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[whoareyou]

When a client is playing from a server (via access key), should the clients be able to use the Ultra Trackinfo display or is this working as expected?
For me, this option is missing from the client's context menu.
Would be very nice if the client could display the Ultra Trackinfo UI.

Thanks

[whoareyou]

Bump.....
Anyone know if MC Trackinfo should or should not be available ?

[JimH]

EnglishTiger asked for its removal.

[whoareyou]

Ok.  Working as expected.  Thanks
Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing, I am not asking about EnglishTiger's plugins , I'm asking about the ones  included with MC, which I thought were the new official versions.

[dtc]

Trackinfo works for me on a client. The original ones and ET's are available. It seems ET's will be removed at some point, but for now are still there.

[whoareyou]

I wasn't clear enough on description.  This client is playing to one of the zones on the server, so it's only being used for remote control.  However, the client display shows other options i.e. lyrics.   So, should a client being used for remote control have the ability to show the MC Ultra info?  It seems capable of most everything else in the UI.

[whoareyou]

Bump.... Anyone know the answer to this? 

[HPBEME]

So, should a client being used for remote control have the ability to show the MC Ultra info?  It seems capable of most everything else in the UI.

Just to be clear, any track info plug-in with "Ultra" in the name were created by English Tiger, not MC/JRiver.  If you downloaded those plug-ins previously, I imagine that they will probably continue to function indefinitely. But I gather from Jim's post that they will not be included in new installs by default any longer per ET's request.  I have to say, I am curious what that's about.

In any event, it sounds like an "Ultra" TI (i.e., ET created) works in some scenarios for you, but not others (i.e. on your client) - is that correct? Do the JRiver owned TI's (Dream State, Noire, Noire Viz, Ocean, Simple) not show lyrics either?

I don't use a client/server set up so my knowledge in this area is minimal… but… I have read numerous threads that seem to indicate if the MC versions are different on the client and server, that can cause issues.  Maybe that is what is happening here?  Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your issue or if I sound obtuse - just trying to provide another perspective that hopefully leads to an answer for you.

[dtc]

I tried with a client playing back to a server (There) and confirm that the Track Info and Visualization options are not available in the popup.

As HPBEME said, not all options are available on the client as on the server, but it would be nice to be able to see TrackInfo when using the client as a remote. It would also be nice to have the new Playing Now popup available on the client. The tag information should be available I believe. I guess the question is whether there is any information that the client does not have that it would need to do TrackInfo or the Playing Now popup.

[whoareyou]

Just to be clear, any track info plug-in with "Ultra" in the name were created by English Tiger, not MC/JRiver.  If you downloaded those plug-ins previously, I imagine that they will probably continue to function indefinitely. But I gather from Jim's post that they will not be included in new installs by default any longer per ET's request.  I have to say, I am curious what that's about.

In any event, it sounds like an "Ultra" TI (i.e., ET created) works in some scenarios for you, but not others (i.e. on your client) - is that correct? Do the JRiver owned TI's (Dream State, Noire, Noire Viz, Ocean, Simple) not show lyrics either?

I don't use a client/server set up so my knowledge in this area is minimal… but… I have read numerous threads that seem to indicate if the MC versions are different on the client and server, that can cause issues.  Maybe that is what is happening here?  Sorry if I'm misunderstanding your issue or if I sound obtuse - just trying to provide another perspective that hopefully leads to an answer for you.

Not obtuse  

I'm using the "MC Ultra" series of track info, but until your post I thought these were a standard part of the install (because they were prefixed with that MC) and separate from English Tiger's versions.   I would really like this to work, but if it's not supposed to work that's another thing. That's all I've been trying to understand. 

I tried with a client playing back to a server (There) and confirm that the Track Info and Visualization options are not available in the popup.

As HPBEME said, not all options are available on the client as on the server, but it would be nice to be able to see TrackInfo when using the client as a remote. It would also be nice to have the new Playing Now popup available on the client. The tag information should be available I believe. I guess the question is whether there is any information that the client does not have that it would need to do TrackInfo or the Playing Now popup.

On my client,  PNP displays but it's always out of sync with current playlist.  When playlist changes to next song, PNP gets updated incorrectly.  You'll see the current song in playlist switch to the next song but PNP is updated prior to the switch and displays information for the previous song.  Also, when you start a new album, PNP displays information for the previous album which is no longer playing.

[HPBEME]

I'm using the "MC Ultra" series of track info, but until your post I thought these were a standard part of the install (because they were prefixed with that MC) and separate from English Tiger's versions. 

That is what thought, which is the primary reason I posted - just to make sure there was clarity on that specific point at least.

Idiosyncratic server/client behaviors are far more capably handled by dtc and a myriad of others.  Hopefully something can be figured out that addresses your issue/desire.

[dtc]

Not obtuse  

I'm using the "MC Ultra" series of track info, but until your post I thought these were a standard part of the install (because they were prefixed with that MC) and separate from English Tiger's versions.   I would really like this to work, but if it's not supposed to work that's another thing. That's all I've been trying to understand. 

On my client,  PNP displays but it's always out of sync with current playlist.  When playlist changes to next song, PNP gets updated incorrectly.  You'll see the current song in playlist switch to the next song but PNP is updated prior to the switch and displays information for the previous song.  Also, when you start a new album, PNP displays information for the previous album which is no longer playing.

Agreed, PNP works but seems to be one track behind when using the client as a remote. When playing on the client PNP seems to work OK. Thanks.

[EnglishTiger]

TrackInfo Plugins get all the metadata (tag/field content) they are designed to display from the MC Library and since that metadata can not be transferred over a Network they will only work on the same PC as the Library.

[dtc]

The client can display all the fields in a standard view. And you can look at all the fields on the client by just selecting the Tag option.  So, it seems like TrackInfo should have access to all the tag information it needs.   In the appdata \roaming\J River\ Media Center 33 folder there is a folder called Connected Library. I think that is where the client gets its field data. It seems like if PNP works on the client then TrackInfo should be able to also. But, I may be missing something. Is there anything more that TrackInfo needs?

[EnglishTiger]

Playing Now Popups are Internal to MC, TrackInfo Plugins use a combination of HTML/CSS/JavaScript and are External to MC. It is the Browser Engine which allows a TrackInfo Plugin, the links on the MC Start Page  and the HTML Links that can appear on the Tab Bar to open Web Pages inside of MC.

To be able to present Metadata within a TrackInfo plugin they use a MC Routine that gets that Metadata from the MC Library because that was the only source of that info way back in the days of Media Jukebox.

[dtc]

The metadata is certainly available to the client. Is it that the old routine will not run on a client? Is that the problem? If so, maybe the new PNP methods should be used so they could also run on the client for TrackInfo.

[EnglishTiger]

The obvious question has to be - Why is the OP specifically asking for the MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins to be available on a Client when the track(s) being played on the server?

Those MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins use advanced HTML5/CSS3 instructions/routines coupled with 5 JavaScript Functions to provide Menu Options and do some things MC, PNP and other TrackInfo Plugins are incapable of doing.

The simplest solution which would require 2 versions of every MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins where the Existing Versions would run on every PC MC is installed on and a New Client Only Version that would only run on a Client. Those "Client Only Versions" could use a variant of the existing method of getting the metadata it needs from the Connected Library instead of the Hosts MC Library.

Just in case anybody is wondering why 2 versions are needed;  the instructions needed to get the Metadata for any Field/Tag appears at least once in every HTML file that uses or displays that Field/Tag.

[dtc]

Thanks for the details. It sounds like TrackInfo on a client is possible but not easy.  And, right now, it is not even at option on the client.

The reason to have TrackInfo on a client when used as a remote, is that the UI the person is using to play the music is on the client. That is what the user is looking at. In my case, I use a laptop when sitting in a chair across the room from the server. The display I see and use is on the client. I don't see what is happening on the server. My server does have a screen, but some people run their servers as basically headless systems.

Thanks for your insight.

[whoareyou]

Thanks for the details. It sounds like TrackInfo on a client is possible but not easy.  And, right now, it is not even at option on the client.

The reason to have TrackInfo on a client when used as a remote, is that the UI the person is using to play the music is on the client. That is what the user is looking at. In my case, I use a laptop when sitting in a chair across the room from the server. The display I see and use is on the client. I don't see what is happening on the server. My server does have a screen, but some people run their servers as basically headless systems.

Thanks for your insight.

Sorry, I'm late responding....   This is same as my use case. 
Thanks for the detailed explanation @EnglishTiger and help from @dtc