An XMLTV guide contains channel identities and programme events. The channel record says which service a schedule belongs to; each programme record describes an airing on that channel. A player needs the relationship between those records, not just a collection of familiar programme titles.
This is why a guide can contain a correct-looking list of channels yet show no schedule beside a playlist entry. Names may be readable while the identifiers used to connect the data do not match. Begin with one channel and one dated event rather than editing the entire guide at once.
A small model of the relationship
Consider a fictional channel identifier, nature-desk.example. A channel declaration can associate that identifier with the display name Nature Desk. A programme event then refers to nature-desk.example and supplies its start time and title. The identifier is the link. A different spelling in the programme reference may leave an event unattached even when the visible names look similar.
The display name is useful to the viewer, but it does not replace the key used by the format or the importer’s matching rules. A playlist may have its own guide-matching attribute, and the application may permit a manual association. Those application choices sit around the underlying channel-to-programme relationship.
Check one complete chain
If the channel declaration exists but no dated programmes refer to it, changing a logo or a channel number will not create the missing events. If the events exist but refer to a different identifier, the problem is a join. If the join is sound but the guide is showing yesterday, investigate the date range and refresh state instead.
- Choose a channel that should have listings and note its exact guide identifier privately.
- Find the corresponding channel declaration in a local, non-public guide copy.
- Find a programme event that refers to the same identifier.
- Check that the event’s date falls within the period the player is showing.
- Compare the playlist’s guide mapping or the player’s manual mapping with that identifier.
Keep the evidence specific
A useful diagnostic example contains the fictionalized channel declaration and one programme record, with account URLs and personal identifiers removed. Preserve the structure and the exact kind of mismatch. Replacing every value with the same word can make the example impossible to understand.
Channel data and programme data can also change on different schedules. A broadcaster may remain in the guide while a source has not yet published tomorrow’s listings. That is different from a channel disappearing from an account. Likewise, a past programme listing describes schedule metadata; it does not prove that a replay or recording is available.
Treat the guide as a dated information source. Once the relationship works for the test channel, check a second channel before applying a wider mapping change. Keep the working version so a later correction can be compared with a known starting point.
Useful answers
Is a channel display name the same as its XMLTV identifier?
Not necessarily. The identifier links records; display names are labels for people. An importer may have additional matching rules.
Does a channel record prove that programmes exist for tomorrow?
No. Check the actual dated programme events and the source coverage period.
Does a guide event mean catch-up is available?
No. A schedule record and permission or capability to replay a programme are separate facts.