TV_GRAB_IT(1p)

💖 NAME 💖

okay bestie, listen up: tv_grab_it grabs TV listings for Italy. that's the whole vibe. 🇮🇹✨

---

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

tv_grab_it --help

tv_grab_it [--config-file FILE] --configure

tv_grab_it [--config-file FILE] [--output FILE]
           [--days N] [--offset N] [--quiet]
           [--slow] [--verbose] [--errors-in-xml]
           [--backend SITE1[,SITE2[,SITE3]]]         [--cache-slow]

---

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

So basically: this thing outputs TV listings for several channels you can get in Italy. Several. Iconic. But heads up — the grabber works by parsing HTML, which means it might just... stop working at any time. no cap. websites change, grabber cries. 😭

The data comes from different backends. why? because that way, if one site gets a glow-up (or a glow-down), you don't get a total blackout — plus it lets us cover way more channels. If the grabber can't find data with the first backend, it tries the second one, and so on and so on, like a very determined bestie going down the contact list. You can set your own preference order with the --backend option. 💅

The backends configured right now are, in default order:

• mediaset — grabs data from www.mediaset.it
• skylife — grabs data from www.skylife.it
• raiit — grabs data from www.rai.it
• mediaset_guidatv — grabs data from www.mediaset.it/guidatv
• mediasetpremium — grabs data from www.mediasetpremium.it
• iris — grabs data from www.iris.it
• boingtv — grabs data from www.boingtv.it
• la7 — grabs data from www.la7.it

First run tv_grab_it --configure to choose which channels you want to download. Then running tv_grab_it with no arguments at all will output listings in XML format to standard output. yes, zero args, main character energy. 👑

• --configure — prompts you for which channels you want, and writes the configuration file. that's it, that's the ritual. 🎀
• --config-file FILE — sets the name of the configuration file. default is ~/.xmltv/tv_grab_it.conf. this is the file that --configure writes and that gets read when grabbing.
• --gui OPTION — turns on a graphical interface. OPTION can be 'Tk', or you can leave it blank for the best available choice. other allowed values of OPTION are 'Term' for normal terminal output (that's the default) and 'TermNoProgressBar' if you want to disable the use of XMLTV::ProgressBar.
• --output FILE — writes to FILE instead of standard output.
• --days N — grab N days. default is 7.
• --offset N — start N days in the future. default is to start from today.
• --quiet — suppresses the progress messages that normally get written to standard error.
• --slow — downloads more details (descriptions, actors...). meaning it downloads a whole new file for each programme, so it's off by default to save time. it's giving thorough but expensive. 💀
• --cache-slow — if you use the --cache option to speed things up when you grab data several times a week, this option makes it cache only the --slow data, so you shouldn't miss changes in schedules.
• --verbose — prints out verbose info, useful for debugging. 🔍
• --errors-in-xml — outputs warnings as programmes in the xml file, so you can see errors in your favorite frontend in addition to the default STDERR. two places, double the drama.
• --backend — set the backend (or backends) to use. see the examples below. ✨
• --version — show the version of the grabber.
• --help — print a help message and exit.

---

🙈 CAVEATS 🙈

okay real talk, read this part.

If you use --quiet you should also use --errors-in-xml or you won't be warned about errors. like, at all.

Also note: as opposed to previous versions, this grabber doesn't die if it cannot find any data — instead it returns an empty xml file (or optionally one containing just warnings). so no dramatic exit, just a lil shrug. 🫠

The backends' data quality differs a lot. For example, mytv was very basic, yet complete, and uses the least amount of bandwidth. Skytv has a lot of channels, but unless you use it with the --slow option the data is not very good — and in that case i would be VERY slow. wfactory is a good overall site if you don't need the whole sky package.

---

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

• ```sh tv_grab_it --backend skylife --configure

configures `tv_grab_it` using only the backend `skylife`

- ```sh
tv_grab_it --backend skylife,wfactory --days 1

grabs one day of data, overriding the default order (could also be --backend skylife --backend wfactory)

• ```sh tv_grab_it --cache --slow --days 3

grabs the full data for the next three days using the default backend order and using a disk cache

---

# 💅 RECOMMENDED USAGE 💅

tv_grab_it --cache --slow --cache-slow --errors-in-xml

like. that's the one. that's the whole recommendation. 🫶

---

# 🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

`xmltv`.

---

# 👑 AUTHOR 👑

This grabber is currently unmantained.

---

<purple>and that's the whole page bestie!! this one shipped with **perl v5.38.2**, dated **2024-02-24**, and it lives at **`TV_GRAB_IT(1p)`** in the manual. go grab some Italian TV listings, you absolute icon. 🍓🧚💜</purple>