STV Import: System Monitor

[deria]

STV Import: System Monitor (deria)

Overview
========

The System Monitor plugin is an extremely configurable disk utilization monitor, supporting:

* large, easy to read displays with a color coded legend (green = abundant free space, yellow = marginal free space, red = extremely low free space)

* the ability to exclude specific hard disks from monitoring

* a high degree of customizability; virtually any aspect of what you see can be changed (all from within SageTV)

NOTE: This plugin is NOT meant to supercede the excellent disk utilization monitor written by Nielm. The purpose of this plugin is to provide a full screen disk utilization monitor; it is most useful to those that do not necessarily want to see the disk utilization monitor all the time, and to those using an STV which does not include Nielm's work.

DOWNLOAD LINK
===========

This file is available through the SageTV Download Area. You can download it by going to the following address:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...?do=file&id=39

Project Status
==============

This is a beta-release. It is considered "ready" for public review, but has not yet received extensive testing.

Why release a BETA release?

I am actively seeking feedback on the overall functionality of the plugin; in particular, it is important to determine at this stage what additional functionality users are expecting from a plugin of this nature. The current implementation of this plugin recreates a substantial majority of the functionality found in the FreeeeeeSpace plugin -- the functionality which has not been implemented has been omitted because it is not practical/sensible in the context of SageTV.

System Requirements
===================
SageTV (licensed)
JAVA 1.4.x OR JAVA 1.5.x

Portability
===========

Will this plugin work with SageMC / Meekell / Something Else?

Unless the author of the STV in question integrates the plugin into his/her STV, the short answer is "no". The plugin is not particularly difficult to integrate, but it does depend on themes that are present in the default STV.

Are STV authors allowed to integrate this plugin into their STVs?

Yes! STV authors are allowed (encouraged, even) to integrate this plugin into their STVs. They may either import the plugin as-is (ie: only making changes necessary to make it work with their STV) OR they may perform any modification to the plugin that they desire (ie: make the interface better, more efficient, etc.).

Warranty
========

This software is provided strictly on an "AS IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AND ELECTRIC STORM SOFTWARE, LTD. HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL SUCH WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.

Installation
============

WARNING: Installing a plugin with SageTV is not always a trivial process; it is not complicated, but it is very easy to make a mistake that can render your .STV unuseable. To avoid such a disaster, be very careful and PLEASE MAKE A BACKUP. The installation instructions guide you through the process of making a backup. This is the only warning you will receive. I accept NO responsibility for ANYTHING that might happen as a result of installing this plugin.

There are two methods you can use to install this plugin.

If you are using the default .STV and using Nielm's Dynamic Customisable Main Menu:

1) Close SageTV completely (do not use 'sleep'/'standby').
2) Make a backup copy of your .STV file (typically found in "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv\stvs\sagetv3\sagetv3.stv" if you are using the default .STV). Note that you cannot import into the default .STV -- if you have never done an import, you will need to make a copy of SageTV3.stv and (using the properties display) remove the read-only flag.
3) Make a copy of your sage.properties and/or sageclient.properties files (typically found in "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv\stvs\sagetv3\ "folder).
4) Unpack the archive attached to this post into your SageTV installation folder (typically "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv" folder). Please note that the files need to be in the same directory as SageTV.exe / SageTVClient.exe -- they cannot be in a sub-folder.
5) Open SageTV.
6) On the main menu, choose "setup".
7) On the "Setup Menu", choose "Detailed Setup".
8) On the "Detailed Setup" menu, scroll down to "Advanced".
9) In the right-hand panel, choose "Import SageTV Application Package (.STVi File)".
10) Using the file selector, locate and select "system_monitor_19nov2005.stvi" (typically "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv" folder).
11) The system monitor is almost ready for use.
12) Press HOME to get back to the main menu.
13) Right click a menu entry, or press ESC/Options and select "Edit This Menu Page".
14) Select "Add Menu Item".
15) Select "System Monitor Plugin - deria".
16) Click "Save Menu Definition File".

If you are using the default .STV and NOT using Nielm's Dynamic Customisable Main Menu:

1) Close SageTV completely (do not use 'sleep'/'standby').
2) Make a backup copy of your .STV file (typically found in "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv\stvs\sagetv3\sagetv3.stv" if you are using the default .STV). Note that you cannot import into the default .STV -- if you have never done an import, you will need to make a copy of SageTV3.stv and (using the properties display) remove the read-only flag.
3) Make a copy of your sage.properties and/or sageclient.properties files (typically found in "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv\stvs\sagetv3\ "folder).
4) Unpack the archive attached to this post into your SageTV installation folder (typically "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv" folder). Please note that the files need to be in the same directory as SageTV.exe / SageTVClient.exe -- they cannot be in a sub-folder.
5) Open SageTV.
6) On the main menu, choose "setup".
7) On the "Setup Menu", choose "Detailed Setup".
8) On the "Detailed Setup" menu, scroll down to "Advanced".
9) In the right-hand panel, choose "Import SageTV Application Package (.STVi File)".
10) Using the file selector, locate and select "system_monitor_19nov2005.stvi" (typically "c:\program files\sage tv\sage tv" folder).
11) The system monitor is almost ready for use.
12) Press Control+shift+F12 to open SageTV Studio.
13) Scroll down to "Main Menu", and expand it.
14) Expand "MainMenuContainer".
15) Drag an "item" widget onto the "MainMenuContainer" element. Rename it to "Disk Utilization" (or whatever you want) by clicking on it once, waiting a few seconds, clicking on it again, and then typing the desired name. You can move the new menu up or down by pressing Control+U (for up) or Control+D (for down) while it is highlighted.
16) Scroll down to "System Monitor Plugin".
17) Drag "System Monitor Plugin - deria" to your new menu entry.
18) Close SageTV Studio and press your HOME key to reload the main menu. Ignore the yellow outline that appears on the menu - it just indicates what the last item in SageTV Studio was. It will vanish when you next restart SageTV.

That's it. At this point you should have a new menu entry.

Configuration
=============

There are numerous configuration options for this plugin.

Title Template

This is the template for the title that will be shown in the disk utilization graph. The token '[time]' will be automatically replaced with the time at which the data shown on the graph was collected.

Message Template

This is the template for the text that is shown beneath the disk utilization graph. The tokens '[drivename]', '[volumename]', '[percentused]', '[percentremaining]', '[gbused]', '[gbremaining]', '[gbtotal]', '[mbused]', '[mbremaining]', and '[mbtotal]' will be replaced with appropriate values automatically.

Exclude List

This a list of drive letters (without colons, backslashes, spaces, or any other punctuation) that will be excluded from the disk utilization graph.

Alarm Limit

This is the capacity (as a percentage) at which a drive should be considered to be dangerously low on space.

Text Size

This is the size (in points) of the text that will be drawn within the disk utilization graph.

Refresh Time

This is the number of minutes to wait before refreshing the content of the disk utilization graph.

Colors

This menu allows you to choose the various colors used within the disk utilization graph. You may set the colors of the following items:

Graph Text Color
Graph Border Color
Graph Item Outline Color
Graph Item Background Color
Graph Item Healthy Color
Graph Item Caution Color
Graph Item Alarm Color

You may choose from the following colors:

(These color names are case-sensitive. Sorry.)

Transparent
AliceBlue
AntiqueWhite
Aqua
Aquamarine
Azure
Beige
Bisque
Black
BlanchedAlmond
Blue
BlueViolet
Brown
BurlyWood
CadetBlue
Chartreuse
Chocolate
Coral
CornflowerBlue
Cornsilk
Crimson
Cyan
DarkBlue
DarkCyan
DarkGoldenrod
DarkGray
DarkGreen
DarkKhaki
DarkMagenta
DarkOliveGreen
DarkOrange
DarkOrchid
DarkRed
DarkSalmon
DarkSeaGreen
DarkSlateBlue
DarkSlateGray
DarkTurquoise
DarkViolet
DeepPink
DeepSkyBlue
DimGray
DodgerBlue
Firebrick
FloralWhite
ForestGreen
Fuchsia
Gainsboro
GhostWhite
Gold
Goldenrod
Gray
Green
GreenYellow
Honeydew
HotPink
IndianRed
Indigo
Ivory
Khaki
Lavender
LavenderBlush
LawnGreen
LemonChiffon
LightBlue
LightCoral
LightCyan
LightGoldenrodYellow
LightGray
LightGreen
LightPink
LightSalmon
LightSeaGreen
LightSkyBlue
LightSlateGray
LightSteelBlue
LightYellow
Lime
LimeGreen
Linen
Magenta
Maroon
MediumAquamarine
MediumBlue
MediumOrchid
MediumPurple
MediumSeaGreen
MediumSlateBlue
MediumSpringGreen
MediumTurquoise
MediumVioletRed
MidnightBlue
MintCream
MistyRose
Moccasin
NavajoWhite
Navy
OldLace
Olive
OliveDrab
Orange
OrangeRed
Orchid
PaleGoldenrod
PaleGreen
PaleTurquoise
PaleVioletRed
PapayaWhip
PeachPuff
Peru
Pink
Plum
PowderBlue
Purple
Red
RosyBrown
RoyalBlue
SaddleBrown
Salmon
SandyBrown
SeaGreen
SeaShell
Sienna
Silver
SkyBlue
SlateBlue
SlateGray
Snow
SpringGreen
SteelBlue
Tan
Teal
Thistle
Tomato
Turquoise
Violet
Wheat
White
WhiteSmoke
Yellow
YellowGreen

Change Log
==========

1.1.2 (initial release/deria)

[deria]

The latest version of this plugin is available from:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...?do=file&id=39

[silkshadow]

I cannot fully express how happy I am to see the first Meedio plugin ported over to Sage!!!!!!!

Thanks alot deria!

[deria]

...but does it work?

I think I may have picked the wrong plugin to port first. As nearly as I can tell, there has been only one download. Without knowing if this one actually works (ie: whether or not the framework is solid and my porting method is reliable) its going to be hard for me to move on to my other plugins. I can only speculate as to why there are no real downloads (either the plugin is uninteresting, the warning scared people away, the installation process was too hard, etc.). Hopefully some people will at least try it, though, because I can't really proceed until some people do and report back their success/failure.

[greggerm]

Originally Posted by deria

I can only speculate as to why there are no real downloads (either the plugin is uninteresting, the warning scared people away, the installation process was too hard, etc.).

Both SageTV natively (through the "unsupported options" area) and one of the most popular STVi imports (Neilm's custom menus) both have a similar disk-space monitoring widget right up front on the main menu already. While they work slightly differently, they do provide similar information (hours or GB of space remaining).

I think a low download count may simply be because many people may already have a tool at their disposal that does the same thing? Speaking only for myself, that would be why I haven't yet picked it up.

All efforts are good, though!
-Greg

[salsbst]

For most folks who aren't (yet) into the whole Studio thing, I think the installation process might look a bit daunting.

Personally, I think I fall near the very conservative end of the spectrum for modifying my production machines, and my free time is taken up with my own pet projects. I do think it's great that you're getting involved, though!

One thing you might do is provide alternate instructions that make use of (or just point people to) nielm's dynamic menus feature, which would remove the necessity of people actually opening Studio to establish a link to your menu, or use the importing methodology to establish one for them.

[deria]

Originally Posted by greggerm

I think a low download count may simply be because many people may already have a tool at their disposal that does the same thing? -Greg

Well, that certainly is possible. I realize of course that disk-space-left is not a very exciting plugin. The reason I chose it to port first was because it was (by far) the simplest of my plugins, meaning it would be the easiest to port without needing to implement alot of other stuff at the same time.

I think that what I hoped to gain from doing the plugin was feedback as to whether or not it was functional so that I could move on to a more interesting plugin. Unless someone actually tries out this one, I'm left in the unenviable position of spending alot of time implementing another plugin only to be unsure whether or not it will even work.

[deria]

Originally Posted by salsbst

One thing you might do is provide alternate instructions that make use of (or just point people to) nielm's dynamic menus feature, which would remove the necessity of people actually opening Studio to establish a link to your menu, or use the importing methodology to establish one for them.

I'll have to look into that. Easier would certainly be better, as you are quite correct that the installation process is not exactly "welcoming".

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by deria

...but does it work?

I think I may have picked the wrong plugin to port first. As nearly as I can tell, there has been only one download. Without knowing if this one actually works (ie: whether or not the framework is solid and my porting method is reliable) its going to be hard for me to move on to my other plugins. I can only speculate as to why there are no real downloads (either the plugin is uninteresting, the warning scared people away, the installation process was too hard, etc.). Hopefully some people will at least try it, though, because I can't really proceed until some people do and report back their success/failure.

I think Greggerm hit it on the head. There's already a disk space useage/lookahead bar in the "unsupported" extras as well as in other STV's/STVi's.

Look for something we either don't already have, or needs some serious enhancement for your next port and I'm sure you'll see a much better download count.

[deria]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I think Greggerm hit it on the head. There's already a disk space useage/lookahead bar in the "unsupported" extras as well as in other STV's/STVi's.

Look for something we either don't already have, or needs some serious enhancement for your next port and I'm sure you'll see a much better download count.

Well, I see your point, but its something of a chicken-and-egg thing. I'm not worried about whether or not people actually use this module on a day to day basis. It would be nice if they did, but like you've said theres already a perfectly good disk space monitoring module. I'm only looking for people willing to download, install, and confirm the functionality of this plugin. If they do that, then I can be reasonably sure (before spending 60 hours porting something more useful) that the next plugin will work and people won't have installation issues and such. See what I mean? The amount of time that it takes to write, release, and support a plugin is not trivial. I'd like to have some certainty that its time well spent instead of time spent doing things the wrong way.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by deria

Well, I see your point, but its something of a chicken-and-egg thing. I'm not worried about whether or not people actually use this module on a day to day basis. It would be nice if they did, but like you've said theres already a perfectly good disk space monitoring module. I'm only looking for people willing to download, install, and confirm the functionality of this plugin. If they do that, then I can be reasonably sure (before spending 60 hours porting something more useful) that the next plugin will work and people won't have installation issues and such. See what I mean? The amount of time that it takes to write, release, and support a plugin is not trivial. I'd like to have some certainty that its time well spent instead of time spent doing things the wrong way.

I can understand your point too. It's been a long time for me, but I did some programming a long time ago to create a utility so I could manage our user groups BBS (see I told you it was a long time ago!) from a remote location. I lived in an area with a crappy phone exchange and someone was willing to put the BBS in their basement which had a good phone exchange with good local calling for most of the users. So I had to build a utility that would allow me to do all the maintenance of the BBS without having to drive 15 miles each way to edit a batch file, or rename a file. So I can relate to the amount of time/effort someone puts in on even a simple change/addition.

I currently don't have any alternate STV's/STVi's on my server except for the "unsupported" options, and I think the only thing I use there is the disk bar.

Why am I so skittish about installing STV's/STVi's? I've been running Sage for well over a year and in that time it has NEVER, EVER, crashed, locked up, or in general pooped the bed. That's on 3 different cpu's. I started on an old 900mhz cpu, tried a new case/mobo/cpu but didn't like the noise/expandability, and then finally moved to a full tower case, full ATX mobo.
I'm sure that may be part of the reason others haven't tried it out. They have a stable system, and already have that feature available to them so they don't want to risk making their system unstable for something they already get. If they see something they've been wanting it will probably be worth the risk to them.

But then again, my needs are simple. I record TV, I watch those recordings. Never, Ever watch live Tv through Sage, don't watch DVD's, or play Cd's through Sage. What little I listen to CD's at home may get me to use Sage since all my Cd's are ripped onto a network drive. If I ever get around to ripping all my DVD's to a network drive and Sgae gets to the point where it can do those ripped DVD's with full menu support (maybe it already can with plugins?) then I may look into that too.

[salsbst]

Originally Posted by deria

Well, I see your point, but its something of a chicken-and-egg thing. I'm not worried about whether or not people actually use this module on a day to day basis. It would be nice if they did, but like you've said theres already a perfectly good disk space monitoring module. I'm only looking for people willing to download, install, and confirm the functionality of this plugin. If they do that, then I can be reasonably sure (before spending 60 hours porting something more useful) that the next plugin will work and people won't have installation issues and such. See what I mean? The amount of time that it takes to write, release, and support a plugin is not trivial. I'd like to have some certainty that its time well spent instead of time spent doing things the wrong way.

If you can't find any takers, I'll test it on my development machine for you.

[kpsmith]

I'll try to test it out for you tonight. I'm still testing out V4 so if breaks no big deal.....

Now if you added CPU utilization to this plugin.... I would have tried it out the day you posted it

[rich_l]

Originally Posted by kpsmith

Now if you added CPU utilization to this plugin.... I would have tried it out the day you posted it

I think i fall in this category too. I like the idea and i liked the screen shots, but i already use the one from sage. My other problem is having to much school work to enjoy sage and its newest customizations...

Keep up the good work though.

[lotusvball]

If you ported something like this over (see attachment)

[deria]

Originally Posted by kpsmith

I'll try to test it out for you tonight. I'm still testing out V4 so if breaks no big deal.....

Now if you added CPU utilization to this plugin.... I would have tried it out the day you posted it

That's ironic. The plugin actually does monitor CPU utilization -- but I removed the labels from it because I didn't thnk Sage TV users would be worried about it. I'll add it back for the next release -- its trivial to do.

[deria]

Originally Posted by lotusvball

If you ported something like this over (see attachment)

I can only port over my own plugins. That particular plugin you pointed out is written by Meedio themselves. I doubt they'll be porting it anytime soon.

[nielm]

Shouldn't be too difficult to write some JNI to interface to the C or c++ interface to the MBM shared memory
http://mbm.livewiredev.com/ (click on Shared Memory/C code)

(I am not going to do it though )

[lotusvball]

Sure for you maybe, but between work (my real job), wife and 2 young kids it doesn't leave much time to play. Heck it was hard enough building a stable system. Do you think osmosis will work?

[salsbst]

...I dunno lotusvball... Niel seemed to be releasing plugins from the hospital room while his wife was in labor!