Friday 5 May 2017

Exporting EIT XML from unattended SI scanning

The option to export EIT (event information table) data to XML from DVB TS Monitor has existed in DVBStreamExplorer for some time.
In DVBStreamExplorer V4.2.0 a new feature has been introduced that allows for a similar export from unattended SI scan.

To enable EIT export follow steps below.

In Options / preferences SI scan tab enable 'Auto export EIT to XML' and specify an existing folder where XML files will be saved.


In SI tables configuration enable the four EIT options.
Note that enabling these will very likely extend total scan time substantially. Up to 30 seconds can be spent scanning for EIT on each MUX.


Invoke multible DVB MUX scan of your choice (satellite, cable, terrestrial).
Once scanning is complete you should find the specified folder populated with XML files containing EIT info.A GUID string will be used for naming each file.
Example of EIT XML file below.


The XML root node has onid (original_network_id), nid (network_id) and tsid (transport_stream_id) attributes referring to the MUX where EIT data was acquired. It also contain timestamp attribute specifying time in UTC when MUX was scanned.
Each child node of root contains data for one event. It contains EIT section key data as attributes. It also contain data from short event and extended event descriptors. That would be the text that i.e. an STB would show in EPG.  

Note that you will likely not get all available EIT information from each MUX.  This is because each MUX will only be scanned for a maximum of 30 seconds which is usually not enough time. If you need more EIT data you should use EIT export feature in DVB TS Monitor.
Also if you scan MUX'es from the same network you will likely get duplicate EIT information.
On the other hand if you are scanning MUX'es from multiple networks (i.e. satellite) you should be able to collect a substantial amount of EIT data in just one scan session.

You can view the exported EIT XML files in DVBStreamExplorer Service View. More information here.
Or you can write your own software that make use of the XML files.