New TAP to manage the PVR using HTML/CSS/JavaScript.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

I think I have found the reason:

Isarwolf,

Congratulations, well spotted. Thank you for your help tracking down this issue. I can see that there will be a number of characters that may lead to similar results:

":,{}[]

I probably need to look deeper into the JSON format to see if there is any way to encode these characters so that they do not interfere with the operation of the TAP. At first guess, I will have to change ["] to ["] as per the C standard.

I will try and force the error on my PVR this weekend. If I can't get my PVR to reproduce the error then I will consider a special debug version, but for now I don't think that it is necessary.

Thanks to FireBird too. I'm going to change my encoding to UTF-8 just to be on the safe side.

[Maliboy]

I'am not so fit with JSON, but I think that you can use the same encoding like you has to use for URLs. Spaces will be codet wirh %20 (for Example).
Another option is to use UTF8 Encoding in JSON too. There is an HTML Standard to use this.

[jkIT]

have a look at json.org. In the right column under "char" you can see UTF is required and how to escape control characters and the double quote "

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Maliboy / jkIT,

Thanks for your suggestions. I'll check them out.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

A new version of TMA1 is available to play with (A-009).

• This version has added support for multiple languages. The whole interface has not been translated, but the menu and some "control" keys have been translated. Also look at the start date in the timers, that uses the language files too. The German translations are from an online translation tool, they are probably incorrect, but for my testing it proved to me that multiple languages worked. Languages without translations will default to English. The language is determined by the PVR's OSD language.
• There is a new function to format the start date/time in the timers list. This will eventually be used to format all dates and will be configurable to a number of different formats.
• I have implemented a filter that will convert characters like ["] (double quote) so that they do not corrupt the JSON data. This has been done for file names and timer names.
• I checked the logo code and it is only 1 line of code that needs to be uncommented, not 3. On my PVR, loading logos locks up TMA1. You have been warned! I think that because I load 30 files rapidly and TMA1's network function freezes. This happens under normal conditions occasionally (especially after an FTP transfer) so I need to do a lot of debugging work in this area.
• I have also experimented with UTF8 encoding.

As always, this is only proof-of-concept software so please be cautious and power-cycle your PVR after playing.

[Isarwolf]

A new version of TMA1 is available to play with (A-009).

I have played a little bit with the translation
Timer instead of timers
Aufnahmen instead of Augenommene Sendung
Bedienung insted of Steuern (Steuern means in german tax )

I have changed the sequence
white instead of while (typing error)
the shortname of month have got a dot and Sep changed in Sept.

best regards

Code: Alles auswählen

{

"language":"Deutsch",
"language_code":"de",

"heading":"Überschrift",

"menu_channels":"Sender",
"menu_timers":"Timer",
"menu_recordings":"Aufnahmen",
"menu_epg":"EPG",
"menu_control":"Bedienung",
"menu_settings":"Einstellung",

"red":"Rot",
"green":"Grün",
"yellow":"Gelb",
"blue":"Blau",
"white":"Weiß",

"datesep":".",
	
"days": 
[
	{"shortname":"Mo", "name":"Montag"},
	{"shortname":"Di", "name":"Dienstag"},
	{"shortname":"Mi", "name":"Mittwoch"},
	{"shortname":"Do", "name":"Donnerstag"},
	{"shortname":"Fr", "name":"Freitag"},
	{"shortname":"Sa", "name":"Samstag"},
	{"shortname":"So", "name":"Sonntag"}
],

"months": 
[
	{"shortname":"Jan.", "name":"Januar"},
	{"shortname":"Feb.", "name":"Februar"},
	{"shortname":"März", "name":"März"},
	{"shortname":"Apr.", "name":"April"},
	{"shortname":"Mai", "name":"Mai"},
	{"shortname":"Juni", "name":"Juni"},
	{"shortname":"Juli", "name":"Juli"},
	{"shortname":"Aug.", "name":"August"},
	{"shortname":"Sept.", "name":"September"},
	{"shortname":"Okt.", "name":"Oktober"},
	{"shortname":"Nov.", "name":"November"},
	{"shortname":"Dez.", "name":"Dezember"}
]

	
}

[Wolfman]

Bedienung insted of Steuern (Steuern means in german tax )

Wouldn't it be nice if the Toppy could do the income tax declaration?

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

[quote="Isarwolf"]I have played a little bit with the translation[/quote]
Thanks for that, it proves that online translation technology has a long way to go, especially where context is concerned. I will update the language file for next time.

Some questions:

The dot at the end of the month puzzles me, are you saying that "Sa, 31<dot>Aug<dot>" is the preferred German (short) date format in this context? Is that because the year is missing?

The day/month translations came straight out of INFplus that I had translated by native German speakers. I like "Sep" rather than "Sept" because it is the same length as all of the other short names. If this is not a major linguistic faux pas, then I think that keeping the length the same is better for presentation. Thoughts?

[Sirius]

TMA1 A-009

With this version I get also the list of 'Recorded Programmes'.
Three Records have also two " " in their names.

Thanks for the translation, I use the list of Isarwolf.

The control from extern should now also work, i have add one port forwarding.

A short test with 6 test-logos works now.
First I wonder why the channel logo of channel 2 (ZDF HD) was not shown.
Now I understand that the current channel is always in red without a logo.

Is it corrrect that the logos are double shown, or are my test-logos (60x38) in wrong size/format?

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Hi Sirius,

It's good to hear that the double quotes are working now.

Thanks for testing the logos. There is currently no "correct" or even "incorrect" with anything that TMA1 does because I am still trying to prove concepts. Yes, the images may double-up, but there are some HTML commands to stop that, that I have tested and removed. With the red current channel, I was testing to see if I could identify the current channel in the browser.

On the topic of channel logos, I have proved that I can fetch image files containing the logo and display it in a box.

What I am thinking of doing for the live TAP is some kind of setup TAP. This TMA1-setup TAP will search for any channel logo files in LIL files and stand-alone JPEG files and put them into the logos directory in public_html.

I will have to extract and convert logos contained in LIL files and this will take some time to process. I also plan to pre-load the channels JSON response with a list all of the available logos for each service so that TMA does not have to calculate this every time the channels request is made. What this means, however, is that every time a user adds a logo or a channel, TMA1-setup will need to be rerun.

Also, logos images are not cached at the moment, I need to look more closely at what I allow the browser to cache and not cache. Caching logos seems like a good way to speed things up.

Currently, the logos are presented 4 across. The final HTML/JavaScript should probably be able to determine the width of the browser window (tablet, smart phone, pc) as well as the maximum width of the logos and then calculate how many logos to show across the browser window. Failing this, there could be a manual configuration option for the number of logos to show across the screen.

I have also done some more research into my logos crashing TMA1 problem: FireFox hangs TMA1, but Safari and Opera do not. I still have to fix it, but this is strange behaviour from different browsers.

I'm sorry if I have rambled a bit, but it is still very early in the development of this TAP and no features have been fully confirmed.

Actually, one of the points of this project is that once the TAP is complete, the HTML/CSS/JavaScript can be designed to do almost anything provided that the TAP can return the required data. Anyone with HTML/CSS/JavaScript skills can write a front-end with any design or functionality that they like.

I assume that external control refers to access from the internet using port forwarding on your router. Please be careful because there is no security in TMA1 and anybody can do anything. (Although I would love to try and control your PVR from the other side of the planet for fun.) I have some thoughts about security and have actually prepared for retrofitting security into the API syntax but it is a very long way from being ready.

[Isarwolf]

The dot at the end of the month puzzles me, are you saying that "Sa, 31<dot>Aug<dot>" is the preferred German (short) date format in this context? Is that because the year is missing?

The abbreviation for month in German has always a dot independent from following year.
I have made some inquiries with http://pda.leo.org/?lp=ende and found that also in English the abbreviation for September is Sept.
And then I found that März, Juni and Juli will not be abbreviated. ("Leo.org" is for my opinion the best dictionary)

best regards

[macfan]

[quote="DeltaMikeCharlie"] I like "Sep" rather than "Sept" because it is the same length as all of the other short names. If this is not a major linguistic faux pas, then I think that keeping the length the same is better for presentation. Thoughts?[/quote]
It's ok to use "Sep".

Gruß, Horst

[macfan]

[quote="Isarwolf"]And then I found that März, Juni and Juli will not be abbreviated. ("Leo.org" is for my opinion the best dictionary)[/quote]
I started my article above about half an hour ago. And I first added that it is unusual to abbreviate four letter month names in German. Than I suddenly saw that there were no abbreviations in your article #106 and I thought that Alzheimer is starting. But now I'm relieved...

Gruß, Horst

[Sirius]

Your roadmap (#110 and #1) is great!

It makes fun with the tablet to continously soft scrolling through the list of >300 recordings.

It is to early for a wishlist? (maybe in 2014 )
- 'Sort by Date'- / 'Sort by Name'-button for the list of 'Recorded Programmes'
- 'Show free disk space'
- 'Delete file'-button (with safety request)
...

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

It is to early for a wishlist?

Hi Sirius,

Thanks for taking an interest. It's never too early to start a wishlist.

The 3 items that you list seem perfectly logical and they would be best implemented in the JavaScript code. I have already implemented the total/free disk in a pre-release version (done yesterday) that has a new "status" API function.

Sorting the recordings by date/size/name/channel/duration/genre or whatever can be implemented in the JavaScript but will need some further work in the TAP to extract this information from the INF file. I also plan to access INF+ information where applicable.

On a more practical matter, if you have 300+ recordings on your PVR, can I suggest creating a number of sub-directories to help manage your recordings?

Please remember that this is a very early proof-of-concept implementation and there is a lot of work to make it into something that can be used reliably.

Also, if there are any HTML/CSS/JavaScript programmers that would be interested in contributing to this project, please feel free to contact me via forum PM.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Here is another update to play with (A-010).

There are not a lot of visible differences in this version, but a number of behind-the-scenes changes:

• A new API function to get the config of the PVR. http://<PVR IP>:8000/api?function=config&action=get!
• A new API function to get the current status (including HDD free) of the PVR. http://<PVR IP>:8000/api?function=status&action=get!
• A new "apitest.html" file that will enumerate most of the API responses including all of the property names and their values. http://<PVR IP>:8000/apitest.html
• A crude timeout system has been implemented to stop a browser simply connecting and not requesting any data. When TMA1 detects this condition, the connection will be terminated within about 1 second (give or take).
• There is some internal work on allowing certain items to be cached. All files served may be cached, all JSON responses may not.
• JSON responses have been changed from [Content-Type: "text/html"] to [Content-Type: "application/json"]. This appears to have no impact on the function of the JSON response within the HTML/JavaScript code, but when the API commands are issued manually, the JSON response appears to be formatted better for human-readability.
• I have played a little with having the layout adjust to different screen sizes and I hope that I have now got the menu to stay and the top and the data tables to position themselves neatly under the menu, no matter how wide or narrow it is. On a really narrow screen, the menu will wrap onto multiple lines.
• There is also an "Alive" heartbeat message sent every ~15 seconds to the telnet console only, not the log file, so that I can see when TMA1 stops receiving TAP_EventHandler() calls and is therefore unresponsive. This normally happens when I load/unload the TAP frequently on my development TMS unit.

As always, this is still proof-of-concept software, please be caution and power-cycle your PVR when you have finished testing.

[jkIT]

Nice improvements, thanks.

some suggestions:
if a api call replies an array (eg. status), the last comma is invalid. This is no problem, since you parse json by eval('(' + API + ')'); But you know: eval is evil ;-)
The recommended way is JSON.parse(API) , which throws a 'unexpected character' error.

Maybe it would be nice to use some of the API calls in an Android/iOS App and i don´t know, how tolerant their libraries handle invalid json.

And my concern would be UTF8encoding, I still get "BR S�d HD" for "BR Süd HD"

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

jkIT,

I am not a JavaScript expert and I am learning as I go. I did read somewhere that eval was not recommended. I can't remember the exact reason, but I thought that because TMA1 was intended to be used as a closed system within a home network, that is, not like an online banking system or something similar, then it would be fine.

I can look into removing the last comma, it's just a bit of lazy programming on my part I guess. It was easier to add a comma to every loop than to try and detect first/last iteration and add/withhold a comma accordingly.

I may reverse the UTF8 coding in the web page, but leave it in the JSON data. My PVR does support some of these non-English characters and I have deliberately renamed a recording with these characters for testing. Perhaps my PVR stores these differently to the European firmware.

It would be very helpful if I could get some sample data from a European PVR to test on my system. Would you like to volunteer?

This week I have been working on a new feature to store settings from JavaScript on the PVR and retrieve them. This is working fine in FireFox (and Opera and Safari), but IE seems to be caching the results (again) so changing settings does not always work with IE. I may release this later today, but with a caveat regarding IE.

[Sirius]

And my concern would be UTF8encoding, I still get "BR S?d HD" for "BR Süd HD"

Here no problems, BR Süd HD is shown correct in 'Sender' and 'Timer' list.
.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

I still get "BR S?d HD" for "BR Süd HD"

Here no problems, BR Süd HD is shown correct in 'Sender' and 'Timer' list.

Could this be an issue between European models and/or firmware revisions using different encoding?