Earlier this year, the guys here at www.epgStream.net decided to start publishing client & server tools we use for generating our Windows Media Center guides for Australia. As part of our plan we are starting work on a new tool, called wmcGuideServiceProxy, which could possibly replace the current versions of BladeRunnerPro and QuickGuide.

wmcGuideServiceProxy takes any number of data sources (XMLTV for example) data, compiles it and loads it directly into your Windows Media Center installation. This tool integrates directly with Windows XP/Vista Media Center and is currently in Beta Release.

wmcGuideServiceProxy is designed to be very simple to use. At a minimum it just requires a guide source (XMLTV file) to effectively start working. wmcGuideServiceProxy consists of a single executable and a single configuration file, making it extremely simple to deploy.

wmcGuideServiceProxy is executed from the command-line and should be run as a background task/process 24/7. At present it is a desktop-only application, but will be converted to a Windows Service at a later stage once we move deeper into development.

If anyone is interested in being involved with the beta testing of wmcGuideServiceProxy then we are happy to continue development of this product.

You can download the latest version of wmcGuideServiceProxy from this external link.

Simple Installation

First xmltvDownload ...

1) Configure your current XMLTV grabber to place your XMLTV file into "C:\Use\Any\Folder\xmltv.xml".
2) Create a Scheduled Task to run your XMLTV grabber twice a day (morning and evening).
3) Run your XMLTV grabber at least once to get some 'test' data.

... then wmcGuideServiceProxy ...

1) Install wmcGuideServiceProxy to "C:\Program Files\epgStream.net\wmcGuideServiceProxy".
2) Configure wmcGuideServiceProxy (by editing "wmcGuideServiceProxy.exe.config") to read it's xmltv.xml file from "C:\Use\Any\Folder\xmltv.xml".
3) Run wmcGuideServiceProxy.exe by double-click or command-line and select 'Yes' to the auto-configure option.

... now Windows Media Center ...

1) Open Windows Media Center.
2) Navigate to Tasks->Settings->TV->Guide
3) Select 'Set Up Guide Listings' option and proceed to setup your guide as-per-usual. Make sure you enter a postcode and not '0000'.
4) Select 'Get Latest Guide Listings' option.

... and finally Enjoy!

To get your latest guide update, simply perform a 'Get Latest Guide Listings' from Media Center, or just wait for Media Center itself to download the guide during it's daily download.

Advanced Installations

wmcGuideServiceProxy and will let you download your XMLTV data on-the-fly from Media Center's 'Get Latest Guide Listings' option ... We'll post about it later if we get some interest!

Multiple Media Center Machines At Home?

This is really cool!  Imagine configuring a single desktop machine to download your guide data and then have all your other machines able to download their guide directly from that single desktop! Saves on bandwidth and management... We'll post about it later if we get some interest!

 

Thanks,

banger ~ epgStream.net

This would be really useful in the UK for SKY Digital listings as they are missing loads of channels.

However the Radio Times publishes a large number channels, all be it in their own format, but easily converted to XMLTV format.

 

However I can't find anywhere to get wmcGuideServiceProxy as the quoted website does not seem to exist.

Anyone know where I can get this please?

Thanks

Terry

Doh! Sorry about that,! I've fixed up the link in the main post, but you can find information about it here: http://forum.epgstream.net/viewforum.php?f=54

Can you paste a expample of what the config file looks like once its modifed?  I think I'm going something worng when i try to modify the config file.

Using the example that the xml file was located at C:\data.xml

 

Thanks

Hi,

Hope the following "wmcGuideServiceProxy.exe.config" file helps. If you have more questions, you'll get a quicker response at: http://forum.epgstream.net/viewforum.php?f=54

BTW, what error are you getting?

___________________________

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
 <!--
  wmcGuideServiceProxy.exe - Local Media Center Guide Service.
  Copyright (c) 2008 epgStream.net

  For Non-Commercial, Personal Use Only!

  wmcGuideServiceProxy is a Microsoft Windows application that allows you to import
  XMLTV data directly into your Windows Media Center programme guide!

  "xmltvInputFile"
  - XMLTV input file location path.
    (TYPE=String)(OPTIONAL)(DEFAULT="XMLTV.xml")

  "PreGuideCompileExecuteCommand"
  - The process to execute before the guide source is compiled. This may be used to invoke your
    XMLTV guide source grabber ... Beware of too long a download/grab.
    (TYPE=String)(OPTIONAL)

  "PreGuideCompileExecuteArgumentList"
  - The process to execute's argument list.
    (TYPE=String)(OPTIONAL)

  "PreGuideCompileExecuteTimeout"
  - Number of seconds before the execute command times out.
    (TYPE=Integer)(OPTIONAL)(DEFAULT=120)

 -->
 <appSettings>
  <add key="XmltvInputFile" value="C:\data.xml"/>
  <add key="PreGuideCompileExecuteCommand" value=""/>
  <add key="PreGuideCompileExecuteArgumentList" value=""/>
  <add key="PreGuideCompileExecuteTimeout" value=""/>
 </appSettings>
</configuration>

 

Hey Guys!

wmcGuideServiceProxy has come a long way over the past 8 weeks! Load your XMLTV data without having to use QuickGuide or BladeRunner! :D

• Simple Install. (Only required Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 which is pre-installed with Vista!)
• Simple GUI configuration screens.
• Large XMLTV file support. (Useful for those in UK & Europe with large amounts of channel data.)
• Category support.
• Diagnostic and Log support. (XML output for support and forum posts.)
• Channel editing support. (Edit channel names and numbers.)

 

Thanks,

banger~epgStream.net

Big fan of this app.Well done. Really easy to setup and use. I only have one problem... I import the data from DJKXML (excellent NZ based xml EPG) but the data is 12 hours ahead (I.e. 7:30pm today is actually shown as 7:30 am tomorrow). Any chance of including a time-shift function? Many thanks.