Talk:GSoC Project - One common GUI front-end that can control multiple PVR/DVR/HTPC back-ends

MythTV
I suggest that since elupus is already coding MythTV-client support for XBMC you use that, MythTV as the reference backend TV-server, and do not include that in the scope of your project. That way you only have to concetrate for the GUI interface, the EPG, and the API, which is more than enough. ...sure, later once those tasks are completed then you are more than welcome to code another HTPC-client for XBMC and your API ;) Gamester17 10:01, 11 March 2008 (EDT)

Re-use old XMLTVgui code?
@Alcoheca, for the EPG you might want to look at the old half-finished XMLTV TV-Guide that was once in XBMC, it is possible that could be ported, updated and used a base, rather than coding the GUI of the TV-Guide from scratch. The source code for it can still be found here:
 * http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=87054&package_id=153914&release_id=331612
 * More TV-Guide discussion here: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?t=12948
 * Gamester17 09:52, 11 March 2008 (EDT)

SQL database for EPG data
What about using an SQL database to hold the EPG data? Gamester17 06:20, 12 March 2008 (EDT) XBMC has SQLite integrested and uses SQL databases for metadata information about music and video files, (that database can then be accessed from the skin and python scripts), so why not use a similar method for the EPG and treat the information as metadata? Start with the capability of importing a XMLTV formated listings.xml file into that database, then add the GUI capability to display and skin the metadata from that database.
 * See http://xmltv.org/wiki/
 * ''"XMLTV is a set of utilities to manage your TV viewing. They work with TV listings stored in the XMLTV format, which is based on XML. The idea is to separate out the back-end (getting the listings) from the front-end (displaying them for the user), and to implement useful operations like picking out your favourite programmes as filters that read and write XML documents"

Commercial Skipping
XBMC already has EDL (commercial skipping) and SceneMarker support for recoded videos so this does not need to within the scope of the project. Gamester17 10:01, 11 March 2008 (EDT)