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[muzicman0]

Is it possible to subscribe to a show from the guide?  How about record a single show?

For this to work in my setup, it would need to be a keyboard shortcut, as I use Event Ghost to control my system.

[JimH]

It's possible now.  Are you in Theater View?

[Yaobing]

In Theater view guide, select a program, press Enter/OK button on remote.  A number of options appear on top, including Record, and Subscribe.  Depending on your default settings, you may be asked a few questions which you can use your remote control to select an answer, or you will not be asked anything (all defaults apply).

There is no way currently to setup subscription rule like you do in Standard view.  So you will get a default rule, using program name as the search phrase.

[muzicman0]

Sorry, I wasn't clear...I mean directly from the EPG...I hate it when people say this, but something similar to the way WMC does it...highlight a program in the EPG, press record once to record, and 2 times to subscribe.

[glynor]

Remind me to come back here if I don't say something in the next couple days.

[CountryBumkin]

Sorry, I wasn't clear...I mean directly from the EPG...I hate it when people say this, but something similar to the way WMC does it...highlight a program in the EPG, press record once to record, and 2 times to subscribe.

I don't understand what your wanting to accomplish - if you are in Standard View >Television, you highlight a program and select "Record" (which then offers a choice to Record or Subscribe).
If you are in Theater View, you select a program on the Guide and there is choice to record or subscribe.
If you watching a program, you select it (mouse click or Remote Enter) and then choice record or subscribe pops up.
What am I missing?

[muzicman0]

In theater view...It's just a shortcut...I know I can select the program, and then select record or subscribe, and that is fine...been doing it for years.

In almost every other DVR I have used, you can highlight a program in the EPG and just press the record button on the remote...no need to go in and choose anything.

Use case would be for my wife at Christmas time who records every Christmas movie ever created.  The way it is now, she has to select the program, select record, then choose the next program, select record, etc.

I know it's only 1 extra button push, and not a big deal, but if I could just press record directly from the guide, and have it record with my default options, or press record twice to have it subscribe with my default options, it would be nice.  It's also intuitive.

[CountryBumkin]

Got it.
Good idea.

[glynor]

Use case would be for my wife at Christmas time who records every Christmas movie ever created.  The way it is now, she has to select the program, select record, then choose the next program, select record, etc.

Tip for the improvement of spousal happiness:

You could set up a subscription that records any program that contains the word "Christmas" and this would probably cover about 3/4 of her manually recorded shows.  Set yourself a calendar reminder to do it on November 1, and delete it on January 1, each year.

PS. That was not the comment to which I referred earlier.

[muzicman0]

Tip for the improvement of spousal happiness:

You could set up a subscription that records any program that contains the word "Christmas" and this would probably cover about 3/4 of her manually recorded shows.  Set yourself a calendar reminder to do it on November 1, and delete it on January 1, each year.

Thanks...I thought about that, but a lot of the shows titles don't have the word Christmas in them, and if I expand the search to include the description, the list is way too long (for example, today has 33 movies/shows if I just search for Christmas)...not sure if there would be a way to pair the list down or not.  I also don't want to record things like Jason meets Fredy Krueger the Christmas special (obviously a made up title, but you get the idea!), or SpngeBob SquarePants: It's a SpongeBob Christmas! (yep...an actual example from today!)

If I'm being completely honest, the wife hasn't complained about it, it was just a thought I had to make the TV section seem a bit more polished, or if there was a way to do it already, and I missed it, then great!  For the most part my wife doesn't complain about the setup we have.  That example was just an example of where it would make life a bit easier.

[Yaobing]

To record a show, select it and press the red record button once on the remote, just like in WMC.

To subscribe the show, press Enter, Right Arrow, and Enter again.  That is three presses, just one more than what you have to do in WMC.

[muzicman0]

I don't send actual WMC commands (since I use event ghost - which I have to for various reasons, and the WMC command integration with EventGhost is flaky...), is there a keyboard shortcut that will do the same thing?

As far as the only one more click, that's true, but you have to admit, it is easier to click a single button twice than to have to move you finger around the remote to do this...

Again, this isn't a huge deal to me, however, it is something that will add a bit of polish to the TV UI.

[CountryBumkin]

As far as the only one more click, that's true, but you have to admit, it is easier to click a single button twice than to have to move you finger around the remote to do this...

True, but think of the added benefit you get by moving your finger around. More calories burnt (might be able to work off that bucket of popcorn), plus the increase in finger muscle - useful when shooting, pointing, scolding, etc.. 

[JimH]

The possibilities are all listed here:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/DevZone

[imugli]

Sorry, I wasn't clear...I mean directly from the EPG...I hate it when people say this, but something similar to the way WMC does it...highlight a program in the EPG, press record once to record, and 2 times to subscribe.

While I don't actually subscribe to much these days unless its through SickBeard, I can see the merit in this.

[JimH]

To record a show, select it and press the red record button once on the remote, just like in WMC.

To subscribe the show, press Enter, Right Arrow, and Enter again.  That is three presses, just one more than what you have to do in WMC.

It was suggested above that a single press on the red button starts recording and a double press starts subscribing.  Seems reasonable.

[RoderickGI]

It was suggested above that a single press on the red button starts recording and a double press starts subscribing.  Seems reasonable.

Currently the second press is used to cancel a recording, with a confirmation question. I like that ability.

So if a two button press subscribes, it needs to be a "double click", based on timing. While two separate presses with time between them would still allow cancelling of a recording/subscription.

If this is done, the colour of the dot shown for a recording should be different to the colour for a subscription, so a user has immediate visual confirmation of what type of recording was just activated. Otherwise we may see lots of people creating subscriptions when they want a single recording, or visa versa.

BTW, in playing with this yesterday I discovered that if a program is part of a subscription, and I cancelled just one program instance in the subscription set using the record button, then the red dot for that program stays in place but turns white. I hadn't seen that before.

It shows how easy it is to have different coloured dots with different meanings. 

[muzicman0]

Currently the second press is used to cancel a recording, with a confirmation question. I like that ability.

So if a two button press subscribes, it needs to be a "double click", based on timing. While two separate presses with time between them would still allow cancelling of a recording/subscription.

If this is done, the colour of the dot shown for a recording should be different to the colour for a subscription, so a user has immediate visual confirmation of what type of recording was just activated. Otherwise we may see lots of people creating subscriptions when they want a single recording, or visa versa.

BTW, in playing with this yesterday I discovered that if a program is part of a subscription, and I cancelled just one program instance in the subscription set using the record button, then the red dot for that program stays in place but turns white. I hadn't seen that before.

It shows how easy it is to have different coloured dots with different meanings. 

I agree on all counts!

[imugli]

Currently the second press is used to cancel a recording, with a confirmation question. I like that ability.

So if a two button press subscribes, it needs to be a "double click", based on timing. While two separate presses with time between them would still allow cancelling of a recording/subscription.

If this is done, the colour of the dot shown for a recording should be different to the colour for a subscription, so a user has immediate visual confirmation of what type of recording was just activated. Otherwise we may see lots of people creating subscriptions when they want a single recording, or visa versa.

BTW, in playing with this yesterday I discovered that if a program is part of a subscription, and I cancelled just one program instance in the subscription set using the record button, then the red dot for that program stays in place but turns white. I hadn't seen that before.

It shows how easy it is to have different coloured dots with different meanings. 

I would have thought perhaps the way to deal with that scenario is to have a three way toggle. First Press - Record single (with resulting red dot), Second Press (as opposed to dbl press) - Subscribe (with a different color dot (perhaps Blue?), Third press - Cancel all. This could then allow changing it at any stage. i.e if you wanted to upgrade a future single recording (so you've pressed record once) to a subscription, you'd only have to press record once more. A third press at any time would cancel as per RoderickGI's post.

[Yaobing]

I would have thought perhaps the way to deal with that scenario is to have a three way toggle. First Press - Record single (with resulting red dot), Second Press (as opposed to dbl press) - Subscribe (with a different color dot (perhaps Blue?), Third press - Cancel all. This could then allow changing it at any stage. i.e if you wanted to upgrade a future single recording (so you've pressed record once) to a subscription, you'd only have to press record once more. A third press at any time would cancel as per RoderickGI's post.

The problem with this scheme is that you have to change it to subscription before you can cancel.  That does not seem right.  We need more ideas.

[imugli]

The problem with this scheme is that you have to change it to subscription before you can cancel.  That does not seem right.  We need more ideas.

You're right.

What about a popup dialog?

Press Record
Dialog with options based on current state appears.

If no current recording, dialog has "Record" and "Subscribe" options.
If current status = record single then dialog has "Subscribe" and "Cancel Recording" options.
If current status = Subscribed then dialog has "Cancel Single" and "Cancel Subscription" options.

Left button could exit popup with no action.

It still has more clicks than my previous suggestion, but could work IMO. 

[muzicman0]

The problem with this scheme is that you have to change it to subscription before you can cancel.  That does not seem right.  We need more ideas.

For what it is worth, I think this is a totally acceptable idea. 

[imugli]

For what it is worth, I think this is a totally acceptable idea.  

I agree. I think a three way toggle would be completely acceptable. Especially if accompanied by different colour recording indicators. I think this would work great in Playing Now as well...

[muzicman0]

I can't remember for sure, but I think it is the way that WMC works.  I KNOW it is the way my DirecTV DVR worked back when I had it.

[Yaobing]

If you need to subscribe in the first place, you do not want to first make MC to record, then change it to subscribe.  So some "double-click" mechanism is needed.  We need to keep timing on your presses.  If you do not press it the second time within, say half a second, we assume you want to just make an one-off recording.  If a second press comes in short succession, we subscribe.

When you press the button on a show that is already scheduled to record, we can show a pop up, with two choices Cancel, or Change to subscription, if the show has previously been scheduled to record.  Similarly, if the show has been previously scheduled to subscribe, then the options are Cancel this one only, cancel entire subscription, or change to one-off recording.

How does this sound?

[muzicman0]

Works for me...can you also make sure that there is a keyboard shortcut associated with this...such as ctrl-r or similar?

[RoderickGI]

How does this sound?

That sounds pretty reasonable. Although from my point of view, I would be happy if the single press and double press were used to create a single recording or a subscription, but then use the existing menus accessed via a press of Enter/OK to cancel or modify an existing recording.

But if you are willing to go the extra mile with pop up choices, that is fine by me. Please keep the menu method available as well, because I often press OK to look at the detail of the program, before deciding to record it.

Please also provide different coloured dots if possible.

Once again, great responsiveness from JRiver. 

[imugli]

If you need to subscribe in the first place, you do not want to first make MC to record, then change it to subscribe.  So some "double-click" mechanism is needed.  We need to keep timing on your presses.  If you do not press it the second time within, say half a second, we assume you want to just make an one-off recording.  If a second press comes in short succession, we subscribe.

When you press the button on a show that is already scheduled to record, we can show a pop up, with two choices Cancel, or Change to subscription, if the show has previously been scheduled to record.  Similarly, if the show has been previously scheduled to subscribe, then the options are Cancel this one only, cancel entire subscription, or change to one-off recording.

How does this sound?

Sounds ok.

TBH I fail to really see the difference between click click and click ... click but that works both ways I suppose.

My question would be with regards to different remotes implementing this I.e different remotes have different delays between button presses. Double clicking relies on the receiver receiving both click signals etc. In other words, the click click method introduces outside variables that a three way toggle doesn't, but essentially achieves the same thing (same number of clicks etc.)

I also think this

I can't remember for sure, but I think it is the way that WMC works.  I KNOW it is the way my DirecTV DVR worked back when I had it.

is a fairly compelling argument in itself as well, especially if you guys are trying to lure WMC users. If there is a "standard" out there, why reinvent the wheel? That's not to say that all standards can't be improved on...

[Castius]

I'm not too sure about double click either. These type of things effect the learning curve.
My DVR is two clicks. Hit record then choose single recorded or subscribe. Plus all the relevant subscribe options. This seems pretty reliable to me.

Quickly record with two clicks.
Then more if you want to do something more complex.

I don't think I've ever double clicked on a remote to perform an action.
If anything it would be a long press to bring up an option menu.

[RoderickGI]

My DVR is two clicks. Hit record then choose single recorded or subscribe. Plus all the relevant subscribe options. This seems pretty reliable to me.

This effectively exists. It just isn't by hitting the Record button. Instead;
To set a single recording from the Theatre View Guide - Highlight the program and click OK, OK. (Or of course, one press of the Record Button.)
To create a subscription recording from the Theatre View Guide - Highlight the program and press OK, Right Arrow, OK.

So MC is currently capable of what your DVR does, since you would also need to scroll to at least one of the selections after hitting Record, while the other would just be a second click.

I'm not too sure about double click either. These type of things effect the learning curve.

Everything has a bit of a learning curve. I guess pressing the Record Button once to record is intuitive, but anything else isn't. That comes from the button name, and all the training people received in the days of VCRs. Yes, using your VCR has a steep learning curve. Remember Mum and Dad giving the remote to the kids to record something? Subscriptions weren't available on VCRs, so there needs to be a new standard set for intuitive. If WMC and DirectTV used two presses of the record button to create a subscription, then that is a good standard to use.

While there used to be some issues in detecting double presses with some equipment, I'm pretty sure that has been sorted out with modern, faster IR devices.


Anyway, I think Jim and Yaobing have spoken. 

[Castius]

Not sure i was clear enough. I'm ok with some extra clicking. Just not double click.

I'm not a fan of IR anyway. So it's already a sore point for me.
And i I forget, but i had to deal with double signals coming from my logitech smart hub IR signal. I could easily see a conflict eventually.

[Yaobing]

OK, we will do it your way 

One press, record.  Second press subscribe if the show is a series (i.e. subscription makes sense).  Third press cancel.

[muzicman0]

Love it!

[imugli]

OK, we will do it your way 

One press, record.  Second press subscribe if the show is a series (i.e. subscription makes sense).  Third press cancel.

Brilliant :-)

[t42]

Playing devil's advocate here...

Keep the Record button as is (first press to Record, next press to cancel).
Swap Record and Subscription options in the menu, so simply pressing OK twice sets up a series recording. You can still get to the single recording by going OK, Right, OK (or just press the Record button).

Some thought required on what the Record button does on an existing Subscription recording (maybe bring up a menu to change recording type or cancel single/subscription?)...

Some differentiator in the EPG between single and subscription recordings is definitely required IMHO.

[muzicman0]

So I see in the latest build:

7. Changed: The behavior of pressing record button on remote control in Theater view televsion guide is changed.  If the show has not been scheduled to be recorded yet, pressing the record button sets the show to be recorded.  Pressing the button on a show already scheduled for one-time recording changes the one-time recording to a subscription.  Pressing the button on a show scheduled for subscription cancels the subscription.

Is there a keyboard shortcut for this as well so I can program it into EventGhost?