MythVideo Grabber Script Format

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MythVideo grabber scripts are small executable perl, python, or binary applications which query online sources of metadata and return it in a format parseable by MythVideo. This page documents the current format required of the grabber scripts to function.


The Language Option (-l)

All grabber scripts must accept a -l language option. Not all grabbers offer multiple language results, but they must at least silently ignore the option. If your grabber does offer multilingual results, it is important to note that the language is passed as a two-letter ISO-639 language code.


The Title Search Command (-M)

All scripts must provide a title search command, which takes a title as an argument and return a list of possible results. The results must be one per line, in the format:


Command Format SCRIPTNAME -l LANGUAGE -M TITLE
Command Example ./tmdb.pl -l en -M "Harry"
Response Format INETREF:TITLE
Response Example
0241527:Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (2001)
0304141:Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
0373889:Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
0295297:Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002)
0330373:Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005)
0216800:Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien (2000)
0329028:Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd  (2003)
0118954:Deconstructing Harry (1997)
0066999:Dirty Harry  (1971)
0098645:Who's Harry Crumb? (1989)
0098635:When Harry Met Sally... (1989)
0093148:Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
1201607:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II (2011)
0926084:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010)
0417741:Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
0048750:The Trouble with Harry (1955)

Inetref is a number like an IMDB, TMDB, or TVDB number. It is a unique serial ID that identifies that film to the data source's API.

The Title/Subtitle Search Command (-N)

Television Grabber scripts must offer a Title/Subtitle search. If the data source does not allow for this type of search, it is acceptable to simply return nothing. The result must be in S##E## format.


Command Format SCRIPTNAME -l LANGUAGE -N TITLE SUBTITLE
Command Example ./ttvdb.py -l en -N "Battlestar Galactica (2003)" "Water"
Response Format S##E##
Response Example
S01E02


The Data Command (-D)

Each grabber must also provide a data command. The data returned includes items such as title, subtitle, year of release, and other textual metadata. Grabbers written for MythTV .23 or greater should also return image results for coverart, fanart, banners, and screenshots (where available). This command varies slightly depending on whether the script is for TV or Film material. For Television Material, the season and episode numbers are added to the arguments.


Command Format (FILM) SCRIPTNAME -l LANGUAGE -D INETREF
Command Example (FILM) ./tmdb.pl -l en -D 0241527
Command Format (TELEVISION) SCRIPTNAME -l LANGUAGE -D TITLE SEASONNUM EPISODENUM
Command Example (TELEVISION) ./ttvdb.py -l en -D 73739 5 1
Response Format KEY:DATA
Response Example
Title:Lost
Subtitle:Because You Left
Season:5
Episode:1
Year:2009
Director:Stephen Williams
Plot:The remaining island survivors start to feel the effects of the 
aftermath of moving the island, and Jack and Ben begin their quest 
to reunite the Oceanic 6 in order to return to the island with Locke's 
body in an attempt to save their former fellow castaways.
UserRating:7.9
Screenshot:http://www.thetvdb.com/banners/episodes/73739/382841.jpg
InetRef:73739
Cast:Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Naveen Andrews, Elizabeth Mitchell, 
Michael Emerson, Terry O'Quinn, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Josh Holloway, 
John Terry, Andrew Divoff, Sam Anderson, L. Scott Caldwell, Nestor Carbonell, 
Kevin Durand, Jeff Fahey, Tania Raymonde, Mira Furlan, Alan Dale, Sonya Walger, 
Rebecca Mader, Ken Leung, Jeremy Davies, Kiele Sanchez, Rodrigo Santoro
Genres:Action and Adventure, Drama, Science-Fiction
Runtime:45


Valid Key:Data Pairs

The following table illustrates valid values that can be returned by the grabber script, and explains the necessary formatting. None of the values are required.


Title The title of the film or program. Text
Subtitle The subtitle of the film or program. Text
Year The release or transmission date of the film or program. Integer Value
ReleaseDate A YYYY-MM-DD format release date for the item. Text/Date
InetRef The serial number/key value used to identify the movie to the API/site. Examples are IMDB nmber, TMDB number, etc. Note: Returning InetRef overwrites the previous InetRef. You should only return it if you know what you are doing, such as attempting to transition from one numbering type to another. Integer Value or String
URL A URL to open in a web browser for the item grabbed. Most scripts return the item's page at the data source. String/Web Address
Director The Director of the queried item. Text
Plot The Plot/Description of the queried item. Text
UserRating The rating of the item by the data source's users. Floating Point number 0-10.0
MovieRating The classification/Film Rating of the item (eg G, PG, PG-13, R) Text
Runtime The playing time of the item. Integer
Season The Season of the item. Integer
Episode The episode number of the item. Integer
Coverart The Coverart/Poster download URLs for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated URLs
Fanart The Fanart download URLs for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated URLs
Banner The Banner download URLs for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated URLs
Screenshot The Screenshot download URLs for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated URLs
Cast The Cast for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated text
Genres The Genres for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated text
Countries The production countries for the item. Multiple values can be returned, and should be separated by commas. comma-separated text

The Version Command (-v)

Your script must return a version string which is used in the Myth interface to identify it. -v is lower case and case sensitive. The current format looks something like this:

themoviedb Query (v0.1.1) by William Stewart, Stuart Morgan


Adding a new script

To test your script, you can add it to the /usr{/local}/share/mythtv/mythvideo/scripts/Television or /usr{/local}/share/mythtv/mythvideo/scripts/Movie directories, depending on its purpose. Assuming your script is executable, and responds properly to a -v version command, it should now appear in the User Interface as a valid option. Please remember to submit your script at http://svn.mythtv.org so that others can enjoy it! Note that any official grabber scripts must comply with the terms or service (TOS) of the data service from which they grab. If the site prohibits scraping/grabbing, then the script cannot be distributed with MythTV.