Request: Improve SAT>IP M3U support

lars18th commented 2 years ago

Hi,

My use-case of the M3U filelist is a local SAT>IP server that provides access to DVB-C/T/S tuners with FTA signals. I use this file with VLC, IPTV player and other Android Apps, plus some WMC and TVHeadend instances. So then my M3U file has a lot of data, and the current implementation of the ChanSort fails to load this file or has other troubles.

So based on my experience, I want to contribute with some suggestions:

Enhanced #EXTM3U: When reading a M3U file the current implementation fails if the first line is not #EXTM3U. However, it's common for some clients to found in this line some tag, like url-tvg= to indicate a source for the EPG. Then the first change that you can implement is to support #EXTM3U at the start of the line, maintaning the rest of data until the end of the first line.
VPID and APID: The values of these two columns could be erroneous as from a SAT>IP request you don't have the information of which pid is the audio/video. At time you get the fixed positions 4 and 5, assuming that these are the vpid and apid. But, why this? I suggest to give the user the option to select the vpid/apid positions or leave them blank. This will be more user friendly.
SatPosition: I recommend to enable this value to map the "src=" parameter of the SAT>IP specification that indicates the orbital position. This could be the generic DiseqC values AA,AB,BA,BB or 1..8/16/32/64 ranges, as you prefer (more easy the integer number).
Satellite: Now this value indicates the transport method to access to the stream (i.e. "rtps://server:port" or "http://server:port"). And that's great. However, I suggest a method specific for SAT>IP to "edit" this value. For example, change between "http://<-->rtps://"; replace the address i.e. "192.168.1.40<-->satip.local"; and the port i.e. ":8080<-->:554". Then it will be more easy to "edit" some list changing from one server to another.
Terrestrial/Cable support: The current implementation targets only Satellite sources. My suggestion is to check the "msys=" parameter to know if the source is Sat, Ter or Cab.

I hope you want to consider some of these suggestions. Perhaps all or perhaps only some. In any case I'll be confortable if you almost are listening. Regards.

PredatH0r commented 2 years ago

I will definitely consider your suggestions, but can't tell when I will find time for these changes. Can you send me an example of one of your complex lists that I can use for testing?

The current support for .m3u is tailored towards Panasonic TVs with built-in SAT>IP tuners.

PredatH0r commented 2 years ago

Some of the suggested changes are included in version 2021-10-24. Editing of values is not supported yet, I'll need some more time for that.

lars18th commented 2 years ago

Hi @PredatH0r ,

Some of the suggested changes are included in version 2021-10-24.

Thank you! I tested it and it works fine: 'Enhanced #EXTM3U' bug fixed; 'VPID and APID' pids removed; 'Terrestrial/Cable support' support added; 'Satellite' implemented as DATA DEBUG column. 👍

Editing of values is not supported yet, I'll need some more time for that.

Please, take the time you need.

In the meantime, some comments about the last version 2021-10-24:

Detected a bug with channel numbers: I don't use (at time) channel numbers in my M3U file. However, I detected that some lines are missinterpreted. See this example:

#EXTM3U url-tvg="http://satip-server.local/epg/myepg.xml"
#
#
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="3sat" tvg-logo="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jnk22/kodinerds-iptv/master/logos/tv/3sat.png",3sat HD
#EXTALBUMARTURL:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jnk22/kodinerds-iptv/master/logos/tv/3sat.png
http://satip-server.local/?src=1&freq=11347&pol=v&msys=dvbs2&mtype=8psk&sr=22000&pids=0,16,17,18,20,21,6500,6510,6520,6521,6522,6523,6530,6531,6570
#
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="kika" tvg-logo="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jnk22/kodinerds-iptv/master/logos/tv/kika.png",KiKA HD
#EXTALBUMARTURL:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jnk22/kodinerds-iptv/master/logos/tv/kika.png
http://satip-server.local/?src=1&freq=11347&pol=v&msys=dvbs2&mtype=8psk&sr=22000&pids=0,16,17,18,20,21,6600,6610,6620,6621,6622,6630,6631,6670
#
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="zdfinfo" tvg-logo="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jnk22/kodinerds-iptv/master/logos/tv/zdfinfohd.png",ZDFinfo HD
#EXTALBUMARTURL:https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jnk22/kodinerds-iptv/master/logos/tv/zdfinfohd.png
http://satip-server.local/?src=1&freq=11347&pol=v&msys=dvbs2&mtype=8psk&sr=22000&pids=0,16,17,18,20,21,6700,6710,6720,6721,6722,6723,6730,6731,6770
#
#EXTINF:-1,19.2 SES UHD Demo
http://satip-server.local/?src=1&freq=10993&pol=h&msys=dvbs2&mtype=8psk&sr=22000&pids=0,16,17,18,20,21,97,511,512,513,517,518
#
#EXTINF:-1,13 Nasa TV UHD
http://satip-server.local/?src=2&freq=10727&pol=h&msys=dvbs2&mtype=8psk&sr=30000&pids=0,16,17,18,20,21,356,377,357,358,359
#
#EXTINF:-1,13 HB 4K1
http://satip-server.local/?src=2&freq=11334&pol=h&msys=dvbs&sr=27500&pids=0,16,17,18,20,21,277,2701,2702

As you can think, the correct order is: "1. 3sat HD", "2. KIKA HD", "3. ZDFinfo HD", "4. SES UHD Demo"; "5. Nasa TV UHD"; "6. HB 4K1". But because I put some number (in this case the orbital position) included in the "name", then reading some channels are loaded using "1" as the channel number: in this case "3sat HD", "Nasa TV UHD" and "HB 4K". Please, check it!

Regarding the channel number, it's common to use one tag name to describe it. At time different tags could be used, but the most common is 'tvg-chno' in the format tvg-chno="111". Perhaps you want to add optional support for it.
Finally related to other used tags I suggest -if you want to enhance the funcionalities- to support both that are very common: 'tvg-id' and 'tvg-logo'. The first represents the unique EPG-ID name (and not the channel name). And the second is the URL of the LOGO (picon file) of that channel. This tv-logo is the same as the #EXTALBUMARTURL label used by VideoLAN (in case you want to support both as well).

I'll continue testing the SAT>IP M3U support and reporting what I see. Thank you for this useful tool. Regards.

lars18th commented 2 years ago

Hi,

After many weeks passed... no comments about my last request? Any news about the M3U support for SAT>IP servers?

PredatH0r commented 2 years ago

My apologies. Since November I am working on my business projects 7 days a week, 10 and more hours a day and didn't find any time to work on ChanSort since. But I am positive that there will be time again soon and I will consider your suggestions.

lars18th commented 2 years ago

Hi @PredatH0r ,

Don't worry. It's a simple "ping reminder". Please take your time, and when you may, post what you can.

Regards.

lars18th commented 1 year ago

Hi @PredatH0r ,

I close this issue because it's quite old. I hope you want to consider my last requests in #335 .

PredatH0r / ChanSort

Request: Improve SAT>IP M3U support #268