Extract WMC Recordings to text list

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wwhenderson

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Extract WMC Recordings to text list

#1

Post by wwhenderson » Sun Dec 15, 2019 6:35 pm

As most have, I have struggled with finding a solution for replacing WMC and getting my TV Series scheduled recordings list into a new PVR and EPG. For various reasons, I have settled on NextPVR and Schedules Direct for the EPG, my needs are relatively simple. I haven't selected a 'front end' as yet (Kodi ad Plex are still in the running for me, I may just keep NextPVR for that). The following is a list of the steps I took to create a text list from the WMC 'TV Series' recording list that I could use to search my replacement PVR's EPG and manually and enter my needed WMC 'recordings. My list is short (66 items) and I could not find an adequate automated way to get the WMC schedule directly into NextPVR, so a manual process is OK with me. At least it gave me the WMC recordings list that will not be available once I rebuild the PVR with Win10 and NextPVR. BTW I have used WMC for over 10 years with a Ceton InfiniTV4 card and was happier until WMC's demise.

- My most recent WMC TV series recordings were in the following file:
"C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mcepg2-0\backup\recordings\20191215_101551"

- Ran the following command against my latest WMC recordings file:
findstr /c:"series uid" C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mcepg2-0\backup\recordings\20191215_101551 > c:\temp\WMC_recorded_series.txt

- Resulted in a text file of the WMC stored TV series recording list in "c:\temp\WMC_recorded_series.txt" with extra data not needed.

- To delete the 'not needed' data:

- Opened the "WMC_recorded_series.txt" file with NotePad.

- Replaced " title=" with ",title="

- Replaced " shortTitle=" with ",shortTitle="

- Saved file as a 'CSV'

- Opened file with Excel

- Deleted column "A" and everything after column "B".

- Sorted new column "A" from "A to Z"

- Saved as TXT file

- A list of only the 'to be recorded' TV series remained in the file.

- For example, the resulting text file contained:
Alaska the Last Frontier
Alaska: The Last Frontier
Alaska: The Last Frontier Exposed
America Unearthed
American Experience
... etc...

Sorry for the spacing, it makes it more readable for me. Hopefully for you too. Hope this helps others. Enjoy...

V1de0Lovr

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#2

Post by V1de0Lovr » Sun Jan 12, 2020 5:06 am

Thanks, now I see the file is XML. Your method only handles series and I use Wishlists as well, so you have to look for "keywords=" to get those.

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garyan2

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#3

Post by garyan2 » Sun Jan 12, 2020 5:18 am

You could just open it up in the EPG123 Transfer Tool... it will list everything in the file that is not completed. You don't need to use EPG123 and/or WMC to use the Transfer Tool for this.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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Vistaar

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#4

Post by Vistaar » Sun Jan 12, 2020 12:34 pm

wwhenderson wrote: Sun Dec 15, 2019 6:35 pm I have settled on NextPVR and Schedules Direct for the EPG, my needs are relatively simple. I haven't selected a 'front end' as yet (Kodi ad Plex are still in the running for me, I may just keep NextPVR for that).
Hello wwhenderson. I like NextPVR myself; but when you say "my needs are relatively simple," does that mean you have cut the cord and are watching and recording over-the-air channels these days? I looked at your only previous post from several years ago, and at that time you were a cable subscriber in the USA - a group that is unlikely to be satisfied with any substitute for WMC because no other software can record channels that are flagged as "copy once" by cable providers. Have you already upgraded to Windows 10?

But for OTA channels (and in some cases, for basic cable channels), NextPVR will do very nicely. If you didn't find any need for a media server as "front end" for WMC, then you shouldn't need one for NextPVR either. You will probably need to install an AC3 audio decoder for NextPVR - but of course, excellent support is available at NextPVR Forums. Good luck!

foxwood

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#5

Post by foxwood » Thu Jan 23, 2020 5:16 pm

This is exactly the sort of task that makes PowerShell so useful.

I don't use PowerShell enough to remember how to use it when I need it, so I always have to start from scratch when I want to use it, but the one-line PowerShell command to create this list is:

Code: Select all

([xml](Get-Content .\20200123_041131)).mxf.seriesrequest.series.title | sort 
which kind of makes it all worthwhile.

I used the following (oddly chauvinistc) archived MSDN articles to get to that point:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120409212 ... h-xml.aspx
https://web.archive.org/web/20120720003 ... -data.aspx

Basically, Get-Content reads the MXF file, and [xml] casts it into an XML format.

Code: Select all

([xml](Get-Content .\20200123_041131)).mxf 
tells you that it contains a list of different types of request, and the seriesrequest tye contains series and the series contain a title.

I note that this list includes a few series that I have recently cancelled - I'm not sure why that is, or if it matters that much (and that hs nothing to do with whether you use Powershell or the original method to extract the information).

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