TEMPESTWIKI

User Guide for

TEMPEST
The Most Advanced
Programmable GUI XMLTV
EPG Generator

Created by Kivanc Altug (Kvanc)

Document Date/Revision : 02.03.2023 / Rev.8

Tempest Version : +v1.5.0
Website : https://github.com/K-vanc/Tempest-EPG-Generator.git
Website : https://k-vanc.github.io/Tempest-EPG-Generator/
Contact Information : tempestepg@gmail.com
 Table of Content

1) Introduction
2) Siteconfig Maker & Elements
3) Tempest Variables & Operators
4) Tempest Commands & Syntax
5) Siteconfig Debugger
6) EPG Generator
7) Channel Generator
8) Siteconfig Editor
9) Tempest Configurator & Settings
10) Siteconfig Updater
11) Hints & Tips
 1) Introduction
Tempest is a fully programmable XMLTV formatted EPG(Electronic
Program Guide) generator bundled in a single php file with several
advanced features such as;

• Graphical User Interface (GUI) & Optimization For Mobile Devices

• Multiple Website Configuration Support
• The Highest Generating Speed
• The Lowest Memory Consumption
• Multiple Platform Support (Windows/Unix etc.)
• Multiple Async URL Support Up to 10
• Full Support For XMLTV Standart Elements
• Daylight Saving Time(DST) Support For Automatic Time Offset
Changes
• Easy Configuration Maker & Editor
• Powerful & Simple Command Syntax For Combo-
Operations/Modifications
• Scrapping Engine Built with Regex (Regular Expression) For
Powerful Operations
• Built-In Cyclone Module to Add Alternative For Failed Channel
• Built-In Time Converter to Change Times of All Shows Into
Requested Time Offset (DST Support)
• Built-In Inverter Module to Modify/Move XMLTV Elements Into
Other Elements With Requested Order & Style
• Built-In Fusion Module to Keep Previous Dated Shows Up to 15
Days For Catch-Up Service
• Built-In Configuration Updater to Download Latest Revisions
• Multiple Configuration File Support Up to 5000 Channels For Each
• Remote Access, Operations & Downloading (port-forwarding
required)
• Scheduled Operations (such as crontab etc.)
• Support For Scrapping From HTML, XML, CSV, TXT, XLS, PDF
(Experimental) & More..
 2) Siteconfig Maker & Elements
You may easily prepare your own siteconfig files by using Tempest’s
Siteconfig Maker with hundreds of predefined element as below;

a) Config Info

File Name: Name which will be used to create siteconfig file

(Required)
Creator Name: Name of siteconfig maker
Creator Date: Date of siteconfig file created
Revision No: Revision number of siteconfig (Required)
Remarks: Explanations about siteconfig file, changes etc.

b) Site Options
Timezone: Timezone of source to set time offset and make
necessary date/time calculations etc. It can be in ±XX:XX format
such as “+03:00” or with referenced patterns such as
“Europe/Istanbul”. To enable DST(Daylight Saving Time) option,
referenced name pattern shall be set. It will be considered as
“+00:00” if no value is given. It supports;
##usertime## (**Special Variable**)
If timezone parameter is set as “##usertime##” , time offset of
user will be applied. This means same siteconfig file will give
different time offsets for a user in Europe and a user in America as
an example. This is very useful for some websites which converts
their data based on geolocation of visitor’s IP address.
Culture Info: 2 letters culture code of source language. This is
necessary for correct text formatting such as converting upper
cases to lower cases etc. It will be considered as “xx” if no value is
given.
Charset Info: Encoding type of source such as UTF-8 or
WINDOWS-1252 etc. This is necessary for correct text scrapping. It
will be considered as “UTF-8” if no value is given.
Maximum Days: Maximum number of days that source contains.
It can be in 2 different types as “X” or “X.1” which “X” means each
day in separate page/request and “X.1” means all days in single
page/request such as “7” (for 7 days) and “7.1” (for 7 days in same
page).
Rating System: Name of rating system that source uses. As
example “TVPG” or “PEGI” etc.
Star Rating System: Name of star rating system that source uses.
As example “IMDB” or “TMDB” etc.
Episode System: Name of episode system that source uses. 2
possible options are available as “on-screen” and “xmltv_ns”.
Custom Episode System 1: Name of first custom episode system.
It can be anything or a user-defined special system.
Custom Episode System 2: Name of second custom episode
system. It can be anything or a user-defined special system.
First Show No: Number of first show which belongs today in
source. This is necessary to skip shows at the beginning of source
from previous day if no show date is available.
First Day No: Number of show blocks which associated with week
days in source . This is mandatory for “Maximum days 7.1” sites
to capture correct day block from source. “0” always represents
“Monday” and “6” always represents “Sunday”. If first show block
belongs to Monday and continues up to Sunday, day order shall be
“0123456”. If first show block belongs to Sunday and continues as
Monday, Tuesday etc till Saturday; day order shall be “6012345”. It
supports also shuffled block orders such as “0421635”.
Enable Keep Index Page: Indicator for Tempest to store source
data to use for other channels. This is necessary to avoid repeated
source request when source also contains data for other channels.
Enable Past Day Remover: Indicator for Tempest to auto-delete
shows belongs to previous day(s) in source. This is necessary to
delete useless data from fixed source such as monthly updating
websites which always starts with first day of month.
Compression System: Name of compression system that source
uses. 2 possible options are available as “gzip” and “deflate”. Do
not mix it with “Accept-Encoding” header which auto
decompression is already done by your browser/server. Setting it
on a decompressed content, will result malformed byte sequences
due to twice decompression. Basically do not use it if your source is
in a human-readable format.
User-Agent: String of user-agent that will be used during your
web requests to emulate a web browser. Tempest will try to use
your server’s user-agent string if no value is given. If it is not set in
your server, Tempest will use its own predefined user-agent string.
Enable Proxy: Indicator/Check Point for Tempest to connect a
proxy address for web requests of applied siteconfig.
Proxy Adress: IP address/port of proxy that will be used by
Tempest for tunnelling web requests of applied siteconfig. It
supports http, https, socks4 and socks5 proxy types. String shall be
as below examples formats;
Example:
Proxy => “https://ipadress:port”
or (with username & password)
Proxy => “socks5://username:password@ipadress:port”
Channel Delay Time: Number of delay as second between
different channel requests of applied siteconfig.
Index Page Delay Time: Number of delay as second between a
channel’s index page requests.
Detail Page Delay Time: Number of delay as second between a
channel’s detail page requests.

c) Page Options
Note: “All (A)” defines that information is valid for all “Index (I)”, “Detail (D)”
and “Channel Creation (C)” sections.

Url setting are same from Url1 to Url4 as below;

Url(1-4) (A): Url address that will be used by Tempest
Url(1-4) Request Method (A): Url request option that will be
used by Tempest. Available options are “GET”, “POST”, “HEAD”,
“PUT”, “DELETE” and “OPTIONS”.
Url(1-4) Post Data (A): Request post data that will be used by
Tempest. It may be used together with supported request methods
except “GET” and “HEAD”.
Url(1-4) Accept Header (A): Accept header string that will be
used by Tempest to emulate web browser.
Url(1-4) Content-Type Header (A): Content-Type header string
that will be used by Tempest to emulate web browser.
Url(1-4) Referer Header (A): Referer header string that will be
used by Tempest to emulate web browser.
Url(1-4) Host Header (A): Host header string that will be used
by Tempest to emulate web browser.
Url(1-4) Origin Header (A): Origin header string that will be
used by Tempest to emulate web browser.
Url(1-4) Cookie Header (A): Cookie header string that will be
used by Tempest to emulate web browser. This is necessary to
send requests with user-defined or modified cookie strings.
Sometimes it may be needed to send more than 1 cookie header.
In this case, header strings may be separated with;
|#| (**Special Operator**)
Tempest will split cookie headers given which combined with “|#|”,
in single cookie header string and send them all individually for
request. If you don’t need to manipulate cookie to be sent, use
“Enable Cookie Transfer” option to let Tempest automatically
capture, store and submit required cookies for the current and
following requests.
Url(1-4) Custom Header (A): User-defined or non-predefined
header string that will be used by Tempest to emulate web
browser. It is necessary to send some special header/data which is
not available in predefined parameters. Sometimes it may be
needed to send more than 1 custom header. In this case, header
strings may be separated with “|#|” special operator to let
Tempest split and send them all individually for request.
Enable Url(1-4) XMLHttpRequest (A): Indicator for Tempest to
send “XMLHttpRequest” header to emulate web browser.
Enable Url(1-4) Cookie Transfer (A): Indicator for Tempest to
capture, store and send back cookies to emulate web browser. This
is necessary for some website which requires session and/or private
cookies to authenticate your request. Tempest will capture and
store cookies on the first “Url” which this option enabled. For the
following “Url”, Tempest will only send back if “Cookie Transfer”
option is not enabled or send back, capture and store new cookies
for the following “Url” if “Cookie Transfer” option is enabled. As
example;
Case 1
• Cookie transfer is enabled for Url1 and not for Url2
Tempest will store the cookies which are received from Url1 and
submit to Url2
Case 2
• Cookie transfer is enabled for both Url1 and Url2
Tempest will store the cookies which are received from Url1, submit
to Url2, capture and store new cookies of Url2 for possible request
of Url3
Enable Url(1-4) Header Out (A): Indicator for Tempest to add
website’s header response to website’s normal response. This is
necessary for some rare websites to capture data and use in the
following requests.
Url(1-4) Urldate Format (I/C): Format pattern for Tempest to
calculate needed date/time value and transfer to its associated
special variable with;
##urldateX## (**Special Variable**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be number of urldate format
Example:
Url1 => “https://www.test.page?date=##urldate1##“
Url1 Urldate Format => ”Y-m-d”
Result => “https://www.test.page?date=2022-01-29”
All urldate formats may be set differently and individually at the
same time and they could output different date results. They can be
in referenced date/time formats or Tempest’s special date/time
operator formats as below;
(**Special Date/Time Operators**)
“Unix” => Returns Unix timestamp of current day. Returns
timestamp based on GMT offset with “g” suffix.(Ex. unixg)
“Java” => Returns Java timestamp of current day. Returns
timestamp based on GMT offset with “g” suffix.(Ex. javag)
“#weekdayname#n1|n2|n3|n4|n5|n6|n7” => Returns
corresponding weekday name based on given user list as
n1(Monday) to n7(Sunday)
“#weekdaynumber#X” => Returns corresponding weekday
number based on given user Sunday number as “X” which
could be “0”, “6” or “7”.
“#daycounter#X” => Returns corresponding day number
based on given user counter start point as “X”.
“#yeardaycounter#X” => Returns corresponding year day
number based on given user counter start point as “X”.
“#daylist#n1|n2|…|nX” => Returns corresponding day
name based on given user list as n1(Start) to nX(End). It
does not have to be 7 days. It is necessary for sites which
use fixed date labels such as “today”, “tomorrow” etc.
“#range#format” => Returns date string from start to end
based on maximum days or timespan of given format
separated with comma(,)
Sometimes, it may be needed to use parsed date strings. In this
case, date string may be splitted into sub variables as
“##urldateX_N##” which “N” supports 1 to 5, with Tempest
command “||#split#” as below;
||#split#(pattern) (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “pattern” must be valid regex pattern
Example:
Url1 Urldate Format => ”Y-m-d||#split#(-)”
Results =>
“##urldate1##” => ”2022-01-29”
“##urldate1_1##” => ”2022”
“##urldate1_2##” => ”01”
“##urldate1_3##” => ”29”
Also it may be needed to modify/increase or decrease calculated
date from referenced patterns or “Unix/Java” operators with
Tempest command “||#date#” as below;
||#date#string (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “string” may be in “day”, “hour”,
“minute”, ”second”, “month”, “year” and their combination
formats
Example: (As today “2022-01-29”)
Url1 Urldate Format => ”Y-m-d||#date#+1day-2year”
Results => “##urldate1##” => ”2020-01-30”
Urldate variables may be used in all corresponding Url headers
unlimitedly.
Url(1-4) Stopdate Format (I/C): Format pattern for Tempest to
calculate needed date/time value and transfer to its associated
special variable with;
##stopdateX## (**Special Variable**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be number of stopdate format
Example:
Url1 => “https://www.test.page?date=##stopdate1##“
Url1 Stopdate Format => ”Y-m-d” (As today “2022-01-29”)
Result => “https://www.test.page?date=2022-01-30”
All stopdate formats may be set differently and individually at the
same time and they could output different date results. They can be
in referenced date/time formats or Tempest’s special operator
formats as given on “Urldate Format”. Differently from urldate
format, stopdate format will be calculated as “+1 day” of urldate
calculated for sites which have “Maximum Days” in “X” format and
as “+1 day + timespan” of urldate calculated for sites which have
“Maximum Days” in “X.1” format. Stopdate format may be parsed
or modified same as urldate format with same Tempest commands
as explained on “Urldate Format”.
Example:
Url1 Stopdate Format => ”Y-m-d||#split#(-)”
Results => “##stopdate1##” => ”2022-01-30”
“##stopdate1_1##” => ”2022”
“##stopdate1_2##” => ”01”
“##stopdate1_3##” => ”30”
Stopdate variables may be used in all corresponding Url headers
unlimitedly.
Url(1-4) Subpage Format (I/C): String or format pattern for
Tempest to calculate needed loop value and transfer to its
associated special variable with;
##subpageX## (**Special Variable**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be number of subpage format
Each values shall be separated with “|” as string or as format
pattern Tempest special operator “#counter#X#Y#Z” shall be
used as below;
String1|String2|….|StringN (**Separator**)
#counter#X(#Y)#Z (**Special Operator** / (#Y) Optional)
Example:
Url1 Subpage Format => ”1|2|3|4”
Results => For each page request
“##subpage1##” => ”1”
“##subpage1##” => ”2”
“##subpage1##” => ”3”
“##subpage1##” => ”4”

Url2 Subpage Format => ”#counter#1#2#5”

X => Start Indice
Y => Step Interval (Optional)
Z => Destination
Results => For each page request
“##subpage2##” => ”1”
“##subpage2##” => ”3”
“##subpage2##” => ”5”
Url4 Subpage Format => ”#counter#1#5”
X => Start Indice
Z => Destination
Results => For each page request
“##subpage4##” => ”1”
“##subpage4##” => ”2”
“##subpage4##” => ”3”
“##subpage4##” => ”4”
“##subpage4##” => ”5”
Subpage variables may be transferred to following url parameters
in order to built nested loops which each subpage format will loop
inside following url subpage format’s loop.
Subpage variables will create a loop from first value to last value
for each page request.
Enable Grabber(1-8) (I/C): Indicator for Tempest to enable
pattern box of Tempest’s page data grabbers.
Grabber(1-8) Pattern (I/C): Regex pattern(auto-delimited with
“/” by default) to be used by Tempest to capture essential page
data and transfer to its associated special variable which may be
used in following requests as below;
##grabber_X## (**Special Variable**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be number of grabber pattern
2 individual grabbers for each url has been predefined by Tempest
and they will capture data as per given regex pattern on their
associated url response data. But in case of need, higher
numbered unused grabbers may be called for additional help on
needed url with “||#urlX#” special commands;
Grabber_7pattern||#url2# (**Special Command**)
On above example, this command will send Grabber7 which is
normally associated with Url4 to grab on page response of Url2 and
transfer its value to “##grabber_7##” variable.
Grabbers may be enabled independent from their corresponding Url
parameters.
Expand Url(2-4) Parameters (I/C): Indicator for Tempest to
expand additional url parameters.
Enable Url(2-4) Parameters (I/C): Indicator for Tempest to
enable expanded additional url parameters.

d) Show Options
Note: All regex patterns have been pre-delimited with “/”(slash) and shall be
escaped by “\”(backslash) together with other regex tokens.
Tempest has several predefined xmltv element in accordance with
XMLTV Standard and all may be set from “Show Options” tab as
below;
Show Pattern (I): This is the regex pattern which tells Tempest
how epg information containing part will be separated from
unnecessary data and parsed as individual small blocks that each
contains single show. Since regex is not the best tool for parsing
irregular sources such as html, Tempest has a special pattern
format which will be automatically recognized and will apply 2
layers of parsing to make it significantly easy, as below;
MBS.*?(?:SBS)(.*?)(?:SBE).*?MBE (**Special Pattern**)
MBS => Main-Block Start
MBE => Main-Block End
SBS => Sub-Block Start
SBE => Sub-Block End
It shall be considered as each sub-block shall contain 1 single show
and main blocks may be single or multiple based on page structure.
Special pattern is mandatory to use with “First Day No” required
sites for “Maximum days 7.1” to parse data based on correct day
block. Otherwise, most probably results will not match with correct
dates. For these kind of sites, 7 main blocks (1 for each day) need
to captured and Tempest will parse them based on given “First
Day No” order. Special pattern is not mandatory for other type
websites but it is highly recommended to use whenever possible
since it is safer for new users and it will make Tempest to parse
faster with lower memory consumption.
Example:
<div role="tab-\d.*?>.*?(?:<p>)(.*?)(?:<\/p>).*?<\/div>
Tempest will auto convert unicode characters, clean show blocks,
fix malformed bytes and perform json decoding after parsing.
Note: Tempest will auto clean trailing spaces, line breaks, html tags etc. for all
captured data of xmltv elements.

Sort Pattern (I): This is the regex pattern which tells Tempest to
search for a sorting value inside of sub-blocks. This is necessary if
your data blocks are provided without date order or mixed order.
Sort Flag (I): This is the indicator for Tempest which tells how
sorting operation will be done. Available options are “regular”,
“numeric”, “string”, “natural”, “locale”, “case-string” and
“case-natural”.
Sort Order (I): This is the indicator for Tempest which tells order
of sorting. Available options are “ascending” and “descending”.
Start Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing start
time value of each show.
Start Format Pattern (I/D): This is the string which tells
Tempest format of captured start time. It shall be like in referenced
date formats on “Urldate Formats”.
Example:
Captured Start Time => ”2022-01-29 02:30:00”
Required Start Format => “Y-m-d H:i:s”
Stop Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing stop
time value of each show. If not set, next show’s start time will be
set as stop time of current show.
Stop Format Pattern (I/D): This is the string which tells Tempest
format of captured stop time. It shall be like in referenced date
formats on “Urldate Formats”.
Duration Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
duration value of each show. If “Stop Pattern” is not set or could
not capture any data, Tempest may use duration value by adding
up to start time. When used, format of data shall be defined with
“||#format#X” Tempest command.
||#format#X (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “X” shall be one of the below values;
“ms” => “microsecond”
“s” => “second”
“m” => “minute” (by default)
“h” => “hour”
“t” => “time pattern such as 01:30 as hour:minute”
Title Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing title
value of each show.
Original Title Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing original title value of each show. When used, language
code shall be defined with “||#culture#xx” special command.
||#culture#xx (**Special Command**)
Note: Highlighted “xx” shall be 2 letters culture code of data
If not set, “xx” value will be used as culture code of original title
element.
Sub-title Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
sub-title value of each show.
Description Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
description value of each show.
Category Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
category value of each show.
Language Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
language value of each show.
Original Language Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing original language value of each show.
Showicon Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
showicon value of each show.
Season Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
season value of each show.
Episode Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
episode value of each show.
When “Episode System” is set for “on-screen”, season and
episode prefix which is “S” and “E” by default, may be set by user
with “||#name#X” Tempest command.
||#name#X (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “X” shall be user defined string as
season/episode prefix
Example:
Default Season No => ”S3”
With “||#name#Temporada “ => “Temporada 3”
Default Episode No => ”E14”
With “||#name#Episodio “ => “Episodio 14”
Default Season/Episode => ”S3 E14”
With “||#name#X” => “Temporada 3 Episodio 14”
Total Episode Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing total episode value of each show.
Custom Episode 1 Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing first custom(user-defined) season/episode value of each
show. Corresponding “Custom Episode System” shall be defined.
Custom Episode 2 Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing second custom(user-defined) season/episode value of
each show. Corresponding “Custom Episode System” shall be
defined.
Channel Logo (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
channel logo value of each channel. Different from other elements,
“channel logo” element is in global mode which will search in
unparsed source data instead of main or show blocks.
Production Date Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing production date value of each show.
Actor Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing actor
value(s) of each show.
Role Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing role
value of each actor. This will not work if no actor value is captured
or unequal number of actor-role values captured. Values will be set
to attribute of actor tag as per XMLTV standard
Director Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
director value(s) of each show.
Presenter Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
presenter value(s) of each show.
Producer Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
producer value(s) of each show.
Composer Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
composer value(s) of each show.
Editor Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
editor value(s) of each show.
Commentator Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing commantator value(s) of each show.
Writer Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
writer value(s) of each show.
Adapter Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
adapter value(s) of each show.
Guest Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing guest
value(s) of each show.
Country Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
country value(s) of each show.
Image Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
image value(s) of each show.
Video Colour Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing video colour value of each show.
Video Aspect Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing video aspect value of each show.
Video Quality Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing video quality value of each show.
Premiere Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
premiere value of each show. It may be as text description or self-
closing tag format. If final value is “true” or “yes”, Tempest will
convert it to self-closing tag.
Audio Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing audio
value of each show.
Length Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
length value of each show. When used, unit of data shall be defined
with “||#unit#X” Tempest command.
||#unit#X (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “X” shall be “s” (second), “m” (minute by
default) or “h” (hour)
Previously-Shown Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing previously shown value of each show. Value may be
shown as attribute of tag if it is in date format without separators
or Tempest will convert it to self-closing tag.
Keyword Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
keyword value of each show.
Subtitles Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
subtitle value of each show. When used, type of data shall be
defined with “||#type#X” Tempest command.
||#type#X (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “X” shall be “t” (teletext by default), “o”
(onscreen) or “d” (deaf-signed)
Rating Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
rating value of each show.
Rating Icon Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing rating icon value(s) of each show.
Star Rating Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
star rating value of each show. When used, max rating limit shall
be defined to the end of value as “/X” such as “6.2/10” etc.
Star Rating Icon Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing star rating icon value(s) of each show.
New Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing new
value of each show. It is self closing tag without any attribute.
Tempest will generate new tag if anything captured with given
pattern.
Last Chance Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing last chance value of each show. It may be as text
description or self-closing tag format. If final value is “true” or
“yes”, Tempest will convert it to self-closing tag.
Review Pattern (I/D): This is the regex pattern for capturing
review value of each show.

e) Detail Page Options

Note: Tempest gives priority order on page elements which “Detail Page 2”
have the highest priority while “Index Page” have the lowest. If both
elements are set and captured, Tempest will use value of “Detail Page 2”. If
“Detail Page 2” fails, Tempest will look for “Detail Page 1” and then for
“Index Page”.
Expand Detail Page (1-2) Parameters (D): Indicator for
Tempest to expand detail page url parameters.
Enable Detail Page (1-2) Parameters (D): Indicator for
Tempest to enable expanded detail page url parameters.
Detail Page (1-2) Key Pattern (D): This is the regex pattern for
capturing detail page key value of each show and transfer to its
associated special variable which may be used in detail page
url/parameter requests as below;
##pagekeyX## (**Special Variable**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be number of page key pattern
“Detail Page Key” will always search inside show block while
“Detail Page2 Key” will search in response of “Detail Page Url”.
In case of need, “Detail Page2 Key” may be directed to show
block with “||#index#” special command;
Detail_Page2_Keypattern||#index#(**Special Command**)
On above example, this command will send Detail Page2 Key which
is normally associated with Detail Url1 to grab on show block and
transfer its value to “##pagekey2##” variable.
Note: “Detail Page Url” parameters/headers are same as explained in “Page
Options”.

Enable Detail Page Grabber(1-4) (D): Indicator for Tempest to

enable pattern box of Tempest’s detail page data grabbers.
Detail Page Grabber(1-4) Pattern (D): Regex pattern(auto-
delimited with “/” by default) to be used by Tempest to capture
essential detail page data and transfer to its associated special
variable which may be used in following requests as below;
##dgrabber_X## (**Special Variable**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be number of grabber pattern
2 individual grabbers for each url has been predefined by Tempest
and they will capture data as per given regex pattern on their
associated url response data. But in case of need, higher
numbered unused grabbers may also be called for additional help
on needed url with “||#durl1#” special command;
Detail_Grabber_4pattern||#durl1#(**Special Command**)
On above example, this command will send Detail Grabber4 which
is normally associated with Detail Url2 to grab on page response of
Detail Url1 and transfer its value to “##dgrabber_4##” variable.
Also they may be set to capture data from corresponding show
block with “||#index#” special command;
Detail_Grabber_2pattern||#index# (**Special Command**)
On above example, this command will send Detail Grabber2 which
is normally associated with Detail Url1 to grab on show block and
transfer its value to “##dgrabber_2##” variable.
Grabbers may be enabled independent from their corresponding Url
parameters.
In case of, detail pages have different values for same element and
both needed to be kept such as parted description that first part in
show block and second part is in detail page, captured value from
detail page may be sent to merge with show block value of same
element with ”##detail##” special variable;
##detail## (**Special Variable**)
Example:
Desc Pattern => desc1:”(.*?)”||#addend###detail##
Detail Page Desc Pattern => desc2:”(.*?)”
Result Desc Element => Value of “desc1” + Value of “desc2”
or
Result Desc Element => Value of “desc1” (if desc2 is empty)
Note: Highlighted “||#addend#” is a Tempest command to
insert given user input to end of requested element value
 f) Channel Page Options
This section is used to set Url parameters which will be used by
Tempest to achieve source data for channel creation.
Note: “Channel Page Option” parameters/headers are same as explained in
“Page Options” except that resulted index will be for parsing channel ids,
channel names, channel logos etc. instead of parsing show blocks. Also
separate proxy address may be set differently from “Site Options” to be used
only during channel creation requests in case of need.

g) Channel Options
Note: All regex patterns have been pre-delimited with “/”(slash) and shall be
escaped by “\”(backslash) together with other regex tokens.

Channel Block Pattern (C): This is the regex pattern which tells
Tempest how channel information containing part will be separated
from unnecessary data and parsed as individual small blocks that
each contains single channel data(id, name, logo etc.). “Channel
Block” is an optional solution to make channel data parsing easier
with higher accuracy. “Channel Block” pattern may be ordinary
regex or special pattern which will be automatically recognized and
will apply 2 layers of parsing to make it significantly easy, as
below;
MBS.*?(?:SBS)(.*?)(?:SBE).*?MBE (**Special Pattern**)
MBS => Main-Block Start
MBE => Main-Block End
SBS => Sub-Block Start
SBE => Sub-Block End
When used, “Channel Id”, “Channel Name” & “Channel Logo”
patterns will search inside captured sub-blocks instead of source
data. “Channel Block” will search in loose capture mode when
ordinary regex string is set. This means no need to completely
parse small channel blocks with very accurate capture string but
you can just mention Tempest that how channel blocks should be
look like and it will parse it accordingly.
Channel Id Pattern (C): This is the regex pattern for capturing id
value of each channel. If “Channel Block” is not set, “Channel Id”
result will be used as reference by Tempest for alignment of other
channel datas. Its value will be transferred in to “##channel##“
special variable;
##channel## (**Special Variable**)
Beside regex pattern, numerical values may be calculated with
“#counter#X#Y#Z” operator as below;
#counter#X(#Y)#Z (**Special Operator** / (#Y) Optional)
Example:
Channel Id => ”#counter#1#2#5”
X => Start Indice
Y => Step Interval (Optional)
Z => Destination
Results => Channel Id1 => 1
Channel Id2 => 3
Channel Id3 => 5
if “Channel Block” set and not empty, both Y(Step Invertal) and
Z(Destination) may be optional and Tempest increase with 1 or with
given interval till it reaches total number of channel blocks as below;
Count of Channel Blocks Captured => 4
Channel Id => ”#counter#1”
Results => Channel Id1 => 1
Channel Id2 => 2
 Channel Id3 => 3
Channel Id4 => 4
Channel Id => ”#counter#1#2”
Results => Channel Id1 => 1
Channel Id2 => 3
Channel Id3 => 5
Channel Id4 => 7
Also “Channel Id” value(s) may be directly set as user-input with
“||#set#” Tempest command as below;
||#set#X (**Tempest Command**)
Note: Highlighted “X” will be string for Channel Id(s). If
multiple values will be set, they shall be separated with “|”
in string.
Example:
Channel Id => “||#set#ab|cd|ef”
Results => Channel Id1 => ab
Channel Id2 => cd
Channel Id3 => ef
Channel Name Pattern (C): This is the regex pattern for
capturing name value of each channel. Command and operators
explained in “Channel Id” section, may be used as same. Its value
will be transferred in to “##xmltv_id##“ special variable;
##xmltv_id## (**Special Variable**)
Channel Logo Pattern (C): This is the regex pattern for capturing
logo value of each channel. Command and operators explained in
“Channel Id” section, may be used as same. Its value will be
transferred in to “##cclogo##“ special variable;
##cclogo## (**Special Variable**)
Enable Duplicate Channel Id Remover (C): Indicator for
Tempest to compare and delete duplicated “Channel Id” values
and their corresponding “Channel Name” / “Channel Logo”
values.
Enable Duplicate Channel Name Remover (C): Indicator for
Tempest to compare and delete duplicated “Channel Name”
values and their corresponding “Channel Id” / “Channel Logo”
values.
Channel Sort Type (C): This is the indicator for Tempest to sort
and reindex captured values based on selected source. Available
options are “Channel Id” and “Channel Name”.
Channel Sort Flag (C): This is the indicator for Tempest to sort
and reindex captured values based on selected style. Available
options are “regular”, “numeric”, “string”, “natural”, “locale”,
“case-string” and “case-natural”.
Channel Sort Order (C): This is the indicator for Tempest which
tells order of channel sorting. Available options are “ascending”
and “descending”.

h) Save & Exit

Enable Siteconfig Downloader (C): Indicator for Tempest to

start downloading of created siteconfig file after saving completed.
Save (C): Completion of prepared siteconfig file. Tempest will
create the file with inputted content if all required information
fulfilled.

3) Tempest Variables & Operators

Tempest uses 2 types of string format called as “variables” and
“operators” in order to generate dynamic url requests and even
regex patterns. The main difference between these string formats
is, “variables” may store static or dynamic data and return their
recent stored data on time of call while “operators” are able to
perform some modifications/operations on their stored static or
dynamic data and return their recent stored data on time of call.
The list and brief explanations of “variables” are as below;

a) Tempest Variables
##channel## : Stores channel id value
##xmltv_id## : Stores channel name value
##cclogo## : Stores channel logo value
##urldateX## : Stores calculated urldate value. X may change
from 1 to 4 based on enabled url no and may be used in channel
creation with same string.
##urldateX_Y## : Stores calculated splitted(“||#split#”)
urldate value based on user input. X may change from 1 to 4 based
on enabled url no while Y may change from 1 to 5 and may be used
in channel creation with same string.
##stopdateX## : Stores calculated stopdate value. X may
change from 1 to 4 based on enabled url no and may be used in
channel creation with same string.
##stopdateX_Y## : Stores calculated splitted(“||#split#”)
stopdate value based on user input. X may change from 1 to 4
based on enabled url no while Y may change from 1 to 5 and may
be used in channel creation with same string.
##subpageX## : Stores calculated/given subpage value(s). X
may change from 1 to 4 based on enabled url no and may be used
in channel creation with same string.
##grabber_X## : Stores captured value as per given regex
pattern. X may change from 1 to 8 based on enabled url no and
may be used in channel creation with same string.
##dgrabber_X## : Stores captured value from detail pages as
per given regex pattern. X may change from 1 to 4 based on
enabled detail page url no.
##pagekey1## : Stores captured value as per given regex
pattern for detail page request.
##pagekey2## : Stores captured value as per given regex
pattern on detail or index(“||#index#“) page for detail page
request.
##cctag## : Stores captured or set channel tag value from
channel creation.
##ccsubpage## : Stores captured or set channel subpage value
from channel creation.
##cckey## : Stores given “User Key” value for channel creation.
##usertime## : Stores timezone settings of user for Timezone
element
##detail## : Stores captured the highest available detail page
result of a XMLTV element to transfer its desired lower counter
partner. Single elements results will be transferred as it is while
multiple element results will be converted to string with “ , “
seperation among them. This separation is for making it easier to
reconvert final result into array if needed.

b) Tempest Operators
In addition to special date/time operators which are already
explained in “Url(1-4) Urldate Format” section, below special
operators may be used for Tempest;
##now#format# : Calculates and replace itself with recent
date/time value in requested format on time of call.

Example:
##now#Y-m-d# => 2022-01-31 (as today’s date)
##now#H:i:s# => 10:57:46 (as current time)
##showtime#format# : Calculates and replace itself with
date/time value of show’s start time in requested format on time of
call. It is useful for detail page requests.
Example:
Show’s start time => 20220131091500 +0300
##showtime#Y-m-d# => 2022-01-31
##showtime#H&Y# => 09&2022
#counter#X(#Y)#Z : Calculates and replace itself with resulting
array based on given start, stop and interval. It may be used for
subpages and channel creation elements as explained in previous
chapter.
Note: From this point, combo operators of Tempest will be explained. Combo
operators allow you to perform multiple search in a single line regex pattern
and even keep/modify/combine these results as final. I named them as
“Shikai” and “Bankai” with different levels (Yes, I am an old fan of Bleach..)

| (Special Operator) (Shikai Lvl1) : Special operator of Tempest

to set multiple and unlimited regex patterns for XMLTV elements.
Tempest will parse regex patterns and search synchronously till any
of them found.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd”,shortdesc:”fgh”,desc:”jkl”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”|shortdesc:”(.*?)”
Result => fgh (since 2nd pattern is the first found in data)
|>| (Special Operator) (Shikai Lvl2) : Special operator of
Tempest to set multiple and unlimited regex patterns for XMLTV
elements based on left(high) to right(low) priority order. Tempest
will parse regex patterns and search based on priority till find first
non-empty result.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd”,shortdesc:”fgh”,desc:”jkl”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”|>|shortdesc:”(.*?)”
Result => jkl (1st pattern is high priority and not empty)
Note: From this point, it is recommended to try/use after gaining some
experience with regex patterns and Tempest.
|#| (Special Operator) (!Bankai! Lvl1) : This is the most
powerful operator of Tempest. It has been briefly explained for
“Custom Headers” and “Cookie Headers” to separate string
header into multiple headers but its ability is not limited with this.
It can also search and combine unlimited of regex patterns as a
final result.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd”,shortdesc:”fgh”,desc:”jkl”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”|#|shortdesc:”(.*?)”
Result => jklfgh (Bankai result added to end of first result)
For multiple xmltv elements
Data => show:[title:”asd”,genre1:”fgh”,genre2:”jkl”]
Category pattern => genre1:”(.*?)”|#|genre2:”(.*?)”
Result => fgh
jkl (Bankai result added to end of array result)
|#|[|X|] (Special Operator) (!Bankai! Lvl2) : This is the first
power-up for bankai. In this level the strings given as highlighted
“X”, will be added to start of bankai result if it is not empty. It will
add new line between results if “\n” value is given.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd”,shortdesc:”fgh”,desc:”jkl”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”|#|[|string|]shortdesc:”(.*?)”
Result => jklstringfgh
For multiple xmltv elements
Data => show:[title:”asd”,genre1:”fgh”,genre2:”jkl”]
Cat. pattern => genre1:”(.*?)”|#|[|string|]genre2:”(.*?)”
Result => fgh
stringjkl
|#|[|~X~|] (Special Operator) (!Bankai! Lvl3) : This is the
second power-up for bankai. In this level the strings given as
highlighted “X”, shall be a regex pattern and result will be added as
header to bankai result. This lets Tempest to capture dynamic
header values.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd”,shortdesc:”fgh”,desc:”jkl”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”|#|[|~title:”(.*?)”~|]shortdesc:”(.*?)”
Result => jklasdfgh
For multiple xmltv elements
Data => show:[title:”asd”,genre1:”fgh”,genre2:”jkl”]
Cat. pattern => genre1:”(.*?)”|#|[|~title:”(.*?)”~|]genre2:”(.*?)”
Result => fgh
asdjkl
|#|[|Y~X~Z|] (Special Operator) (!Bankai! Lvl4) : This is the
last power-up for bankai. In this level the strings given as
highlighted “X”, shall be a regex pattern and result will be added as
header to bankai result with prefixed by “Y” string and suffixed by
“Z” user defined strings. This lets Tempest to edit captured
dynamic header values. This is the most powerful form of bankai.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd”,shortdesc:”fgh”,desc:”jkl”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”|#|[|123~title:”(.*?)”~456|]shortdesc:”(.*?)”
Result => jkl123asd456fgh
For multiple xmltv elements
Data => show:[title:”asd”,genre1:”fgh”,genre2:”jkl”]
Cat. pattern => genre1:”(.*?)”|#|[|123~title:”(.*?)”~ 456|]genre2:”(.*?)”
Result => fgh
123asd456jkl
 4) Tempest Commands & Syntax
regexpattern||#comm1#||#comm2#..||#commN#
Tempest have several commands which may be used globally or
limited with some dedicated elements/headers to achieve desired
changes/modifications on result output. Tempest commands are
may be repeated/linked each other unlimitedly and each command
will modify the output of previous command based on its own
ability. The list and description of built-in Tempest commands as
below;
||#replace#(X)||Y : Replace command finds the required portion
of element based on given regex pattern(X) and replace finding(s)
with given user string Y. It supports unlimited replace operations in
a single command with “##” separation. Also Tempest variables
both in regex pattern and replace string will be converted to their
dynamic results prior to operations. It is used for deletion
operations as well with given empty replace string.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd123fgh”,desc:”jkl456QWE”]
Title pattern => “title:”(.*?)”,||#replace#(\d+)|| K_”
Title Result => asd K_fgh
(\d+) regex will capture all recursive numbers as a block and replace
them with string “ K_”
Title pattern => “title:”(.*?)”,||#replace#(s)##(23)||S##“
Title Result => aSd1fgh
First, (s) regex will capture all “s” letters and replace them with string
“S” and then second regex will capture all “23” strings and delete them
while second string is empty
||#add#X : Add command assigns given user string “X” as value
of element. It stops element’s regex search, means regex pattern
given before will be interpreted as string, when used which is useful
for setting channel logo with “##cclogo##” variable.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd123fgh”,desc:”jkl456QWE”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”,||#add#789
Desc Result => desc:”(.*?)”,789
(Above will not be interpreted as regex pattern)
Ch. logo pattern =>
||#add#http://example/##cclogo##.png
Ch. logo Result => http://example/123.png
||#addstart#X : Addstart command inserts given user string “X”
to the beginning of element value.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd123fgh”,desc:”jkl456QWE”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”,||#addstarts#789
Desc Result => 789jkl456QWE
||#addend#X : Addend command inserts given user string “X” to
the end of element value.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd123fgh”,desc:”jkl456QWE”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”,||#addend#789
Desc Result => jkl456QWE789
||#include#X#N : Include command filters element value based
on given user string “X” and only keep value(s) which contains
string “X”. Multiple search key may be added separated with “#”.
Search keys/words shall be carefully selected on multiple keys due
to filtering will be done recursively on included results. It is also
case-sensitive mode by default.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd123fgh”,desc:”jkl456QWE”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”,||#include#asd
Desc Result => “” (No “asd” exists in desc value, result will be empty)
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”,||#include#as#gh
Title Result => “asd123fgh” (Both “as” and “gh” exists in title value,
result will not filtered)
||#exclude#X#N : Exclude command filters element value based
on given user string “X” and only keep value(s) which not contains
string “X”. Multiple search key may be added separated with “#”.
Search keys/words shall be carefully selected on multiple keys due
to filtering will be done recursively on excluded results. It is also
case-sensitive mode by default.
Example:
Data => show:[title:”asd123fgh”,desc:”jkl456QWE”]
Desc pattern => desc:”(.*?)”,||#exclude#asd
Desc Result => “jkl456QWE” (No “asd” exists in desc value, result will
not be filtered)
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”,||#exclude#as#jk
Title Result => “” (“as” exists but “jk” not exists in title value, result will
be filtered due to “as” match)
||#max#X : Max command applies quantity limit to multiple value
elements based on given user number “X“. If element has more
values than requested, excessive ones will be deleted.
Example:
Data => show_detail:[cat:”asd”,cat:”jkl”,cat:”fgh”,cat:”123”]
Category pattern => cat:”(.*?)”||#max#2
Desc Result => “asd”
“jkl”
Captured “fgh” and “123” results deleted due to excess quantity
||#split#X : Split command will explode element value based on
given regex pattern “X” and treat remaining portions as multiple
element values. Since it is the most powerful and dangerous
command which is able to change data structure, its usage is
limited with multiple value elements. When used on already
multiple value containing element, split pattern will be applied each
value individually and remaining portions will create new values.
Example:
Data => cast:[actor:{”asd”,”jkl”,”fgh”,”cvb”}]
Actor pattern => actor:\{”(.*?)”\}||#split#(“,”)
Actor Result => “asd”
“jkl”
“fgh”
“cvb”
(Regex pattern captured value as a string ‘asd”,”jkl”,”fgh”,”cvb‘ and
||#split# command exploded all ‘“,”’ and converted remainings to value)
If it is used on already multiple value containing element, will check all
values for match and explode them while keeping remaining as new
values as below;
Actor pattern => ”(.*?)”||#split#(k|v)
Actor Result => “asd”
“j” (“jkl” has been splitted from “k”)
“k”
“fgh”
“c” (“cvb” has been splitted from “v”)
“b”
||#date#X : Date command will calculate element date value
based on given user input “X“. User input may be in “day”, “hour”,
“minute”, ”second”, “month”, “year” and their combination formats.
It can be used on all object date/time operations such as start time,
stop time, urldate formats, stopdate formats and parameters which
are already explained in “Urldate format”
Example:
Data => start:”2022-02-01 02:30:00”
Start pattern => start:”(.*?)”||#date#+2hour-5minutes
Start Format pattern => “Y-m-d H:i:s”
Start Result => “2022-02-01 04:25:00”
||#calc#(Y)||X : Calc command will calculate element numeric
value based on given user input “X“. User input may be arithmetic
operators “+”, “-”, “*”, ”/”, “%” and their combination formats.
Also with optional “(Y)||“ addition which “Y“ indicates valid regex
pattern, only the location of calculation may be targeted. It may be
used for all numeric values.
Example:
Data => date:”2014”
Production Date pattern => date:”(.*?)”||#calc#+6*2/5
Production Date Result => “808” (Following operations done as;
2014 + 6 = 2020 => 2020 * 2 = 4040 => 4040 / 5 = 808)

Production Date pattern => date:”(.*?)”||#calc#(\d{2})$||+6*2/5

Production Date Result => “208” (Regex pattern addressed the last 2
digits of capture which is “14” then following operations done as;
14 + 6 = 20 => 20 * 2 = 40 => 40 / 5 = 8 => 14 has been replaced with
result 8 in main element value 2014)
||#hash#method#(Y) : Hash command will calculate element’s
hash value in given method. Also with optional “(Y)“ addition which
“Y“ indicates valid regex pattern, only the location of calculation
may be targeted. It may be used for any element.
Example:
Data => title:”Hello”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#hash#md5#
Title Result => 8b1a9953c4611296a827abf8c47804d7 (md5 hash of Hello)
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#hash#sha1#(ll)
Title Result => He110c8a30c16070bf2813480d9492a1a170a7d80ao (sha1
hash of captured “ll” replaced in element value)
||#b64e#(Y) : b64e command will convert element’s value to its
base64 encoded value. Also with optional “(Y)“ addition which “Y“
indicates valid regex pattern, only the location of conversion may
be targeted. It may be used for any element.
Example:
Data => title:”Hello”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#b64e#
Title Result => SGVsbG8= (base64 encode of Hello)
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#b64e#(ll)
Title Result => HebGw=o (base64 encode of captured “ll” replaced in
element value)
||#b64d#(Y) : b64e command will convert element’s value to its
base64 decoded value. Also with optional “(Y)“ addition which “Y“
indicates valid regex pattern, only the location of conversion may
be targeted. It may be used for any element.
Example:
Data => title:”SGVsbG8=”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#b64d#
Title Result => Hello (base64 decode of SGVsbG8=)
||#roman#(Y) : Roman command will convert element’s roman
letter value to its numeric sum value. Also with optional “(Y)“
addition which “Y“ indicates valid regex pattern, only the location of
calculation may be targeted. It may be used for any element. If
element value or targeted value is not a valid roman number, it will
skip operation. Roman command works in case-insensitive mode.
Example:
Data => season:”XIV”
Season pattern => season:”(.*?)”||#roman#
Season Result => 14 (numeric value of “XIV”)
Season pattern => season:”(.*?)”||#roman#(.)$ (indicates last digit)
Season Result => XI5 (converted numeric value of captured “V” replaced
in element value)
||#convert#X#Y : Convert command will convert element’s
date/time value which given in “X“ format into requested “Y“
format. It may be used on XMLTV element’s date/time operations
such as “start time”, “stop time”, “production date” and
“previously-shown”. If no value is given for request format “Y“, it
will be considered as “Y” (year).
Example:
Data => date:” 1099872000” (Unix value of “2004-11-08 00:00:00 GMT”)
Production Date pattern => date:”(.*?)”||#convert#Unix#Y-m-d
Production Date Result => 2004-11-08 (date value of unix timestamp)
Production Date pattern => date:”(.*?)”||#convert#Unix
Production Date Result => 2004 (year value of unix timestamp)
||#upper# : Upper command will convert all letters to uppercase.
It may be used in any element.
Example:
Data => title:”Hello”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#upper#
Title Result => HELLO
||#lower# : Lower command will convert all letters to lowercase.
It may be used in any element.
Example:
Data => title:”Hello”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#lower#
Title Result => hello
||#word# : Word command will convert all the first letters to
uppercase and other letters of each word to lowercase. It may be
used in any element.
Example:
Data => title:”HELLO WORLD”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#word#
Title Result => Hello World
||#sentence# : Sentence command will convert all the first letters
of a sentence to uppercase and other letters to lowercase based on
punctuation marks. It may be used in any element.
Example:
Data => title:”HELLO WORLD. this is TEMPEST!”
Title pattern => title:”(.*?)”||#sentence#
Title Result => Hello world. This is tempest!
||#urle#(Y) : urle command will convert element’s value to its
urlencoded value. Also with optional “(Y)“ addition which “Y“
indicates valid regex pattern, only the location of conversion may
be targeted. It may be used for any element.
||#urld#(Y) : urld command will convert element’s value to its
urldecoded value. Also with optional “(Y)“ addition which “Y“
indicates valid regex pattern, only the location of conversion may
be targeted. It may be used for any element.
||#repeat#X#Y : Repeat is a limited with “show“ element
command to tell Tempest from which block it will start capturing as
“X“ (channel position) and with which interval it will be repeated as
“Y“ (next start position). When “special pattern” applied, interval
value “Y“ may be omitted.
||#format#X : Format is a limited with “duration“ element
command to tell Tempest format of captured duration as “X“.
Format may be set as “ms” (microsecond), “s” (second), “m”
(minute by default),“h” (hour) or “t” (time pattern).
||#culture#X : Culture is a limited with “original title“ element
command to tell Tempest 2 letter culture code of captured value as
“X“.
||#unit#X : Unit is a limited with “length“ element command to
tell Tempest unit of captured value as “X“. Unit may be set as “s”
(second), “m” (minute by default) or “h” (hour).
||#name#X : Name is a limited with “season“ and “episode”
element command to tell Tempest change the on-screen prefix of
captured value as “X“.
||#type#X : Type is a limited with “subtitles“ element command
to tell Tempest type of captured value as “X“. Type may be set as
“t” (teletext by default), “o” (onscreen) or “d” (deaf-signed)
||#urlX# : This is a limited with page and channel page
“grabbers“ element command to tell Tempest higher level unused
grabbers to forward on given url no as “X“.
||#durlX# : This is a limited with detail page “grabbers“ element
command to tell Tempest higher level unused grabbers to forward
on given url no as “X“.
||#index# : This is a limited with detail page “page2key” and
“grabbers“ element command to tell Tempest forward them on
show blocks.
||#set#X: This is a limited with channel creation elements
command to tell Tempest values of “channel id” , “channel
name” and/or “channel logo” will be assigned as given user input
“X“. Multiple values may be set separated by “|”.
||#merge#(X)||Y: This is a limited with show and channel blocks
command to tell Tempest to use regex pattern(X) on given source
“Y“ and merge their results with corresponding show or channel
block results if total numbers are equal.
||#edit#(X)||Y : This is a limited with all urls command to tell
Tempest to use given regex pattern(X) and replace finding(s) with
given user string Y. It supports unlimited replace operations in a
single command with “##” separation same as ||#replace#. It
will permanently change result of url response(s) as requested.
||#source#X: This is a limited with channel creation elements
command to tell Tempest values of “channel id” , “channel
name” and/or “channel logo” will be searched in given user input
“X“. With this command, each channel creation element may be
searched in a different data source contained in “grabbers”. Please
note that Tempest cannot make any data alignment so different
sources must have aligned datas with each other for a proper
result.
Example:
2 Urls Channel Creation site with channel ids in first url response and
channel name and/or channel logos in last url response
Enable Channel page grabber_1 with “(.*)” pattern so full page response
will be stored in ##grabber_1##
Channel Id Pattern => regex||#source###grabber_1##
With this command and method, channel id(s) will be searched in first
url response while other elements will be searched in last url response.
||#sameas#X: This is a limited with “Tempest Configuration”
command for “xmltv_id” element to tell Tempest grabbing will be
skipped for the containing channel and previous channel xml data
will be directly set for it. Additionally, time offset may be applied as
given user input “X“ in minute.
Example:
Channel1 => Example Tv HD
Channel2 => Example Tv SD||#sameas#
In above example, grabbing operation will be directly skipped for
Channel2 and data of Channel1 will be assigned for it.
Channel1 => Example Tv HD
Channel2 => Example Tv SD||#sameas#+120
In above example, grabbing operation will be directly skipped for
Channel2 and data of Channel1 will be assigned for it with +2 hours
(+120 minutes) offset for each show.
||#offset#X: This is a limited with “Tempest Configuration”
command for “xmltv_id” element to tell Tempest grabbing will be
completed with user given minute offset as “X“ for each show. This
is useful if site has some different timezone channel from the rest
of its data.
Example:
Channel1 => Example Tv HD||#offset#-60
In above example, grabbing operation will be completed for Channel1
with -1 hour (-60 minutes) offset for each show, different from the other
channels in the same siteconfig
|| (Multiple Display Name) : This is a limited with “Tempest
Configuration” command for “display_name” element to tell
Tempest split given value with “||” and create separate display
names for each value.
Example:
Channel1 => Channel1||Channel 1 HD||Channel 1 SD
Result => <display-name lang="xx">Channel1</display-name>
<display-name lang="xx">Channel 1 HD</display-name>
<display-name lang="xx">Channel 1 SD</display-name>
||#lcn#X: This is a limited with “Tempest Configuration”
command for “display_name” element to tell Tempest create
“lcn” tag with user given value as “X“ for requested channels.
Example:
Channel1 => Channel1||#lcn#2
Result => <channel id="Channel1">
<display-name lang="xx">Channel1</display-name>
<lcn>2</lcn>
</channel>
||#delete#: This is a limited with “Inverter Path” command to
tell Tempest delete requested element(s) from inverted xmltv file.
||#logo#: This is a limited with “Tempest Configuration”
command for “site_id” element to tell Tempest usage of user
defined channel logo. It shall be added to end of “site_id” element
Example:
Site_id : => site_id1||#logo#http://user.logo/example.png
 5) Siteconfig Debugger
Tempest has built-in on-screen debugger which you may test url
responses (index, detail, channel), grabbers (index, detail,
channel), captured show blocks, captured XMLTV elements and
captured all channel elements. In addition to normal debugging,
you may test your siteconfigs with custom timespans, channel ids,
user keys, user agents, timeout settings and proxy addresses. It
also supports “Index-Only” grabbing mode to temporarily disable
detail pages for faster debugging. “File Debugger” option will
dump generated result into “Tempest_debugger.txt” file.
Debugger settings may be adjusted as below;
 6) EPG Generator
Tempest’s “EPG Generator” section is the place where you start
generating your XMLTV EPG files based on selected “Tempest
Configuration” file (“tempest.config.xml” is set by default) with
additional compression and file download(only for GUI) options.
Tempest may run this module both from GUI(Graphical User
Interface) and CLI(Command Line Interface) to allow scheduled and
headless XMLTV EPG file generation.

Tempest Configuration Loader : Selection box which as drop-

down list of created Tempest Configuration files, to specify
configuration file to be used. If not set, “tempest.config.xml” will
be used as default
Enable Gz Compression : Indicator for Tempest to create “.gz”
(gunzip) compressed copy of generated “.xml” file.
Enable Inverter Gz Compression : Indicator for Tempest to
create “.gz” (gunzip) compressed copy of generated inverted “.xml”
file.
Enable Xml File Downloader : Indicator for Tempest to initialize
downloading of generated “.xml” file.
Enable Gz File Downloader : Indicator for Tempest to initialize
downloading “.gz” (gunzip) copy of generated “.xml” file.
Enable Inverter File Downloader : Indicator for Tempest to
initialize downloading of generated inverted “.xml” file.
Enable Inverter Gz File Downloader : Indicator for Tempest to
initialize downloading “.gz” (gunzip) copy of generated inverted
“.xml” file.
Note: Downloading options will only work on GUI mode.
Note: If multiple downloading option is enabled, a single “.zip” file which
contains all requested files, will be downloaded.
For using Tempest’s “EPG Generator” on CLI (Command Line
Interface) mode;
Note: Below explanations done as considering php defined in $PATH
enviroment. Otherwise use absolute file paths.

“ php /file/path/of/tempest.php engine=Generate

tempconfig=tester.config.xml createxmlgz=on ”
engine=Generate (Mandatory parameter)
tempconfig=tester.config.xml (Optional parameter / Name of
configuration file to be used. If not set, default config will be used)
createxmlgz=on (Optional parameter / Indicator for “.gz”
compressed file creation)
createinvxmlgz=on (Optional parameter / Indicator for “.gz”
compressed inverted file creation)
Note: Due to user permissions, it may be required to call with “sudo” on UNIX.
 7) Channel Generator
Tempest’s “Channel Generator” section is the place where you
can create channel list for selected siteconfig file with additional file
download(only for GUI) options.

Tempest Siteconfig Loader : Selection box which as drop-down

list of available siteconfig files, to specify the file to be used for
channel list creation.
User Key : Channel creation key value as user input. It is useful
for sites which are using postal/zip code etc. for channel creation.
Input value may called with “##cckey##” variable.
Enable Channel List Downloader : Indicator for Tempest to
initialize downloading of generated “channel.xml” file.

For using Tempest’s “Channel Generator” on CLI (Command Line

Interface) mode;
Note: Below explanations done as considering php defined in $PATH
enviroment. Otherwise use absolute file paths.

“php /file/path/of/tempest.php chengine=Generate

siteconfig=siteconfigname_0 userkey=XXX rm_dupe_id=on
rm_dupe_name=on”
chengine=Generate (Mandatory parameter)
siteconfig=siteconfigname_0 (Mandatory parameter / Name of
siteconfig file to be used as “.siteconfig.php” part removed)
userkey=XXX (Optional parameter / Set user key value)
rm_dupe_id=on (Optional parameter / Indicator for enabling
duplicate channel remover based on channel ids)
rm_dupe_name=on (Optional parameter / Indicator for enabling
duplicate channel remover based on channel names)
Note: Due to user permissions, it may be required to call with “sudo” on UNIX.
 8) Siteconfig Editor
Tempest has built-in siteconfig editor to modify created and/or
downloaded siteconfig files in a GUI form which is identical with
“Siteconfig Maker”. Since the created siteconfig data is encoded
by php’s itself, it is highly recommended to modify siteconfig files
from built-in “Siteconfig Editor” to avoid any syntax error.

Tempest Siteconfig Loader : Selection box which as drop-down

list of available siteconfig files, to specify the file to be modified.
Tempest Siteconfig Remover : Selection box which as drop-
down list of available siteconfig files, to specify the file to be
deleted permanently. When used, corresponding “channel.xml” will
also be automatically deleted.

9) Tempest Configurator & Settings

Tempest has built-in configurator to create, modify or delete
Tempest Configuration files which contains your selected channel(s)
and EPG generating details.

Tempest Configuration Loader : Selection box which as drop-

down list of available Tempest configuration files, to specify the file
to be created or modified.
Tempest Configuration Remover : Selection box which as drop-
down list of available Tempest configuration files, to specify the file
to be deleted permanently.
a) File Configuration
You can adjust main settings of configuration files from “File
Configuration” tab as below;
Configuration Name : Name of the configuration file to be
created. It is only available when “new” is selected.
EPG File Name : Name of the EPG “.xml” file to be created.
User-Agent : String of user-agent that will be used during web
requests of all channels included in configuration, to emulate a web
browser. “User-Agent” string which is set inside siteconfig, will
take precedence over configuration string.
Timespan : Numeric timespan value to specify how many days of
request(s) will be performed. “0” means 1 day of grabbing and
increases in the same order.
Retry : Numeric retry value to specify how many times of requests
will be performed in case of Url errors.
Timeout : Numeric timeout value to specify how many seconds of
waiting is allowed for Url response. Note that too low values may
cause timeout errors.
Channel Delay : Numeric delay value to specify how many
seconds of waiting is required for the request of next channel.
“Channel Delay” value which is set inside siteconfig, will take
precedence over configuration value. Supports is upto 0.01 seconds
Index Page Delay : Numeric delay value to specify how many
seconds of waiting is required for the request of next index page.
“Index Page Delay” value which is set inside siteconfig, will take
precedence over configuration value. Supports is upto 0.01
seconds.
Detail Page Delay : Numeric delay value to specify how many
seconds of waiting is required for the request of next detail page.
“Detail Page Delay” value which is set inside siteconfig, will take
precedence over configuration value. Supports is upto 0.01
seconds.
Time Converter : String of time offset to specify resulting time
offset of all shows generated by configuration file. It can be in
“±XX:XX” format such as “+03:00” or with referenced patterns
such as “Europe/Istanbul”. To enable DST(Daylight Saving Time)
option, referenced name pattern shall be set. This is useful for
some PVRs which ignores time offset values or accepts only single
type of time offset from EPG file.
Example:
Time Converter Value => Europe/Istanbul (equals +03:00)
Channel 1 Show Start => 20220202011000 +0100
Channel 2 Show Start => 20220202030000 +0300
Channel 3 Show Start => 20220202053000 -0200
Result in Generated Xml File=>
Channel 1 Show Start => 20220202031000 +0300
Channel 2 Show Start => 20220202030000 +0300
Channel 3 Show Start => 20220202103000 +0300
Proxy : String of proxy address that will be used for web requests.
It supports http, https, socks4 and socks5 proxy types. String shall
be as below examples formats with(out) username/password;
Example:
Proxy => “https://ipadress:port”
Proxy => “socks5://username:password@ipadress:port”
“Proxy” address which is set inside siteconfig, will take precedence
over configuration string.
Enable Index-Only Mode : Indicator for Tempest to skip detail
page request of all channels included in configuration. This is useful
for quick EPG generation with less detail data(Only available in
index page elements will be captured).
Enable Fusion : Indicator for Tempest to enable fusion module
which protects existing day’s data and allows to keep/merge
previous day(s) data as specified in “Fusion Level” upto 15 days.
This is useful for some PVRs and catch-up services. It is also highly
recommended to enable “Fusion Mode” with “Fusion Level” as
“0” to running Tempest in incremental mode.
Fusion Level : Numeric value to specify how many days of
previous dated data will be kept/merged with newly captured data.
“0” means current day shows and increases in the same order as
previous day(s).
Enable Channel-Lister : Indicator for Tempest to move all
available channels to top of generated xml file including inverted
xml. This is useful for some old and/or poorly coded applications
which cannot parse channels unless they are in a fixed top position.
Enable Inverter : Indicator for Tempest to enable inverter module
which creates modified copy of the generated EPG “.xml” file as per
user defined sequence/style by “Inverter Path”. This is useful for
some PVRs which is not supporting all XMLTV elements so
requested elements may be transferred into other supported
elements in specified location/style etc. Also unwanted elements
may be permanently removed from inverted “.xml” file.
Inverter File Name : Name of the inverted EPG “.xml” file to be
created. If not set and “Inverter” is enabled, “EPG File Name”
will be used with “_inv.xml” suffix.
Inverter Path : String of user defined sequence/style for inverter
module to perform requested modifications. Defined elements may
be freely moved, modified and/or deleted with general Tempest
commands and special “||#delete#” command based on request.
Supported elements with keywords;
Element Name Keyword Element Name Keyword
Title title Video Colour colour
Original Title titleoriginal Original Language original-lang
Sub-title subtitle Custom Episode 1 customepisode1
Description desc Custom Episode 2 customepisode2
Episode episode Actor actor
Production Date date Director director
Category category Presenter presenter
Language language Producer producer
Composer composer Premiere premiere
Commentator commentator Audio audio
Writer writer Length length
Editor editor Previously-Shown prev-shown
Adapter adapter Keyword keyword
Guest guest Rating rating
Country country Star Rating star-rating
Video Aspect aspect Last Chance lastchance
Video Quality quality Review review

Each main element shall be written enclosed between square

brackets ([]) as separate blocks and wrapped inside double-quotes
(“”) with colon (:) suffix.
[“Element1keyword”:][“Element2keyword”:]
Each block should have 1 valid main element keyword to be
modified on left side of colon (:) and operational part on the right
side of colon (:) as element keyword(s) written between
“##keyword##” and separated with “,” if multiple as given
below;
[“Element1keyword”:”##Element2keyword##”,”##Element
Nkeyword##”]
Example:
Inverter Path => [“desc”:”##titleoriginal#\n#”,”##desc##”,”#\n#date##”]
Above example will move “Original Title” value (if exists) to the
beginning of “Description” while moving “Production Date” value (if
exists) to the end of “Description”.
As optional, all general Tempest commands such as ||#replace#,
||#split#, ||#max# etc. may be used at the end of element
block to modify final result of main element in normal command
syntax;
[“Element1keyword”:”##Element2keyword##”||#comman
d#X]
Example:
Inverter Path => [“title”:”##title##”,”# (#date#)#”||#calc#(\d{4})||+1]
Above example will modify “Title” element while keeping its value and
adding “Production Date” value (if exists) to the end of it inside
parenthesis. Then, ||#calc# command will search for a 4-digits number
and sum up with 1 if finds any.
User defined input may be added between header and footer “#” of
each element to prefix/suffix its value. Also newlines may be added
with “\n”. All square brackets([]) and double-quotes(“”) inside user
input, shall be escaped with back-slash(\) add-on before any of
these characters.
Example:
Inverter Path => [“subtitle”:”#Episode title: #subtitle##”,”# |
#episode##”,”# | #rating##”]
Above example will first add “Episode title: “ prefix to “Subtitle” value
and then add “Episode” and “Rating” values to “Subtitle” with “ | “
prefix if they exist.
If main element keyword is not used in operational part as
reference during element movement, its value will be overwritten
with other elements. This behaviour may also be used to create not
existing tags in resulting .xml file.
Example:
Inverter Path => [“title”:”##subtitle##”][“review”:”##title##”]
Above example will first change value of “Title” with “Subtitle” value if
“Subtitle” element exists and then change or create(if not exists)
“Review” element with modified “Title” value.
Multiple value elements such as “Category”, “Actor”, “Director”
etc. may be separated with string defined in “()“ which will be
added to keyword.
Example:
Inverter Path => [“desc”:“##desc#\n#”,”#Directors: #director(,)##”]
On above example, if “Director” has multiple values, they will be
converted into string which each value separated with “,” and final
string will be inserted to end of description as prefixed with “Directors: ”
string.
Element systems such as “Rating”, “Star Rating”, “Season”,
“Episode”, “Custom Episodes” etc. may be added to inverted
data with “{system}” syntax.
Example:
Inverter Path => [“desc”:“##desc#\n#”,”#Rating\[{system}\]:
#rating##”][“rating”:||#delete#]
On above example, “Rating System” value will be added into prefix
string such as “Rating[PEGI]: “, final string will be inserted to end of
description and “Rating” element will be permanently deleted with
||#delete# command.
General Tempest commands may also be directly used on main
elements to modify their values permanently.
Example:
Inverter Path => [“title”:||#replace#(\(.*?\))$||]
Above example will delete enclosed with parenthesis string part at the
end of “Title” value with ||#replace# command, if found.
If “Episode System” of siteconfig is set to “xmltv_ns” and
“episode” keyword is set in “Inverter Path”, value will be
automatically converted to “on-screen” system format.
If “Role” element is not empty, its value will be automatically
added to linked “Actor” value followed by “ (Role)” suffix.
Elements may be modified unlimited time and each new
modification will start with the result of last belongs to that element
Real Application Example:
Inverter Path =>
["desc":"#Episode Name:
#subtitle#\n#","##episode#\n#","##desc##","#\nGenre:
#category(,)##","#\nActors: #actor(,)##","#\nDirectors:
#director(,)##","#\nDate: #date##","#\nCountry:
#country(,)##","#\nRating\[{system}\]:
#rating##"]["subtitle":||#delete#]["episode":||#delete#]["category":||#delete
#]["actor":||#delete#]["director":||#delete#]["date":||#delete#]["country":||#
delete#]["rating":||#delete#]

Above “Inverter Path” applied a channel for some XMLTV elements and
results for comparison for the same show as below;
Result of Generated Xml =>
Result of Inverted Xml =>

Enable Logger : Indicator for Tempest to enable logger in order to

record real-time grabbing operation details in “Tempest_log.txt”
file.

b) Channel Configuration
You can multiply add, delete and/or change locations of selected
channels from “Channel Configuration” tab as below;
Channel Selector : Selection box which as drop-down list of
available siteconfig files, to list their available channels in
“Available Channels” box.
Available Channels : List of available channels belongs to chosen
siteconfig file on “Channel Selector” and its content will be
automatically updated in each change.
Config Channels : List of added/selected channels belongs to
chosen Tempest configuration file.
 Register will send selected channels to “Channel Indexer”
tab. Without clicking it, changes will not take effect
Send all to “Config Channels”
Send selected channel(s) to “Config Channels”
Send selected channel(s) to “Available Channels”
Delete selected channel(s)
Move selected channel(s) to up
Move selected channel(s) to down
Send all to “Available Channels”

c) Channel Indexer
You can manually edit “site_id”, “xmltv_id” and “display_name”
values of selected channels from “Channel Indexer” tab as below;
“Cyclone Mode” which allows users to assign alternative channel
in case failure, may be set for each channel.

In above example, If “Channel No : 2” fails on grabbing data,

“Cyclone Mode” will be activated and will be started to grab from
“Cyclone_site” with “Cyclone_id”. Resulted shows will be stored
with same “Xmltv_id” and “Display_name”.

Previously explained “xmltv_id” commands as “||#sameas#X”,

“||#offset#X” and “display_name” commands as “||” and
“||#lcn#X”, may be set from “Channel Indexer” as below;

Grabbing operations will be

skipped for “Channel No : 2”
and grabbed content of
“Channel No : 1” will be
assigned to “Channel No : 2”
but with “xmltv_id”,
“display_name”, “channel
logo” etc. of
“Channel No : 2”
Grabbing operations will be
skipped for “Channel No : 2”
and +1 hour (+60 minutes)
added for all show times
grabbed content of “Channel
No : 1” will be assigned to
“Channel No : 2” but with
“xmltv_id”,
“display_name”, “channel
logo” etc. of
“Channel No : 2”

Grabbed content of “Channel

No : 1” will be modified as +2
hours (+120 minutes) for all
show times while “Channel
No : 2” is being grabbed
regularly despite both
channels are assigned to
same siteconfig file.

Multiple “display_name”s
with “||” command and lcn
tag, have been set and result
is as below;
 d) Save & Exit
You can save your created/updated Tempest configuration file and
download from “Save & Exit” tab as below;

Enable Configuration Downloader : Indicator for Tempest to

initialize downloading of generated “config.xml” file.

10) Siteconfig Updater

Tempest has built-in siteconfig package updater to download the
latest copies of siteconfig files into your local directory by choosing
“Siteconfig Updater” option.

11) Hints & Tips

Tempest is coded to run on the highest possible speed with the
lowest possible memory consumption by default but there are some
user tricks which may make it run faster/smoother. You can find
some of these user tips as below;

• Tempest uses a siteconfig recognition algorithm to decide

caching or deleting key parameters based on actual and
following channel. This effect will be maximized with
“keepindexpage” siteconfigs. Because of this, it is not
 mandatory but recommended to list channels belong to same
siteconfig as groups in Tempest configuration.

• Cyclone mode also uses the same siteconfig recognition

algorithm and supports “keepindexpage” as well. This means
when cyclone mode is activated for a “keepindexpage”
siteconfig and next normal channel is also from the same
siteconfig, grabbing operation will proceed without any data or
time loss.

• Tempest supports unlimited combined command syntax but

each command needs extra time and memory to being
executed. So it is recommended to avoid useless commands.
Also when possible it is recommended to call a command with
multiple request instead of calling same command multiple
times with single request for each. For example,
“||#replace#req1##req2||str1##str2” will be executed
faster and will need less memory than
“||#replace#req1||str1||#replace#req2||str2”
command block.

• Tempest coded to assign highest priority for the furthest

url/page/element(if you want to go that far, it should be
important) and as soon as it is reached, Tempest will proceed
to next stage. This means, it is to be avoided assignment of
useless urls/detail pages or elements. For example, if you
really don’t need the value of a detail page 2 element or it is
already available in index or detail page 1, do not add pattern
for this detail page 2 element otherwise it will be assigned as
the most needed by Tempest.