Topic: Playing Now v1.1.0.2 (Read 6489 times)

RhinoBanga · « **on:** October 15, 2003, 02:29:48 pm »

Here is a screenshot of an adaptive skin with the Windows XP Blue theme:

Here's the download link:

http://www.mrblobby.ukshells.co.uk/PlayingNow/pn.exe

Here's what's new since v1.1.0.1:

1) Fixed the spelling of Media Center in <Application.Name> ... Sorry Jim!
2) Fixed issue where cancelling the right-mouse menu would set the rating to zero
3) Re-added Rating Filled/Hilighted images for graphical rating. If not defined then the images are generated from the main image.
4) Added a logging facility so you can send your playing now info to a blog, etc. Also can execute a script.
5) The mouse cursor only changes when moves over a graphical rating.
6) Graphical ratings are now only set when you left mouse-click on a rating.
7) Added ability to hide the popup via the right-mouse menu

From now on the setup program will always overwrite the supplied skins, so take a copy of the directory containing the skin you want to modify and make you changes there.

Doof · « **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2003, 02:44:01 pm »

Awesome! That officially takes care of all of my suggestions and issues.

Great work! I promise I'll stop bugging you now so you can concentrate on v.2.

Drowbe · « **Reply #2 on:** October 15, 2003, 03:35:57 pm »

Hooray! Thanks for the blogging addition.

You know, these daily builds are spoiling me. At this rate, by November this plugin should be making coffee, doing my bills, washing the cat, and be designing Deep Thought to answer the ultimate question of Life, The Universe and Everything.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2003, 03:43:43 pm »

LOL

I doubt there will be many more additions in the near future tbh.

My next task is to add this proggy to the plugins page on the J River website then get on with V2 as it really needs a GUI for configuring all these darn options!

hit_ny · « **Reply #4 on:** October 15, 2003, 03:53:15 pm »

How bout a digital time counter on the pop-up

should be able to configure to display time elapsed/remaining through ini.

Does not have to be a time counter, could be a status bar or anything that gives an idea how much of the song is left or elapsed.

Here's 4 possible options....

- (time : elapsed) / (total : time)

- a bar display like a progress bar..with the track time in the center, and it fills up as track advances)

- a circle with the time in the center, circle fills up by quadrant, going anti-clockwise

- no time display

Doof · « **Reply #5 on:** October 15, 2003, 04:26:15 pm »

Doesn't that seem to be kind of treading into mini-me territory a bit?

All he'd need then is some player controls and he'd have a mini-me replacement.

hit_ny · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2003, 05:02:16 pm »

Quote

Doesn't that seem to be kind of treading into mini-me territory a bit?

Dont think so...i just find myslef hitting win+p ( show pop-up) often during play and wondered whether it woudl be nice to know how far long into a track i had got.

Quote

All he'd need then is some player controls and he'd have a mini-me replacement.

i use the taskbar for my player controls, so adding player controls to the popup would require an extra step, show popup THEN use whatever playcontrol.

i have yet to find the mini-me useful. i just keep mega-me minimised...

can u recommend any cool mini-me skins ? do not find the ones incld very appealing.

Drowbe · « **Reply #7 on:** October 15, 2003, 05:10:41 pm »

Quote from: hit_ny on October 15, 2003, 05:02:16 pm

can u recommend any cool mini-me skins ? do not find the ones incld very appealing.

The PixOS mini-me skin rocks...and if I am not mistaken, Doof did it.

Drowbe · « **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2003, 06:49:03 pm »

How are you calling the script file? I am using an ftp Bat file and a commandlist file to do the ftp...

The Bat File (ftpblog.bat):

@echo off
ftp -s:ftpcommands.lst

The Command List file (ftpcommands.lst):

open ftp.site.here
username
password
binary
put incPlayingNow.asp
cd images
put playingnow.jpg
bye

The plugin is generating the files. When I manually run the bat file, everything runs smoothly and gets uploaded. When the plugin calls the bat file, I get the error, "Error opening script file ftpcommands.lst". Perhaps it is a security setting on the file?

Drowbe · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2003, 06:54:18 pm »

Figured it out. Since the bat is being called outsite of the directory, you need to supply full paths for everything. so the files are as follows:

The Bat File (ftpblog.bat):

@echo off
ftp -s:c:\ftpcommands.lst

The Command List file (ftpcommands.lst):
open ftp.site.here
username
password
binary
put c:\incPlayingNow.asp
cd images
put c:\playingnow.jpg
bye

I hope others find this info helpful.

Drowbe · « **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2003, 07:07:58 pm »

Three final requests...

Could you add the ability to write out the current cover art? The screenshot of the PlayingNow is cool, but I would like to add a small thumbnail for the current playing track to the list of songs I am uploading.

Next, could you give us complete control over what is written out to the file? I'd like to have it set up an asp array. Instead of having to parse through the fields to build the array, I will have to tool write it out. Also, with full control, someonecould still write it out the way you have.

Finally, with the above request, would it be possible for you to return the number of the file in the list? By this I mean the literal number ecah trak holds in the list and not the track number from the tag. This number would be handy if you wanted to do something like so:

Array (1, <listnumber>) = "<artist>"
Array (2, <listnumber>) = "<album>"
Array (3, <listnumber>) = "<title>"

Of course, I suppose this all depends on how you are writing out the file. Just a thought or three...

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2003, 06:59:57 am »

Quote

Could you add the ability to write out the current cover art?

I will add an option to output the thumbnail.

Quote

Next, could you give us complete control over what is written out to the file?

The idea behind the file is that it's supposed to be parsed/formatted by some other tool, e.g. Perl. That's why it's tab delimited because I know for a fact that as soon as I format it like X someone will want it like Y therefore I just dump the data to keep things simple. Also the output must be on a single line or how else can I work out how many to keep in the file?

hit_ny · « **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2003, 08:50:58 am »

Quote

Here's 4 possible options....

- (time : elapsed) / (total : time)

- a bar display like a progress bar..with the track time in the center, and it fills up as track advances)

- a circle with the time in the center, circle fills up by quadrant, going anti-clockwise

- no time display

Actually skip the above, i just realised its possible to display the total time ofthe track.

so just a simple time display above the total track time would be good enough.

sraymond · « **Reply #13 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:44:42 am »

From the thread http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=16004 (Hairstyle and Playing Now)

Quote

Quote:
Quote
Any reason you don't use Rhino's PlayingNow plugin?

i didnt know it existed.

i checked the plugin web pages, dont see anything about it...

I know this is on your list of things to do... but maybe the sooner the better.

Scott-

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:59:05 am »

Thanks for the heads up Scott ... I'll get onto it tonight.

Drowbe · « **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2003, 12:20:44 pm »

Quote from: RhinoBanga on October 16, 2003, 06:59:57 am

I will add an option to output the thumbnail.

Thanks! You are my hero...

Quote from: RhinoBanga on October 16, 2003, 06:59:57 am

The idea behind the file is that it's supposed to be parsed/formatted by some other tool, e.g. Perl. That's why it's tab delimited because I know for a fact that as soon as I format it like X someone will want it like Y therefore I just dump the data to keep things simple. Also the output must be on a single line or how else can I work out how many to keep in the file?

I understand...I thought you were keeping track of the item info internally (hence request #3) and were simply rewriting the entire file out based on whatever template was chosen. No biggie, I will just parse out the data programtically.

BTW, I have started getting the error: Could not load the skin background "!

This is happening with the default skin. All I'd changed was the info for posting the data to a blog site. The error pops up with that odd quote-exclamation mark combo at the end too (it wasn't a typo)....I will reinstall, but just wanted to give you a heads-up.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #16 on:** October 16, 2003, 12:30:17 pm »

That error appears when either :

1) The wrong Skin entry is defined in PlayingNow.INI or
2) An incorrect ForceSkinPath path is defined in the PlayingNow.INI file or
3) There is no Config.INI in the skin path or
4) There is no Background entry in the Config.INI or
5) The applocation could not load the specified Background image.

I'll look at tidying that up.

Snuffy2 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 16, 2003, 01:43:18 pm »

Just downloaded the newest version. The PopUp doesn't disappear.
I'm using it with your default settings, I haven't changed any of the ini files.

I start MC, it starts, the PlayingNow window fades in, displays for 7.5 seconds, fades out, then pops up (no fade) and stays displayed until you close MC.

Any ideas? Is it my system? A Bug?

Thanx

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #18 on:** October 16, 2003, 01:50:07 pm »

A bit more info would help. In MC go to Help/System Info and paste the info here.

What happend when you right-click on the popup? Do you get the menu?

Snuffy2 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 16, 2003, 04:06:30 pm »

I think my computer just needed me to have a nap.

It's working fine now, but I swear it wasn't before. I took a much needed nap and it is no longer happening, so that must be what it needed to fix it.

Sorry.

If I can get it to happen again (hopefully not) I'll repost with some more info.

dragyn · « **Reply #20 on:** October 16, 2003, 08:57:20 pm »

One thing that still is missing is radio streams. I'd like to know what's playing when the info is there.

How hard would it be to implement this?

Snuffy2 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 16, 2003, 11:36:03 pm »

Quote

Just downloaded the newest version. The PopUp doesn't disappear.
I'm using it with your default settings, I haven't changed any of the ini files.

I start MC, it starts, the PlayingNow window fades in, displays for 7.5 seconds, fades out, then pops up (no fade) and stays displayed until you close MC.

OK the nap didn't fix it, it's back. Does the same thing as before. ?

When I right click on the PopUp it is as if it isn't there. I right clicked on it with the desktop behind it & the desktop right-click came up.

If you want to see it in action, I've recorded the problem. It's a 2mb DiVX AVI.
http://home.comcast.net/~snuffy2/PlayingNow_Error.avi

Any guesses?

Like I said before, it went away (after my nap) but has come back again.

Thanx

Quote

Media Center Registered 9.1.280 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Unknown 1594 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 1047 MB, Free - 523 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1226 / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.60 (1021) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1999 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.60 (1021)

Ripping / Drive E: Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer CD Type:Auto Read speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: No / Play sound after ripping: No

Burning / Drive E: MATSHITA UJDA745 DVD/CDRW Addr: 2:0:0 Speed:8 MaxSpeed:8 BurnProof:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: No
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #22 on:** October 17, 2003, 07:18:52 am »

Dragyn:

Quote

One thing that still is missing is radio streams. I'd like to know what's playing when the info is there.

I had a quick look and it works (i.e. pops up) here. As far as the details to the playing media stream is concerned it looks like MC is not filling them in. You should ask Matt what fields they fill in (if any).

Snuffy2:

I have an idea why it is re-appearing up. Does the issue happen if you set blending to false? If so does it still happen if reposition the popup to the top left of your desktop as well?

Snuffy2 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 17, 2003, 08:54:04 am »

Quote from: RhinoBanga on October 17, 2003, 07:18:52 am

Snuffy2:

I have an idea why it is re-appearing up. Does the issue happen if you set blending to false? If so does it still happen if reposition the popup to the top left of your desktop as well?

When blending is set to False the program works correctly. It works correctly in SystemTray and TopLeft.

When blending is set to True it doesn't work in SystemTray or TopLeft.

That help at all? ?

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #24 on:** October 17, 2003, 08:59:21 am »

Yes it does ... I think I have fixed the problem but you can test it tonight when I release the next version.

Doof · « **Reply #25 on:** October 17, 2003, 12:00:38 pm »

It works!

I finally got my webserver up and running, configured PlayingNow to save the popup image to a specified folder, added a line to my signature and WA-LA! A "real-time" update on what I'm listening to! I've noticed a refresh is sometimes in order, due to certain IE settings, but it seems to work pretty slick.

I can't remember who it was that first set this up in their signature, but thanks!

dragyn · « **Reply #26 on:** October 17, 2003, 12:58:31 pm »

You just make sure you turn that off when you're doing something...what's the word I'm lookin' for...hmm....rymes with...corn I think.

hahaha ....

I can just see it now. LOL.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #27 on:** October 17, 2003, 01:02:05 pm »

LOL ... it's that big is it

Doof · « **Reply #28 on:** October 17, 2003, 01:11:41 pm »

Quote from: Dragyn on October 17, 2003, 12:58:31 pm

You just make sure you turn that off when you're doing something...what's the word I'm lookin' for...hmm....rymes with...corn I think.

hahaha ....

I can just see it now. LOL.

Already thought of that.

I added all of the extensions for images and video to the exclusion list. Providing that Rhino's as good a programmer as he professes to be, I should be all set.

As long as something doesn't break from one build to the next.

INTERACT FORUM

Author Topic: Playing Now v1.1.0.2 (Read 6489 times)

Drowbe

Drowbe

Drowbe

Drowbe

Drowbe

sraymond

Drowbe

dragyn

dragyn