TV App

[ComputerTimeCO]

I know Xlobby has no TV solution integrated with it or via a plugin. As the developer of CTpvr I also know how hard it can be to create one. I just made available a DLL that I guess can be used to make a plugin for Xlobby. This DLL is still being developed but it is already very functional. There are simple commands that can do all the work for you or for more advance developers you can control almost any of the DirectShow components. Right down to the filters them selves. I also created a sample app that can be used to get started and learn the basic concept behind my idea.

http://ctpvr.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=9

All thoughts and ideas are welcome.

Regards,
Carm.

[ukbubs]

Hooray!!!!

Way to go Carm!

(As an eejit who can't (yet) write code, I guess I now will have to sit back and wait a little more)

[jowaldo]

wow! very cool, I'm sure this will really get the ball rolling to have pvr functionality in xlobby.

[AtTheGates]

Great news. I'll definity check out the DLL and sample app. Hopefully I can get CTpvr to work because neither of my cards is listed as being supported.

[ComputerTimeCO]

Do plugins have to be created in c# only?

If not is there a .TLB(Type Library) available to import into a non .NET compiler?

I was thinking of starting the TV plugin and making the source available to help get this TV/PVR solution going.

Regards,
Carm.

[rubbah]

Do plugins have to be created in c# only?

If not is there a .TLB(Type Library) available to import into a non .NET compiler?

I was thinking of starting the TV plugin and making the source available to help get this TV/PVR solution going.

Regards,
Carm.

well.. anybody? xlobby needs a tv plugin!!!

[lar282]

came back from a 2 week vacation today and saw this!
can't belive nobody jumped on it and started coding. Somebody here must be a good coder (steven!!!) and wanting a full tv integration with xlobby.


//Lasse

[ComputerTimeCO]

Hi All,

Some of this explains some of the difficulties I came across in hopes to prepare any developer interested in working on this plugin.

I decided to continue with the TV plugin for Xlobby with the assumption that it will only work with C#. My CTtvDll was compiled in C++ and works using pointers which presented a problem in programming C#. Not to mention that I've never coded before in C#. In order to use CTtvDll in C# I needed to write a wrapper first. I embedded the wrapper into CTtvDll to make it convinient for developers. You can still write your own wrapper if you feel the need to. By using the wrapper you are limited to high level functions not being able for instance to use the filter's pointers directly. I'm still in the process of expanding on the wrapper but that should not effect any work anyone might have done.

I'm releasing a sample and the source code for all to use and modify. This sample just allows Live TV viewing since I did not have any more time to add Timeshifting, Recording, File Playback etc.

sample:
http://ctpvr.com/downloads/XCTtv.exe This sample is designed just for the HeavyMetal skin. You need to modify any of the other skins to use XCTtv with them.

source:
http://ctpvr.com/downloads/xlptv.zip ( This source was located in "e:\my projects\xlptv" and compiled using SharpDevelop - an open source C# compiler.

Direction to setup sample.
Step 1)
The self extracting file assumes that Xlobby is located in the C: drive. If not change the drive letter to its locations. It also assumes you have Xlobby installed under the path "\Program files\Xlobby\" if not you will have to manually put the files where they belong in your installation.

Step 2)
Start Xlobby and press "Pause" key to enter the Skin Editor. Under the Buttons tab click on the Event tab. Now click on any PVR or TV button to select as the button to modify. Now click on the assign button under event. Double click on the SKIN folder look for the XCTtv folder. Double click on that then select the item "goto XCTtv". Close the Skin Editor and your done. Keep in mind that this will change whatever action that button performed before.

Any further modifications on my part will be posted at the CTpvr Forum.

Good luck to all who are willing to work on this.

Regards,
Carm.

[stevenhanna6]

I will have to check this out later this week, but yah c# was the way to go for xlobby. The whole thing is coded is c#.

I have never tried your pvr software before, how does it compare to others? is it about even? is there anything major your software cant do.

[ComputerTimeCO]

Hi Steven,

I have never tried your pvr software before, how does it compare to others? is it about even? is there anything major your software cant do.

CTpvr is just a PVR and nothing more. I do not have any plans on expanded it into more than a PVR.

Compared to the commercial software available its not up to par base on what I've read. I've never used Sage or BTV personally so I have no idea what their performance is like.

Compared to freeware I have some features that the others do not have. Features like:
1) Actual Live-TV not always buffering.
2) Saving the pause buffer into a recording.
3) My own timeshifting engine not requring SBE.
4) Can run in a Window mode much like WinTV which is skinnable.
5) Each program recording runs a seperate instance of CTtv showing an icon in the systray for each one. You can right mouse click on any of those icons and watch the recording as it records. This also allows for a way to cancel/stop a recording.

I've been making some major changes in the core that has made CTpvr more unstable on some PCs(Mostly decoder problems and trying to support them all). My latest non public release is more stable which should be publicly available next month.

I plan on releasing a new version of the XCTtv plugin later today with new features enabled and many improvements.

Well I hope that answers your question

Regards,
Carm