---
name: "epgsearchuservars.conf"
section: "5"
platform: "linux"
package: "vdr-plugin-epgsearch"
version: "2.4.3-2"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/epgsearchuservars.conf"
---

# epgsearchuservars.conf(5)

User defined variables

## NAME

epgsearchuservars.conf - User defined variables

## DESCRIPTION

In this file you can defines variables which then can be used in epgsearch in any play where variables are possible.

## SYNTAX

Variables looks like `%Variablename`%.

"Variablename" can be consist of any alphanumerical character. Space and special characters are not allowed.

The variable names are case-insensitive.

Examples for possible names:

```
 %Series% %DocuVar1% %ThemesSubtitleDate1%
```

### Assignment

```
 %Series%=New series~Thriller
```

The variable `%Series`% will be assigned with the string "New series~Thriller".

Assignments are always strings. Spaces stay spaces.

```
 %Path%=%Series%
```

The variable `%Path`% gets the content of the variable `%Series`%.

You can do nearly everything:

```
 %Path%=%Serie%~Lost
```

The variable `%Path`% contains now the string "New series~Thriller~Lost".

### Control structures

You can use simple "if then else" constructions.

These constructions cannot contain strings, only variables. Spaces are ignored.

```
 %Foo%=Other
 %Variable%=%Path% ? %Path% : %Foo%
```

If `%Path`% is not empty, assign the content of `%Path`% to `%Variable`%, otherwise the content of `%Foo`%.

"%Path% ?" means "not empty?". You can use other checks.

```
 %Variable%=%Path%!=5 ? %Path% : %Foo%
```

"%Path%!=5 ?" means "is `%Path`% equal 5?"

You can also compare variables.

```
 %Five%=5
 %Variable%=%Path%!=%Five% ? %Path% : %Foo%
```

Other possible checks:

```
 ==   equal
 !=   not equal
```

### Calling a system command

You can call external commands. The returned string will be assigned to a variable

```
 %Result%=system(scriptname,%Variable1% %Variable2% -f %Variable3% --dir=%Variable4% --dummy)
```

Calls the script "scriptname" with the parameters "%Variable1%", "%Variable2%", etc. The result will be stored in `%Result`%.

You can use as many variables as you want.

If needed, epgsearch will quote the variable.

The script must return a string **without** line break!

If the script returns nothing, an empty string will be assigned to the Variable `%Result`%.

### Possible variables

The following variables exist:

```
 %time%           - start time in format HH:MM
 %timeend%        - end time in format HH:MM
 %date%           - start date in format TT.MM.YY
 %datesh%         - start date in format TT.MM.
 %time_w%         - weekday name
 %time_d%         - start day in format TT
 %time_lng%       - start time in seconds since 1970-01-01 00:00
 %title%          - title
 %subtitle%       - subtitle
 %summary%        - summary
 %htmlsummary%    - summary, where all CR are replaced with '<br />'
 %eventid%        - numeric event ID
 %<epg-category>% - a value from the extended EPG categories, specified in
                    F<epgsearchcats.conf>, like %genre% or %category%
 %chnr%           - channel number
 %chsh%           - the short channel name
 %chlng%          - the 'normal' channel name
 %chdata%         - VDR's internal channel representation (e.g. 'S19.2E-1-1101-28106')
 %colon%          - the sign ':'
 %datenow%        - current date in format TT.MM.YY
 %dateshnow%      - current date in format TT.MM.
 %timenow%        - current time in format HH:MM
 %videodir%       - VDR video directory (e.g. /video)
 %plugconfdir%    - VDR plugin config directory (e.g. /etc/vdr/plugins)
 %epgsearchdir%   - epgsearch config directory (e.g. /etc/vdr/plugins/epgsearch)
```

See also `"epgsearchcats.conf(5)"`.

## EXAMPLES

```
 # Weekday, Date, Time
 %DateStr%=%time_w% %date% %time%
 # Themes or Subtitle or Date
 %ThemesSubtitleDate1%=%Subtitle% ? %Subtitle% : %DateStr%
 %ThemesSubtitleDate%=%Themes% ? %Themes% : %ThemesSubtitleDate1%
 # Calls this script to get a recording path
 %DocuScript%=system(doku.pl,%Title%,%Subtitle%,%Episode%,%Themes%,%Category%,%Genre%)
 %Docu%=%DocuScript%
```

## SEE ALSO

`epgsearch(1)`, `"epgsearchcats.conf(5)"`

## AUTHOR (man pages)

Mike Constabel \<epgsearch (at) constabel (dot) net\>

## REPORT BUGS

Bug reports (german):

\<http://projects.vdr-developer.org/projects/plg-epgsearch\>

Mailing list:

\<http://www.vdr-developer.org/mailman/listinfo/epgsearch\>

## COPYRIGHT and LICENSE

Copyright (C) 2004-2010 Christian Wieninger

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA Or, point your browser to http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.html

The author can be reached at cwieninger@gmx.de

The project's page is at http://winni.vdr-developer.org/epgsearch

The MD5 code is derived from the RSA Data Security, Inc. MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm.