[mythtv] PATCH: mythmusic enhancements

[Joseph A. Caputo]

> ------------------------------
> 
> Date: 14 Mar 2003 13:59:35 -0700
> From: Eric Andresen <ruler111 at cox.net>
> To: Development of mythtv <mythtv-dev at snowman.net>
> Subject: Re: [mythtv] PATCH: mythmusic enhancements
> Message: 2
> 
> I don't think having key accelerators on should mean that the person
> does not want to see the buttons. It should be a separate option.
> 
The thing is, in the current setup (not my doing), turning on keyboard
accelerators also turns off the ability to tab-traverse the buttons, and
since we don't have a mouse pointer the buttons are essentially just
non-interactive pixmaps.  They don't even give you a clue as to what the
corresponding keyboard accelerator is.  So I figuered, why display
useless buttons?  Also, up until this point every action in MythMusic
has had a button.  However, I just added 2 actions ('T' and 'L') with no
corresponding buttons, as I thought the display was getting too
cluttered.  The question is, which keybindings deserve buttons and which
don't?  I'd rather be consistent and have no visible buttons at all, but
I left the existing ones in so as not to tick anyone off.

Personally, I think keyboard accelerators should *always* be enabled
(they don't interfere with anything) and the display of the buttons
(assuming there must be a few) be the boolean option.  Maybe I'll code
up this behavior in my patch.

> Perhaps you should also add the current rating to the "Now Playing"
> area, so it can be seen even if your 'L' toggle is on.

Will do.  I'll key off of the ShowRatings option as to whether to
display it.

> 
> Another proposed idea.. is to change how the arrows interact with the
> system. Personally, If I get a song in my head, I like to play it. This
> is a pain to do with the current system. If the arrows Up/Down scrolled
> through the list (PgUp/Down as well), and enter/space selected for
> playing, it would be advantageous. "Next track" and Previous could then
> be bound to other keys

I agree... I think the Enter key would be okay for playing the selected
track; Space would conflict with the Qt-behavior for the buttons.  Any
suggestions for a new keybinding setup?

>... or perhaps simply allow the mouse cursor to be
> seen, and double click = select for playing.

Kind of pointless for people who don't use a mouse (i.e., LIRC or
kbd-only)

I'll probably go ahead and rework the MythMusic interface somewhat (at
least w/respect to keybindings).

The other thing I'm thinking about is modifying the interface to the
visualizations somewhat... here's the thought:  right now the
visualizations are drawn into a pixmap which is contained by and painted
onto a separate QDialog window.  I was thinking, what if the initial
display of the vis. was in the playlist area (i.e., if you turn vis on
or the playlist off, it replaces the playlist area).  The vis. could be
toggled fullscreen with the 'F' key or something.  It shouldn't be too
hard to revamp the MainVisual class so that it could be dynamically
reparented into either a separate dialog (fullscreen) or a widget in the
playlist area.  This is my first time dabbling in Qt, but after an
initial cursory investigation of the relevant classes I don't think it
would be too hard...

I'll also look into what it might take to support XMMS or WinAmp
visualization plugins.  I think XMMS has support (or a plugin to add
support) for WinAmp plugins, so XMMS support might kill 2 birds with one
stone, as they say...

As always, suggestions/feedback appreciated.

-Joe C.