How Do I Start Developing a Channel?

bollywood · Sun May 01, 2011 5:07 pm

i downloaded the SDK, but its still very confusing trying to understand how to create a channel.

is this code in C++ or ???

stratcat96 · Sun May 01, 2011 5:43 pm

it is a proprietary code called Brightscript. Syntactically similar to JavaScript and VBscript, but shares similarities to other languages as well. A good place to start is working with the example .zip files

bollywood · Sun May 01, 2011 8:19 pm

i know some javascript and some vbscript.

you said this is proprietary, so is there any sort of reference book or anything? i was reading through the examples but keep getting lost as there are so many code files.

can i just create one simple file with all the code in it(like a single executable file) or it doesn't work that way?

renojim · Sun May 01, 2011 8:38 pm

Read the BrightScript reference in the SDK for information about the language and the Component reference for specific elements that apply to the streaming player.

Yes, you can just have one source file, but you need a manifest and your zip needs to have a 'source' subdirectory with your source file(s).

-JT

tensen · Mon May 02, 2011 4:51 am

bollywood wrote:
i know some javascript and some vbscript.

you said this is proprietary, so is there any sort of reference book or anything? i was reading through the examples but keep getting lost as there are so many code files.

can i just create one simple file with all the code in it(like a single executable file) or it doesn't work that way?

The seperate code files are there mostly to break up the sections of code to make it easier to figure out where related routines are located. So technically you could make it all a single file if you wanted. But you still need a source directory and a makefile that is outside the directory. (And as many of us learn when we screw up our first channel... graphics, especially ones that fit the right dimensions.)

The ComponentReference.pdf file mentioned above is better than many of the reference guides I've gotten when proprietary scripting languages before.

bollywood · Tue May 03, 2011 9:38 am

i just noticed that a new version beta of sdk is released. does this mean that i should download that one instead of the current one v29 that i am trying to learn?

Tue May 03, 2011 9:45 am

That is your choice. Currently end users are running v2.9, so if you want to publish a channel that users can install now use v2.9.

v3.0 has many new features and is not a long way off (though I don't have an official date to share), so you might be able to start developing now and if it take you a few months to develop any way v3.0 will probably be on user's Roku boxes by the time you are ready to release.

If you do choose to develop with v3.0, you'll need to PM me your serial number so I can put you in the beta group.

--Kevin

bollywood · Wed May 04, 2011 10:50 am

well, i am learning the brighscript right now and trying to create a channel.

how far off in the future is the new release? no fixed date but give me more of a general idea, 2 months, 4 months, 6 months?

as you know, the brightscript is new to me and i am still learning the current version, but if the new SDK will come out of beta soon, i will start working on the new SDK instead of putting lots of time and effort on the current one.

tensen · Wed May 04, 2011 11:18 am

bollywood wrote:
as you know, the brightscript is new to me and i am still learning the current version, but if the new SDK will come out of beta soon, i will start working on the new SDK instead of putting lots of time and effort on the current one.

It isn't like you have to learn a whole new language. There is a good chance you aren't even using the new features. God ahead and download the new one. A safe bet is to look at the examples in each version of the SDK. If the example didn't exist in the previous SDK then it likely uses calls that need the new version.

bollywood · Wed May 04, 2011 11:41 am

i think i am going to use one of the sample channel codes provided in the SDK for my first channel, which ones of these is simpler and easier?

customvideoplayer
or
simplevideoplayer

bollywood · Fri May 06, 2011 9:22 am

so i am trying to use the custom video player code. if i just replace the url below with the actual url from another website, is that all that is needed to test it?

this.player.SetContentList([{
Stream: { url: "http://ec2-184-72-239-149.compute-1.amazonaws.com:1935/demos/smil:bigbuckbunnyiphone.smil/playlist.m3u8" }
StreamFormat: "hls"
}])
this.player.Play()

this is the website i am trying to create private channels for
http://webcast.gov.in/
as you can see there are links to many channels/content. i am trying to add all of it into channels.
this is what i found out from the page source:
http://webcast.gov.in/StrobeMediaPlayback.swf

is this the correct url for the live stream? am i going in the right direction here?

Fri May 06, 2011 9:25 am

Roku will not play swf (Flash) files. You need to set both the url and the matching StreamFormat value. Please see the roVideoScreen section in the Component Reference for supported StreamFormat video types.

--Kevin

bollywood · Fri May 06, 2011 9:32 am

this is what their website says:

In an attempt to ensure universality, both the popular and prevalent streaming media technologies viz. Real Network Technology and Microsoft's Windows Media Technology are being fully supported by the state-of-the art media servers set up by us.

Real Networks Technology

* Encoder : Real / Helix Producer
* Server : Real /Helix server.
* Player : Real Player.
* Protocols : RTSP, PNM, HTTP

Microsoft Media Technology
* Encoder : Windows Media Encoder
* Server : Windows Media server.
* Player : Windows Media Player
* Protocols : MMS, HTTP

and i see in the pdf that it supports WMV9, so am i going in the right direction?

stratcat96 · Fri May 06, 2011 9:33 am

bollywood wrote:
so i am trying to use the custom video player code. if i just replace the url below with the actual url from another website, is that all that is needed to test it?

this.player.SetContentList([{
Stream: { url: "http://ec2-184-72-239-149.compute-1.amazonaws.com:1935/demos/smil:bigbuckbunnyiphone.smil/playlist.m3u8" }
StreamFormat: "hls"
}])
this.player.Play()

this is the website i am trying to create private channels for
http://webcast.gov.in/
as you can see there are links to many channels/content. i am trying to add all of it into channels.
this is what i found out from the page source:
http://webcast.gov.in/StrobeMediaPlayback.swf

is this the correct url for the live stream? am i going in the right direction here?

a webpage url is different than a stream's url. As previously stated, Roku has a limited set of codecs it will play and unfortunately flash is not one of them. You need to specify the url of a compatible stream, that is the actual location of the stream on the server. That info is usually not attainable by simply seeing what it says in the address bar of the browser.

bollywood · Fri May 06, 2011 9:35 am

so what's the trick to find out their actual stream, as they are using Real Media and windows Media and i see many websites are embedding their live video on their sites.

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