aTV Scheduler FAQ

Here will be some Q and A.s later on but for now please read the readme.

aTV Scheduler 0.99 - readme.txt

  Content

  1. What is aTV ?
  2. Installation instructions.
  3. Prerequisits for running atv
  4. Running aTV
  5. Miscellaneous info
  6. aTVBatch
  7. Toolbox
  8. Changelog
===================================================================
1. What is aTV?
===================================================================
  A simple HTTP / Web server specially designed to display
  TV listings dynamically generated from a XMLTV input file.

  Aswell as being a web based TV guide it also lets you schedule
  and record TV shows at your home via an ordinary web browser.
  aTV uses the internal Windows scheduler and write entries to the
  scheduler of what items to record. aTV in itself does not have
  any internal scheduler keeping track of what¥s scheduled, though
  it will make checks before an item is scheduled to avoid any
  possible time conflicts etc.

  aTV also offers you to manage (delete) your scheduled items
  aswell as (delete and tag) already recorded shows via the web         interface.


2. Installation instructions.
=====================================================================
  There are no installation file you must run to install this
  software. Just use WinRAR to unpack the archive with retained
  directory structure. You should have the following directories;

  aTV/
     /props/
     /images/
     /logs/
     /lib/
     /batch/
     /toolbox/
     /aTV.exe

  It's important that this structure is intact, otherwise aTV
  will not work. To start the server just double click aTV.exe

3. Prerequisits for running aTV.
=====================================================================
* Java Runtime Environment > 1.6
  The minimum version of JRE that needs to be installed is 1.6
  Check http://java.sun.com if you need to update this.

* XMLTV input file
  aTV is dependent on other software to grab and download TV
  listings in the XMLTV format. Recommended software for this is
  the XMLTV project - http://www.xmltv.org

  Just point out in atv.properties where the downloaded xml file
  are located.

* schtasks.exe
  If you run XP Home Edition SP2, Windows scheduler is not available.
  To enable this you must get hold of schtasks.exe and place it in      your C:\<WINDOWS>\system32 directory.

  XP Professional SP2 and later aswell as Vista or Windows 7 should     work as is.

* atv.properties
  Look carefully through ../aTV/props/atv.properties, the are a number
  of variables that must be set and reflect your computer environment.
  Open and edit this file with any texteditor and save your changes.

  The most crucial options to get correct for aTV to run are;

  ipaddr        = make sure you use a valid ip address for you                           machine.
  ipaddr        = 0.0.0.0 lets aTV listen on all interfaces
                  including the loopback interface (localhost)
  port          = choose a port that not already in use.
  xmlinputfile  = path to your xmltv xml file containing program                       information
  webpass       = password used to log on the web interface of aTV
  Channel_Name  = Every xmltv channel should correspond to a number
                  or name specified for that channel in you DVB                       software.
                  If you use channel names instead of number be sure                   that these name are surrounded in double quotes, eg                   "Discovery"
             
                  For instance in MyTheater, right-click the channel                   and select 'properties', you should no be able to                   find the channel id for this channel.
                  Whitespaces ' ' must be replace by underscore '_'
                  for the xmltv channel names.

* dvbcmd.ini
  The commands in this file are read by aTV and are used as input
  for the Windows scheduled tasks that are created.
  Review this file and uncomment the start (and eventual stop           commands)
  Don't forget to check that your DVB program installation path
  matches.

4. Running aTV
=====================================================================

* Accessing aTV
  Point your browser to http://<your.ip.adress>:<port>/ to view aTV.
  If you used ipaddr = 0.0.0.0 in atv.properties you should be
  able to use http://localhost:<port>/ aswell.
* aTV gui
  The server has a simple GUI, with start, stop buttons etc. aTV has
  the possible to run in the background represented by a tray icon.
  Just press the close window button to get rid of the GUI.
  To exit the program, right click the traybar and select quit or open
  up the window and press the exit button.

* Reload of xml input file
  This is done at startup, you can also make a reload via the web
  interface or via the server gui window. A reload will never take
  place automatically.

* Recorded shows tagging.
  Let you tag recordings, this is a simple feature that just renames
  the current file name of the recording. This lets aTVBatch or any
  program of your own identify files for different tasks / handling
  later on.
  In all aTV supports 3 different tags and therefore a file can have

  different states;

  Gray:   [My_recording.mpg]      Indicates: n/a - untagged.
  Yellow: [My_recording.[T].mpg]  Ind: File tagged but not yet
                                  handled.
  Green:  [My_recording.[C].mpg]  Ind: File handled but still tagged.
  Red:    [My_recording.[B].mpg]  Ind: Busy file, ongoing conversion..

  The aTVBatch make use of these 3 tags. See more about aTVBatch
  further down...
  Note! - Its not possible to tag recordings directly at the time of
          program scheduling due to different ways that filenames are
          created depending on recording software.

5. Miscellaneous
=====================================================================
* Channel logos
  There are a set of channel logos included in this package. If you
  want to add you own just place a .gif picture with a suitable size
  in the aTV/images/channels directory. The file must be with the same
  name as the xmltv channel, eg channel%20name.gif.

  Replace whitespaces ' '  with '%20'
  Channels that does not have a corresponding logo will have a default
  picture shown.

* DVB software
  The only DVB software that can handle recording while any user is
  not logged on in XP is MyTheatre. Be sure to enter your windows
  account information in atv.properties to enable recordings when
  not logged on the computer.

* Front page picture
  To have a unique picture at the welcome screen, replace the file
  startpic.gif in the ../images/system directory with any of your own
  pictures.

* 'Hidden feature'
  If you, for some reason, need to shutdown aTV remotely this command
  can be used;
  http://address.to.aTV/jtv.htm?action=immediateshutdown
  This will immediately, no questions asked, shutdown aTV if your're
  logged on.

6. aTVBatch
=========================================================================
  This is a simple java class that scan a directory for tagged
  recordings.
  It creates a windows bat-file that will convert the tagged files to
  a suitable format, eg for your iPod.

  In the current state the aTVBatch can make bat-files to convert
  recordings with either FFMPEG or the HandBrake. See the
  aTV.properties file for the diffent setting used by aTVBatch.

  A recommeded way is to setup aTVBatch to run once a day via the the
  windows scheduler. A minute or two after this another windows
  scheduled task can be setup that executes the bat file produced by
  aTVBatch.

  The batch file created will tag the recording to [B] during the
  conversion and after the conversion is done it will be tagged as
  [C].

  Note! This is not a full blown failsafe solution for effective and
  elegant file conversion. See it more as a proof of concept that
  works fairly good and that will get you the idea of what can be
  done.

  The source code for aTVBatch is available and there for you to alter
  / improve. If you'd like to share some improvements please let me
  know...

7. Toolbox
===========================================================================
  This function lets you execute scripts / programs via the aTV web
  interface.
  When accessing the Toolbox page, the files available in the
  atv/toolbox director will be listed. You also have the possibility
  to execute the script and send one or more input arguments to the
  scripts via the input field next to it.

  ** Note that long running processes are not recommended to be run
     this way!! **

  Suitable task could be downloading of new new XMLTV input, adding of
  new scheduled tasks or whatever you can think of...

  See some of the provided example scripts of what and how it can be
  done.
  It can be a bit tricky to get a scripts to work but usually it will
  work after some 'trial and error' :)

  Note ! Be careful to run scripts that produce a lot of std.out
         information.

  XMLTV for instance that prints out progress bars in dos mode etc.
  Executables like these should, if possible, be run in 'quiet' mode.

8. Changelog
=================================================================
120425 - Small bug fixes.
         New default start page - 'What's on'
         OpenTimeLine: Let you access the channel timeline information
         without logging on. Links inactivated though, so program
         scheduling is not possible. OpenTimeLine is accessible by
         clicking the logo at the login screen.

110220 - TimeLine representation for start/stop is now more accurate.
         URL decoded messages in logviewer window.
         Better error handling. Some new images. Bugfixes.

110206 - More small bugfixes. Server GUI now resizeable.
         New images in web interface.

110205 - Use of channel names aswell as channel numbers now supported
         for channel mappings in property file.
         DVBViewer wrapper added to use aTV to control DVBViewer.
         See /bin directory for further info - still very beta.
         dvdcmd.ini updated with more examples.
         Some bug fixes.

090719 - Added additional variables for dvbcmd.ini file.
         Should be possible to control additional DVB-programs.
         New executable with splash screen. Shareware nag screen
         removed.
         System.out logging changed.
         MTChannels.exe added to toolbox, lists all channels with id.s
         from MyTheatre channel database. Takes full path to
         channels.mdb as input.
         If no input is given the following path is used as default.
         C:/program/mytheatre/channels.mdb

090500 - New name, jTV was already used for a similiar application
         before this app was created - so its aTV from now on.
         Version 0.98.4 - Completely new Web interface.
         New ini-file - dvb.ini, located in /props directory.
         This file contains the commands used to start the
         DVB-program. Please see inside file for more information.
         Support for two tuners, use separate commands in dvbcmd.ini
         for this.

080800 - New version 0.98, now Java 1.6. Jdic package removed
         (obsolete)
         Bugfixes in XML-parsing. Handles program entries that dont
         have any specified end time -> Stop time equals start time.
         Possible to tag recordings for different uses, eg conversion
         Slightly improved logging to std.out and in GUI window.
         aTVBatch class added that scans tagged recording and creates
         a windows bat file that . Compatible with FFMpeg and
         Handbrake. Source code for aTVBatch available.
         Toolbox implemented to let you run your own scripts via aTV.

080108 - Added property for schtasks to use date format other than
         yyyy/MM/dd

080105 - Added property for schtasks to use scheme names beside of
         english ones.

070511 - Changed links in header to graphical buttons.
070510 - Enabled the 'What's on' function, show programs currently
         running
070214 - Changed logo/icon for this program
070202 - Corrected logon screen to handle submit with enter key.
061108 - Bug fixed in XML parsing for shows not containing any
         description
060623 - No changes in this initially released version