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[Vocalpoint]

Becoming a huge fan of JRemote and now with the new iOS7 update - it's getting better and better. One of the things I cannot see - is the ability for the user to "refresh" a Smartlist on the fly to get a fresh set of tracks.

I have a wide variety of Smartlists - available under the Playlists area. Usually I select one but might not be exactly thrilled with the selections presented.

Is they a way to use JRemote to tell MC to send down another set of tracks from this Smartlist? I did notice that the composition of the Smartlists will change if I drop right out of JRemote and come back in - but that's not a good solution.

If there is a way to do this - would appreciate knowing how. If not - perhaps a feature request?

Cheers,

VP

[glynor]

Read:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=89108.msg613154#msg613154

[Vocalpoint]

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=89108.msg613154#msg613154

Gotcha. So basically the answer is no.

I do see that "right arrow" button in the extreme upper right - when pressed takes one into a detailed (dark) view for the playlist. And I tried the Action->Refresh button on my smartlists and it basically all it does is "reload" (not Refresh) the existing list.

I would like Action->Refresh to actually pull a fresh set of track using the Smartlist parameters and have an additional (and more logic) "Reload" command under the Action menu - that just reloads the existing tracks in the current existing order.

I also notice that using Action->Reshuffle does reshuffle the list - but always leaves the first track as the first track. No matter how many times I press Reshuffle - I can never get the first track to change to another song in the list. Some work to do here.

Cheers,

VP

[glynor]

Close and reopen the list.

[Vocalpoint]

Close and reopen the list.

That only works about 1 out of 5 times. Not sure what I am doing wrong.

VP

[firedog]

Yes, I have the same problem. Even closing and reopening JRemote usually doesn't refresh the smartlist. There should be some way for JRemote to tell JRiver to refresh the smartlist.

[Vocalpoint]

Yes, I have the same problem. Even closing and reopening JRemote usually doesn't refresh the smartlist. There should be some way for JRemote to tell JRiver to refresh the smartlist.

JRemote clearly does not actually treat the list as a Smartlist - rather just a "List" which it seems to get just the one time and keeps displaying just those tracks.

Really defeats the purpose of a "smartlist" as I am never satisfied with the "first" grab from such a list. Would be nice to be able to press a button to get the list to display a completely different set of track each time. Just like MC does it.

VP

[glynor]

If you reconnect to the server, it'll refresh all the lists based on Smartlists.

Go back to the root, and then re-select the current server from the list of servers.

[Vocalpoint]

If you reconnect to the server, it'll refresh all the lists based on Smartlists. Go back to the root, and then re-select the current server from the list of servers.

I realize that it may be a workaround but it's an annoying one. "Leaving" the server and reconnecting is about as user unfriendly as it gets and is a totally unnecessary sidetrack in our listening. And it really doesn't help if someone else is running the iPad and wants a different selection of tracks. Like my wife for example. Her answer to this will something like "I won't remember to do that. I might just as well put Songza on".

VP

[firedog]

If you reconnect to the server, it'll refresh all the lists based on Smartlists.

Go back to the root, and then re-select the current server from the list of servers.

Well, I just tried that several times and it worked about 50% of the time. Maybe not important to you guys at JRiver, but I think one of the goals of JRemote should be to duplicate any JRiver interface functions that work during a normal listening session. This refreshing of smartlists function works fine in the main JRiver interface, but not using JRemote.

[Vocalpoint]

Well, I just tried that several times and it worked about 50% of the time.

This is my experience as well.

VP

[Hendrik]

This is technically MCs fault, not JRemotes. MC will save a smartlist response when queried over MCWS for improved performance, instead of re-calculating the list every time.
JRemote on Android does in fact fire off a fresh request every time you open a smart list, but MC responds with the same cached content.

There is actually a separate function to directly retrieve the files from a Smartlist (in contrast to the generic "get files from folder" function), which does reset the smartlist everytime its used.
So a remote could use that. Its the "Playlist/Files" function. Although getting the playlist ID from the navigation structure is probably not that obvious, hmm.

Edit:
For MC21:

NEW: MCWS Browse/Children contains more information about the type of the entry, and the PlaylistID if appropriate (only when requesting Version 2).

This should allow remotes to handle smartlists a bit smarter.

[Vocalpoint]

NEW: MCWS Browse/Children contains more information about the type of the entry, and the PlaylistID if appropriate (only when requesting Version 2). This should allow remotes to handle smartlists a bit smarter.

Awesome. Thanks!

VP

[firedog]

Edit:
For MC21:

NEW: MCWS Browse/Children contains more information about the type of the entry, and the PlaylistID if appropriate (only when requesting Version 2).

This should allow remotes to handle smartlists a bit smarter.

Can you tell us in plain English what that means?

[glynor]

It means in MC21, the API that JRemote uses behind the scenes will allow it to ask for refreshed Smartlists. Currently the API does not allow for this, or at least not easily. There is, already, a call that will give you a new "refreshed" version of a Smartlist, but you need to know the Smartlist's ID number to ask for it.

JRemote shows the Smartlists via the normal "browse a tree" method (the same as it does to show you the results of your Media Views). So, the new command Hendrik added allows you to find out what type of view you're browsing, and get the Playlist ID if it is a Playlist type of view, so that you could then call the special "give me a refreshed playlist" command instead of the normal browse command.

This would require a new version of JRemote, but having the API there to do it is an important first step (obviously).

Hendrik, one issue here, assuming I understand it correctly is when you use "smartlist-style Views" instead of actual Smartlists. Almost all of mine are set up this way in Theater View and Standard View, at least.  Wouldn't it be nicer, and easier, to have a "force refresh" option for the normal Browse/Children MCWS call?

That way, JRemote could have a "refresh this view" button for any View (whether Smartlist or not). It already has this button in the UI, doesn't it? But, you could add it via the now-standard "pull down to refresh" mechanism too, which would be cool.

[Hendrik]

Hendrik, one issue here, assuming I understand it correctly is when you use "smartlist-style Views" instead of actual Smartlists. Almost all of mine are set up this way in Theater View and Standard View, at least.  Wouldn't it be nicer, and easier, to have a "force refresh" option for the normal Browse/Children MCWS call?

I don't think those views cache their content like smartlists do, I don't see it in the code anyway.

[glynor]

I don't think those views cache their content like smartlists do, I don't see it in the code anyway.

Oh. That explains why mine seem to work.