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newchannel's avatar
newchannel
Roku Guru
7 years ago

json feed not validating

I added a couple of videos today and in json lint it validates fine but when I went to  update it in roku it gave me an error. Unable to find the problem, I went back and used the copy of the json from before I added the videos today. Then, when I went to validate it in roku, it gave me the same errors. But, one thing I don't understand is a few hours before I tried to validate the copy with the new videos added,I read that the feed had validated just fine earlier in the day. So, why now using the same feed info it is not validating when I went back to the original json?

The channel using the feed is currently working and I am still in the process of checking all of the video links so how can it say it's not validating when the channel is working and the videos are playing? 

Has anyone else gotten such errors today? Maybe its some weird fluke...

Here is what error it is giving me. 


  • 1 item has an error: No valid items were found in the feed: validate
    07/07/2019 08:19PM



  • 140 items have error: Required video details are missing or invalid.


I also added back the json that validated last for the working channel. It is giving the same errors yet the channel is playing just fine.

What video details could be missing...I have no idea.  My feed has the video portion of my json  with the video url, quality, videoType and bitRate. 

The  channel has been working perfectly and I have been having no trouble adding new content until today. It's got me stumped. Not able to add any new content until I can get this figured out. And, the acl is set properly on my server so I have no idea how in a matter of hours a feed can validate perfectly and later the same file give errors. And, I have checked all of the video links and they are working.
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  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Perhaps it's this HDBifUrl parameter which I don't have implemented...
  • Baradanikto's avatar
    Baradanikto
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    I don't think the date is causing your problems.  But, per the Json spec, the format should be:

    The date that the feed was last modified in the ISO 8601 format: {YYYY}-{MM}-{DD}T{hh}:{mm}:{ss}+{TZ}. E.g.: 2015-11-11T22:21:37+00:00

    Your date is "2019-07-10T18:12:32.125Z".

    "HdBifUrl" is not part of the Json spec.
  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Thanks again. I'll try this and run it through the roku validation again. I guess it was a fluke that my json's have been passing all of these months / in some cases year with the other. Then, to difure out what in the world is causing the other 138 errors. I was finally able to get it to 138. Taking out a dupilcate video helped and I found a typo in the ID of 2 files. 

    The bif files...are they a requirement for json using DP?
  • Baradanikto's avatar
    Baradanikto
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    At the current time, BIF is not required.  However, you should read the Roku developers blog for channel certification updates.  BIF will be a requirement in March of 2020.
  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    I read little bit ago that it was changed to 2020. Thanks again for helping. 

    I was thinking it might have been what the roku validation was saying about missing video details. So far I don't see any missing video details in that part of the json. I saw a file missing a bitrate so I added it but when I tried to validate again in roku the number of errors remained the same. Other than the ID, title, short description and/or long description, thumbnail, genre, tags, release date, date added, captions, duration, ad breaks, url, quality, video type, what's missing? I have not discovered yet. 
     "Required video details are missing or invalid."   
  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Made a change to the date schema but roku remains at  ....so back to the drawing board again to track down the culprit 🙂


    • 1 item has an error: No valid items were found in the feed: validate
      07/11/2019 11:18AM



    • 138 items have error: Required video details are missing or invalid.
  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Just an update on chasing down the problem of the errors in case others have the same problem...I added tags to the series that were missing. Roku validation of the feed remains at the same 138 errors so adding missing tags and correcting the other tags made no difference to the number of errors.
  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    After a friend helped me find a playlist in my feed that needed to be taken out (because it was not referring to any videos in the feed), it fixed the feed. But, it only validated in roku after setting up a new test channel. When the same feed is added to my original test channel, roku won't validate it and says there are 138 errors. 

    The feed has been renamed, placed on S3, the ACL set and so forth. 

    Why does it validate in DP perfectly on a new test channel but not in the original test channel using the exact same feed url to the json on the S3?

    Going to test a few other ideas and see what happens.
  • Baradanikto's avatar
    Baradanikto
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Test channels consume your feed file immediately.  Hence, your changes are effective right away.  Live (release) channels cache your feed file.  Roku refreshes the cache every 6+ hours.  That means any changes will not become effective until the channel feed file has been refreshed.  You can force a refresh by renaming the feed file to a name you have not used.
  • newchannel's avatar
    newchannel
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Normally, I am able to load a feed with changes using a different file name and it validates. But for over a week now when I load a feed onto that test channel it always gives me errors. If the same content in the feed is made into a new file with a different name, added to the server and then added to a new test channel, it validates with no errors at all.  The feed is a good feed....it must be something with DP. 

    Why does the same url / feed work in the new test channel but not in the old test channel? It should work in both just the same.