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[EnglishTiger]

As of MC32.0.32 there are now 7 V2.0 MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins. The Basic TrackInfo, Album + Track Info and Tags panels have been restructured to make them more Classical Music Friendly, and there are 4 New Variants - MC Ultra IV and the Classical Music Friendly MC Ultra IIC, IIIC and IVC that have Track + Album Info as the default "View..."

MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins is a family of 7 lightweight trackinfo plugins designed for use with every Standard View Skin.</br>
They combine most of the options from CSS Dream, one of MC's oldest trackinfo plugins, with some options and features from the ET Ultimate Series of trackinfo plugins.
They use responsive/flexible columns and rows to display the Album Artwork and Field/Tag Information/Data; the font size adjusts with the Display Panel height whilst the Cover Art size and position adjusts with both its width and height.
They have 2 DropDown Menus, "View..."  to allow the user to control what Field/Tag Information/Data is displayed, and "Search for..." to allow the user to obtain relevant info from the Web.
Column 1 is used to display the DropDown Menus, CoverArt and Basic Track Info and Column 2 where the Header and Field/Tag Information/Data for the selected "View..." is displayed.
Field/Tag names and their content are always displayed in full.
The routines/methods used to extract data from the MC Library fields/tags were designed to cope with some of the fields/tags they can display being present on some installations and not on others.
Unlike the 2 MC Tag Windows where the background colour can be used to differentiate between Fields/Tags that can be edited and those that can't, the variants that display Tag Windows Content display a lock symbol for Fields/Tags that can't be edited.

NOTE. Due to the limitations of the methods used when determining if a field/tag is not empty the MC Ultra IV & IVC "Tags with Values" options do not display the content of the following fields/tags - Biography, Composers Biography, Lyrics or Notes, nor should they be modified to display them or the contents of any other field/tag that has an Edit Type of Large Value.

They automatically switch between Classical and Non-Classical display modes when displaying the Basic Track Info in Column 1 and the Track + Album Info in Column 2.

N.B. The MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins use; Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modernist, Postmodernist or Contemporary in the MC Genre Field/Tag of the track being played to switch into "Classical Display Mode"

Thanks to some excellent work by Matt, Bob and Hendrik unlike all existing TrackInfo Plugins, which use hard-coded colour information/values, the MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins get their Back and Text Colour Information/Values from the Skin that is currently loaded/in use.
While MC is playing a selection of tracks and you decide to change skins whilst a Track is Playing when MC starts playing the next track the plugin will "Automatically" switch to using the same Back and Text Colours as the new skin.
Or if you want the "Skin Matching Magic" to happen while the current track is playing all you have to do is Click on the Plugin's Cover Art, it acts as a Button that will refresh/reload the current view.

The main difference between the variants is the number of options available on the "View..." DropDown Menu.

MC Ultra, MC Ultra II, III and IV

MC Ultra has 6 options:-
Biography - Displays the contents from the Biography field/tag
Comments - Displays the contents from the Comment field/tag
Lyrics in 1 Column with Vertical Scrollbar - displays the Centred Lyrics in 1 Column.
Lyrics in 2 Columns with Horizontal Scrollbar - displays the Centred Lyrics in 2 Columns.
Lyrics in 3 Columns with Horizontal Scrollbar - displays the Centred Lyrics in 3 Columns.
Notes - Displays the contents from the Notes field/tag

If you don't already have a Biography field/tag in your MC Library and wish to implement one then, since it is normally used to hold the "Artists Biography", I recommend that you set it up with an Edit Type of String, Relational store on value for each artist and an Edit Type of Large Value.

MC Ultra II adds a 7th option:-
Track + Album Info - A combination of the Track + Info page from the ET Ultimate Series of trackinfo plugins and the File Info and Played Info panels from CSS Dream

MC Ultra III has 9 options:-
The 6 from MC Ultra plus
Tags - Modern Tag Window - Displays the contents of all the tags/fields that are visible in the Trees Modern Tag Window
Tags - Legacy Tag Window - Displays the contents of all the the tags/fields that are visible in the Trees Legacy Tag Window
Track + Album Info option from MC Ultra II

MC Ultra IV has 11 options:-
The 6 from MC Ultra plus
Tags - Modern Tag Window - Displays the contents of all the fields/tags that are visible in the Modern Tag Window
Tags - Modern Tag Window - Tags with Values - Only displays those fields/tags and content that are visible in the Modern Tag Window that have content
Tags - Legacy Tag Window - Displays the contents of all the the fields/tags that are visible in the Legacy Tag Window
Tags - Legacy Tag Window - Tags with Values - Only displays those fields/tags and content that are visible in the Legacy Tag Window that have content
Track + Album Info option from MC Ultra II

MC Ultra IIC, IIIC and IVC
Unlike MC Ultra, MC Ultra II, III & IV, which have the "Lyrics in 2 Columns with Horizontal Scrollbar" as the default "View...", MC Ultra IIC, IIIC and IVC all have the "Track + Album Info" as the default  "View...".
They have the same options on the "View..." DropDown Menu as MC Ultra II, III or IV
However the Biography option is relabelled as "Artists Biography" to make it more obvious that "Biography" is a Relational Field tied to the Artist field/tag
Plus an additional option:- Composers Biography - Displays the contents from the Composer's Biography field/tag

If you don't already have a Composer's Biography field/tag in your MC Library and wish to implement one I recommend that you set it up with an Edit Type of String, Relational store one value for each composer and an Edit Type of Large Value.   

The "Search for..." DropDown Menu provides the same 11 Options in all 7 variants:-
Info about Artist on Wiki
Info about Album on Wiki
Info about Track on Wiki
Info about Composer on Wiki
Artist Images on Google
Artist Images on DuckDuckGo
Album Art on Google
Album Art on DuckDuckGo
Composer Images on Google
Composer Images on DuckDuckGo
Lookup Lyrics on Google

All of which open a New Browser-Engine Page outside of MC

[mattlovell]

It's great that these plugins are now part of MC!

I had a quick question for English Tiger...  Could you suggest how genreTest() would be augmented to consider "Baroque" in the same way as "Classical" (for the purpose of switching between your variants)? 

I was expecting to see a test against Genre, so the getElementById("classic") retrieval is throwing me off!

Thanks,
  Matt

[mattlovell]

I was expecting to see a test against Genre, so the getElementById("classic") retrieval is throwing me off!

Ah, I see.  It is a hidden element placed by index.html.  So, the switch/case statement can just be augmented.

[mattlovell]

One other question using ET Darkness -- Ultimate TrackInfo ...

If I delete the tab that is handling "Player", causing MC to open a small Display window in the left-hand, the background for the album cover is all white (see below).  That's somewhat jarring given the overall dark theme!

Where might I find where that background gets set?

Thanks.

 

[EnglishTiger]

mattlovell - As you have probably guessed I belong to the Group of Classical Music Fans who consider Baroque Music to be one of the Stages/Eras/Periods in the development of Classical Music.
Thankfully modifying the MC Ultra and ET Ultimate TrackInfo Plugins to treat Baroque Music as a "Category of Music" instead of a "Type of Classical Music" is something that can easily be achieved.

As you have discovered it is the JavaScript Function used to decide which "Display Style/Mode" (Classical or Non-Classical) to use when building the Basic Track Info under the CoverArt and the Track + Album Info panel that needs modifying.

For all ET Ultimate TrackInfo Plugins it is the genreTest() function in et_javascript.js that needs changing by adding a 'case "Baroque":' instruction immediately below the 'case "Classical":'  instruction.
For the MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugins, which use a slightly different structure, it is the switchBti() and switchTai() functions in mc_javascript.js that need the additional 'case "Baroque":' instruction added immediately below the 'case "Classical":' instruction n both functions.

Note - do not copy the opening and closing quotes in the 'case "Baroque":' statement/instruction if you use cut nd paste to copy the above modification into the relevant JavaScript file.
A useful piece of information. Every MC Ultra TrackInfo Plugin uses the same mc_javascript.js file and every ET Ultimate TrackInfo Plugin  uses the same et_javascript.js file;
So all you need to do is modify the mc_javascript.js file for 1 MC Ultra Plugin and/or the et_javascript.js file for 1 ET Ultimate Plugin and once you are satisfied the Modified File is working as intended copy the Modified JavaScript file to all the other Plugin Family Variants.

With respect to that "In your face" white background everybody observes when the Display Panel in the Tree is open, unfortunately that one is under the control of the MC Skinning Engine so it would require somebody to Request a change to how that "window is drawn".
However there is a "User Option" that only works when the Display Panel is still present in the MC Window but not necessarily visible, that does modify the look of the Display Panel in the Tree, the next time it's open if you right click anywhere in the window click on the "Show Cover Art When Small Option", which switches that option off, that window will switch to displaying a smaller version of the Display Panel normally displayed in the Right Hand Column.

[mattlovell]

Thanks for the help.

I unchecked "Show Cover Art When Small Option".  (Previously, when I had no Track Info visualization selected and was just going with a generic cover art display, the background for that small windowed display always seemed to match that of the selected Standard View skin.  Hard to discern as a user, though, what's responsible for rendering what!)

My only other unknown is what your plugin is using for "Composition: " in the info display.  I suspect your tagging scheme is likely more rigorous (or at least different) from mine.  For popular music (non-baroque, non-classical, non-romantic), I'm quite happy with MC Ultra and glad to see it integrated!

[EnglishTiger]

Matt - Although the MC Ultra and ET Ultimate TrackInfo Plugins are dependent on the Standard Genre Field/Tag containing the Word Classical, or Baroque in the modified version, to be able to differentiate between Classical and Non-Classical Music; the JavaScript Routines used to Switch between Classical and Non-Classical "Display Mode" treats anything else in the Genre Field/Tag for the Current Track (i.e. Pop, Rock, Heavy Metal) as Non-Classical.

If you open the ult2_tai.html file from MC Ultra II in Notepad++ and scroll down to the area between lines 89 and 100 you will see the Tags the plugin is using when displaying the Basic Track Info in "Classical Mode"
Likewise lines 158 to 202 contain the instructions used to build the "Classic Mode" Track Info part of the Track + Album Info Panel.
Despite the limitations of HTML and CSS, unlike more sophisticated programming/scripting languages, you can tell HTML or CSS what to do when Genre = Classical but not what to do if it contains any other value. That decision has to be made in something like JavaScript.
Lines 158 to 202 contain Instructions telling it what to do if a Tag/Field Wer and I added contains Data usually followed by an instruction telling it what to do if the Standard Tag/Field they replace contain Data.


When designing My TrackInfo Plugins I enlisted the help of Wer to help determine what additional information would be needed to display Classical Music "Metadata" in a better/meaningful way than had previously been attempted.
Which meant there are was a need to introduce some New Fields/Tags as replacements for some of the existing Tags/Fields, i.e. "CompositionType" as a replacement for the existing Genre Tag/Field, along with others which have never existed in MC.
The "Composition" Tag/Field is essentially a direct replacement for the Standard "Work" Tag/Field, but unlike the "Work" tag can be modified for use with Wer's Auto-Parsing Concept
Once that list of Fields/Tags had been assembled I actually spotted that some of them could also be used with non-classical tracks.

If it's OK with you Tomorrow I will send you a Forum Message listing all the the New/Additional Tags/Fields Wer and I added, some of them are set up to use Wer's Auto-Parsing Concept, along with their format and purpose.

Incidentally I noticed in your latest post you indicated that you are also using "Romantic" as a "Music Category" to get the TrackIno Plugins to treat them as a Type of Classical Music, instead of Non-Classical Music, all you need to do is add a 'case "Romantic":' instruction below the 'case "Baroque":' in the relevant JavaScript functions you added the 'case "Baroque":' instruction to.

[whoareyou]

Currently, when playing from server the plug-in is not available on the client machine. 

Is it possible to add the ability for client to use the plugin when playing back from its server?

[EnglishTiger]

Currently, when playing from server the plug-in is not available on the client machine. 

Is it possible to add the ability for client to use the plugin when playing back from its server?

How is the "client machine" connected to the server and if it's a PC what version of MC is installed on it?

[whoareyou]

Client is connected via access key.  All machines are 32.0.18. 

[EnglishTiger]

Strange because when I use my Mac-Mini (Client) to play tracks that are on the Win-PC (Server) in playing now I get the right click option that lets me use one of the MC Ultra Plugins.
However both the Win PC and the Mac-Mini are on the same Ethernet Switch, but if I use my mac-book, which is using wi-fi to communicate with the win pc not only does that option not appear on the mac-book the selected track(s) get played on the Win PC and not the mac-book.

[whoareyou]

Ok, so it seems like it should work.  Weird it works wired but not wirelessly for you.

In my case, server is on one managed switch, and client is on second managed switch connected to server's switch.  Client just won't display the option.

[bob]

Are the Media Network Client options the same on both machines ET?

[whoareyou]

Are the Media Network Client options the same on both machines ET?

They were not and this now seems to be working, but I'm not positive this was the solution.
 
The client had both Authentication and Auto Sync selected.  Not sure when this was turned on, and I don't remember ever configuring users or these settings.  Anyway, deselecting both of these options and rebooting the client Trackinfo now is available and works.  It did not work until rebooting, and I have yet to see if I can replicate this via some combination of these options. 

Then, I realized I had 2nd client machine.  I upgraded that one to 32, and Trackinfo worked fine with same options enabled.  I disabled the options on this machine, and everything still works as expected.

But wait... there's more (and this one might need a separate thread), and it's a bit complicated to explain.
At one point I used the 1st client as a windows 11 file server.  It had USB drive with a bunch of windows' share drives configured on it. 

The 2nd client machine (one just converted over to32) imported the share drives for a local library, so the drives appear "local" to the 2nd client.  I then connected the 2nd machine via access key to the same server as client 1, so I could use the same library structure. 

This 2nd client is has the option "Play local file if one that matches library server on client" selected.  This worked great, and all files played "locally", including blurays in original format.

Now here's the interesting part.  I've disconnected the USB drive from the 1st client,  originally used as file server.  The share files no longer exist, but the 2nd client machine still has the local library that points to these now non-existent files.   Actually, it still has the shares configured, but they are non-existent with USB disconnected.

Now on the 2nd client machine, when the "play local file..." option is selected the bluray still plays in original format, as JRiver seems to think there is a local copy, but the USB drive is disconnected and the file does not exist. There is no "local" file that exists. 

How???
  User error on this part.  I finally realized, and forgot, that the client was connected to the server's share drives, so the files were indeed "local" to the client

[EnglishTiger]

Are the Media Network Client options the same on both machines ET?

Bob - I think I've found out why the MacBook was playing on the Win-PC

I'd had the "Explorer" option switched on in the Win-PC MC32 and what I hadn't noticed was the track I'd selected on the MacBook was one that was on the same Disc as the tracks as the ones in the Win-PC Library but were not in the Library.

I switched the "Explorer" option off on the Win-PC, moved the tracks/albums that were not in the MC32 Library onto a different disc so that neither the Mac-Min or MacBook could see them. Now I've got a MacBook that plays tracks from the Win-PC through it's own speakers.

[whoareyou]

Ok, this now seems to be working as expected, but I'm still not sure exactly why the option was initially missing.

I still have one more client related question, and that is for the case where the client is connected to a "there" zone, and remote controlling the server. 

For this case, client being used as remote control, the Ultra Trackinfo plugins are not an option.  Is this how that is suppposed to work?

[whoareyou]

Bump....
Does anyone know if the trackinfo should be available when client is connected to a "there" zone?

"Lyrics" can be specified to display, but the trackinfo menu option is not available.

Thanks

[whoareyou]

Bumping one more time.... Does anyone know the answer to this question?