OliveTin for Channels: An Interface for Misc Channels DVR Scripts & Tricks

[mjitkop]

@jsfullam

Perhaps there is already a way to accomplish what I hope to do.

Yes. Look at channel collections.

Channel Collections

[jsfullam]

Thank you!

That's exactly what I have as my final goal...to create channel collections of several categories. Classic Movies, Classic TV shows, Western Movies, Local Channels, Weather, News, etc...

What I'm hoping to find is an intermediate step for creating a list of all of my non-blocked and/or favorited channels. I intend to print the list and highlight, in different colors, which channels to include in each channel collection. (I'm kinda' an old analog type of guy who is used to stuff being on paper.)

This afternoon, I just went through the spreadsheet which I created from the all-encompassing .csv channel list, and hid all of the rows for blocked channels. It was tedious. But, I managed to get it done. Next, I pull out my trusty highlighter set...

[mjitkop]

Cool. I'm glad channel collections will bring some joy to your life. If you take a look at all the great features that Channels DVR has to offer, you will be amazed.

By the way, I'm also glad that you found the OliveTin action "Create Channels List in csv format" useful. Guess who wrote the script that generates this CSV file?

Python script: channel list -> CSV file to easily see where channels are available

I wanted to have a clear overview of channel overlaps between the different sources so I wrote a python script that generates a CSV file with the information. If you open the CSV file with a spreadsheet program, you can format the display nicely and add filters. For example: [image] 7 channels are available in 4 different sources: [image] 60 channels are available in 3 sources (showing the first 10): [image]

@bnhf had the great idea (and the skills!) to create OliveTin, which made it possible to integrate into a single tool scripts from users who have created them over the years.

@jsfullam

What I'm hoping to find is an intermediate step for creating a list of all of my non-blocked and/or favorited channels. [...]
This afternoon, I just went through the spreadsheet which I created from the all-encompassing .csv channel list, and hid all of the rows for blocked channels. It was tedious.

Sorry about that.

I'm working on a Chrome extension project now in my spare time that will provide, among other features, this feature to generate this CSV file.
Now that you mentioned your wish to be able to filter blocked/unblocked/favorited channels, this is a great idea to add as an option in the script. I will look into it.
Don't get too excited though because I don't know when I will have enough time to work on it. So I can't provide an ETA.

[bnhf]

@skipt

services.channels-dvr-logs Additional property external is not allowed

This error would suggest that you didn't create a volume called channels-dvr-logs in Portainer-Volumes that connects to the SMB (Samba) share that I wanted you to set up.

You might want to review this post regarding setting up the share, creating a Portainer volume pointing to it, and then editing your Portainer-Stack to connect it to OliveTin:

OliveTin for Channels: An Interface for Misc Channels DVR Scripts & Tricks

@skipt I'm wondering if accessing the CDVR log file via a Samba share might be a workaround to this issue. To do this, you'd first need to set up the directory containing the log file as a network share. I share mine as //media-server6/ChannelsDVR: [Screenshot 2024-08-15 151444] Next, create a volume in Portainer pointing to this share. This would look something like this, though you'd need to add username and password: [screenshot-htpc6-2024.08.15-15_20_38] Then stop your OliveTin Portai…

[jsfullam]

I agree with you that Channels DVR is a great program with many amazing features. Some, which have been recently added and updated, I still need to study and start using. Channels Collections have been my way of organizing content by category so far.

@mjitkop, I have made use of your "create channels list in csv format" script a few times already. It has served me well. Since my stroke a few years ago, I get easily overwhelmed by too much information. So, it was rewarding to print out all of what amounted to 23 pages, and scratch out about 75% of the channels with pencil. Now, I'm down to 6 pages. (about 400 channels remain in this cut)

OliveTin created by @bnhf is a fantastic compilation of so many tools. It is like my swiss army knife for Channels. Getting Portainer up and running has saved me from losing my mind in dealing with containers. Through OliveTin, I have used the Project One-Click actions to create most of my sources.

This Channels Community, and the official Channels DVR support network, has some brilliant and very helpful folks. While I am not very good with scripts or programming, I hope to offer some help in suggesting and testing new features. I'm a retired engineer looking to entertain and exercise my mind. Feel free to hit me up if you need anything.

[bnhf]

New bnhf/olivetin:latest (aka bnhf/olivetin:2024.08.31) pushed this morning incorporating the latest changes to the Samsung-TVPlus-for-Channels container. Multiple regions and the new playlist URL supported.

Also, beginning with this update to the Docker Compose, I'm adding a comment line to the yaml with the date of the most recent update to the compose itself. This will be reflected across all uses of the compose including the docker-compose for every Channels-related extension thread, OliveTin-for-Channels and Project One-Click.

For example, here's what a typical yaml will look like as a date is added to each (which will happen over time):

version: '3.9'
services:
  # 2024.08.31
  # GitHub home for this project: https://github.com/matthuisman/samsung-tvplus-for-channels
  # Docker Hub home for this project: https://hub.docker.com/r/matthuisman/samsung-tvplus-for-channels
  samsung-tvplus-for-channels:
    image: matthuisman/samsung-tvplus-for-channels:${TAG}
    container_name: samsung-tvplus-for-channels
    ports:
      - ${HOST_PORT}:80 # Use the same port number the container is using, or optionally change it if the port is already in use on your host
    environment:
      - REGIONS=${REGIONS} # Comma separated list of regions to use. us,kr,it,in,gb,fr,es,de,ch,ca,at or all supported.
      - TZ=${TZ} # Add your local timezone in standard linux format. E.G. US/Eastern, US/Central, US/Mountain, US/Pacific, etc
    restart: unless-stopped

  # Default Environment variables can be found below under stderr -- copy and paste into Portainer-Stacks Environment variables section in Advanced mode

[DetroitTV]

How do you add a manual recording with an OTA channel?
I get an error message 'invalid argument' entering channel number as 2.1 or 2-1.

Thanks.

[chDVRuser]

@bnhf will have to change the type for channel in the config.yaml from an int to float or something else that will accept 2.1

      - name: channel
        type: int
        description: The channel number to use for the recording.

[DetroitTV]

Thanks

[bnhf]

@DetroitTV

How do you add a manual recording with an OTA channel?
I get an error message 'invalid argument' entering channel number as 2.1 or 2-1.

Sorry about that. Should be fixed in bnhf/olivetin:latest (aka bnhf/olivetin:2024.09.03).

[DetroitTV]

That works great !
Thanks

[Fofer]

I think this is a good enough tip that it warrants inclusion in OliveTin. A real time-saver for me, at least!

Automatic Channel Collections - INCLUDE sources

This is mostly possible in a round-about way. Under Automatic Channels: Choose sources to exclude: Select all sources except for the one you want to show up in the collection (e.g., Pluto) Enter keywords: Input a single space and press the enter key. It seems to pull in everything under that source with guide data (as I assume just about every program is going to have a single space in it). It’s a pain to maintain, especially if you add/remove sources a lot like I do, but it does work.

Maybe include it as an optional step in Project One-Click?

[hancox]

1. Great idea.
2. I had a "WOOHOO" moment when I saw "completed" state on that post, but it just meant auto-closing after a year. Sigh.

[bnhf]

@Fofer

I think this is a good enough tip that it warrants inclusion in OliveTin. A real time-saver for me, at least!

So the idea here is to be able to create a channel collection that includes the entirety of one or more sources?

[Fofer]

Yes, it's a Channel Collection of a source, always stays up-to-date, dynamically, as opposed to having to manually review the Channel Collection every once in a while to add/remove changes yourself. Using Pluto as an example...

[bnhf]

@Fofer

Yes, it's a Channel Collection of a source, always stays up-to-date, dynamically, as opposed to having to manually review the Channel Collection every once in a while to add/remove changes yourself. Using Pluto as an example...

Would the flow be something like, delete the current channel collection with name x, read all channels in desired sources x-y-z, and then create a new collection with name x?

[mjitkop]

So basically update the collection every time changes in the lineup are detected.
We already have 50% of this feature.

[bnhf]

@mjitkop

So basically update the collection every time changes in the lineup are detected.
We already have 50% of this feature.

An even better idea! So, an OliveTin script would monitor for any changes in lineup to one or more predefined Channel Collections. And then, add or delete those channels from the collection.

The flow then would be more like, every x hours read the contents of collection x, and add/delete lineup changes identified since the last script run.

[Fofer]

Well, my original idea was to just create the “smart” Channel Collection, following the quoted tip, so that Collection always stays up to date without any other processes or manual steps required. However then it does show every channel on that source and you can’t manually customize the sort order. Still, this is good enough for my needs.

If you handle it via script and the old Channel Collection is deleted and a new one is created then you would also want to replace it in the Client-side settings so it’s available on TV.

I do like the idea of a simple Channel Collection that would be called “Recent Channel Additions” though! What a great way to discover them as they are introduced!

[bnhf]

@Fofer

Well, my original idea was to just create the “smart” Channel Collection, following the quoted tip, so that Collection always stays up to date without any other processes or manual steps required.

I guess I'm not tracking on how OliveTIn would factor in then. Are you saying this already possible using the quoted tip? What are you hoping OliveTin would bring to the party?