Topic: New Control System for MC (for Girder, etc.) (Read 15549 times)

Zoner · « **Reply #50 on:** March 14, 2003, 05:40:33 am »

> If it's just Play, and there's nothing in Playing Now, then that's what will happen.

Playing Now gets cleared, and the same thing happens regardless of which button I press - I tried them all. I am running build 127, and my MJEXTMAN is v1.0.17 (according to Explorer's File Properties).

The problem could simply be that someone/thing is clearing playing now before executing the command - that would explain everything, but why would that happen?

bspachman · « **Reply #51 on:** March 14, 2003, 10:36:17 am »

Zoner,

A couple of things could help troubleshoot this:

1) With the Girder window open, press your remote buton for a command that is exhibiting this behavior. Girder will highlight which command it executed in the tree on the left. Let us know which command it is.

2) If you are not using the MC9 group I created to run with the mjextman commands, you should then look in the "Action" pane of Girder (that's the area in the lower right, with all the tabs). Let us know what Action & all the parameters are for that command.

Assuming it's my GML, it will be something like: Action-"O.S." (the tab); Dropdown box="Execute"; File="mjextman.exe"; Step Size="/MCC 10000,0"; StartupOptions="Default"

3) Finally, start simply--Manually add some files to "Playing Now" and try the play/pause command to see if you can start & pause playback.

I haven't seen the problems you're having. I suppose it's possible that there are problems with build 127--I haven't moved up to it.

I know that when I started with Girder I had lots of problems with unexpected behavior. One of my main problems was that I had accidentally assigned the same eventstring (IR command) to several actions. Girder matches the first eventstring it finds in its tree, so if you have the same IR code assigned to "Play" and "Next", and you want to go to the Next track, but "Play" is ahead of "Next" in the tree, you will never be able to access the "Next" command. Knowing which command Girder is trying to execute (#1 above) will help.

Troubleshooting Girder & multi-program interactions is always a complex chore. Keep at it--we'll get it!

Brad

Matt · « **Reply #52 on:** March 14, 2003, 11:07:15 am »

Updated the MCC file for 9.0.129. You should be able to use SendMessage(...) stuff now.

RemyJ · « **Reply #53 on:** March 14, 2003, 06:41:38 pm »

Thanks Matt!! Brad's Windows Messaging runs great from Girder now (thanks again Brad).

Couple of issues...

I still haven't figured out what the stop_conditional and set_pause commands or the bNotActualNext parameter of the next command do.

Why would I want the stop command to pop up a dialog that says "MC encoutnered errors"?

If dialogs are popped-up up via the commands (like Playback options) and MC is not in the foreground, the dialog comes up behind the foreground window and there's no way to get rid of it or bring it to the foreground (the show_window command doesn't work here).

Each invocation of playback_options brings up an additional dialog window. I had 20 open before I realized that they were coming up behind the active window.

Calling set_currently_playing_rating with an argument of 0 seems to be ignored instead of setting the rating to ?

bspachman · « **Reply #54 on:** March 14, 2003, 11:22:10 pm »

Quote

Thanks Matt!! Brad's Windows Messaging runs great from Girder now (thanks again Brad).

You're welcome, but I took WindowsMessaging out until just now. You must have upgraded yourself!

Anyway, the build 129 version of my CCF/GML is at:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=1992010#post1992010

The big inclusion is the set of commands using Windows Messaging. It works great, Matt! Thanks for including it!

Quote

I still haven't figured out what the stop_conditional and set_pause commands or the bNotActualNext parameter of the next command do.

Me too... Other commands I'm not sure about are in my build bug post(s). Is it possible to pass non-numeric parameters? I thought some of that extra stuff in the MCC document was for build/documentation/real programmers only...?

Quote

Each invocation of playback_options brings up an additional dialog window. I had 20 open before I realized that they were coming up behind the active window.

Yep. I've seen this too. build 129...

Quote

Calling set_currently_playing_rating with an argument of 0 seems to be ignored instead of setting the rating to ?

This was a problem in 126 (& probably 127), but it's fixed in build 129. However, there is a more insidious bug in that the rating commands only take effect on the actively playing track, regardless of what you have selected in the list pane.

Best,
Brad

Matt · « **Reply #55 on:** March 15, 2003, 03:56:50 am »

Keep in mind that MC internally uses this same MC command system.

That's why there's some commands that don't make sense to fire from Girder. (like Stop with a warning for example) Some commands may even crash MC if you fire them from weird places.

I'd recommend not trying to figure out every single MC command. Just focus on the commands that you'd actually want to use with your remote.

Thanks again everyone.

bspachman · « **Reply #56 on:** March 15, 2003, 06:35:20 am »

Quote

That's why there's some commands that don't make sense to fire from Girder. (like Stop with a warning for example) Some commands may even crash MC if you fire them from weird places.

Gotcha. Do you have an idea which commands should generally be "no-no"s? So far, nearly every command I've tried does do something...

Quote

I'd recommend not trying to figure out every single MC command. Just focus on the commands that you'd actually want to use with your remote.

Too late!

Best,
Brad

RemyJ · « **Reply #57 on:** March 15, 2003, 06:51:48 am »

Quote

This was a problem in 126 (& probably 127), but it's fixed in build 129. However, there is a more insidious bug in that the rating commands only take effect on the actively playing track, regardless of what you have selected in the list pane.

The extra zero... Hmmm. I must have looked at that command for 10 minutes trying to figure out why it didn't work and I didn't catch that.

I'm not sure I'd consider rating taking effect on the currently playing track a bug. That's how I'm using it. Maybe there should be a set_current_selection_rating command.

bennyd · « **Reply #58 on:** March 16, 2003, 12:48:06 pm »

When in Hairstyle mode, going to VIS mode doesn't work with the 22009,2 command

Mastiff · « **Reply #59 on:** March 17, 2003, 05:24:12 am »

One thing that comes in the way of the control system (at least visually) is the "Please select files to play" box. Couldn't there be an option to make it dissappear after a second or so, as well as the "Playlist is empty" box? Or even an option not to show those at all, just to play a warning sound?

bspachman · « **Reply #60 on:** March 17, 2003, 07:14:25 am »

Mastiff,

I meant to catch you and your multizone expertise. I've upgraded the MC9 GML I've been working on to control 6 zones directly, per Matt's information. However, I don't have multiple zones available for even rudimentary testing, so I haven't released it yet.

Would you be interested in taking a look? Let me know...

Also, I can confirm the bug listed above--trying to activate Full Screen mode only activates Hairstyle: MCC 22009,2 & 22009, 3 do the same thing...

Best,
Brad

bennyd · « **Reply #61 on:** March 19, 2003, 08:16:04 am »

When in Full Hairstyle Mode (22009,3), it is not possible to switch to Full Visualisation mode (22009,2) via the new MCC commands, it stays in Full Hairstyle Mode.

Doof · « **Reply #62 on:** March 19, 2003, 11:36:01 am »

So is there any chance of getting a set of commands to start MC up in specific modes? I haven't heard any word on this...

Ingo · « **Reply #63 on:** March 22, 2003, 03:39:25 pm »

bspachman,

thanks for the .gml seems so work great (and saved me quite some work :-))

matt,

there are a few things I'm missing... It would be great to navigate in MC9 without needing MC9 to be the top window. Could you add MCCs for UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT and ENTER (select)?
Girders keyboard stuff only seems to be able to target MC9 when it's in forground.

and one more thing: is it possible to import a folder(-strukture) using mjextman.exe? I couldn't find anything that worked for MC9.

and one last thing: It would be great to have a command (for mjextman) that syncronises a folder strukture with MC's database. This would a) import all files in these folder/sub folders and b) remove any entries from MC's database that point to files in that area that don't exist anymore...

Thanks for considering these things.

Ingo

p.s.: everytime I try something new with a new version of MJ/MC it's just great. kind of boring that is.... ;-) keep up the good work.

bspachman · « **Reply #64 on:** March 22, 2003, 07:35:46 pm »

Quote

So is there any chance of getting a set of commands to start MC up in specific modes? I haven't heard any word on this...

I haven't tried this in a while, (and I keep forgetting to mention it...) From the Developer's page on command line parameters:

"mjextman.exe /Mode [modename] if the app is not running the call starts MJ in the specified mode, if it's already running the call switches Media Jukebox to the specified mode. List of Mode names: Megame, Minime, Fullscreen. If modename is empty MJ will start in user defined mode."

Best,
Brad

RemyJ · « **Reply #65 on:** March 22, 2003, 11:53:23 pm »

Quote

there are a few things I'm missing... It would be great to navigate in MC9 without needing MC9 to be the top window. Could you add MCCs for UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT and ENTER (select)?
Girders keyboard stuff only seems to be able to target MC9 when it's in forground.

You have to send the keystrokes to either SysTreeView32 or SysListView32 instead of MJFrame.

Ingo · « **Reply #66 on:** March 23, 2003, 01:57:53 am »

Quote

You have to send the keystrokes to either SysTreeView32 or SysListView32 instead of MJFrame.

no I didn't... thanks for the tip... it works, but (real big one):
how do I find out which pane is active, which mode (MM,mm,hairstyle or fullscreen) is active?
I think it would make sense do provide means of navigation via MCCs...

matt,
even more stuff to come... it doesn't seem to be possible to target MC while it's minimized to the tray (when minimized to the taskbar it works....) is this going to change?

Ingo

bspachman · « **Reply #67 on:** March 23, 2003, 09:07:56 am »

Version 1.5 of the CCF/GML combo is available at:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=2019739#post2019739

The major changes are directly targeted playback commands for multi-zone setups (6 zones currently defined) & the inclusion of a GML that has pre-assigned eventstrings for the USB-UIRT.

Best,
Brad

bspachman · « **Reply #68 on:** March 23, 2003, 09:12:03 am »

Quote

no I didn't... thanks for the tip... it works, but (real big one):
how do I find out which pane is active, which mode (MM,mm,hairstyle or fullscreen) is active?
I think it would make sense do provide means of navigation via MCCs...

I don't think there's anyway to find out which input area is active...

I've tried to work around this in MJ8 (& MC9) a couple of ways:

1) Assign buttons for navigation in each pane...
(This just got confusing and ended up irritating me.)

2) Accept the fact that I would need to look at the screen when navigating and just use keyboard commands with MJ as the front-most app.

#2 worked out the best for me since I actually don't navigate that often. I use the /TREEPATH modifier to jump around in the tree directly. That allows me to get just about anywere I want with a single button--although it did require a bunch of setup.

Best,
Brad

Ingo · « **Reply #69 on:** March 23, 2003, 10:33:29 am »

Quote

I don't think there's anyway to find out which input area is active...

that was my guess as well..

so we are either left with targetting MC in forground or have to see what Matt is going to implement ;-) (hi Matt, any hope for this? ;-))

Ingo

Mastiff · « **Reply #70 on:** March 23, 2003, 11:07:01 am »

And how about a command to send a file (like a numbered playlist, hint, hint) to a specific zone? Right now I can use Brad's setup for playback, but have to use my setup which changes the active zone first to be able to open a playlist. Is this easy to implement, or even possible?

sraymond · « **Reply #71 on:** March 23, 2003, 03:18:27 pm »

What's wrong with still using the MJ Girder plugin?

bspachman · « **Reply #72 on:** March 23, 2003, 06:12:00 pm »

Quote

What's wrong with still using the MJ Girder plugin?

Well, it doesn't install under MC9 (I'm guessing it's primarily the registry key issue that affects several other plugins...)

Besides that, the new Media Core Command interface opens up several hundred commands that can now be manipulated with Girder.

If you are still running MJ8, you will be limited to the MJ-Girder plugin.

Is there something you prefer about the plugin as opposed to the new system?

Brad

sraymond · « **Reply #73 on:** March 23, 2003, 06:23:04 pm »

The plugin installed just fine for me... I'm using it on the latest version of the beta. I'm not sure when I installed it, but I remember asking about it - and I was told it was "coming". A few weeks later, it came.

I like the plugin becuase it doesn't care about focus!

I had thought all the plugin did was let me send Commands (Wparam and Lparam) to the plugin vice the .exe - making for a cleaner integration.

Am I missing something?

Scott-

Mastiff · « **Reply #74 on:** March 23, 2003, 09:29:43 pm »

Does that mean that MC has to have focus for the windows messages to work? In that case I'll go for the mjextman-commands since I want MC to take commands when it's minimized as well, without taking focus away from what I'm doing (maybe playing a game or something).

Ingo · « **Reply #75 on:** March 24, 2003, 12:17:21 am »

not sure for MJ's girder plugin, but MC will take MCCs while minimized to the taskbar, it won't when minimized to the tray.

hope this will change. I'm so used to minimize it to the tray to save some space on the tastbar, it would be hard to give that up....

Ingo

Zoner · « **Reply #76 on:** March 24, 2003, 04:09:34 am »

FYI, girder works fine for me now with MC9 build 133 and the latest GML, using Windows messages. No idea why it didn't work before with MJEXTMAN.

bspachman · « **Reply #77 on:** March 24, 2003, 05:42:40 am »

Mastiff,

No, MC does not need to have focus to use either the messaging parameters or the mjextman controls. (Except for the possible system tray problem that Ingo has noticed). I run MC minimized all the time, but to the task bar.

Scott,

Good to know the plugin is still working for someone. I haven't bothered with it since build 126 came out with the new MCC commands. The MCC commands don't care about focus either. MC can be maximized, minimized, or partial screen. You are right, the plugin basically translates Wparam/Lparam values to the EXE, but with the new MCC commands, you don't need the plugin to do it. MC9 itself understands the parameters. Plus, the new MCC commands are a much larger set of commands than the old plugin had available. See:

ftp://ftp.jriver.com/pub/downloads/music/tmp/MCCommands.h

for a full list. I've put together a GML that includes all of these commands (plus some) that folks appear to find useful as a starting point. See the posts earlier in the thread for details...

Zoner,

Good to know that messaging works! I use it myself so that I rely on as few "helper" programs as possible.

Best,
Brad

Ingo · « **Reply #78 on:** March 24, 2003, 07:04:02 am »

Quote

Good to know the plugin is still working for someone.

it works for me as well... but you're right, we probably don't need it any longer.... with one exception: the girder plugin even works whith MC minimized to the tray.

It doesn't help for navigation with MC not in forground. Even though navigation is possible without having to target it as 'forground', it doesn't work when it isn't in foreground.

Ingo

Mastiff · « **Reply #79 on:** March 24, 2003, 07:31:39 am »

Brad, thanks. Now let's see if Matt can help us out with the "start playlist in specific zone"-problem.

sraymond · « **Reply #80 on:** March 25, 2003, 07:32:55 am »

Thanks for the explanation... although I still don't understand what the functional difference is between the Sendmessage and the Girder plugin is. Don't both effectively send the wParam and lParam message to Media Jukebox.exe? Why wouldn't the Girder plugin also work with the new commands?

As Ingo pointed out, the Girder plugin works regardless of the state of MC. It can be in focus, out of focus, minimzied to systray, or in mini-me. This is a must have for me!

Scott-

bspachman · « **Reply #81 on:** March 25, 2003, 03:05:57 pm »

Quote

Thanks for the explanation... although I still don't understand what the functional difference is between the Sendmessage and the Girder plugin is. Don't both effectively send the wParam and lParam message to Media Jukebox.exe? Why wouldn't the Girder plugin also work with the new commands?

I don't know if it would work. I haven't tried to make the MJ-Girder plugin work with MC9. It would be good to know if the old plugin does work with all the new commands...let us know if you find out!

Quote

As Ingo pointed out, the Girder plugin works regardless of the state of MC. It can be in focus, out of focus, minimzied to systray, or in mini-me. This is a must have for me!

Well, apparently except for "minimized to tray", so does the mjextman/MCC parameters....

Best,
Brad

Ingo · « **Reply #82 on:** March 25, 2003, 03:26:58 pm »

Quote

Well, apparently except for "minimized to tray", so does the mjextman/MCC parameters....

and MiniMe. MCCs don't work in MiniMe, doesn't hurt me very much.... didn't use it for ages. just for testing.....

Ingo

Matt · « **Reply #83 on:** March 26, 2003, 12:48:55 pm »

NOTE: file updated to be current with 9.0.134

http://ftp://ftp.jriver.com/pub/downloads/music/tmp/MCCommands.h

Mastiff · « **Reply #84 on:** March 27, 2003, 05:36:25 am »

OK, I got to admit that I'm totally lost with windows messages and advanced stuff like that. But am I right in thinking that it's now possible to for instance open a certain playlist in the zone you want, without chaning the active zone? In that case: Thanks a lot, Matt! I think I'm done (as soon as Brad releases a new version of his fantastic combo, with this function in it - I won't even try to start to understand this stuff), and this time I really mean it!

Now I'm working on my car system, I bought a new motherboard and an AMD Duron 1,2 yesterday (I don't need more, and I don't want any more heat than necessary) for just over a 100 dollars. I could simply restore on of my older images from the HT/Media computer, so installation was fast. Startup time with Windows XP pro from hibernation: 10 sec! From full shutdown: 30 sec! Shutdown to hibernation: 6 sec! Full Windows shutdown: 12 sec. In other words totally acceptable as a car audio system.

bspachman · « **Reply #85 on:** March 27, 2003, 03:27:02 pm »

Quote

OK, I got to admit that I'm totally lost with windows messages and advanced stuff like that. But am I right in thinking that it's now possible to for instance open a certain playlist in the zone you want, without chaning the active zone? In that case: Thanks a lot, Matt! I think I'm done (as soon as Brad releases a new version of his fantastic combo, with this function in it - I won't even try to start to understand this stuff), and this time I really mean it!

A new combo is coming... I'm trying to decide what's the best way to add the new commands. Should I add the new commands to a "new" folder at the end of the GML or should I intersperse them to the groups throughout? Adding at the end is good because it lets you get rid of the commands you may have already assigned IR codes to or tweaked after you import and lets you just deal with the new ones.

Adding in the middle is good because it keeps things synched with what JRiver is maintaining. I'm leaning to adding new commands to the end of the GML. Any ideas?....

Also, I've looked through the new info intently, but I don't see the ability to open a playlist in a specific zone. Am I missing something, or is Mastiff guilty of wishful thinking...?

If it's there, I'll be adding it.

Best,
Brad

Mastiff · « **Reply #86 on:** March 27, 2003, 09:21:38 pm »

I suggest the end, since it saves time when you won't have to go through the old commands to see what you need to weed out.

As for the zone specific file opening it seemed like you could open a file in any zone by adding the prefix for that zone, but I might be wrong. As I said I know naaaaaaaathing (even though I'm not from Barcelona) about windows messages.

akak718 · « **Reply #87 on:** March 27, 2003, 09:42:07 pm »

Quote

not sure for MJ's girder plugin, but MC will take MCCs while minimized to the taskbar, it won't when minimized to the tray.

Not true. I have been using windows messages to send to tray icon since that feature was added. The trick is in girder. In the Target dialog for the command you want, the only checkboxes that should be set are "Match Invisible Tasks" and "Executable". Executable should be set tp "Media Jukebox.exe" No other boxes need to be checked, but there may be other combinations that work.

-Lou

akak718 · « **Reply #88 on:** March 27, 2003, 09:46:08 pm »

Quote

(I don't need more, and I don't want any more heat than necessary)

So let me see if I have this straight - you don't want extra heat, but you bought AMD? Ok, interesting choice.

Ingo · « **Reply #89 on:** March 27, 2003, 10:59:00 pm »

Lou,

thanks for pointing this out.... didn't change a lot in Girder during the last months and totaly forgot about that...

you're right. this way it is possible to target mc9 when it's minimized to the tray or in MiniMe mode.

so all that is left to add for Matt is navigation... ;-)

Ingo

Mastiff · « **Reply #90 on:** March 28, 2003, 12:06:31 am »

Quote

So let me see if I have this straight - you don't want extra heat, but you bought AMD? Ok, interesting choice.

Yes...and no. First of all I had a perfectly working image that could be transfered directly to this system, which saves me some hours of setup. Second of all it was a question of cost. The new parts to this system cost around 100 dollars, that wouldn't even buy the CPU if I went with P4. And finally the heat generated by a very moderatly taxed (playing three MP3 files at the same time) on a Duron 1.2 really doesn't crate much heat.

Mastiff · « **Reply #91 on:** March 28, 2003, 12:06:38 am »

Quote

So let me see if I have this straight - you don't want extra heat, but you bought AMD? Ok, interesting choice.

Yes...and no. First of all I had a perfectly working image that could be transfered directly to this system, which saves me some hours of setup. Second of all it was a question of cost. The new parts to this system cost around 100 dollars, that wouldn't even buy the CPU if I went with P4. And finally the heat generated by a very moderatly taxed (playing three MP3 files at the same time) Duron 1.2 really doesn't crate much heat.

bspachman · « **Reply #92 on:** March 28, 2003, 03:06:36 am »

Quote

Not true. I have been using windows messages to send to tray icon since that feature was added. The trick is in girder. In the Target dialog for the command you want, the only checkboxes that should be set are "Match Invisible Tasks" and "Executable". Executable should be set tp "Media Jukebox.exe" No other boxes need to be checked, but there may be other combinations that work.

Lou, thanks for the reminder!

The next version will have "Match Invisible Tasks" enabled by default (unless it screws up other things--I don't think it wil).

Best,
Brad

Mastiff · « **Reply #93 on:** March 28, 2003, 03:10:46 am »

Hey, Brad, have you managed to find out if it is possible to open to a specific zone now?

kanman · « **Reply #94 on:** April 03, 2003, 04:14:58 pm »

With these control codes I noticed that I can access some of the commands from the file menu. If I want to access commands that are not there (unless I missed them) what is the best way to determine what the code is if there is one...for example - if I want to get at one of the Media Library groups that I have created that breaks the albums into alphabetcial groupings ("a-c","d-f" etc...) can I use these control codes for that purpose...and if so is it trial and error to find the correct code under the "File" section (20000). As you can path to it from File-Quick Play-Media Library etc...

I want to be able to cleanly - from grider/netremote - filter down my album list for easy searching - I know that the new remoteserver will allow me to control this but I want to display it within some of my NetRemote windows...(i.e. press a button for "a-c" and those are the albums that are displayed - I think this may be a little more user friendly for others at home...)

Thanks for any help and/or suggestions

Kevin

bspachman · « **Reply #95 on:** April 03, 2003, 06:18:40 pm »

Quote

With these control codes I noticed that I can access some of the commands from the file menu. If I want to access commands that are not there (unless I missed them) what is the best way to determine what the code is if there is one...for example - if I want to get at one of the Media Library groups that I have created that breaks the albums into alphabetcial groupings ("a-c","d-f" etc...) can I use these control codes for that purpose...and if so is it trial and error to find the correct code under the "File" section (20000). As you can path to it from File-Quick Play-Media Library etc...

Just making sure I understand:
You want to jump directly to a custom view scheme you've created with the MCC commands.

Matt may correct me, but I don't think there is a built-in way to do this now. The closest command is MCC_SHOW_TREE_ROOT (#22003), but I think that only allows you to jump to the top level of each tree entry (eg. Start, Playlists, etc.) The "File" section of the MCC commands don't accept parameters, so they only do what their description says.

I can think of 3 possible ways to (maybe) work around this with Girder. One is to try to capture the command values with Girder's built-in sniffer. A lot of times this won't work because the parameters used are not persistent between sessions. This has hung up my ability to "Girder-ize" the filters in a useful way.

Another possibility is to investigate Girder's "HidePopUp" plugin, which allows access to contextual menus without needing the application in the foreground.

The third way is the only way I know that will work. It's to use the old "TREEPATH" parameter for mjextman.exe. Each viewscheme would need a separate command, but this should work well. Your Girder command will be something like: "mjextman.exe /Play TREEPATH=Media Library\Audio\yourViewSchemeHere". See http://www.musicex.com/mediajukebox/DevZone/CommandLine.html for more details.

Best,
Brad

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Author Topic: New Control System for MC (for Girder, etc.) (Read 15549 times)

sraymond

sraymond

sraymond