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[slowly]

Hi all of you !

I want to build a display with several buttons below it. I want to implement 'softbuttons' which should be used for controlling the PC. I want to write a display driver and a plugin for girder to be able to check the button state. This way I can control my DVD player and i hope I can control MediaJukebox with it. Is there a possibility to navigate through the Album database (it would be perfect, if I could select Artist/Album search and then navigate through the database). This would require, that I can somehow access the selcted Artist/Album, so my display can show it. Some Plugins seem to get that info somehow (Vis Plugins). Is there a way to do what I want to do ? Can MJ somehow pass the selected Album to Girder, and can Girder send this Data to my plugin ? Is there a better/easier way to accomplish this task ?

A lot of questions ... I hope someone understands what I would like to do ...
slowly

[claudio]

PhatPhreddy has been working on something similar in the last little while. Search his posts for some more info

Claudio

[PhatPhreddy]

Search the Girder site and forum for LCD Driver and DVDSpy... Mike has ported this for v8...

If you make the buttons either able to output commands in serial or a pronto via IR or web interface via TCP/IP girder can catch and act...

[slowly]

LCD Driver doesn't support my display. (It is a SED1330 grafical display with 240x128 pixels)
I want to write my own 'driver'. It is connected to the parallel port and I would like to use the 5 unused input lines for the buttons. Since I don't want to use a micro controller I would prefer a solution with the LPT. There I can use my PC as the 'intelligence' in the system.
Since I have to write my own code for the display anyway I thought about building an app, that handles all the button commands and passes the correct commands to girder. Is this a redundant implementation ? Can Girder handle states and tell my App what it has to do (e.g. show the next album within a MJ collection and when I hit the button, that is assigned to that command at the moment can handle the necessary MJ commands and tell my app to change the display accordingly) ?
Or would it be better to catch the buttons in my app and to decide there what has to be done ? Then, after this I send commands to girder, which handles MJ (and DVD-Player) commands. Would this be easier / more effective ?
Thanks for any suggestions. I am not very familiar with girder nor with MJ. A professional hint would be very welcome !

Thanx again
slowly

[JimH]

slowly,
I don't entirely follow what you want, but be sure to check the Developer's Zone pages here and there, take a look at the Interface SDK.  It allows an app to control MJ.  Web Remote plug-in is an example of an app that does this.

[slowly]

Hm, I thought that would happen.
I'll try again : I want to put a display in my PC. underneath the display I want to place several buttons. Those buttons should have different functions, depending on the context. (MJ, DVD Player, TV Application ...)
The Display should show the function each Button has at any given moment. Therefore I need to implement a state based model, which changes the display according to the context and I have to make sure each button does what is stated on the display.
That is the first problem.
The second one is, that I would like to be able to parse through the MJ database with those buttons (in MJ Mode), so I can search for (Genre/Artist/Album or Playlist) and when I am down the hirarchy I want to be able to push the play button and the specific Album/Playlist starts playing. Therefore I need to be able to get the data from MJ to my display somehow and I just wanted to ask, if I can program that with the MJ API (also playtime and other stuff would be nice to show on the display). How this can be done in detail will be an issue later, but if it is not possible at all, I'd like to know now, before I start building the hardware.

The hardware design part is almost finished now. I found a way to connect 32|PLS| buttons and the display to the same parallel port. I am now concerned about the software side.

I will check SDK and develpers pages (did already, but was way to much to get all the info just by taking a quick look over the pages and I thought you might be able to answer the question)

Thanx anyway
slowly

[Phat Phreddy]

I think this is what you are looking for....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148792

You could also check the advices given here (I really think that a pronto CCF and IR reciever is the way to go... but thats my opinion)... http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=148446&perpage=10&pagenumber=1 that contains lots of links for alternative methods of getting control in...

You are not alone it seems there are other people playing mad scientist on this idea too.... !!

PP

[slowly]

That is a similar concept. I am finished with my hardware design (almost at least). I am just not sure how to implement MJ into this concept. I want to be able to use my htpc without a monitor (standalone-like). I want to be able to go through all my Albums and when I find the right one I hit play. A Pronto can't help me there, because it can't even recieve the next album title.
MJ somehow has to give me access to the database and I have to control MJ from another application. I would be happy if I could do that with girder (one plugin less to code ), but if I understand it correctly then girder can control MJ (like Play or next playlist), but you cannot get any information out of the database. (maybe except for the title playing now, but I need full access to see an album _before_ I start playing it.
Thats where I'm back at the topic. I think with girder and the plugins you cannot navigate through the database, correct ?
In this case I need to write a MJ Plugin which gives me access to the database from a different app, right ?!? I think WebRemote is a great example for that. I think I can learn a lot from it.

The problem is, that I have to make 4 programs work together: MJ, Girder (because I also have a Remote), DVD-Player(whichever) and TV App and that is very tricky. I still have no real idea what to implement in which part of the project. We'll see ...

slowly

[Phat Phreddy]

Dont discount the power of a Pronto... Although it is not automatic you can use some nice tools on Remote central to make a speadsheet of your albums and then link that the the playlists or APL (for me) files... If you use the web remote plug in you can save the HTML and convert it to XLS thereby saving a lot of typing... Sure its static listings not dynamic but it does give you complete CD jukeboxing on the pronto (look on remote central for jukebox CCF tools and similar)...

Also Girder is already set up for al the major SW DVD players (just grab the GML) and dScaler (the best quality SW deinterlacer there is) also has a GML...

If you realy have the codeing skils I would have thought that parseing the HTML from the web remote into suitable info would be the easiest way to get non destructive info from the database... I would have a talk with Mike who wrote DVD Spy and the LCD Driver SW for Girder about getting the album lists displayed... I know he commented that having the SDK made porting DVDSPy to MJ8 only a small amount of work... Perhaps with this done gaining 'Album' lists would not be so tough (check Girder forums for Mike and MJ8 / DVDSpy info)...

For me I am drowning in the fact that I am emmigrating around the world in the next few weeks so my projects are going on hold not starting new ones... I find that a speadsheet of Albums and manually adding each new album to the pronto (say once a week) is a task that does not kill me and having access to albums direct from the pronto screen easy...

Have you thought about the bi-directional control systems about a 802.11 equipped PDA ?? I know a lot of AVS'ers are keen on this control ?? I personaly also use the web remote and a Stylistic Point 510 touch screen tablet PC (powerbuyed about 100 of them) to control my HTPC with god audio system attached...

PP

[PhatPhreddy]

ROTFLMAO !!! Ha just saw this for a type fruedian slip (or fuedian slit as my Dad always put em) !!

"to control my HTPC with god audio system attached." !!

Hey its nice but I know its not yet that good !!!! Nirvana is still some ways off...

[slowly]

Hehehehe ... godlike equipment and listening to mp3 - u must be kidding me !!!

Hm, some good hints. As for the remote, I cant afford a pronto. I don't mind getting off of my couch to select which music I want to hear, since my living room ist not that big ...
using the webremote directly might be a very good tip. So my software would act just like a normal network client, but of course I won't show the html page itself. This might save me a lot of work. I think I will contact the author, maybe he can provide a very simple interface (text only would be nice) and a list of commands. Well, the commands shouldn't be a problem, since you get 'em free with the html.
I think I'll have a close look at webremote first and then I'll contact the author. Thanx !

I use a normal remote to control my PC with Girder, Zoomplayer, DScaler, MJ and other Software at the Moment, although very minimalistic. My main goal is to control it when I am sittin' right in front of it, and I want to see, what I am doing, hence the display. (That and I want my GF to be able to play some music without fireing up the projector.
The remote is used just occasionaly, to press pause in a movie or to mute 'cause the phone is ringing, but thanx for your suggestions.

slowly