v2.
v2.0 user guide Page 1 Introduction to iGuide iGuide is a Topfield Application Program (TAP) providing a grid-style Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) for the Topfield TF5800 DVB-T PVR, incorporating now-and-next information, series-link timers which provide the ability for all episodes in a series to be recorded automatically, and cross-channel recording patterns which allow related programmes on different channels to be recorded automatically.
v2.0 user guide Page 2 Starting iGuide If iGuide is installed in the /ProgramFiles/Auto Start directory it will be loaded whenever the TF5800 is switched on; this is the recommended option. It can also be started manually, if installed elsewhere, through the usual Topfield TAP loading interface. iGuide’s support files are stored in a directory at /ProgramFiles/Settings/iguide; if this does not already exist, iGuide will create it when it first boots.
v2.0 user guide Page 3 Note that there is a TAP called CRID available from bdb’s stable, which finds and adds series link data to programme descriptions when broadcast by a channel. If this TAP is running alongside iGuide, then iGuide uses this extra data to make its series link pattern matching more accurate and quicker. If possible, please install and run CRID alongside iGuide. 2.
v2.0 user guide Page 4 7. Contiguous programme recordings Recordings are automatically padded at either end with user-definable values. However, if two programmes are to be recorded following each other on the same channel, there’s no possibility of padding. This means that, if the programmes each record into their own file on disk, the end of the first may appear in the recording of the second, or vice versa (well, not exactly vice versa but you know what I mean).
v2.0 user guide Page 5 iGuide: control screens 1. The EPG Grid Screen The EPG Grid screen shows programme information for seven to ten channels at a time, over a certain time window (the size of which can be chosen as described below). The channels displayed are taken from, and ordered by, the current EPG View (see below). Access the EPG grid screen by pressing the [GUIDE] button. [GUIDE] or [EXIT] will close the screen and revert to the current channel.
v2.0 user guide [REC]: Page 6 If the programme currently selected in the grid has a series-link recording, pressing [REC] enters the Edit Pattern screen (see below) for this series-link. If that’s not the case and the currently selected programme has a recording, pressing [REC] tries to turn this into a series-link recording. If that’s not the case and the currently selected programme has a watch timer, pressing [REC] turns this into a ‘Recording’ timer.
v2.0 user guide Page 7 2. The Recordings and Timers Screen The Recordings and Timers screen shows subfolders in the current folder, recordings available to play in the current folder, and upcoming timers waiting to happen, ordered by time. At the top of the Recordings and Timers screen is a line representing the hard disk, separated into two regions: used (dark turquoise in the images) and unused (light turquoise).
v2.0 user guide Page 8 [LEFT/RIGHT]: This causes the number of minutes displayed for a recording to go down/up, so as to change the play position – changing the ‘minutes viewed’ this way allows quick navigation to known points in a recording. Note that the display for a completed recording need not just show the number of minutes already viewed.
v2.0 user guide Page 9 If the currently selected recording/timer is an upcoming timer that is not part of a series link, pressing [OK] enters the Recording/Timer Edit screen (see below). Note that playback will start at: the current thumbnail position (if a new thumbnail has been chosen more recently than the ‘minutes’ playback changed; otherwise, the number of minutes into the recording stated in the information bar if changed; otherwise the last position played.
v2.0 user guide Page 10 3. The EPG View (‘Welcome’) Screen The EPG View screen shows any EPG views currently created, and indicates the language each will display in.
v2.0 user guide Page 11 REFRESH RECORDINGS: Causes iGuide to rebuild its list of recordings against what’s on disk, to make sure that all recordings exist and are in the folders it thinks they are. This is useful if other TAPs are moving files around unbeknownst to iGuide, but should actually never be necessary in the general run of things. KEY MAP: Enters a key mapping mode, allowing iGuide functions to be assigned to nonstandard keys.
v2.0 user guide Page 12 recording by deleting it a second time from the recordings/timers screen when it is viewed there. KEEP CONTIGUOUS RECORDINGS...: apart; together: The apart setting places recordings of programmes in succession on the same channel in separate recording files. This is easier to handle, but means that padding between the two needs to be nil: therefore, the end of the first programme may actually be found in the recording of the second.
v2.0 user guide Page 13 KEEP RECORDING INFO FOR…: After a recording has been viewed and deleted iGuide will keep information about it for a certain number of days in order to stop a repeat of the show being recorded (assuming it was recorded via series link defined as unique – see below). This option allows you to define how long to keep such a record for before deleting it.
v2.0 user guide Page 14 JUMP PERIOD: The number of minutes forward or backward that IntuiLeap will initially use when starting a home-in navigation. Defaults to five minutes. BACKGROUND IMAGE/SOUND: Allows the user to choose whether or not to have background music (or silence) in iGuide pages, and whether or not to view the currently broadcast programme through those pages.
v2.0 user guide Page 15 5. The Modify EPG Views Screen The Modify EPG View screen lists the current user-defined EPG views and allows certain actions to be taken out on them. The Modify EPG Views screen is entered from the Configuration screen. [EXIT] will navigate to the EPG Views screen. [OK]: If in ‘select’ mode, drops the currently selected channel at its current position.
v2.0 user guide Page 16 7. The Series-Link Pattern Edit Screen iGuide implements series links by creating patterns that match on to programmes in the EPG. Generally the defaults will match successfully, but the settings can be adjusted in this screen. [RED]: After confirmation (by pressing [YELLOW]; any other key cancels) deletes the current series link and exits. [GREEN]: ‘Refreshes’ the current pattern by removing any information regarding deleted recordings which match it.
v2.0 user guide Page 17 Note that iGuide provides channel groups so that series links can span multiple channels. To choose a channel group, select a standard broadcast channel, and then press [CH+]. This will select the first appropriate channel group for the base channel.
v2.0 user guide Page 18 UNIQUE: A programme is said to be unique if its description and title are different to those of other programmes matching the same pattern. Using the “UNIQUE” setting you can choose to stop any future “copies” (repeats) of a programme getting timers set for them, once one version of that particular episode has been recorded successfully. For example, every episode of EastEnders on BBC1 is repeated later in the day on BBC3.
v2.0 user guide Page 19 Note that this time applies to the recording from the next full hour after it finishes. That is to say, if a pattern has an expiry time of 1 day 3 hours, and a programme finishes recording at 1.25pm on a Tuesday, then the next full hour is 2pm, so it will be automatically deleted 1 day 3 hours later at 5pm on the Wednesday. Use [LEFT/RIGHT ARROW] to change the time in units of one hour, or [CHANNEL UP/DOWN] to change it in units of one day. The default is never. 8.
v2.0 user guide Page 20 9. The Edit Skin Screen This screen allows the look and feel of iGuide to be edited. The colour of various parts of the display screen can be changed, and background images and skin files loaded and previewed. Key actions: [OK]: Preview any changes made.
v2.0 user guide Page 21 LOAD SKIN FROM FILE: This option (navigated again through [LEFT/RIGHT ARROW]) lists skin files found in the iguide directory. Skin files can be either native iGuide files (with a .skn extension) or MyStuff skin files (.mcf extension) from which iGuide makes an educated guess as to appropriate colour schemes. Press OK to preview a skin.
v2.0 user guide Page 22 The Now-and-next Banner During playback of a recording or viewing of a broadcast programme, pressing the [INFO] or [OK] keys will bring up the Now and Next banner. If there are no on-screen graphics at the time, pressing [UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT] or [CHANNEL UP/DOWN] will also bring up the banner. The banner shows information about individual programmes on a channel, or the currently playing recording.
v2.0 user guide Page 23 When viewing the now/next banner during playback, information about the currently playing recording is displayed. This is similar to the now/next banner displayed for a broadcast programme, with the addition of a red caret on the progress bar at the point at which the recording is currently being played. The current recording can be navigated in a number of ways: [REW/FFW]: Initiates rewind (x1, x2, x3) or fast-forward (x2, x4, x6) in the standard Toppy way.
v2.0 user guide Page 24 Edit Mode There are a number of circumstances in which things need to be edited – EPG View names, pattern titles and keywords, for example. At these times iGuide enters Edit Mode, allowing text to be entered via the remote control. Text is entered using the number keys in a system similar to that of a mobile phone.
v2.0 user guide Page 25 iGuideSMS Quick Guide: iGuide provides a mechanism to allow timers to be set remotely via SMS text. This requires that a mobile phone with an RS232 GSM modem interface be attached to the Toppy’s serial port, and that the iGuideSMS companion TAP – bundled with iGuide – be running. To install iGuideSMS simply place the TAP in the /ProgramFiles/Auto Start directory.
v2.0 user guide Date: Page 26 the date of the broadcast, in the form dd/mm/yyyy or dd/mm. This could also be one of: today, tomorrow, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday; or an abbreviation of one of those terms. Note that weekday names are assumed to refer to days beyond today – if today were Tuesday, then ‘tue’ would refer to a week’s time. Note also that these keywords need to be expressed in English, not the language of the currently active EPG view.
v2.0 user guide Page 27 The Support Files iGuide requires a number of support files to aid its configuration. Some are compulsory, others are not. If a compulsory file does not exist one will be created. All exist in the same directory as the iGuide TAP or, just to make it neater, in an iguide directory which is itself in the same directory as the iGuide TAP, if one exists. Configuration files are human-editable, but a bit esoteric: where it’s useful, they are described more fully in sections below.
v2.0 user guide Page 28 The iguide.igc configuration file A typical .
v2.0 user guide Page 29 Block 2: current options settings NAVIG|0|full page| PADBEFORE|2|3 mins| PADAFTER|3|5 mins| NAN_TIME|5|10 secs| KEEP_REC|0|30 days| RT_MODE|1|apart| EPG_W|4|180 mins| KEY_SET|1|maximal| PAGESZ|0|7| RCONTIG|0|together| ALPHA|0|by time| SUMGMTOFF|13|+1| WINGMTOFF|12|0| MIS|0|no| SMS_RESP|3|originator and iGuideSMS master| SMS_ON|0|no| USE_OK|0|no| BACKGR|1|iGuide/broadcast| THUMBS|1|yes| HOMEIN|0|increasingly small| EOF| This is the current set of selections for iGuide’s options.
v2.0 user guide Page 30 Block 6: Channel group definitions 5| All channels|1|*| All BBC channels|2|*BBC*|Cbeebies| All ITV channels|1|*ITV*| Channel Four group|4|Channel 4|E4|More 4|Film4| Channel Five group|1|Five*| This block specifies the channel groups, being groups of channels across which a series link pattern could match.
v2.0 user guide Page 31 The iguide.skn configuration file The iguide.
If you spot any problems or bugs with iGuide v2.0, or have any suggestions for improvements or future features, please let me know. toppy@nicford.co.uk Many thanks. © Nic Ford, March 2008 Offered as freeware without warranty of any kind.
