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[RhinoBanga]

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





Here's the link the the MC plugins page:

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/downloads/mcplugins.pl?type=10&start=0&end=10&page=1


Here's what's new since v1.1.0.5:

1)  Reworked internal painting code to be more efficient/extensible
2)  Added <"Previous."> and <"Next."> tokens to refer to the previous/next track in the playlist, e.g. <"Previous.Artist">
3)  Force refresh of internal bitmap on a track change.


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.

[Marko]

Nice one Rhino. I passed on the last two builds, will play with this one though.

Shaping up very nicely is this  

[RhinoBanga]

Give it a different background image as the canvas ... or use the new BackgroundWidth/BackgroundHeight options in Config.INI

[dragyn]

The image quality isn't as good saved than it is shown. Is is cutting down on colors to save on file size?

I'm not using a background image. It's based on a gradient.

[Deivit]

Give it a different background image as the canvas ... or use the new BackgroundWidth/BackgroundHeight options in Config.INI

I'm surely doing something worng because I changed the options but the box didn't change its aspect.
This is how my settings look.

------
[General]
;  Specifies the background image to use.   References are relative to the INI file directory when prefixed with a .\
;  Required
Background=.\Background.jpg
;BackgroundWidth=600
;BackgroundHeight=400
-------

Do I have to change anything else?

Thanks on advance.

By the way, the addition of the new tokens (previous/next) make the plug-in really great. Thanks for this nice gift, Rhino.

----
Listening to: 'Terry's Tune (Alternate Two)' from 'Early Stan With Jimmy Raney And Terry Gibbs' by 'Stan Getz' on Media Center 9.1

[RhinoBanga]

so basicly i need to create a image lets say 640 x xx and then use that in place of the stock image?

No ... you can use an image if you want ... or you can get playing now to create the canvas and you can paint everything on it.   Check out the AdaptiveRectangles example:

[General]
BackgroundWidth=400
BackgroundHeight=142
PlaySound=.\..\Common\Sound.wav
TimeToShow=750
TimeToStay=7500
TimeToHide=750
Blend=True
Transparency=255
Position=TopCentre



Also if anyone has just downloaded 1.1.0.6 please download 1.1.0.7 I have just uploaded.   I found and fixed an infinite loop that could happen if you use the previous/next tokens.

[dragyn]

I've noticed when you change the background size, you need to restart MC so they take affect.

[Wobbley]

RhinoBanga,

Is there anyway to have the Playing Now window not disappear until I click something, and then a way to make it reappear?  Right now, it just disappears after a few seconds and then I can't seem to find a way to make it reappear.  I saw the settingsfor TimeToShow, TimeToStay and TimeToHide, but I'd like to be able to determine this at will from the Playing Now window.  Not being picky...believe me, you have my thanks for the work; just a hopeful request is all.

Thanks,

Wobbley

[RhinoBanga]

I've noticed when you change the background size, you need to restart MC so they take affect.

I'll look at that bug tomorrow.

[RhinoBanga]

i changed

BackgroundWidth=600

saved it

restarted MC

no change

King ... did you try the AdaptiveRectangles skin like I said?  Also did you comment out the Background= entry in your config file as the Background and BackgroundWidth/Height entries are mutually exclusive and the Background entry takes precedence.

[Deivit]

RhinoBanga,

Is there anyway to have the Playing Now window not disappear until I click something, and then a way to make it reappear?  

You can make it reappear clicking WIN+P
For it to stay till you click on the icon, just set the "time to stay" to a very high value

Hope it helps,

----
Listening to: 'Shut Out The Light' from 'Another Side Of Bruce Springsteen' by 'Bruce Springsteen' on Media Center 9.1

[RhinoBanga]

RhinoBanga,

Is there anyway to have the Playing Now window not disappear until I click something, and then a way to make it reappear?  Right now, it just disappears after a few seconds and then I can't seem to find a way to make it reappear.  I saw the settingsfor TimeToShow, TimeToStay and TimeToHide, but I'd like to be able to determine this at will from the Playing Now window.  Not being picky...believe me, you have my thanks for the work; just a hopeful request is all.

Thanks,

Wobbley

Just set the TimeToStay value to some atronomical value, e.g. 86400000 which is one day.   It will stay on the screen until you click on the window.   Use the ShowHotkey hotkey (default Win+P) to bring the window back at will.

[Deivit]

i changed

BackgroundWidth=600

saved it

restarted MC

no change

King ... did you try the AdaptiveRectangles skin like I said?  Also did you comment out the Background= entry in your config file as the Background and BackgroundWidth/Height entries are mutually exclusive and the Background entry takes precedence.

Finally got it. I have to put a ; before "background=" and delete the ; before the witdth and height and now it works. Thank you.

[RhinoBanga]

Sorry ... I never thought I had to explain that since I've been using INI files for too many years I'd care to mention.   Also I thought it would have been clear considering the comments in the config files all being with a ;.

A ; is a comment which tells Windows to ignore the line.

[Doof]

In the config.ini file for the skin, you need to specify either:

Background=<image name>

if you are using a background image

or

BackgroundWidth=<width>
BackgroundHeight=<height>

if you are not using a background image

[Snuffy2]

Is there anyway to get the FTP script in the ini file to trigger after each song?  

I know you can right click on it everytime it pops up, but I'm trying to get the image to go to an FTP everytime the song changes and I'm not about to right click after every song & hit send.

Thanx

[Snuffy2]

as i said i did not find "Background=" in the config.ini file so where is it?

The skin config.ini you listed appears to be based on AdaptiveRectangle (or exactly like it, didn't look too closely).  That one doesn't have a Background= entry.  Take a look at the Adaptive skin confi.ini You'll see:

;  Specifies the background image to use.   References are relative to the INI file directory when prefixed with a .\
;  Required
Background=.\Background.jpg
;BackgroundWidth=400
;BackgroundHeight=200

With this you have 2 different options to specify your background.  You can leave it how it is now and use an image or you can switch it to:

;  Specifies the background image to use.   References are relative to the INI file directory when prefixed with a .\
;  Required
;Background=.\Background.jpg
BackgroundWidth=400
BackgroundHeight=200

And then you can just specify the size of the bakground you would like to use. That help??

Is there anyway to get the FTP script in the ini file to trigger after each song?

that might be a bad thing

lets say you happen to be looking at your latest pics of you and the wife on your trip to the down town motel in MC9 and they happen to upload to the FTP site?

Well lets just assume I'm only looking at PG material (actually I only listen to music)

Secondly, most videos & images don't use the popup due to the include/exclude extension thingy.

OK I'm now just being annoying (rumor has it I'm good at it).

Anyway, anyone know how to trigger the FTP after every change of song?

[dragyn]

MC will freeze if you're using prev and next when there is no prev and next.

Also a couple requests:

Rating/thumbnails on prev/next

and something that returns nothing when there is nothing like:

{Album: ([Album])} or something.. like if no [Album] exists, don't write Album:

oh and if you could fix that quality image bug, that would be nice as I'm seeing it in all the playing nows listed so far.

[dragyn]

I thought that's the one I downloaded.


Doing it again. I probably screwed something up last time.

[dragyn]

A couple more things while I'm thinking today.

A length identifier. Here's an example:

Text=(<Bitrate> kbps/<Duration>)

For the width, have it calculate the difference. Like:

Width=-1 - [(<Bitrate> kbps/<Duration>)]

So it would get the number of character (after evaluationg them) and apply them to the width.

so instead of -1 from the total image width, it would be like -1 from the total image width minus the width of (<Bitrate> kbps/<Duration>)

[RhinoBanga]

King:

yes i know, but that was the one i was told to use

No ... you were told to look at the AdaptiveRectangles skin for an example on how you can use PlayingNow without a background image file:

No ... you can use an image if you want ... or you can get playing now to create the canvas and you can paint everything on it.  Check out the AdaptiveRectangles example:

[General]
BackgroundWidth=400
BackgroundHeight=142
PlaySound=.\..\Common\Sound.wav

Dragyn:

Also a couple requests:

Rating/thumbnails on prev/next

I knew people were going to ask for that ... maybe in a (not too distant) future version.

{Album: ([Album])} or something.. like if no [Album] exists, don't write Album:

Very difficult to do as my string parser is very simple.   I couldn't do anything like that without a re-write of the parser.   I'll consider it but don't hold your breath.

oh and if you could fix that quality image bug, that would be nice as I'm seeing it in all the playing nows listed so far.

What quality issue?

so instead of -1 from the total image width, it would be like -1 from the total image width minus the width of (<Bitrate> kbps/<Duration>)

Can you give me an example as to why you would want that?



Drowbe:

Is the "HideOnRating" still valid?  I don't see it in the INI.  I looked in the version history and didn't see it as being removed, so I assume it is still valid.

Yes.

I understand that it would take a lot to put all of theses configs into a preferences screen, but would it be possible for you to add a text file in the root directory that details all of the possibilities for the "playingnow.ini" and the "Config.ini".  It would make it easier to see all of the possibilities...looking at all of the skin configs gets a bit confusing.  As a plus, since it is just an informative file and not an ini, doing it this way would allow you to show all the options since they'd never actually be run using this file.

Way ahead of you ... already starting to document all this stuff in a README.TXT file.   I was starting to loose track of what's available myself :O

Also, would it be possible to get a token for the number of items in the palylist and another for the current position in the playlist?  This would allow us to do something like "23 of 162"

I'll add it in the next version ... probably something like <Playlist.Total> and <Playlist.Current>.

And here's one for fun...it would be cool to be able to support transparent backgrounds...so the pop-up wouldn't have to be square.

Yeah I've been thinking about that myself.   I'll dig around to see how it's done.

[RhinoBanga]

Snuffy:

Is there anyway to get the FTP script in the ini file to trigger after each song?  
I know you can right click on it everytime it pops up, but I'm trying to get the image to go to an FTP everytime the song changes and I'm not about to right click after every song & hit send.

I'll add it in ... shouldn't take too long to do

[RhinoBanga]

That's a bug ... I'll fix that.

[nila]

The pop-up seems to be staying on my screen and isn't disappearing?


[General]
;  Specifies the background image to use.   References are relative to the INI file directory when prefixed with a .\
;  Required
Background=.\Background.jpg
;BackgroundWidth=400
;BackgroundHeight=200

;  Specifies the sound to play when popping up.   References are relative to the INI file directory when prefixed with a .\
;  Default:  No sound played
PlaySound=.\..\Common\Sound.wav

;  How long to take to show the popup (in milliseconds)
;  Default:  750
TimeToShow=750

;  How long the popup should stay on screen (in milliseconds)
;  Default:  7500
TimeToStay=7500

;  How long the popup should take to hide (in milliseconds)
;  Default:  750
TimeToHide=750

[RhinoBanga]

Works fine here ... anyone else getting this?

Also does the popup dissapear when you click on it?

[KingSparta]

No ... you were told to look at the AdaptiveRectangles skin for an example on how you can use PlayingNow without a background image file:

ok, i will play with it some more

if not Dragyn will need to give me a step by step sample on how he made his not unless you make a sample.

[RhinoBanga]

Why not look at the samples that are already there?

MediaCenter: uses a big background
Slimline:  uses a slim background
Adaptive: uses a background image and shows how to gradient fill
AdaptiveRectangles:  create's it's own background, uses gradient fills and draws rectangles/lines
AdaptiveSlimline:  uses a slim background and uses gradient fills

All the adaptive skins show how to use windows colours.

[RobOK]

The pop-up seems to be staying on my screen and isn't disappearing?

I had this happen on a win ME machine starting with version  ...0.4 i believe.  Have not tried newest at home yet.



from other thread:

you need to right click on the window when it comes up and send to your FTP  

I had NO idea that was how it worked.  Suggest one line comment in FTP config section that explains that.  I am highly in favor of auto trigger FTP, but also put in a delay configuration.  In other words the song must play for 20 seconds (configurable) before the FTP triggers.  That way, when you skip through songs, or see a song you dont want FTP'd, you can skip over it.

Great plug in!
 

[RobOK]

Is there any board etiquette about using PlayingNow in the sig?

I personally like it, but I could see if everyone does it, it will get annoying.

[Doof]

Well, it certainly generates a whole crapload of entries in my http logs...

And then there's always the embarrasment factor when you go to work the next morning and notice that the last entry from last night is still showing up in your signature...

That's just embarrassing... what can I say? I was watching VH1's "I love the 80's", and it put me on an 80's kick...

[Doof]

I can't seem to get the AlternativeSkin setting to work. I've specified Slimline for the FTP Alt. Skin, but whenever it transfers, it's always the PixOS skin. Is this working for anybody else?

Also, what are the chances of getting the Alternative Skin setting for the SaveToFile setting as well?
And automatic FTP after every track change?

Basically, the way I envision using this is:

At home, I would use SaveToFile with an alternative skin. Since my web server is on my home lan, it works more smoothly and securely to just save to file rather than FTP.

When I'm at work, I'd use the FTP function with the alternative skin.

[RhinoBanga]

Doof, nothing is going to happen with PlayingNow until I get some documentation done.

I have written about 50% of it in text but I am just about to convert all of that into a windows .HLP file.

[KingSparta]

Is there any board etiquette about using PlayingNow in the sig?

I personally like it, but I could see if everyone does it, it will get annoying.

Yeah, I pulled mine.  I started thinking that if everyone did it,  for every thread, it will be pulling an image from a ton of different websites which would slow down the boards.  I think I'll just put a link to it instead...

well thats why i want it like Slimline but longer, and can't seem to get it to work, and since i am not an artist i do not know how to make the background picture longer

I am Not a INI expert that also for sure

Ok i just streched the background picture for everything will fit and look nice.

[Doof]

Just open it up in paint and stretch it.

[dragyn]

I would agree on the bandwidth issue. Have to think about dial-up people. They probably don't want to have to wait 2 minutes for a page to load just to see what people were listening to that day.

Mine is at ~7kb which I think it too high myself.

Rhino, if you look at the image created by playing now and look at the same image shown by playing now (print screen), you can see a significant color loss.

[Snarglefarg]

Is it possible to write text out to the ftp site rather than a graphic?

[KingSparta]

Is it possible to write text out to the ftp site rather than a graphic?

That Would Be A Good Idea.

[RhinoBanga]

You already have it ... logging.   I write out the fields you want then call your script.   Your script then parses that data to whatever format you need for your website and you call FTP to upload it.

[dingoBaby]

I have had a couple of crashes with this build.  I get a message along the lines of:

Crash:  the Program has failed to populate the pop up field.  

Playback continues for a few seconds, starts skipping, then the Media Core failure notice appears and MC crashes.  How ever the skipping continues but there is nothing in the Task Mgr that will kill it.  I have to reboot.

I can't do anything to reproduce it but its has only happened twice.

Has anyone else had this happen?

[RhinoBanga]

What OS is are you using?

I don't think it's a memory leak/overwrite since I scan PlayingNow with both Purify and BoundsChecker ... although they reported lots of resource leaks with CDWriter.ocx which is a J River component.

Could it have been track/artwork related, i.e. PlayingNow had problems loading your artwork?

[dingoBaby]

What OS is are you using?

I don't think it's a memory leak/overwrite since I scan PlayingNow with both Purify and BoundsChecker ... although they reported lots of resource leaks with CDWriter.ocx which is a J River component.

Could it have been track/artwork related, i.e. PlayingNow had problems loading your artwork?

I am running XP Pro.  I don't think it was artwork related because I don't have cover art for the files I was playing during the most recent crash.

[Deivit]

Hi,

Is there any way to avoid PlayingNow from closing after perfoming a graphic rating?
Thank you.

----
Listening to: 'Hello, Goodbye' from 'The Blue Album 1967-1970 (CD 1)' by 'The Beatles' on Media Center 9.1

[RhinoBanga]

dingoBaby:

I have refactored a lot of the internal code in v1.2 ... if you don't mind lets wait to see if that solves your problems.


Deivit:

Is there any way to avoid PlayingNow from closing after perfoming a graphic rating?

Put HideOnRating=False in your PlayingNow.INI file.

[Bryan]

Would it be possible for Playing Now to have a transparent background and no frame?  Maybe no background image at all???  

[Deivit]

Deivit:

Is there any way to avoid PlayingNow from closing after perfoming a graphic rating?

Put HideOnRating=False in your PlayingNow.INI file.

Thank you!

-----

[Deivit]

Sorry Rhino... under what section of the PlayingNow.INI file am I supposed to find the "HideOnRating" thing?... I don't seem to find it anywhere  

----

Listening to: 'Ain't got no' from 'Hair (Soundtrack)' by 'Galt MacDermot' on Media Center 9.1

[RhinoBanga]

Would it be possible for Playing Now to have a transparent background and no frame?  Maybe no background image at all???  

I am already playing with non-rectangular windows and I have it running (now there's one of my surprises out of the bag) ... but it's not going to make it for v1.2 as there are some issues I have to resolve.   Hopefully (as it is now) it will be a case of just telling me the RGB value in the rectangle to make transparent.


Deivit:

Sorry my fault ... I should have been more clear ... it goes in the [Popup] section.

[Deivit]

Deivit:

Sorry my fault ... I should have been more clear ... it goes in the [Popup] section.

OK, I just create a new entry under that section and it works.
Thank you!

[a2hoo]

I agree with showing Playing now at the end of the song

That way, when Im done listenign, I can rate it!!!

Thanks for really the best plugin made!

[KingSparta]

I agree with showing Playing now at the end of the song

That way, when Im done listenign, I can rate it!!!

Thanks for really the best plugin made!

Windows Key & "P" will bring it up