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[glynor]

Well, I'm about to really get into it.  I've been using my HTPC for a while now without Girder, and it's okay, but I really would like to improve the functionality from my Remote Control.  Here's my story:

Remote control: ATI Remote Wonder 2
Primary Media App: MC 11 (of course)
DVR App: BeyondTV (though I own SageTV too, it doesn't change channels reliably with my 550Pro card)

Hardware: AMD AthlonXP-M 2500+ (@ ~2.2GHz), ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Motherboard, ATI AIW X800XT video card, 1GB RAM (@ ~190MHZ DDR), gobs and gobs of disk space, Sapphire ATI 550Pro TV-Tuner Card.

I'd like to be able to more completely control MC with my remote (for example, I'd like the left and right arrow buttons to do CTRL-L and CTRL-R only in MC), and re-assign the buttons in BeyondTV, work better with FireFox (PageUp/Down increase/decrease text size, Play=reload, FF=forward, RW=back, etc).

This means that I'll need Girder to send different actions out for each keypress on the ATI remote depending on which application is "on top".  (Much like the default ATI driver software works).  I require that the mouse keeps working on the remote (and I'd like it if it works better than it normally does).  I'd also like the ability to assign some commands that do the same thing no matter which app is in the foreground (for example, I'd like the number buttons to cycle through the number and then letter like a cell phone, but to do it the same in all apps).

I'm pretty sure all this is possible with Girder, but I'm a bit lost as to where to begin.  I've read both the "manuals" available on the Girder site, but neither of these address sending different commands depending on the active app.

Where should I start?  What recommendations do you have?  Am I crazy to start this project (aka is this going to be a 3 week nightmare or a 15 week nightmare)?

[widman99]

I have Girder setup with different groups for each of the programs I want to control, but have these groups disabled on startup.  I also have a master group that controls opening and closing each application.  When I start an application using the remote, Girder enables the group with specific remote mappings for that application.  When I close the application, Girder disables that group to prevent mistargeting remote commands.

This method really only allows you to have one application open at a time.  If you want to have multiple applications open, you need to have Girder detect which application has focus.  I haven't tried this, but there are two example files on the Girder download page that may help you.  Basically Girder figures out which application has focus and enables the appropriate group for that application.

widman

[glynor]

Yeah, the second of the two options would definately be what I need.  My HTPC is really a full PC, with a keyboard and a mouse (actually 2 mice) and everything.  Obviously your method wouldn't work because if I launched MC by double-clicking on it's icon on the desktop (or by some other method) Girder wouldn't know to enable the MC group.

I'll check out the "focus checking" files you mentioned.  Does anyone have experience with this currently (come on, I asked here because I know some of you do)?

[glynor]

Anyone?   

I got lazy and never actually did this, but 11.1.124's new 30 second skip feature makes me want to do this again.  I'm sure some people out there have great Girder files already created, it would make my life a LOT easier if I could just modify one rather than starting from scratch...

[Matt]

Anyone?   

I got lazy and never actually did this, but 11.1.124's new 30 second skip feature makes me want to do this again.  I'm sure some people out there have great Girder files already created, it would make my life a LOT easier if I could just modify one rather than starting from scratch...

Start with the one here:
MC\Data\Extras\Girder

If you make any improvements, submit it back so we can share them with everyone.

Thanks.