XNetflix www

[Atlas]

One thing to make sure of is that you exited and restarted Xlobby after the first time going through XNetflix setup (after save). This is due to the fact that Xlobby has no create database command. I assume you mean movie data. Also I assume you have checked the appropriate feeds that you want.

Also things may have gotten corrupted. If you are having problems after exiting and restarting try from scratch.

-- Delete xnetflix.xml file in <xlobby_root>/plugins/xnetflix
-- Delete cache directory in <xlobby_root>/plugins/xnetflix
-- Delete nflx_*.xml in <xlobby_root>/databases directory.

Then start xlobby, configure plugin through login, save, exit xlobby, restart xlobby. The plugin should then start downloading data.

[fizzasist]

It doesn't let me grab the IE window to move it.....I can't even ALT/TAB over to it.

weird huh?

[fizzasist]

I was able to position the setup box and the netflix configure box just right so that when it opened IE, I could see the login page so that part worked finally.......

It looked like it took because when I closed IE, netflix configure box jumped a bit, then I hit save and closed out xlobby. When I reopened it though, there is no sign of Netflix.....where do I look to see it?

How can I tell if the configure worked? Sorry for all of the questions!

[Atlas]

After you closed the IE window it should have grabbed your ID and put it in the form (maybe that was the jump you noticed). The plugin only grabs info from the netflix site and saves off xlobby databases. It doesn't modify your existing skin. Check the README.txt file for info on the sample pages. You also need to create a button on your main page to goto the netflix pages.

To see if it is working without using the skin, check if there are numbered directories in the plugins/xnetflix/cache directory. If so it is downloading movies. Also see if the nflx_*.xml files in the databases directory get modified.

[fizzasist]

I followed the directions but do not see any numbered directories inside the cache.....I have an empty images folder and an empty movies folder.

Is there any info out there about how to create buttons?

Sorry for the hassle! I REALLY want to get this plugin to work....it seems like it will be awesome!

[alans17]

I'm not exactly sure what my root problem is so I'll list the sequence of events that have occured...

I installed the Netflix plugin, and set it up. I got it to properly populate the user ID field. Then I checked off the fields I wanted (which was most of them).

From there, I shut down xlobby and restarted it. When I went to view the Netflix page, nothing was populated. I noticed that the xml files were created, but they're not really populated. It had some header info, but that's about it.

After a while, it seemed to just work on its own. Maybe it just took time to populate. However, I was still only getting titles and images. I wasn't getting any of the extra info. So I deleted all the created files. I started over from scratch, but I'm still not getting anything.

What do you suppose the problem might be?

[Atlas]

alans17,

Yeah I'm sure part of it "working on its own" is just first time downloading delay. I estimate about 1-2 second per movie depending on your computer speed and internet speed. Strange that you don't get anything other than title and image. That shows that you are connecting. One thing is that some people get impatient and quit xlobby before it grabs everything then something gets corrupt. I only check for my cache file, not that everything is correct in it.

Let's debug this into stages. First let's see if everything is retrieved from the site. If you go into <xlobby>\plugins\xnetflix\cache\movies you will see several numbered directories. This number is netflix's movie id. Go into a directory and look inside the <number>.xml file. Is the additional information in there? If so then look in the nflx_* database files in <xlobby>\databases to see if the info is in there. If so then maybe we have a problem with your netflix skin page. Perhaps the screen ratio is so that none of the text is appearing.

Let me know if the info inside the files. If so then we can try some skinning debug.

[alans17]

First of all, thanks for such a quick reply.

Well I popped open the xnetflix plugin cache. I've got individual directories that are each labeled by number. Each directory has and image and an XML file. The XML only contains the ID for the movies. Here's an example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<MovieInfo>
<plot />
<movieid>209534</movieid>
<genre />
<cast />
<ratingtext />
<director />
</MovieInfo>

None of the other info is filling in. The xlobby database XML files are also bare. Here's an example of a xnetflix db item:

<item>
<coverart>C:\Program Files\xlobby\plugins\xnetflix\cache\movies\70011196\70011196.jpg</coverart>
<type>movie</type>
<display>2- Sideways</display>
<information>
<plot />
<movieid>70011196</movieid>
<genre />
<cast />
<ratingtext />
<director />
</information>
</item>

As a result, my xlobby netflix screen is populating with proper images. Switching genres brings up the right box covers. (I'm assuming the genre is governed by the xlobby DB that a movie gets filed into and not its XML tag.) Even my queue and recently rented stuff shows the right images. However, I'm just not getting any details on them. I'm new to xlobby as of a few days ago, but I feel like I have a grasp as to what's going on with it. So don't worry too much about going over my head.

I know that the RSS feeds provided by Netflix don't provide much info so you're probably doing some sort of page scrape to get everything. Is it possible that Netflix has somehow changed something in their layout that might make a scrape work incorrectly?

I'm just throwing stuff out there right now because this plugin is new for me. I'm a programmer, though. So I'm trying to come up with educated guesses.

On another note, I'm from McKinney too! Small world isn't it? How are you liking the rain today? My brother's dog just came inside the house all wet.

[Atlas]

Well I think you are right. I haven't looked at the website in awhile, but I just visited and it did look different. I do scrape all the info that the RSS feed doesn't provide. I'll take a look at my code when I get home to see what's going on. Netflix did change the site on me once already, so I'm guessing that's what is going on. I also saw some more info on there that I might add....ie last rented on.

Good to see another Texan on here! I know there are a couple of others...art, baddabing. May have to start a DFW Xlobby group!

[Atlas]

Yeah it's netflix site changes. I'll try to get an update out this week.

[Atlas]

Well the extra work up front on my coding made it easier to fix! I like it when that happens. Updated 0.4 for Netflix site changes. See first post. Current users can just replace the .dll file in the xnetflix dir. You can either delete the cache or keep the cache. You may have a few movies that downloaded with no info. It will not re-download those movies unless you use the "Reload movie" command.

[alans17]

Muchas gracias!

You had mentioned possibly adding new fields. Did you end up doing anything like that? And if so, would we need to delete our cache?

[Atlas]

No new fields this time. I'm going to make sure Netflix gets settled on the new format first....ie gets stars or equivalent back. Yeah you would need to probably delete the cache. The purpose of the cache is so I don't keep checking the site for 100's of movies. If I have to get the webpage for a movie each time to check for new fields/changed info it kinda defeats the cache purpose.

[BoomerBrian]

Well I am new to Xlobby. I just got it up and running. Your plugin was the first one that I wanted to install. I am using the default skin. I can't seem to get the buttons to show up in xlobby.

1) Installed plugin and successfully configured.
2) xnetflix cache looks good. In each folder there is an image and an xml file. The xml looks complete.
3)Copied 3 xml files from sample pages to <xlobby>\skins\default
4)Copied Xnetflix.xml to <xlobby>\eventgroups.

Restarted xlobby and I still don't see any buttons for the plugin. Please help.


Brian

[Atlas]

Here is a reply I posted earlier about this situation. I'll add the fact of creating your own button on the main menu to the README.

I've included some sample screens for use with the default skin to see how it works. You will need to manually edit your skin to create a button on the main menu and have it 'goto' the netflix screen.