons go in the file system and how to finish channel icon setup in MythWeb)
(Add to category:howto)
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If you would like to ensure that channel icons for your local/subscribed channels are automatically available to anyone (including yourself) configuring a MythTV system, you can help create the "master" (all-inclusive) map of icons to channels.
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=Channel Icon Download System=
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As of 0.21, MythTV includes a channel icon download system in ''mythtv-setup'' which will attempt to automatically download icons for channels in your database from services.mythtv.org. If it cannot find an icon it will present you with a list of options, an the ability to define your own search parameters.
  
One of the best sources of channel icons is http://www.lyngsat-logo.com/ . There, you can browse the available icons and choose those appropriate for your system. However, doing so can be a lot of work (requiring many page hits and a lot of time).
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To configure icon downloading in mythtv-setup:
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* run "mythtv-setup"
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* select "Channel Editor"
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* click on "Icon Download"
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* select either "Download all icons.." or "Rescan for missing icons.."
  
An easier approach is to use some new features in the post-0.20-SVN branch of MythTV to quickly look up the information. And, the best part is that you can use this new feature (and help out with the development of MythTV) even if you're not using SVN--there's no need to upgrade ''any'' part of your MythTV installation.
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==Universal Location==
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By default the icon will be downloaded to the '/home/<user>/.mythtv/channels' directory. This is not very friendly when you have multiple frontends and wish them all to share the icons. One method to get around this is to use a symlink for this directory that directs to a network located directory that all your frontends have access to, say '/var/mythtv/channels' for example.
  
First, checkout the appropriate portion of the SVN branch with:
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Before downloading the icons, do the following, or similar as per your distribution:
  
<pre>
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<code><pre>
svn co http://svn.mythtv.org/svn/trunk/mythtv/contrib/master_iconmap
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rm ~/.mythtv/channels -rf
</pre>
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sudo mkdir /var/mythtv/channels
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sudo chown <user>:<group> /var/mythtv/channels
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ln -s /var/mythtv/channels ~/.mythtv/channels
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</pre></code>
  
Doing so will create a directory called "master_iconmap" underneath the current directory. The master_iconmap directory contains a directory called "lyngsat" which contains a file lyngsat_stations.txt--a plain text listing of /all/ the available icons (small channel icons--listed on the line containing [ls-icon]) and logos (larger channel icons--often "widescreen" versions--listed on the line containing [ls-logo]) at LyngSat.
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You will want to run
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<code><pre>
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rm ~/.mythtv/channels -rf
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ln -s /var/mythtv/channels ~/.mythtv/channels
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</pre></code>
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for all the users that can run MythTV as well.
  
Open the lyngsat/lyngsat_stations.txt file in one text editor so you can search it for your stationsYou'll need to decide whether to use the icons or the logos (I used the logos for my stations).
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=Channel Icon Sources=
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One of the best sources of channel icons is http://www.lyngsat-logo.com/ . There, you can browse the available icons and choose those appropriate for your systemHowever, doing so can be a lot of work (requiring many page hits and a lot of time).  Once downloaded you should put the resulting JPEG files into .mythtv/channels/ for the user running the front-end.  To add them to a channel you will need to run mythtv-setup and go to the channel editor and specify the icon file name for each channel.
  
Then open and edit data/{baseurl,callsigntonetwork,networktourl}.txt in another editor(s).
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==International Channel Logos==
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* [https://ash.ms/projects/channels Australia]
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* [http://www.documentjes.nl/linux/mythtv/icons/ Netherlands]
  
* baseurl.txt - shouldn't require any changes
 
* callsigntonetwork.txt - create a mapping between a callsign (left column) and a network name (right column); it's /very/ important that you use the callsigns used by your listings provider (i.e. DataDirect) or something appropriate for everyone (if callsigns aren't generally used in your country); ''see below for information on naming networks''
 
* networktourl.txt - create a mapping between a network name (left column--use the name you defined in callsigntonetwork.txt) and an icon/logo URL (right column--copied straight out of lyngsat_stations.txt)
 
 
When naming networks, please try to use the following convention:
 
* If the station is a local station, append a dash followed by the station's callsign to the name of the network with which the station is affiliated.  For example, WKMG is the callsign of a CBS affiliate, so its network name should be CBS-WKMG.
 
* Stations that were affiliated with the WB and UPN networks are changing networks.  Some are becoming affiliates of the new CW network and others of the MyNetworkTV (MyTV) network and some of neither.  Note, though, that it's not a simple substitution (some WB networks are becoming CW and others are becoming MyTV and some are going independent, and the same for UPN stations).  The best source of information is probably http://www.wikipedia.org/.  For affiliates of CW, use "CW-" and for affiliates of MyTV, use "MYTV-".
 
* If the station is not affiliated with a national network (i.e. it's an "independent" channel), append the callsign to "IND-".  For example, WSBK decided not to affiliate with the new CW or MyTV networks, but instead became an independent station, so its network name is "IND-WSBK".
 
* If the channel is a cable channel, use a descriptive name for it (i.e. "CARTOONNETWORK" was chosen because it is much more descriptive than "TOON" or "CN").
 
* If the above doesn't apply (for non-US stations, for example), choose an appropriate convention and document it here.
 
 
Test your changes by running:
 
 
./build_map.pl
 
 
from the master_iconmap directory to incorporate your changes into the master_iconmap.xml file.  Then, '''as the user who runs the mythfrontend program''', run (again, from the master_iconmap directory):
 
 
mythfilldatabase --reset-icon-map all
 
 
to clear your current channel icons and
 
 
mythfilldatabase --import-icon-map master_iconmap.xml --update-icon-map
 
 
to import icons using the updated master_iconmap.xml file (which now contains your changes).  Mythfilldatabase will download icon files for stations in your channel lineup that have matching callsigns to those now defined in master_iconmap.xml.  The icon image files will go into the directory .mythtv/channels located in your current user's home directory. At this point, verify all your channels have icons.
 
 
Note that if you check for icons with MythWeb, you'll have to delete MythWeb's icon cache with the following (change path as appropriate) and copy in the updated icons. You may also have to set permissions on the icon files to ensure they are readable by the web server's user account.
 
 
rm /var/www/htdocs/mythtv/data/tv_icons/*
 
cp ~/.mythtv/channels/* /var/www/htdocs/mythtv/data/tv_icons
 
chmod a+r /var/www/htdocs/mythweb/data/tv_icons/*
 
 
Once everything looks good, run
 
 
svn diff data > ~/master_iconmap.patch
 
 
from the master_iconmap directory to create a patch for Trac.  See http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/ticket/2365 for an example patch (look at the newest patch on the ticket--the first one was for a very different (and harder to edit) style).
 
 
[[Category:HOWTO]]
 
[[Category:HOWTO]]

Revision as of 08:20, 9 September 2012

Channel Icon Download System

As of 0.21, MythTV includes a channel icon download system in mythtv-setup which will attempt to automatically download icons for channels in your database from services.mythtv.org. If it cannot find an icon it will present you with a list of options, an the ability to define your own search parameters.

To configure icon downloading in mythtv-setup:

  • run "mythtv-setup"
  • select "Channel Editor"
  • click on "Icon Download"
  • select either "Download all icons.." or "Rescan for missing icons.."

Universal Location

By default the icon will be downloaded to the '/home/<user>/.mythtv/channels' directory. This is not very friendly when you have multiple frontends and wish them all to share the icons. One method to get around this is to use a symlink for this directory that directs to a network located directory that all your frontends have access to, say '/var/mythtv/channels' for example.

Before downloading the icons, do the following, or similar as per your distribution:

rm ~/.mythtv/channels -rf
sudo mkdir /var/mythtv/channels
sudo chown <user>:<group> /var/mythtv/channels
ln -s /var/mythtv/channels ~/.mythtv/channels

You will want to run

rm ~/.mythtv/channels -rf
ln -s /var/mythtv/channels ~/.mythtv/channels

for all the users that can run MythTV as well.

Channel Icon Sources

One of the best sources of channel icons is http://www.lyngsat-logo.com/ . There, you can browse the available icons and choose those appropriate for your system. However, doing so can be a lot of work (requiring many page hits and a lot of time). Once downloaded you should put the resulting JPEG files into .mythtv/channels/ for the user running the front-end. To add them to a channel you will need to run mythtv-setup and go to the channel editor and specify the icon file name for each channel.

International Channel Logos