Is it a repeat?

Vangelis forthnet northmedia1 at the.forthnet.gr
Thu Jun 27 14:19:05 EDT 2013


On Thu Jun 27 13:41:32 BST 2013, Chris Marriott wrote:

>On 26/06/2013 16:05, Shiner wrote:
>> Would it be possible to show which are repeated programmes?
>> ...or, alternatively, identify new ones?
>
>>Not really possible, I'm afraid.

>You can tell if a programme is old by looking at the PID.

 For me, the easiest way to tell if a show is a repeat or not is to use the 
PID and
navigate to this URL:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/PID/broadcasts

NB that this method tracks broadcasts after the advent of iPlayer, so 
programmes
broadcast first before ca. 2007 won't show up...

So, for PID=b01f7y7c (not currently available on iPlayer),

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01f7y7c/broadcasts

will reveal that the broadcast on Jun 7th 2013 was actually a repeat of the
show first broadcast on Mar 30th 2012 (and repeated 5 other times in 
between... )
I agree with dinkypumpkin that it'd be impractical to check for every PID in 
the cache
(mainly the tvcache, 'cos radio shows are seldom repeats), but for a chosen 
PID perhaps
the -i switch (that does not download the actual video file, only metadata) 
could be modified
somehow to show results (i.e. broadcasts) from parsing above "broadcasts" 
URL.
Doesn't GIP have the necessary perl modules to parse that page?
 Then, by checking last (and first, if that exists) broadcast date, could 
print a new/repeat message (?)
Please dinkypumpkin, don't reply that THIS IS MY TIME FOR GLORY; I do not 
know Perl
and cannot write perl code; but other knowlegdeable members of the list 
surely can...
Because the pid switch always invokes a file download, one would have to 
type

-i --fields=pid PID

Or a new --broadcasts switch could be created, like this:

--type=tv --broadcasts=PID

that for example PID=b02xg103 could return (I guess a check of current 
date/time would be needed):

Original broadcast, first shown 201306202200

or Repeated broadcast, first shown 201306202200

if date was after 201306210130(BST).

Is this within the realm of feasibility or totally out of the question?

Thanks again for your constant efforts to keep GIP functionable!

Vangelis. 




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