Looking to create addon to view US Senate streams

Posted on Author Kodi Community Forum - All Forums

Hi,
I’m new to kodi, but I’ve been looking for an addon to view US Senate floor streams as well as committee streams, and so far have not been able to find one. So I’ve decided to look into building one myself (it might prove too daunting a task). I’m only slightly familiar with coding, but I do know how to read and follow/apply guides.

Here is what I know,
US Senate floor proceedings are streamed live,
Today’s (Mar 23, 2017) can be viewed at

Code:
http://floor.senate.gov/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&event_id=1249

The event_id=#### changes every time the senate is in session, so on previous days I have accessed the stream,
event_id=1242: Mar 15, 2017
event_id=1241: Mar 14, 2017

I’m not sure exactly how the event_id is set (does it +1 for each session, or count working days, more research is necessary), but I cannot access a previous sessions archived video using that url scheme, and I cannot rewind the live stream.

Archived floor proceedings can also be streamed,
Yesterday’s (Mar 22, 2017) can be viewed at

Code:
https://floor.senate.gov/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=2384

The clip_id=#### changes every time the senate is in session, so to access previous days,
clip_id=2382: Mar 21, 2017
clip_id=2380: Mar 20, 2017
clip_id=2378: Mar 16, 2017
clip_id=2376: Mar 15, 2017
clip_id=2374: Mar 14, 2017
clip_id=2372: Mar 13, 2017

Once again I’m not sure exactly how the clip_id is set, but it appears to +2 for each session (more research is necessary).

Committee hearings can also be streamed,
Judiciary Committee Mar 23, 2017:

Code:
https://www.senate.gov/isvp/?comm=judiciary&filename=judiciary032317

Judiciary Committee Mar 22, 2017:

Code:
https://www.senate.gov/isvp/?comm=judiciary&filename=judiciary032217

Armed Services Committee Mar 23, 2017:

Code:
https://www.senate.gov/isvp/?comm=armed&filename=armedA032317

Banking Committee Mar 23, 2017:

Code:
https://www.senate.gov/isvp/?comm=banking&filename=banking032317

Older hearings and other committee hearings can also be streamed using this url scheme. I have a little more research in this matter, but don’t want to flood this post with code just yet.

One of the issues I see in creating a clean addon is how to set it up so that pulls the latest streams, but discards urls where no stream exists. Any assistance, guidance, or links to articles/guides that could help me would be much appreciated.

Thank you.