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

[Töppi]

I tested it today, nice work!!
Works fine with Opera 17.0.1241.45, Internet Explorer 10.0.9200 and Mozilla Firefox 24.

[macfan]

Now the demo works after restarting the computer without using XP before. I have no idea what was unlocked today.

Gruß, Horst

[jkIT]

mysterious.

There is a certain irony in the fact that the Apple system only works, after windows was running

@Sirius: I like your idea to mark the recording channel(s) and will have a look on the effort.

[Wolfman]

mysterious.

There is a certain irony in the fact that the Apple system only works, after windows was running

Good One (I thought something similar )

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Version A-029.

The biggest change is a behind-the-scenes change to the way file names are handled. Because the web interface requires text to be UTF8, some file names with extended characters are actually changed by TMA1, even though they look the same, the coding is different. This means that, for example, the playback operation does not work because the file name is not an exact match to what is on the PVR.

A new "name_hex" field has been added that contains the original PVR file name encoded in HEX (JSON safe). The web interface and the TAP refer to the hex name for playback, renaming and deleting files. This change is transparent to the user, but should solve problems with not being able to perform actions on certain files.

TAP Changes

• name_hex as described above.
• Listing of running TAPs. This is in preparation for being able to interact and extract data from other TAPs (for example INFplus).
• apidemo.html has been updated to show a listing of running TAPs.

Demo changes

• In the files list, allow only one popup at a time.
• Save the current sort setting.
• Allow logo dimensions/aspect ratio to be adjusted.
• In the channels list, show the current and recording channels with different colours.

Have fun with the Demo. jkIT has gone off on a well-deserved holiday and will be back in just over a week.

If you are new to TMA1, don't forget to run the TMA1-Logos TAP before testing.

Mission Control Concept

I'd like to ask for opinions on the concept of a context-sensitive home page that I think of as "Mission Control".

The contents of this page will change depending upon what the PVR is doing. If you are watching a recording, then you might see things like Pause, Stop, Skip and the INF data. If you are watching TV, you might get a quick playback menu or a list of timers due in the next few hours.

For now, the actual contents are not as important as the fact that the contents of the page are driven by what the PVR is doing and presented in anticipation of what the user may want to do next in that context.

Comments welcome.

[Isarwolf]

TMA-029 Demo version
It is nice that the sorting of recordings will be saved. But there is a problem that also the directories will be sorted by date. I would prefer that only the recordings will be sorted.
The choice of remote should be also saved.
In this version at radio recordings the TV logos are shown.
Apart from this all works fine.
I use it especially on Linux system because there TMSRemote is not working.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Version A-030.

Due to jkIT being on holidays, there is nothing to show to end users this week.

In this version, I have added the ability for TMA1 to act as a front-end to other TAPs. This will allow other TAPs to accept commands from a web browser and send a response.

The "other" TAPs will need to be modified to recognise TMA1 events and generate an appropriate response. I have included the source code for "TMA1-Comms" that illustrates how to do that. I have tried to make the source code for TMA1-Comms as self-documenting as possible with lots of comments describing the technique. If any TAP developers have any questions, feel free to ask.

I have updated INFplus to include communications with TMA1. The first version can extract events from an INF+ file and do a "Prepare for Archive". Later versions will be able to start playback and jump to an event. An early Alpha version is available here. This is not the whole INFplus package, only the TAP. It assumes that you have already installed TMA1 from TAPtoDate and all you need to do is replace the TAP.

If you are already using INFplus, after you upgrade the TAP, the default index.html provided with TMA1 will recognise this and provide an extra column in the files list. If you click on the "INF+" text, a (very primitive) table will show the INF+ details for that recording. A lot of formatting work is required, but it serves the purpose for a proof-of-concept.

As always, please be careful and power-cycle the PVR user testing.

[Sirius]

Yesterday I had time for testing the A029.

• In the channels list, show the current and recording channels with different colours.

Special thanks for this!
.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

It has been a while since the last update so I hope I get this one right. jkIT has been on holidays and is now back working on the Demo.

Here is version A-032.

Some new features added to the TAP:

• Capture the current screen with /@@screen.bmp, /@@osd.bmp and /@@programme.bmp. You can also use ".png" to get a smaller file, but it will take much longer to respond. PNG also supports transparency whereas BMP does not.
• The remote control page has been changed to capture the PVR screen after each key generated. Clicking the image will also refresh it.
• The "power" key now works TMA1.
• There are 2 new pseudo-keys called "reboot" and "forcereboot". "reboot" will reboot immediately if no recordings are in progress and "forcereboot" will always reboot immediately. These cause a "Checking HDD" error, so use with caution.
• There is a new "jump" / "skip" API, see below.
• The TAP listing function now "escapes" the TAP description so that special characters don't corrupt the JSON returned.
• EPG genre and parental descriptions have been added to the EPG data function. See below.

New features in the Demo.

• You can move file by clicking the "more functions" menu and "move" and then clicking on the destination directory, or (more excitingly) you can click on the file name and start dragging, the directory list will pop up and you can drop the file on the destination directory.
• You can stop a recording in progress directly from the recordings listing from within the "more functions" menu.
• Logos now show on the reservations listing.
• The Control screen now also shows the PVR image that updates when a button is pressed. Clicking the image will also refresh it.

jump / skip

http://<PVR IP>:8000/api?function=files&action=jump!block=+100&
http://<PVR IP>:8000/api?function=files&action=jump!time=-300&

The "jump" command moves the current playback position by specifying either an amount of time (in whole seconds) or a number of whole blocks. In addition to this, the direction can also be controlled by prefixing the time/blocks with a direction indicator as follows: "+" move forward; "-" move backwards; "=" move to the location specified.

EPG genre / parental descriptions

2 new files have been added to /ProgramFiles/Settings, "epg-genre-descriptions.lng" and "epg-parental.lng". If you already have INFplus then you already should have these files. These files are in /Settings because they are shared with INFplus and TMSTimer.

Screen Capture

The screen capture is not intended to be a replacement for TMSRemote. Due to the nature of the web browser network traffic and the timing of the key press and screen capture, TMA1 may not always update the screen in a timely manner and you will need to click on the image to refresh it. Having the screen may be handy in some circumstances where thin client control is the only option, but in my opinion TMSRemote remains the preferred computer control solution.

[macfan]

Great, thanks!

Gruß, Horst

[Sirius]

Thanks for the many new functions of A-032.

The remote control page has been changed to capture the PVR screen after each key generated. Clicking the image will also refresh it.

I can not see any captured picture in 'Control' menu (normal & demo), only an empty frame with a little "?" image.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

I can not see any captured picture in 'Control' menu (normal & demo), only an empty frame with a little "?" image.

If you manually type in "http://<pvr ip>:8000/@@screen.bmp" do you get a screen image?

Have you tried a number of different browsers? What versions have you tried?

Also try "http://<pvr ip>:8000/@@screen.png" is it possible that your browser can not show BMP images?

** I just tested with Safari and found that BMP does not work, only PNG.

[Sirius]

Hello DMC,

yes I tried it with Safari on iPad and on PC.

I'm actually testing ...
... on PC Safari - now I see that TMA creates a .BMP but under "Downloads" (see picture):

[Sirius]

Now with Chrome it works.

Great feature!!

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

I am currently doing some research on using an uncompressed (for speed) TIFF in place of BMP. I have tested Safari and it can read TIFFs.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

[quote="Sirius"]yes I tried it with Safari on iPad and on PC.[/quote]

Can you find/make a small TIFF and copy it into your TMA1 public_html directory on your PVR and then load that file using your iPad browser. I need to know that TIFFs work on an iPad before adding TIFF functionality to TMA1.

[Sirius]

Sorry I do not understand this:

I saved a .JPG as .TIF with IrfanView...
Is .TIF same like .TIFF ?

... and copied it into TMA1 public_html directory.

I do not understand where I should see this .TIF(F) ?
On what window of TMA Control, Timer,... ?

Before testing on iPad:
I don't see this .TIF(F) in Chrome.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

TIF and TIFF are the same.

If you created "test.tif" and put it in "/ProgramFiles/Settings/TMA1/public_html", then from the browser, type in "http://<PVR IP>:8000/test.tif".

[Sirius]

If you created "test.tif" and put it in "/ProgramFiles/Settings/TMA1/public_html", then from the browser, type in "http://<PVR IP>:8000/test.tif".

Now I understand,

yes .TIF works on iPad.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

yes .TIF works on iPad.

OK thanks. I will work on adding TIFF/TIF support this week.