A guide’s useful coverage is the dated programme range it actually contains. A filename, refresh interval or marketing phrase does not guarantee a particular number of future days for every channel. Inspect the intended channel and period rather than assuming the whole source has uniform coverage.
The top-level document date and the individual event dates answer different questions. A recently generated file can still contain old or limited listings for one feed. Conversely, a preserved file can include some future events without being current enough for reliable planning.
Define the viewing window
Start with the date and time the viewer wants to inspect. “Next week” is less precise than a named local date, especially when the source timestamps use another zone. Check the local-day boundary as well as the hour.
Coverage can vary between channels. One schedule may extend several days farther than another in the same document. A single channel’s last event is not proof of the guide’s universal horizon, and an empty far-future grid does not automatically mean today’s import failed.
Inspect a representative range
If the requested date lies beyond the source’s last event, mapping changes cannot invent the missing schedule. Ask about source coverage rather than repeatedly reimporting the same file. If the date is covered but the grid is blank, mapping or display range becomes a more relevant question.
- Identify the intended channel edition and displayed local date.
- Find the earliest and latest relevant programme events in the current source.
- Account for explicit timestamp offsets and the viewer’s zone.
- Compare the requested period with that actual range.
- Refresh through the supported process if newer source coverage is expected.
Keep planning and archival uses distinct
Past guide data can be useful for identifying a programme, but it does not establish that replay is available. Future schedule data can help plan viewing, but programmes can change. Treat both as metadata with a date and a source rather than a promise of access.
When maintaining a local snapshot, record the retrieval date and actual range privately. This helps explain why a guide that once appeared complete becomes empty as time moves beyond its horizon. A refresh routine needs to obtain genuinely newer events, not just reload the same dated copy.
A useful support note names the channel, requested local window, latest event present and last successful retrieval. That evidence distinguishes stale data, limited coverage and mapping faults. It also avoids a misleading claim that a guide contains “seven days” merely because a setting offers a seven-day display.
Useful answers
Does a seven-day grid setting create seven days of listings?
No. The source must contain events for those dates.
Can coverage differ by channel inside one guide?
Yes. Inspect the relevant channel’s actual events.
Does a past listing prove replay exists?
No. Schedule metadata and replay availability are separate.