Getting a list of all server properties

[tmiranda]

If an STV is running as a client, extender, or placeshifter, is there a way to get a list of all the properties on the server? I'm not talking about GetServerProperty() since that assumes you know what property you are looking for. I need a way to get ALL of the properties without knowing them in advance.

To get the local properties I can just use java to open the local SageClient.properties or MAC.properties file and read it. Is there a way to read the Sage.properties file from a remote UI?

Thanks,

Tom

[GKusnick]

Reading directly from the file (either locally or remotely) seems like bad practice while Sage has it open. Using the SageTv API would be better.

You could try calling Get[Server]SubpropertiesThatAreLeaves("") and/or Get[Server]SubpropertiesThatAreBranches("") with the empty string as an argument.

But why do you need them all? Wouldn't it be sufficient to prefix your properties with some unique prefix, and use the above methods to query just your sub-space of the property space?

[tmiranda]

Greg,

I saw those API's but hadn't considered calling them with a "". Thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

I was just trying some experiments with the .properties file. I know it's not very smart to read the file while Sage has it open so I will be looking for a better way to achieve what I need.

Thanks,

Tom

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Greg,

I saw those API's but hadn't considered calling them with a "". Thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

I was just trying some experiments with the .properties file. I know it's not very smart to read the file while Sage has it open so I will be looking for a better way to achieve what I need.

Thanks,

Tom

Are you looking for a way to have universal properties? (client,server,extender whatever)

[razrsharpe]

ortus has a method for this for getting regular properties... not server ones.. it should be fairly easy to modify to get the server properties..

it returns all properties in an ArrayList that are children of parentprop.

        public static ArrayList GetPropertyAndChildren(String parentprop){
                ArrayList props = new ArrayList();
                String[] branches = GetSubpropertiesThatAreBranches(parentprop);
                String[] leaves = GetSubpropertiesThatAreLeaves(parentprop);

                for (String s : branches){
                        props.addAll(GetPropertyAndChildren(parentprop.concat("/").concat(s)));
                }


                for (String s : leaves){
                        String propadd = parentprop.concat("/").concat(s);
                        props.add(propadd);
                }

                return props;


        }

[tmiranda]

Plucky, I'm looking at ways to be able to change/delete/add properties from within the STV. So it's really a universal property editor.

razr, That works fine but you need to know the parent properties, which I don't. I tried Greg's idea of passing those API's "" as a parent and I do get all of the leaves and branches, but they do not include the actual parent. (So asdf/qwer gives me qwer with no way to tell what the parent is.)

So far I haven't come up with a good way to get all of the properties for servers, extenders, clients, or placeshifters.

[stuckless]

Tom,

Configuration.GetSubpropertiesThatAreLeaves("") should return the top level properties (ie, the ones without a parent), and GetSubpropertiesThatAreBranches("") should return the top level branches. Using those 2 apis you should be able to build the properties. I just ran a quick test on my environment, and it does appear to work. So calling razr's function above with "" as the parent should give the complete props, I would think.

[tmiranda]

Oh, now I see what you are all saying. I misuderstood how these API's worked but now I see.

Thanks. This makes my life much easier.

Tom

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Plucky, I'm looking at ways to be able to change/delete/add properties from within the STV. So it's really a universal property editor.

Just so you understand before writing all this code: not all properties can be changed while SageTV is running.

- Andy

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Just so you understand before writing all this code: not all properties can be changed while SageTV is running.

- Andy

Understood. I'm just tired of:
- Get off couch
- Go to a PC
- Shutdown Sage
- Edit properties file
- Restart Sage
- Go back to couch

I want an easy way to stay on the couch, edit property, restart Sage.

I fully realize I'll have lots of rope to hang myself, crash Sage, increase global warming, etc. by messing with the properties while Sage is running.

[Opus4]

Oh, and by "not all properties can be changed while SageTV is running", I mean that there are lots that will reset to their value from when SageTV started when SageTV exits regardless of having set them via the SetProperty() call while SageTV was running - these are values not intended to be dynamic. And, no, I don't have a list; if you change it & it makes no difference, that's one of them. I just wanted to make sure you understood this.

- Andy

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Understood. I'm just tired of:
- Get off couch
- Go to a PC
- Shutdown Sage
- Edit properties file
- Restart Sage
- Go back to couch

I want an easy way to stay on the couch, edit property, restart Sage.

I fully realize I'll have lots of rope to hang myself, crash Sage, increase global warming, etc. by messing with the properties while Sage is running.

You really need a laptop... Or ditch the extenders.. ;-)

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

You really need a laptop... Or ditch the extenders.. ;-)

I've got several laptops and THEY are what I want to ditch

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Oh, and by "not all properties can be changed while SageTV is running", I mean that there are lots that will reset to their value from when SageTV started when SageTV exits regardless of having set them via the SetProperty() call while SageTV was running - these are values not intended to be dynamic. And, no, I don't have a list; if you change it & it makes no difference, that's one of them. I just wanted to make sure you understood this.

- Andy

Understood. I'm writing the tool mostly to modify properties that relate to things I have wrote or am writing. Sometimes it's a lot easier to dynamically change the property while developing and testing.

I often find myself at an extender testing things and this will make it easier for me to run certain test cases by forcing properties to be what I need them to be.

Tom

[Fuzzy]

I'd say any property you use in something you create should be able to be manipulated from in the STVi. There's nothing more frustrating than having to close down sage, just to change a setting, especially if what that setting does doesn't require a restart. (as I'm sure you are aware).

[tmiranda]

My situation is that I often put in "hidden" properties to control things like debugging. I don't want to expose these in the STV, but I would like to manipulate them and check their values while testing.

If there's any general interest in in this I'll release it as an STVi.

Tom

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

If there's any general interest in in this I'll release it as an STVi.

I'd be extremely careful about releasing an STVI that gives unrestricted access from within the UI to all property settings -- unless you're prepared to provide support for newbies who use it to hose their systems.

Instead of exposing all properties, why not use a config file to specify (possibly with wildcards) which properties you want to be able to edit in this way? That would be safer and arguably more useful than an unfiltered list of everything that you have to scroll though to find the ones you want to change, while being careful not to touch the wrong ones.

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

Instead of exposing all properties, why not use a config file to specify (possibly with wildcards) which properties you want to be able to edit in this way?

the code snippet that i posted will return all the children of a given property... you could easily write an overloaded function that accepts an array of parents and call that code snippit multiple times to build up a list of properties from different parents...

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

I'd be extremely careful about releasing an STVI that gives unrestricted access from within the UI to all property settings -- unless you're prepared to provide support for newbies who use it to hose their systems.

Greg,

I would not release it as an STVi for "general consumption". I will simply make it available (by request) to developers who would like to use it.

It's WAY too dangerous to post as a general STVi.

Tom