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[scott_r]

Hey all, here's the next beta version of MC XML Export.

Download beta 3 here:
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~scottray/mcxml/MCXMLExport_beta3.msi

The installer should un-install any previous versions automatically, but don't quote me on that.

New Stuff:
- Support for saving and loading configuration settings. These config files are XML files (of course) stored in "[apppath]\configs" and are pretty self-explanatory.
- Supports extraction of coverart files. Play around with this, I don't know how well it works, but I think it's pretty good. You can copy the coverart images to a directory and make it reference these images in the XML and output files, so you can publish your AlbumGroup outputs for example on the internet for all your friends to marvel at.
Note: The coverart directory that you specify will be created as a directory under the directory that contains either the raw XML output, or, if selected, the XSL transformed output.

Let me know what you think -  bug reports are more than welcome

Scott.

ps. I'm pretty sure this is all the functionality that I'm going to implement in MC XML Export, unless anyone has any amazing ideas. Once any bugs are ironed out it will be released as 1.0. I'm starting work on an Import plugin for importing MPL's so you can discuss this as well in this thread.

[sraymond]

The uninstall doesn't work...  I get:

Windows Installer:  Another version of this product is already installed.  Installation of this version cannot continue.  To configure or remove the existing version of this product, use Add/Remove Program on the Control Panel.

No biggie...

Scott-

[sraymond]

Scott.,

Just a few bugs and one more suggestion:

1)  I get a Media Core crash error if I switch to another plugin and then back to MCXMLExport.  The solution is probably what the doctor says when one complains, "Doc, it hurts when I move my arm like this"...  "Don't more your arm like that!"

2)  The "TreePathToExport" has me a little confused.  I can't navigate to "Media Library/Audio" - I'm not sure what the format should be.  And, unfortunately, when I try to save a selected tree path using the plugin's "Preset Configuration Save As", it doesn't include an element for the TreePathToExport.

Edited:
3)  Is it possible to allow the manual choosing of what file to launch?  Instead of:

Code: [Select]

<LaunchOutputChecked>true</LaunchOutputChecked>how about:

Code: [Select]

<LaunchOutput checked="true" appendOutputFilename="false">myie2.exe http://localhost:8080/xsl/xalbum</LaunchOutput>and

Code: [Select]

<LaunchOutput checked="true" appendOutputFilename="true">firebird.exe</LaunchOutput>This would let us choose the browser to launch, a default webpage, or even a batch file.

All-in-all, an awesome plugin!  Thank you very much.

Scott-

[scott_r]

Hey there.

1)  I get a Media Core crash error if I switch to another plugin and then back to MCXMLExport.  The solution is probably what the doctor says when one complains, "Doc, it hurts when I move my arm like this"...  "Don't more your arm like that!"

I can't re-create this. What plugin are you having problems with? I tried with the Busy Box plugin and another plugin that I'm writing and it seems ok on this end.

2)  The "TreePathToExport" has me a little confused.  I can't navigate to "Media Library/Audio" - I'm not sure what the format should be.  And, unfortunately, when I try to save a selected tree path using the plugin's "Preset Configuration Save As", it doesn't include an element for the TreePathToExport.

Darn... TreePathToExport wasn't supposed to be in there, which is why the presets saving and loading doesnt do anything with it. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the TreeView to go to a certain tree path eg. "Media Library/Audio". The TreeView can return the current path, but as far as I can tell not set it. I'm still working on it though.

3)  Is it possible to allow the manual choosing of what file to launch?

Not as it stands, but it would be very easy for me to change it. I figured people wouldn't want to have to select the application to run the document with so just used the default association, but if it's going to be better that way, then sure thing.

Thanks for the input,

Scott.

[sraymond]

3)  Is it possible to allow the manual choosing of what file to launch?

Not as it stands, but it would be very easy for me to change it. I figured people wouldn't want to have to select the application to run the document with so just used the default association, but if it's going to be better that way, then sure thing.

The main problem is that Firebird's XSLT processor doesn't work well (for me at least!)...  and debugging XSLT is netoriously hard if you don't have an IDE.  Rather than deal with it, I'd like to just launch MyIE2.  But my default browser is Firebird (I'm a recent convert!).

And then I was thinking it might be nice to launch a batch file to import the exported XML into MS Access.

Or, in the case of using a Tomcat servlet to generate the HTML, you just need to match a URL pattern (i.e. "/Xalbum").

All-in-all, I think the added flexibility would be very useful.  And perhaps it'd be best that if the element was not present in the XML config file, it behaved like it does now - opening with the default browser.

Scott-

[sraymond]

1)  I get a Media Core crash error if I switch to another plugin and then back to MCXMLExport.  The solution is probably what the doctor says when one complains, "Doc, it hurts when I move my arm like this"...  "Don't more your arm like that!"

I can't re-create this. What plugin are you having problems with? I tried with the Busy Box plugin and another plugin that I'm writing and it seems ok on this end.

 

Sorry about the false alarm.  The problem is with the plugin ExportIt, not yours.  There's a bit of a delay and it didn't crash until after I clicked back onto MCXMLExport.

Scott-

[nila]

Hey Scott,

Quick qu - how do you make the tree view for the playlists?
For the Media Library it's not too bad cause you can find out if they have children etc. With the playlists you just get a path - how are you then creating the tree from it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[scott_r]

Hey Scott,

Quick qu - how do you make the tree view for the playlists?
For the Media Library it's not too bad cause you can find out if they have children etc. With the playlists you just get a path - how are you then creating the tree from it?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

This is written for .NET but I'm sure it will be pretty simple to change for VB6:

Code: [Select]

Private Function populatePlaylists()
  Dim viewscheme as MediaJukebox.MJViewItemAutomation
  Dim rootnode as New TreeNode()

  'g_MJ is the global MJ object initialised with the Init() function
  viewscheme = g_MJ.GetViewItem("Playlists")

  'treViewSchemes is a TreeView object that you want to populate.
  'first we want to create a root playlists node.
  rootnode = treViewSchemes.Nodes.Add("Playlists")

  'now populate the rootnode ("Playlists") with it's child nodes by calling a recursive function defined as below
  rootnode.Nodes.Add(getRecursivePlaylists(rootnode, viewscheme))
End Function

Private Function getRecursivePlaylists(ByVal currentnode As TreeNode, ByVal currentviewitem as MediaJukebox.MJViewItemAutomation)
  'Base case for recursion:
  If currentviewitem.getNumberChildren() = 0 then
     getRecursivePlaylists = Nothing
  Else
      'Recursive Step:
      Dim i As Integer
      For i = 0 to currentviewitem.getNumberChildren() - 1
          Dim newnode as TreeNode
          Dim newitem as MediaJukebox.MJViewItemAutomation
          Dim newnode2 as TreeNode

          'Get ith child of currentviewitem
          newitem = currentviewitem.GetChild(i)

          'Add child entry to currentnode
          newnode = currentnode.Nodes.Add(currentviewitem.GetChild(i)

          'Populate this new node with its children
          newnode2 = getRecursivePlaylists(newnode, newitem)

          'Only add if newnode2 isnt Nothing
          If Not (newnode2 Is Nothing) Then
             newnode.Nodes.Add(newnode2)
          End If
     Next i
  End if
End Function

Just make a TreeView object called treViewSchemes and call populatePlaylists(). Simple as. You may need to add some more catches for nodes that are Nothing (null) which are being added. Youll have to play around with the code to get it working in VB6.


Scott.

[nila]

Thanks - I noticed you didn't use the get playlists which is probably why I was finding it so hard

[scott_r]

Yeah, it's much easier just to use the ViewItem interface to step through the tree, but for some reason I couldn't get this to work with the view schemes, I had to use the scheme interface to populate them, which was annoying. Ah well,

Scott.

[nila]

Hey

Thanks for the code - I played a bit and managed to get it to work for both.

The way I add nodes is different - I found this method somewhere online - maybe that's why?
I found that nodes CANT have a full numeric name (ie: 45) - they have to be alphanumeric.

The function at the bottom (and the listbox) is purely to create the names, I'm also going to use it to look up info from the tree etc later probably.

But this code should work on .net too and lets you navigate both with the same code which is nice:

Code: [Select]

' our global MJ automation object (used to get other objects)
' this will get set when Media Jukebox/Center calls "Init" in the plugin
Public g_MC As MediaJukebox.MJAutomation

Public Function Init(ByVal MediaJukebox As Object)
   
    ' set the global Media Jukebox object on init
    ' (Media Jukebox will call this function when the plugin starts)
    Set g_MC = MediaJukebox
   
End Function

Private Sub Command1_Click()

    On Error GoTo anError

    ' Declare the variables
    Dim res1 As Boolean, res2 As Boolean
    Dim nodX As Node, plNodeName As String, mlNodeName As String
    Dim MCView As MediaJukebox.MJViewItemAutomation
   
    ' Get the node names for the root items
    plNodeName = getNewNodeID("Media Library")
    mlNodeName = getNewNodeID("Playlists")
   
    ' Add the root nodes
    Set nodX = TV.Nodes.Add(, , plNodeName, "Playlists")
    Set nodX = TV.Nodes.Add(, , mlNodeName, "Media Library")
   
    ' Add the child nodes for the Playlists
    Set MCView = g_MC.GetViewItem("Playlists")
    res1 = addChildNodes(MCView, plNodeName)
   
    ' Add the child nodes for the Media Library
    Set MCView = g_MC.GetViewItem("Media Library")
    res2 = addChildNodes(MCView, mlNodeName)

    ' Make sure all the nodes are visible
    nodX.EnsureVisible

    Exit Sub
   
anError:
    msgbox "ERROR: " & Err.Number & " : " & Err.Description

End Sub

' Adds all the child nodes
Public Function addChildNodes(MCView As MediaJukebox.MJViewItemAutomation, parentName As String) As Boolean

    On Error GoTo addChildNodesError
   
    ' If no children to add then exit the function
    If MCView.GetNumberChildren = 0 Then Exit Function
   
    ' Otherwise add all the children
    For x = 0 To MCView.GetNumberChildren - 1
   
        ' Get the child item
        Dim aChild As MediaJukebox.MJViewItemAutomation
        Set aChild = MCView.GetChild(x)
       
        ' Get the new node name
        Dim newNodeName As String
        newNodeName = getNewNodeID(aChild.GetFullName)
       
        ' Add the child node
        Set nodX = TV.Nodes.Add(parentName, tvwChild, newNodeName, aChild.GetName)
       
        ' If the child has it's own children then add them
        If aChild.GetNumberChildren > 0 Then
            Dim reschild As Boolean
            reschild = addChildNodes(aChild, newNodeName)
        End If
   
    Next x
   
    ' Return true if it completes successfully
    addChildNodes = True
   
    Exit Function
   
    ' Deal with errors
addChildNodesError:
    msgbox "ERROR: " & Err.Number & " : " & Err.Description
    addChildNodes = False
End Function


' Gets the ID for the next node name
Public Function getNewNodeID(fullPath As String) As String

    listViewItems.AddItem fullPath
    getNewNodeID = "node" & listViewItems.ListCount
   
End Function



[JustinChase]

Hi all,

I know this will sound bad, but...

what is the purpose of all this?  Not is a philosophical way, in a practical way.  Why do you want to export XML (what is XML), how can it improve my life.

It sounds like it has something to do with moving some of the information from MC to a web site.  Is this so you can host some sort of internet music server?

I'm not computer illiterate, but I'm definately no programmer.

Thanks for the explanation, and sorry if I just sounded like a total idiot.

[sraymond]

what is the purpose of all this?  Not is a philosophical way, in a practical way.  Why do you want to export XML (what is XML), how can it improve my life.

The answer to this question isn't something I can give justice to in a few paragraphs.  But I'll give it a quick answer that might get you thinking of what to learn more about.

XML's claim-to-fame is its ability to separate content from presentation and to provide a platform independent way of transporting data.  When people use the term "XML", they're usually referring to the "XML Family" of technologies which includes document linking (XPath, XLink, and XPointer), querying (XPath, XSLT, and XQuery) style and transformation (XSL/XSLT), and schema and validation specifications (XML Schema).

In the case of MC, you can use XML to export data from one library and import it into another.  Of course, there's also a library backup and restore function, so this ability doesn't readily seem useful.  However, if you want to modify the library (after backup but before restore), XML will let you do this.  But what if you wanted to go from an MC Library to MS Access?  XML provides the transport.  See thread http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=9580;start=msg114183#msg114183 for some discussion on this.

Separating content from presentation is, in my opinion, where XML can best serve MC.  Take a look at XAlbum (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=5;action=display;threadid=16293) as an example of what you can do.  And because XSLT is not compiled (well, it's not compiled external to the XSLT processor, anyway), anyone can modify it to suit their own specific use.  The fact that XSLT can be applied client-sdie or server-side has obvious implications to how it can be used in various applications.

Granted, other than XAlbum, there's nothing out there yet that puts XML to use for MC.  But there are some ideas in the back of my head still....  perhaps the most interesting is writing an XSLT to create graphs (using SVG) of database statistics.  See thread http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=16718 for a bit of explanation.

If you have any specific questions, let me know.

Scott-

[JustinChase]

Thank You Scott for your informative reply.

I think what you are saying is that XML is a way to use "database tools" to manipulate your MC data (Library) to interface with with other databases or to create new uses for that data.  Sort of the way Visual Basic can manipulate data now, but with an independent format (i.e. not soley Microsoft).  Is that a somewhat correct way to look at it?

If so, is XML going to be useful in storing my media content on my Linux Server (SME 5.5), so I can eliminate one box from my network?

If not, is there any anticipated time when that can happen?

Thanks again,

Chris

[sraymond]

If so, is XML going to be useful in storing my media content on my Linux Server (SME 5.5), so I can eliminate one box from my network?

I don't understand the question.

Scott-

[JustinChase]

Sorry,

I am running a Linux server in my business, mainly as my mail server, but also as a VPN host.  It is a pre-packaged product, available free, callse SME Server.  It's based on Linux.  I am hoping that one day I can install Media Center on this box, so I can eliminate the need to have a seperate Windows based media Server.  

My question was, will XML allow me to store my media library on this Linux box, and access it from my laptop, either at work, or at home.  My guess is no, not until there is a Lunux version of Media Center, but i thought I'd ask.

If not, does anyone have any idea when there might be a Linux version of MC?

Thanks

[sraymond]

My question was, will XML allow me to store my media library on this Linux box, and access it from my laptop, either at work, or at home.  My guess is no, not until there is a Lunux version of Media Center, but i thought I'd ask.

No...  though, XML would allow you to transfer your library to a Linux media library application that runs on Linux.

If not, does anyone have any idea when there might be a Linux version of MC?

Good question!  I wonder how many other MC users would appreciate a Linux version.  Maybe you should post the question on the "Media Center 9" forum.

[scott_r]

What is the purpose of all this...

I asked myself this question a few times, believe me
I wasn't actually interested in XML until I saw Scott Raymond's XAlbum. This truly opened my eyes to the power of XML (OK, that sounded a bit cheesy). XAlbum facinated me and I saw a bunch of people requesting a more powerful XML export utility for MC which would accomodate for the needs of the users of XAlbum. I decided to create this plugin as a way for me to learn about XML and to provide a solution to a real-world problem.
Since people have started using XML with MC more, lots of new ideas have been raised, such as tying MC in with SQL and Access databases, all of which are possible given the right XSL transformation, which Scott Raymond seems pretty good at writing
Anyway, using XML from MC is only in it's infant stages, so if you have any ideas about ways you want to manipulate the data contained in your Media Library they're probably possible with XML, so post your ideas and see what happens.

And so...

My question was, will XML allow me to store my media library on this Linux box

As Scott's pointed out, no. The XML only describes the meta-information (that is, the content of the database fields) associated with the files in your media library. The actual media files themselves are separate.

Linux version of Media Center...
Yeah, as nice as it would be it would require quite a substantial re-write of the code, and probably not be economically feasible for JRiver. Have you tried running MC under Wine? Has anyone? That would be cool.

Scott Raynel.

[dkan24]

before I install .net framework, just a simple question:

Does this plugin allow me to export only the fields I want?  I would only want Genre, Artist, Album, Song, and Track.  

thanks,

Dan

[sraymond]

Does this plugin allow me to export only the fields I want?  I would only want Genre, Artist, Album, Song, and Track.  

Yes.  You can select any field(s) you'd like.  This is a significant improvement over MC's internal "Export Playlist as MPL" feature.

Scott-

[dkan24]

very nice!  I just did it, and it is perfect!  I installed .net (i hope this doesn't mess up my pc) and was able to export just what I needed.  I cut my xml doc down from 12 mb to 3 mb.  

I am learning programming for the first time and am trying to write a shockwave program that will be able to stream my mp3s off my home server.  I'll let you all know how it goes in a few weeks.

thanks again!

[sraymond]

I am learning programming for the first time and am trying to write a shockwave program that will be able to stream my mp3s off my home server.  I'll let you all know how it goes in a few weeks.

That's very interesting...  I was thinking the other day of a way to get at the media file through the served HTML - but short of copying the media to the webserver directory I couldn't come up with anything.

I've been looking for a Tomcat applet that does this...  but no luck there either.

Please let me know how it turns out...  Good luck.

Scott-

[scott_r]

I installed .net (i hope this doesn't mess up my pc)

I have no reason to believe that it would.

Glad to hear it's useful.

Scott.

[Wobbley]

Scott,

How difficult would it be to have the song titles be hyperlinks to the actual file, so that when someone was viewing the website, they could click on the link and begin downloading that file to their PC?  I imagine this would have to pull the filename[path] info from the MC db...

Thanks,

Wobbley

[sraymond]

Scott,

How difficult would it be to have the song titles be hyperlinks to the actual file, so that when someone was viewing the website, they could click on the link and begin downloading that file to their PC?  I imagine this would have to pull the filename[path] info from the MC db...

Thanks,

Wobbley

That's what I want to do...  and it's not a problem putting the filename as a hyperlink.  The problem I have is that the path is absolute and the webserver works off of relative.  I guess I understand the security implications - you wouldn't want to let a client to access any old place on your harddrive.

Hopefully I'll figure out a way to map the media directory...  either with Tomcat or IIS.  If anyone knows a way of doing this, I'm all ears!

Scott-

[dkan24]

Scott,

How difficult would it be to have the song titles be hyperlinks to the actual file, so that when someone was viewing the website, they could click on the link and begin downloading that file to their PC?  I imagine this would have to pull the filename[path] info from the MC db...

Thanks,

Wobbley

That's what I want to do...  and it's not a problem putting the filename as a hyperlink.  The problem I have is that the path is absolute and the webserver works off of relative.  I guess I understand the security implications - you wouldn't want to let a client to access any old place on your harddrive.

Hopefully I'll figure out a way to map the media directory...  either with Tomcat or IIS.  If anyone knows a way of doing this, I'm all ears!

Scott-

I was thinking about going the webserver route but I have run into a problem.  The file names have spaces in them, but you cannot access something online if it has spaces.  Does anyone know a work around to this?

[JimH]

A space can be replaced with %20, I think.

[dkan24]

yes- thank you Jim.  Now I need to figure out how to put %20 in on the Lingo side.  

I really am loving programming.  Part of the reason I wanted to learn it was to add features to programs I already love, like MC9!

[sraymond]

yes- thank you Jim.  Now I need to figure out how to put %20 in on the Lingo side.  

I really am loving programming.  Part of the reason I wanted to learn it was to add features to programs I already love, like MC9!

What is Lingo?  Macromedia something or other?

I'm not sure how you're going from XML to ?, but you can easily enough write an XSLT that escapes the spaces, etc.

Scott-

[scott_r]

MC XML Export beta 4 has just been released. Check it out.

Scott.