Subject: From: Date:

RE: [ECS] Programming Question Michael David Sun, 23 Jan 2000 22:35:20 -0500

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Hi Bill!

Feel free to call me Michael.  :)

Let me point out that I had everything described below working early on in
the TVL days.  As Mark started to refine TVL, I let it sit until he was
done.  I'm just now (today, in fact) getting back to it.  Since my version
of TVL is substantially modified from Mark's, it's taking some time to go
through it.  So, I may not have all your answers until I'm done with the
re-implementation.

>If I remember correctly, TVL3.TMP is derrived from TVLFAV.TXT file....
Yes, TVL3.tmp is derived from comparing the tvlfav.txt file to the tvl.txt
file.

>Are you saying you have certain channels or ? set there?
>Are you saying that I should place  HBO, HBOP, HBOPL, HBOPLP, HBOSIG, MAX,
>MAXP, MOMAX, SHOW, SHOWP and SHOW2 into the channel description of
>TVLFAV.TXT, with the leading character as - (not A,R,V,F, whatever)
I don't do anything unusual to the tvl.txt file or tvlfav.txt file.

>Do you listen to announcements, whatever?
Yes.  ECS announces the favorite shows that are about to start.  Since there
are usually more than one starting, it announces up to 20 of them.

>It's just not clear to me how you "load" your items and from where......
Picture this:
1) ECS reads the tvl3.tmp file (usually with several favorite shows listed)
and:

2) loads the times of each show into:
Pgm 1 time
Pgm 2 time
Pgm 3 time
etc.

3) loads the length of each show into:
Pgm 1 mins
Pgm 2 mins
Pgm 3 mins
etc.

4) loads the name of each show into:
Pgm 1 TV show
Pgm 2 TV show
Pgm 3 TV show
etc.

5) loads the names and the sat/xponder into:
Pgm 1 Sat/Xponder
Pgm 2 Sat/Xponder
Pgm 3 Sat/Xponder
etc.

>It sounds like your doing substantially what I want to do, but you're only
>displaying one program title per button.
Correct - that way I can press the button of the name of the show, and the
satellite receiver will tune to the channel.

>I take it that you have pre-programmed those buttons (within ACE) to change
your TV to the desired
>channel (I've done that), so you're loading up buttons in a particular
sequence based on channel ID?
No, I load the first favorite show into button 0, the second favorite show
into button 1, etc.  The buttons are configured to  set the state of and ECS
number-item (called New TV Program) to the number of the favorite show I
want to watch.  ECS, then sets satellite/xponder accordingly.

>Arraugh, this is so confusing!
Yes, I agree!  This is perhaps the most challenging set of events in my ECS
career.

Again, if you can wait, I should have this conversion done in the next week
or so, and I can give you more detail. (what I don't get done tonight will
have to wait until next weekend).

Cheers!

Michael David
michael@michaeldavid.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Walters [mailto:wtwalters@home.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 9:51 PM
To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
Subject: Re: [ECS] Programming Question


David,

OK, sorry but it wasn't clear from your event, since there isn't anything in
it which shows how information is loaded into your "PGM Show X" items (X
being from 1 to 20).

Dang..... I just reworded a sentence 4 times!  This stuff is so confusing to
me that I can't even properly describe it!

If I remember correctly, TVL3.TMP is derrived from TVLFAV.TXT file....  Are
you saying you have certain channels or ? set there?  Do you listen to
announcements, whatever?

Are you saying that I should place  HBO, HBOP, HBOPL, HBOPLP, HBOSIG, MAX,
MAXP, MOMAX, SHOW, SHOWP and SHOW2 into the channel description of
TVLFAV.TXT, with the leading character as - (not A,R,V,F, whatever)

It's just not clear to me how you "load" your items and from where......  It
sounds like your doing substantially what I want to do, but you're only
displaying one program title per button.  I take it that you have
pre-programmed those buttons (within ACE) to change your TV to the desired
channel (I've done that), so you're loading up buttons in a particular
sequence based on channel ID?

Arraugh, this is so confusing!

Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: Michael David <michael@michaeldavid.com>
To: <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 8:22 PM
Subject: RE: [ECS] Programming Question


> Hi Bill!
>
> Actually, the show titles that are in the Pgm x TV Show items, are derived
> from processing tvl3.tmp.  It just so happened that the show names you saw
> were the last that had been picked up from the last time I had TVL
enabled.
>
> So, you can grab the show names from TVL and send them to Ace Buttons from
> within ECS.  Is there something else you wanted on that button beside the
> show name?
>
>
> Cheers!
>
> Michael David
> michael@michaeldavid.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bill Walters [mailto:wtwalters@home.com]
> Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 7:52 PM
> To: ecs-list@netbloc.com
> Subject: Re: [ECS] Programming Question
>
>
> Hi Michael!
>
> Yes, because I don't know what the names of the shows are....
>
>
> The idea is to have a button for HBO, HBOP, etc, etc, etc, (5 HBO's, 3
> Showtimes, 3 Cinemax's) and have ECS "pull" the names of the shows, start
> times, run times (in fact, the line of text that is appropriate to the
> channel) from TV-GUIDE.TXT.....  Mark's events have taken most of the work
> out of it, I just wanted to selectively display individual "channel"
> information on individual "buttons" in ACE.
>
> Your way works just fine if you have certain programs you want to watch
> regularly (you already know what their name is); I'm trying to put up
Movie
> Listings, whose titles change every several hours.
>
> Bill
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Michael David <michael@michaeldavid.com>
> To: <ecs-list@netbloc.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2000 5:17 PM
> Subject: RE: [ECS] Programming Question
>
>
> > Hi Bill!
> >
> > Any special reason you are using a file to get the show names to ACE
> > buttons?  Here's how I do it:
> >
>
>
>
>

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