Hi,
In a thread about xmltv2vdr, somebody asked for an explanation about the usage of channelnames used by xmltv2vdr. So, let me try to give some help:
In fact, xmltv2vdr does not use the channelnames available in the channels.conf of the vdr; it also does not use the channelnames provided for example by the grabbers of the xmltv package; in fact, the aim is to define an own set of channelnames that could be used by all the grabbers, so that in the long run, the matching between channels in an xmltv file and the channels of the vdr could be automated.
There already is a short list with channelnames for xmltv2vdr; you can find it here:
http://vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/Xmltv2vdr-plugin
If you are writing a grabber importing epg data for one of the channels already present in the list that I linked above, please use the name of that list for the id of the channel in the xmltv file or stream created by the grabber.
We are far from having a system, that automatically matches the channelnames from the xmltv file or stream to the channels of the channels.conf; so this step has to be done manually by the user in the OSD of xmltv2vdr.
But once the user has performed the matching of the id in the xmltv file or stream and the channels in his VDR, he does not have to do it anymore if he replaces his grabber by another one, that also uses the ids of the list provided in the link above.
Finally, you might ask, why did the xmltv2vdr developers decide to create an own new channellist. Let's assume that you have a setup with dvb-s and dvb-c or that there is a channel that you receive in SD or HD. From the point of view of the epg, there is no difference for the schedule if the channels is received by the dvb-s or dvb-c card; the schedule also does not change for a channel is received in HD or SD. But for the VDR, these are all different channels. As xmltv2vdr allows to map one id of the xmltv file to multiple channels, all these variants of one channel can get their epg from only one id of the xmltv file.
We are far from having an automated matching between the ids of the xmltv file or stream and the channels of the VDR; but considering the other project of the channelpedia that has been started not very long ago, such an automated match might be possible in the long run.
Finally, what is essential for the developers of grabbers for xmltv2vdr? They should use the channelnames defined in the following page for the ids of the channels in their xmltv file or xmltv stream; this way, if every grabber uses the same ids, the matching between the ids and the channels of the VDR has only to be done one time.
http://vdr-wiki.de/wiki/index.php/Xmltv2vdr-plugin
I hope to have been helpful, but there is one problem left: what to do for the channels that are not available in list? I hope that the xmltv2vdr developers will step in with a procedure to expand the list.
Cheers,
Ludi