Utility: Windows Sidebar/Desktop Gadget

[cncb]

This is v2 of the Windows Sidebar/Desktop gadget for SageTV7 that can be run on any Vista or Windows 7 PC networked with the SageTV server. *Before it will work it is necessary to install the support plugin via the SageTV7 plugins interface which will ensure that the required dependencies are installed (see below).

**Note that the user name and password are stored and sent in plain text so this should only be used over a local network.

Features

• Shows the next several current/scheduled recordings in the gadget and the full recording schedule in a "flyout".
• Shows system message alert status.
• Optionally shows a free disk space indicator.
• Optionally shows Now Playing information for any connected client and allows playback control with a popup toolbar. Allows you to rename clients with a more identifiable name and customize Now Playing information (see post below).
• Shows custom information for each Recording Schedule item (see post below).

Installation

• Open the SageTV interface on the server and navigate to the "SageTV Plugins" screen.
• Install the "Windows Sidebar/Desktop Gadget Support" plugin which will also install the required "sagex-services" (and jetty web server) if missing. Configure the jetty web server if necessary.
• Download the gadget file to the PC you want to run it on, rename the file and remove the .zip at the end.
• Double-click the resulting .Gadget file to install.
• Right-click the gadget and choose "Options". Fill in the correct server name/address, port, user name, and password.

*Note that the Sage Web Interface is no longer required for this gadget to work but it can still be launched when you click on the logo (based on your Options selection) and when you click on a scheduled program in the flyout so you might still want to install it anyways.

*If the gadget does not install and you are using an operating system language/locale other than US English then you may have to change the zip file before installation. *Unzip the downloaded file, rename the "en-US" folder to your locale id string, zip everything up again, rename the zip file to end with '.Gadget', and double-click again to install.


v2.1 - 04/03/11 Download

• Supports new channel logos in SageTV v7.1 (you must update the Windows Gadget Support plugin in SageTV to v1.1).
• Allows for auto reconnect to Now Playing client (reconnect time of 0 disables).
• Can have custom HTML display information now for Recording Schedule items (see next post below).
• Playback time is now formatted with hours if necessary.

[cncb]

Now Playing Customization

The Now Playing information below the time progress bar can be customized. It can be a little "messy" because it is a javascript string representing the HTML displayed in that space but it is pretty powerful since you can show most any of the data about the current media file formatted in different ways. Note that the 'mf' variable represents the json object returned by the sagex remote api services for the current media file. Keep in mind it can be complicated and frustrating to debug errors in your string.

I created the example below to illustrate how you can show a thumbnail and different text based on the current media type.

Music TV

Delete the existing text and copy and paste the text below exactly as is to the "Now Playing HTML string" text box in the gadget Options and increase the "Details area height" to ~200 to be able to see most information for this example.

"<div><img height='75px' src='http://" + gUser + ":" + gPass + "@" + gServer + ":" + gPort + "/sagex/media/thumbnail/" + mf.MediaFileID + "' /></div>"
+ "<div style='text-align:left;padding:3px 3px 0px 3px'>"
+ "<div style='color:Yellow'>" + mf.MediaTitle + "</div>"
+ "<div>" 
+ (mf.IsMusicFile ? 
	"<div style='font-style: italic; color: #C0C0C0'>by" + "</div>" 
	+ "<div style='margin-left: 10px'>" + mf.Album.AlbumArtist + "</div>"
	+ "<div style='font-style: italic; color: #C0C0C0'>from" + "</div>" 
	+ "<div style='margin-left: 10px'>" + mf.Album.AlbumName + " (" + mf.Album.AlbumYear + ")</div>" 
	:
	(mf.IsTVFile ?
		mf.Airing.Show.ShowEpisode + "<br/>" + new Date(mf.Airing.AiringStartTime).format(gDateFormat + " " + gTimeFormat)
		: 
		""
	 )
   )
+ "</div>"
+ "</div>"

Recording Schedule Item Customization

Starting with v2.1 you can now similarly customize the information displayed for each item in the Recording Schedule. The example below shows the channel logo and some additional information about the scheduled recording. You will need to increase the "Schedule Item Height" in the options to see more of the information.

"<div class='RecordingTitle' style='height:20px;color:yellow'>" 
+ "<div>" + "<img style='position:relative;top:3px' height='15px' src='http://" + gUser + ":" + gPass + "@" + gServer + ":" + gPort + "/sagex/media/logo/" + airing.Channel.StationID + "?type=small' />"
+ " " + airing.AiringTitle + "</div></div><div class='RecordingSub'>" 
+ (isRecordingNow ? "-" + stop.format(gTimeFormat) 
: (date != today ? date : start.format(gTimeFormat))) + " " + airing.AiringChannelName + " (" + airing.AiringChannelNumber + ")</div>"
+ "<div class='RecordingSub' style='color:aqua'>" + airing.Show.ShowEpisode + "</div>" 
+ "<div class='RecordingSub' style='white-space:normal;height:100%'>" + airing.Show.ShowDescription + "</div>"

[wayner]

I look forward to this as I have not been able to get the previous version to work since upgrading to V7. I am away from home until the weekend so I will give it a try at that time and let you know if it works.

[gplasky]

Very nice. Only issue I'm having is the disk space shows N/A. My Sage server is a WHS and I have the gadget on a Windows 7 PC client.

Gerry

[cncb]

Originally Posted by gplasky

Very nice. Only issue I'm having is the disk space shows N/A. My Sage server is a WHS and I have the gadget on a Windows 7 PC client.

Were you able to install the gadget 'plugin' successfully on your server? Does the "Now Playing" feature work?

[barney B.A.]

Excellent work CNCB! It installed flawlessly and works very well. What a usefull little applet. Big improvements over last version.

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by cncb

Were you able to install the gadget 'plugin' successfully on your server? Does the "Now Playing" feature work?

My bad. Working like a champ.

Gerry

[tmiranda]

This looks very nice. Any chance you could make a version that runs under XP?

[gplasky]

The Gadget panel is a Microsoft OS-specific addition that was first available in Vista. No XP version I'm aware of.

Gerry

[gplasky]

So the thumbnail and Now Playing is working great. And I know this has been some work for you but I had a thought. What would be really cool is if that was a little video window playing the Now Playing from a client. The wife had the news on in the bedroom and as I was my study I was thinking that would be really cool. I don't know how practical it is but I have seen other video playing gadgets. It's just a thought and may not even be practical or too much work.

Gerry

[cncb]

Originally Posted by gplasky

What would be really cool is if that was a little video window playing the Now Playing from a client.

I agree this would be cool but not really feasible at the moment. Even if I got video playback working in the gadget, there is no way to get it synced with a Sage client (I don't believe this is even currently possible with Client or Placeshifter). To "simulate" gadget video playback you could use Client or Placeshifter, resize the window way down, and move it under the gadget .

[cncb]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

This looks very nice. Any chance you could make a version that runs under XP?

This might work: http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...5&postcount=51

[ace007]

Looks great but I can't get it to connect. The older version worked fine and I validated the credentials are correct. The only difference is I'm using 8085 for the port. Is there maybe a issue with the new version where its not picking up the non-standard port.

I can fire up the old version and it works, compare the two configus side by side to verify they are the same, but the new version won't connect.

Thanks

Robert

[cncb]

Originally Posted by ace007

Looks great but I can't get it to connect. The older version worked fine and I validated the credentials are correct. The only difference is I'm using 8085 for the port. Is there maybe a issue with the new version where its not picking up the non-standard port.

I use a different port with no problems. Go to the "Installed Plugins" screen in Sage and select the "sagex-services" plugin, choose "Configure Plugin", scroll to the bottom, and make sure you are using the "HTTP Port" listed there in the gadget options.

[ace007]

Originally Posted by cncb

I use a different port with no problems. Go to the "Installed Plugins" screen in Sage and select the "sagex-services" plugin, choose "Configure Plugin", scroll to the bottom, and make sure you are using the "HTTP Port" listed there in the gadget options.

I didn't have sagex-services plugin installed yet. The older version did not require it. Its working now. I jumped and should have read the directions. :<) Thanks

[wayner]

Works great, thanks! I could never get the previous gadget to work on Sage 7 for some reason.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by wayner

Works great, thanks! I could never get the previous gadget to work on Sage 7 for some reason.

Glad to hear it. Hopefully the IE9 problems other people were having will go away too.

[wayner]

Some suggestions for future enhancements:

-Show system messages in the gadget
-Grab client aliases from the /webserver/extenders.properties file
-Have a button for forcing EPG update
-Have a button for rereading all media files

I am sure that I will have more after using for a little while.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by wayner

Some suggestions for future enhancements:

I will keep these in mind but the "web server/interface" has these features and can be easily shown by clicking on the SageTV logo in the gadget if you set up the Options to do so. Also, clicking the System Message alert icon in the gadget will launch the web interface directly to the System Messages page.

[wayner]

I realize that, and I use the web interface all the time, but I think it would be nice to also see them in the gadget, especially the system messages colour coded by severity.