This page explains what I have been able to figure out in regards to the delimited files in C:/ZAP2IT/OnCable/EXPORT/ZAP2IT/.
As explained on the root page, listing files always start with the current date formatted as MMDDYYYY and use the .del file extension. The OnCable software looks for files 1 day earlier and 4 days later of the current date.
An example listing block looks like this:
274|03/10/2026|21:03|HISTOR|62|Secrets Declassified With David Duchovny|||||Spy Tech||||00|Series||TVPG||CC||From the seemingly innocuous children's toy engineered to save an informant, to hirsute-inspired movie disguises, the government's most clandestine inventions are never what one would suspect, and that's exactly why no one never saw them coming.||TVPG|||EP05637696.0009||Y||
To make it easier to understand, here is my interpreted schema:
ch_num|date|time|ch_letters`|duration|title_longest|title_long|title_medium|title_short|title_shortest|episode|unknown_A|star_rating|year|program_type|category|actor|rating_A|rating_desc|subtitles|sub_title|descrtiption|unknown_B|rating_B|unknown_C|country|tmsid|unknown_D|is_HD|subch
Note that many of these values can be blank (as seen in the example).
ch_num: The channel number. Zero padded for up to three-digit numbers.date: The current date, formatted as MM/DD/YYYY.time: The timeslot of the program.ch_letters: The call sign. Maximum length is 6 characters.duration: Duration in minutestitle: Show title. Uses 5 different levels of length for accuracy. (longest, long, medium, short, shortest)
title_longest and title_long are set, but not title_medium or any levels afterward, a medium-length listing will default to whatever was put in title_long.sub_title: Episode titleunknown_A: Functionality unknown.star_rating: Star rating (in asterisks)year: Release year of programprogram_type: Program type. Styling changes depending on contents of the player configuration.
OnCable LargeGrid, these are the program types:
category: Category/genre.actor: Actor names.rating_A: Main TV rating.rating_adv: Advisiories for/description of TV rating.qualifier_A: Qualifier for captioning, and the audiovisual content.
CC (closed captions/subtitles), ST (stereo audio), RP, BW (black & white). Can be either, both/mix, or blank.qualifier_B: Qualifier for a scheduled program.
Delay, Live, Part # of #, Premiere, Repeat Series Finale, Season Finale, Tape, or nothing.
Delay, Repeat, and Tape seem to be meant for Sports listings per TMS. Delay is for sports events that took place early on the same day, Tape is for sports events that took place on a date prior to the program day, and Repeat is for second or later airings of events that are being broadcasted more than once.description: Program synopsis/description.unknown_B: Functionality unknown.rating_B: Seems to be a repeat of rating_A. To look into.unknown_C: Functionality unknown.country: Country of origin. If set to Canada, a maple leaf will reportedly appear in the listing.tmsid: TMS (Tribune Media Services/Zap2it/Gracenote) ID for program.unknown_D: Functionality unknown.is_HD: Lists a program as being in HD (high-definition).subch: Assigns a subchannel to the current channel.
There are 3 different files used for the weather data included in the same folder as the listings data. The formatting for each file are similar, all starting with headend_id and location:
temp|condition_str|wind_speed|unk_A|unk_B|pressure|unk_C|unk_D| (can't seem to figure out how to display this data anyway)daypart_map|high|low|icon| (repeated twice for next 3 days)daypart_map|daypart_str|high|low|icon| (repeated twice for next few hours)Weather data will show if any of these files are up-to-date with the computer's date and time.
List is currently incomplete. Bolded values persist across all three files.
headend_id: Configuration ID. By default, the dump uses ZAP2IT.location: Location name.temp: Current temperature. (uscur)high: Forecast high temperature. (us3day/18hour)low: Forecast low temperature. (us3day/18hour)icon: Icon for current daypart. See the Mappings section for a list of values.daypart_tag: Daypart map defined in Tag.map. (us3day/18hour)daypart_str: Daypart string. (18hour)The icon and daypart_tag parameters are dependent on mappings defined in the “AccuWeather” directory of the configuration path. The corresponding files for each respective parameter are Day.map/Night.map (same contents) and Tag.map.
Mappings are defined by key/variable and their values: Sun = SUN. During operation, the corresponding text value will be displayed. For the icon value, the chosen icon will be displayed.
The icon mappings are based on the AccuWeather's icon mappings.
| Icon Key | Condition |
|---|---|
| 01 | Sunny |
| 02 | Mostly Sunny |
| 03 | Partly Sunny |
| 04 | Intermittent Clouds (day) |
| 05 | Hazy (day) |
| 06 | Mostly Cloudy (day) |
| 07 | Cloudy |
| 08 | Overcast |
| 11 | Fog |
| 12 | Showers |
| 13 | Mostly Cloudy, Showers (day) |
| 14 | Partly Cloudy, Showers (day) |
| 15 | Thunderstorms |
| 16 | Mostly Cloudy, T-Storms (day) |
| 17 | Partly Cloudy, T-Storms (day) |
| 18 | Rain |
| 19 | Flurries |
| 20 | Mostly Cloudy, Flurries (day) |
| 21 | Partly Cloudy, Flurries (day) |
| 22 | Snow |
| 23 | Mostly Cloudy, Snow (day) |
| 24 | Ice (not in map) |
| 25 | Sleet |
| 26 | Freezing Rain |
| 29 | Mixed (Rain & Snow) |
| 30 | Hot |
| 31 | Cold |
| 32 | Windy |
| 33 | Clear |
| 34 | Mostly Clear |
| 35 | Partly Clear |
| 36 | Intermittent Clouds (night) |
| 37 | Hazy (night) |
| 38 | Mostly Cloudy (night) |
| 39 | Partly Cloudy, Showers (night) |
| 40 | Mostly Cloudy, Showers (night) |
| 41 | Partly Cloudy, T-Storms (night) |
| 42 | Mostly Cloudy, T-Storms (night) |
| 43 | Mostly Cloudy, Flurries (night) |
| 44 | Mostly Cloudy, Snow (night) |
Additional thank you to Cable Contributes to Life for additional help with figuring out the weather stuff.
The Banners object calls upon the Banners/<headend_id>/PlayList.txt text file. The structure of the file is as follows: banner|start_date|end_date|banner_img|unknown
banner: Name/identifier of bannerstart_date: Start date, formatted as YYYY/DD/MMend_date: End date, format is the same as above.banner_img: Path to the banner image relative to the PlayList.txt file.unknown: Unknown; untested.