[sclug] Linux iPlayer

[Ed Davies]

Stuart Ward wrote:
> Chaps
> 
> I just came across this. http://linuxcentre.net/getiplayer/
> 
> Anyone used it?

Yes, I've used it to download a couple of BBC TV programs
recently.  Worked fine.  Resulting .mov files played with
mplayer and xine with no problems.

The one "gotcha" that got me is that the index numbers which
it lists and uses by default on the command line to identify
the program to download are not stable - if you come back
a few hours later it'll download a fresh list of the
available programs and the indexes will have changed a bit.
Use the "pid"s which are available with the --info option.

It has search features but I just use its default action
to list available progams combined with grep:

> edavies at bill:~/temp/iplayer$ ./get_iplayer | grep Horizon
> Added: 279:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - How to Survive a Disaster, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,Guidance,TV, default
> 274:	Horizon: 2008-2009: Cannabis - The Evil Weed?, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,TV, default
> 275:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - Why Are Thin People Not Fat?, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,TV, default
> 276:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - Can We Make a Star on Earth?, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,Guidance,TV, default
> 277:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - The Secret Life of Your Bodyclock, BBC Two,  Nature & Environment,Factual,Science,Science, Nature & Environment,Sign Zone,TV, default,signed
> 278:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - What's the Problem with Nudity?, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,Guidance,TV, default
> 279:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - How to Survive a Disaster, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,Guidance,TV, default
> 

grep -v CBBC, etc, can be helpful but it can get to be quite a
long pipe. :-).

> edavies at bill:~/temp/iplayer$ ./get_iplayer 279 --info
> get_iplayer v1.39, Copyright (C) 2009 Phil Lewis
>   This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details use --warranty.
>   This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain
>   conditions; use --conditions for details.
> 
> Matches:
> 279:	Horizon: 2008-2009 - How to Survive a Disaster, BBC Two, Factual,Science, Nature & Environment,Guidance,TV, default
> 
> Available:      2009-03-10T22:45:17Z
> Categories:     Factual,Science, Nature & Environment
> Channel:        BBC Two
> Desc:           When disaster strikes who lives and who dies is not purely a matter of luck - Horizon has gathered a team of experts to produce the ultimate guide to disaster survival.
> Duration:       3600
> Episode:        2008-2009: How to Survive a Disaster
> Expiry:         2009-04-21T20:59:00Z
> Guidance:       adult
> Index:          279
> Name:           Horizon
> Pid:            b00j7p7z
> Player:         http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00j7p7z/?src=a_syn31
> Thumbnail:      http://node2.bbcimg.co.uk/iplayer/images/episode/b00j7p7z_150_84.jpg
> Type:           video
> Versions:       default
> 
> 
> INFO: 1 Matching Programmes

So I'll probably leave it to download that during the night with:

> edavies at bill:~/temp/iplayer$ sleep 5h; ./get_iplayer --pid b00j7p7z --get

No particular reason for doing it at night other than being
a little bit kind to my ISP and leaving my moderate ADSL
connection available for other stuff when I might want it.

Ed.