Support for Loading Multiple Configurations from a Single Source

[alpgul]

Support for Loading Multiple Configurations from a Single Source

Description

Currently, the IPTV Simple PVR add-on requires users to manually input IPTV channels and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) information one by one. This process can be time-consuming and prone to errors, especially when multiple sources are used. Therefore, we are requesting a new feature that allows users to load multiple configurations from a single source.

Proposed Solution

1. Loading Configuration via JSON or XML

• Users should be able to define multiple configurations through a single JSON or XML file.
• This file should include the following information:
  • M3U8 URL Definition: The URL of the M3U8 file containing the list of IPTV channels.
  • EPG URL Definition: The URL of the XMLTV file containing the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) information.
  • Channel Logo URL Definition: The URLs where channel logos are located.
• Users should be able to load this file either from a local file path or a URL.

2. Filtering Duplicate M3U8 URLs

• If multiple M3U8 definitions contain the same channel URLs, the add-on should automatically filter out these duplicates and display only one instance.
• This feature will allow users to view their channel lists in a cleaner and more organized manner.

Example JSON Structure

{
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "Config 1",
      "m3u8_url": "http://example.com/playlist1.m3u8",
      "epg_url": "http://example.com/epg1.xml",
      "logo_base_url": "http://example.com/logos/"
    },
    {
      "name": "Config 2",
      "m3u8_url": "http://example.com/playlist2.m3u8",
      "epg_url": "http://example.com/epg2.xml",
      "logo_base_url": "http://example.com/logos/"
    }
  ]
}

Example XML Structure

<configurations>
  <configuration>
    <name>Config 1</name>
    <m3u8_url>http://example.com/playlist1.m3u8</m3u8_url>
    <epg_url>http://example.com/epg1.xml</epg_url>
    <logo_base_url>http://example.com/logos/</logo_base_url>
  </configuration>
  <configuration>
    <name>Config 2</name>
    <m3u8_url>http://example.com/playlist2.m3u8</m3u8_url>
    <epg_url>http://example.com/epg2.xml</epg_url>
    <logo_base_url>http://example.com/logos/</logo_base_url>
  </configuration>
</configurations>

Benefits

• Time Savings: Users save time by loading multiple configurations at once.
• Error Reduction: Minimizes errors that can occur with manual input.
• Cleaner Channel List: Automatic filtering of duplicate channel URLs ensures users see a more organized channel list.

[phunkyfish]

I don’t think this is possible. A PVR addon cannot create an instance of itself.

Filtering duplicates URLs would not be possible either. Simply because each instance cannot communicate with another instance nor can it access that instances data.

I think what you really want is: xbmc/xbmc#23648

Which would allow a Python addon to be written that would do what you want. You could even handle duplicates.

[alpgul]

In Kodi, doesn't the addon have access to the Kodi\userdata\addon_data\pvr.iptvsimple directory, or can't files be created in this directory? However, there is code in the src/iptvsimple/utilities/FileUtils.cpp file that performs file operations in this directory.

[phunkyfish]

That would be a hack. Kodi core must provide an API for this.

I can see an APi for Python happening, but an API accessible by PVR addons is unlikely.