Plugin: Web UI for v7

[wayner]

I agree this looks great and I can't wait to try it out.

A question on UserRecord - is this used to hold "custom" metadata about a MediaFile? Why haven't people used this to hold cut lists from Comskip/ShowAnalyzer. That seems to make more sense than having a separate .edl (or whatever) file, unless I am misunderstanding what UserRecord is used for.

Slugger - any chance of adding an SJQ Add Task button when viewing a Recording? I really like the SJQ UI in Sage but when playing around testing new SJQ Tasks this could be a quick way to kick them off.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

I agree this looks great and I can't wait to try it out.

A question on UserRecord - is this used to hold "custom" metadata about a MediaFile? Why haven't people used this to hold cut lists from Comskip/ShowAnalyzer. That seems to make more sense than having a separate .edl (or whatever) file, unless I am misunderstanding what UserRecord is used for.

The UserRecordAPI was added relatively late and isn't really useful for things like edl files because edl files are generated by external apps that have no idea about UserRecords or how to use them. A UserRecord is created by plugin devs and holds whatever data they deem appropriate.

Slugger - any chance of adding an SJQ Add Task button when viewing a Recording? I really like the SJQ UI in Sage but when playing around testing new SJQ Tasks this could be a quick way to kick them off.

Nothing SJQ specific planned for 2.33, an entire release dedicated to some SJQ views and editors is planned for 2.34 or 2.35. Probably 2.35 because I expect 2.34 to address issues/feedback from 2.33.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Slugger

The UserRecordAPI was added relatively late and isn't really useful for things like edl files because edl files are generated by external apps that have no idea about UserRecords or how to use them.

But if that external app is called by SJQ it wouldn't be too hard to write results back to a UserRecord with a SageGroovy script, would it?

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

But if that external app is called by SJQ it wouldn't be too hard to write results back to a UserRecord with a SageGroovy script, would it?

That's true, but I'm thinking more along the lines of comksip or ShowAnalyzer... they can't directly write to UserRecord objects and since those are the actual apps that generate the edl file you'd have to basically, as you say, write a wrapper in Groovy/Java/whatever that runs comksip, takes the edl file and stores it in the UserRecord (or the MediaFile's metadata) then modify the comskip playback mod to look for and read edl files from this alternative data store, etc. Just wrapping around comkskip or SA to store the edl in wiz.bin is enough of a headache much less having to go and modify the comskip playback STVi. Benefits, imho, don't even come close to outweighing the cost of the work.

If you wanted to store the edl contents as a metadata property of its corresponding MediaFile object in wiz.bin as a backup to the edl file on disk then that might be an interesting idea. Then you'd just have to write a script that could extract the edl data and write it back to disk in case of disaster/restore/etc.

[wayner]

I just think of the commercial "cuts" as another form of metadata. Why not hold everything in one place? Having a separate edl file remains me of BeyondTV which stored metadata in XML files.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

I just think of the commercial "cuts" as another form of metadata. Why not hold everything in one place? Having a separate edl file remains me of BeyondTV which stored metadata in XML files.

Agreed, but to do that means someone has to go modify the comskip playback STVi to look for and process edl "files" (or data) from the media file's metadata instead of (or as an alternative to) reading a file on disk. Maybe someone wants to do that, my guess is no one does. As for storing that data as metadata of the media file to which it belongs: again, someone's got to go do it, but that's not that hard if calling comksip/SA via SJQ, but you will have to wrap the call, catch its completion then read and dump the edl into the media's metadata. Really, SJQ isn't even necessary. Write a Java program or Groovy script against the sagex-api jar file that simply finds all edl files and dumps the contents as metadata of the MediaFile object in wiz.bin. That's actually the easy part, real easy - like less than 10 lines of code kind of easy. All very doable, but it's only useful (I would think) if someone modifies the playback STVi to handle finding the cut data as metadata instead of assuming it's in a file on disk along side the video file.

Another reason one may want to refrain from this kind of approach: Sure you can mod Sage to pull edl data from metadata, but XBMC, Boxee, etc. all expect to find edl files on disk, along side the video file to which it corresponds and wouldn't even know to (or how to, for that matter) pull the data from the media file.

EDIT: Well, I felt like I made a bold claim saying I could shove all edl files into their media file's metadata in 10 lines or less of code. Turns out it's 12. And it's only that many because I forgot about having to handle multiple segment recordings (otherwise I could have done it in 9 lines! ). This is a complete groovy script and does not require the SJQ env to run. All it requires is sagex-api.jar and commons-io.jar be in your classpath and this will run directly from a Groovy command line. Run it periodically to shove edl file into a recording's metadata. WARNING: Lightly (very lightly) tested; USE AT OWN RISK.

import sagex.api.*
import org.apache.commons.io.FilenameUtils

MediaFileAPI.GetMediaFiles('T').each { mf ->
    def i = 0
    MediaFileAPI.GetSegmentFiles(mf).each { f ->
        def edl = new File(f.getAbsolutePath()[0 .. (-1 * (FilenameUtils.getExtension(f.getName()).length() + 1))] + 'edl')
        if(Utility.IsFilePath(edl.getAbsolutePath()))
            MediaFileAPI.SetMediaFileMetadata(mf, "edl_$i", edl.getText())
        ++i
    }
}

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Agreed, but to do that means someone has to go modify the comskip playback STVi to look for and process edl "files" (or data) from the media file's metadata instead of (or as an alternative to) reading a file on disk. Maybe someone wants to do that, my guess is no one does. As for storing that data as metadata of the media file to which it belongs: again, someone's got to go do it, but that's not that hard if calling comksip/SA via SJQ, but you will have to wrap the call, catch its completion then read and dump the edl into the media's metadata. Really, SJQ isn't even necessary. Write a Java program or Groovy script against the sagex-api jar file that simply finds all edl files and dumps the contents as metadata of the MediaFile object in wiz.bin. That's actually the easy part, real easy - like less than 10 lines of code kind of easy. All very doable, but it's only useful (I would think) if someone modifies the playback STVi to handle finding the cut data as metadata instead of assuming it's in a file on disk along side the video file.

Another reason one may want to refrain from this kind of approach: Sure you can mod Sage to pull edl data from metadata, but XBMC, Boxee, etc. all expect to find edl files on disk, along side the video file to which it corresponds and wouldn't even know to (or how to, for that matter) pull the data from the media file.

EDIT: Well, I felt like I made a bold claim saying I could shove all edl files into their media file's metadata in 10 lines or less of code. Turns out it's 12. And it's only that many because I forgot about having to handle multiple segment recordings (otherwise I could have done it in 9 lines! ). This is a complete groovy script and does not require the SJQ env to run. All it requires is sagex-api.jar and commons-io.jar be in your classpath and this will run directly from a Groovy command line. Run it periodically to shove edl file into a recording's metadata. WARNING: Lightly (very lightly) tested; USE AT OWN RISK.

import sagex.api.*
import org.apache.commons.io.FilenameUtils

MediaFileAPI.GetMediaFiles('T').each { mf ->
    def i = 0
    MediaFileAPI.GetSegmentFiles(mf).each { f ->
        def edl = new File(f.getAbsolutePath()[0 .. (-1 * (FilenameUtils.getExtension(f.getName()).length() + 1))] + 'edl')
        if(Utility.IsFilePath(edl.getAbsolutePath()))
            MediaFileAPI.SetMediaFileMetadata(mf, "edl_$i", edl.getText())
        ++i
    }
}

Slugger,

I think you are secretly the president of the "Groovy can do anything and I want the world to know it" club, and you're doing a good job of proving it

Tom

[Slugger]

I'll admit, I've taken a keen interest in scripting languages in the VM, especially Groovy, over the last few months and exploring what I can do with them.

[Slugger]

v2.33 is now in the repository. As mentioned in the release notes, be sure to thoroughly clear your browser cache after upgrading. Holding CTRL+clicking refresh (IE) or holding Shift+clicking refresh (FF, Chrome) will do it, but it seems you may have to do it a bunch of times before everything is cleared. You'll know you've done it when you see the new options under the SageTV menu (Plugin Manger and UserRecord Editor are the new options).

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Slugger

This, I think, is the coolest/most useful addition. I have to write up a wiki doc with details for those who want to take advantage, but basically the web UI now supports processing of groovlets and GSP scripts. This basically allows anyone to easily add new functionality to the web server as separate plugins, if so desired. I've created templates for page headers and footers, which allows for quick and easy consistent page creation. Full examples of how to write such web pages are included in this update (see below).

Has this been posted yet? I don't see it in this thread? Will you also be adding docs and examples to your SageTV-Addons Google code pages?

I would like to add Fanart images to the recording detail page. Is that possible with Groovlets and GSP scripts?

[wayner]

One suggested change - in the System Messages screen can the buttones for Reset, Delete, etc be moved from the bottom to the top of the page? It is easy to miss these buttons if you have more than one screen full of messages, which I do.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

One suggested change - in the System Messages screen can the buttones for Reset, Delete, etc be moved from the bottom to the top of the page? It is easy to miss these buttons if you have more than one screen full of messages, which I do.

Open a ticket, please.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

Has this been posted yet? I don't see it in this thread? Will you also be adding docs and examples to your SageTV-Addons Google code pages?

I would like to add Fanart images to the recording detail page. Is that possible with Groovlets and GSP scripts?

I'm still working on the docs. Is this possible? Yes. In it's current state? Probably not. I figure you'll need to set the background via CSS and the current header template doesn't support dynamic CSS inclusions. It can be added, but I'd probably figure out how to set the background first then let me know what's missing in the template via an issue ticket.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Slugger

Open a ticket, please.

Done

[wayner]

Maybe I don't know what I am doing but UserRecord Editor looks strange on my system. Under Store I see multiple listings for stuff like SageDiamondTeam, sre4, SageDiamondTeamSAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI , etc. And there is nothing under the Key dropbox no matter what I select.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Slugger

I'm still working on the docs. Is this possible? Yes. In it's current state? Probably not. I figure you'll need to set the background via CSS and the current header template doesn't support dynamic CSS inclusions. It can be added, but I'd probably figure out how to set the background first then let me know what's missing in the template via an issue ticket.

The current template seems to contain one image - the Channel logo. Perhaps this could be replaced with one of the Fanart images like the Thumbnail, Poster, Backround or Banner?

If possible I would also like to change my Sage Recordings page to display the TV show banners rather than the ShowTitle so that it is more consistent with what I see on the TV Recordings page on the Sage Diamond UI.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

Maybe I don't know what I am doing but UserRecord Editor looks strange on my system. Under Store I see multiple listings for stuff like SageDiamondTeam, sre4, SageDiamondTeamSAGETV_PROCESS_LOCAL_UI , etc. And there is nothing under the Key dropbox no matter what I select.

The key dropdown should be populated everytime you make a selection in the first dropdown. It's using jQuery and AJAX in the background to do it. So if you have JavaScript disabled then it's not going to work. If JS isn't disabled then there could be a bug, but I'd need to know where to look. If you have a JS debugger in your browser (Chrome has one built it, Firebug on FF and don't bother with IE) then I'd like to know what the JS errors are when you make different selections in the dropdown.

It might be as simple as it's not finding the jQuery library. Open the page source and at the top you'll see a link to the jQuery lib, can you download that file? If so, then I need to see the JS errors. If the jQuery lib isn't present then the bug could be a packaging error.

[Slugger]

Originally Posted by wayner

The current template seems to contain one image - the Channel logo. Perhaps this could be replaced with one of the Fanart images like the Thumbnail, Poster, Backround or Banner?

If possible I would also like to change my Sage Recordings page to display the TV show banners rather than the ShowTitle so that it is more consistent with what I see on the TV Recordings page on the Sage Diamond UI.

Not quite... I haven't (nor plan to) template each individual page. My approach since taking over this project is to make minimal changes to the existing code (because I don't want to rewrite it) and inject new features via a separate mechanism. That chosen mechanism is Groovy. I think it becomes clearer when I finish my wiki docs, but there is only one template that I've created and it's simply the HTML skeleton of the "generic" web UI page. Basically it's a quick and easy want to add a new web page that has the same look and feel as the existing ones.

After rereading your plans, you're not going to be able to make the kind of changes you want. If you want to change the background of existing pages (like DetailedInfo or Recordings) then that's not possible via Groovy because these web pages aren't generated via Groovy. Now, with some CSS changes you might be able to still change the background on these pages (I'm not a CSS wizard or even all that knowledgeable with it), but to dynamically figure out which image to actually use as the background, well that will require you to make changes to the Java code - again because the existing web pages are written in Java. You also won't be able to replace the channel logo with fanart, for example - or at least not without modifying the Java code that exists for the web page today.

Adding a new web page to the UI via Groovy and setting the background image dynamically via CSS - that's doable. I probably will need to make some changes to the templates to support it, but it's probably doable.

[PiX64]

I am trying to update my webui plugin and cannot. It tells me the plugin is not compatible. I briefly searched his thread... Briefly .

I wan unable to find someone with this issue. Any idea why this plugin would all of the sudden be incompatible with my system?

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Slugger

The key dropdown should be populated everytime you make a selection in the first dropdown. It's using jQuery and AJAX in the background to do it. So if you have JavaScript disabled then it's not going to work. If JS isn't disabled then there could be a bug, but I'd need to know where to look.

That problem was on an older PC running XP and IE8. I installed Chrome and it works fine on Chrome on this PC. I also tried it on another PC running Win7 Pro and IE9 and it works fine.