Overview

Diagram showing the event data flow from Meetup.com to Xibo

Figure 7. Meetup2xibo retrieves event data from Meetup.com, transforms the data, and updates the event data stored in a Xibo dataset. Ticker widgets in Xibo layouts display the event data retrieved from the Xibo dataset.

Meetup2xibo is a command line program that retrieves event descriptions from Meetup.com and loads them into a Xibo digital signage dataset. Xibo layouts can contain ticker widgets that filter, sort, and display event data. Figure 7 shows event data flow from Meetup.com to Xibo layouts.

Preparation

Meetup2xibo run on any computer running Linux or a similar operating system. An administrator will need some basic computer skills to install and configure meetup2xibo. See Prerequisites for a description of the computing and skills requirements.

Meetup2xibo stores event data in a Xibo dataset. See Xibo Quick Start for instructions about about importing the dataset structure and an agenda layout. Alternatively, see Xibo Events Dataset for instructions about creating the dataset manually.

Meetup2xibo accesses the Xibo API as a distinct authorized user. See Xibo Client User for instructions about adding and authorizing this user.

Installation

Meetup2xibo can be installed with standard Python package tools. See Installation.

Configuration

Meetup2xibo gets its configuration from environment variables. The configuration includes:

  • Meetup.com API settings
  • Xibo CMS API credentials
  • Xibo dataset column names
  • Location corrections
  • Places for schedule conflict analysis
  • Date/time thresholds for event insertion, deletion, and cancellation

The meetup2xibo man page defines the configuration environment variables. Configuration explains the environment variables in more detail. An annotated example configuration script, /data/meetup2xibo.env, provides a starting point for customization.

Logging

Meetup2xibo can log its activity to a named file, standard output, or both. Command line options control the message levels to log and where to send the logs.

A supporting program, summarize-m2x-logs, analyzes logs and summarizes changes to events. See the man page.

Cron Jobs

The Linux cron daemon (or the Windows Task Scheduler) can run Cron runs meetup2xibo every 10 minutes so the Xibo layouts show the latest event changes, particularly last minute room changes. Cron runs summarize-m2x-logs early every morning to email a summary of the previous days logs. See Cron Jobs for instructions about setting up the cron jobs.