Microclient

kenfox · #1 12-09-2016, 02:35 AM

Hi,

I have the idea of a microclient (possibly android) in my head, which does nothing else then display the list of available recordings (nicely with informations and thumb) and play them on selection. I'd suppose that the required calls to sage server are only a few for retrieving the list of elements and getting a stream. Where could I start finding informations about the API?

Ken

stuckless · #2 12-09-2016, 06:11 AM

For the communication... you'll want to look at the sagex apis

https://github.com/stuckless/sagetv-...sing-sagex-api

For the video stream... you are going to have to solve this yourself, somehow. In the past I've done everything form just get a direct stream to the file, to using vlc... the mobile web project used ffmpeg transcoding hls on the fly... but there is no simple "stream" in sagetv.

If you are writing for android, you can use the same players that exist in the MiniClient and along with their implementations of the sagetv push/pull buffer streams.

SageTV v9 has a httpls server built in, so I'm currently investigating that for the new web ui that I'm doing... I'm not 100% sure how to access it, so I'm combing through code to see how it works.

kenfox · #3 12-09-2016, 08:49 AM

OK, thanx

phantomii · #4 12-09-2016, 09:14 AM

I don't know if it would help with the development but Kodi has an old SageTV Add-On that pretty much only adds functionality from SageTV related to Recordings. I had to modify it to get it to work, but it works well...... Just an FYI.....

stuckless · #5 12-09-2016, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by phantomii

I don't know if it would help with the development but Kodi has an old SageTV Add-On that pretty much only adds functionality from SageTV related to Recordings. I had to modify it to get it to work, but it works well...... Just an FYI.....

Along those lines... I have plex setup that I use for serving up content either on the LAN (my kids), or for me, when I'm travelling. I don't really do any integration... I just point plex to my sagetv media files.

Fuzzy · #6 12-09-2016, 10:43 AM

Is there a particular reason to not just use the existing android miniclient? If you are looking for a simplified UI, it might be more integrated in the end to create a simpler UI in SageTV Studio to display what you want.

stuckless · #7 12-09-2016, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Is there a particular reason to not just use the existing android miniclient? If you are looking for a simplified UI, it might be more integrated in the end to create a simpler UI in SageTV Studio to display what you want.

I agree that studio could be used here... but studio requires a smarter person that I to figure stuff out

I'd love if someone created a "simple" tablet/phone UI as a STV, but, it's well beyond my learning curve.

Taddeusz · #8 12-09-2016, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuckless

I agree that studio could be used here... but studio requires a smarter person that I to figure stuff out

I'd love if someone created a "simple" tablet/phone UI as a STV, but, it's well beyond my learning curve.

Yeah, I believe having a native UI app would be beneficial. While it's neat that you can run the SageTV interface on a mobile phone it's really rather awkward to use. Even if a mobile STV was designed the touch to STV key commands through the Android app are not at all natural to a native touch interface. It becomes rather cumbersome to double tap on menu items where a normal mobile interface would require just a single tap. To work well on a mobile device it needs to function like one would expect.

phantomii · #9 12-09-2016, 01:18 PM

Realizing this is focused around less techie users, would it be possible to take the current Miniclient and create a variant where some of the menu options are simply removed so that what users can see is limited to say Live TV and Recorded TV?

As users my family primarily use sage to watch live tv, recorded tv and my video library of which some formats (80% off my library) will not play in the current miniclient. I do not listen to music with Sage, I do not really view photos, etc. so having those options is of limited value and when user try to play unsupported video formats and I point them to Kodi it seems to lead to further confusion. You we are bottom feeders!

So just a thought if this would be easy and possibly accomplish what "kenfox" is asking with a bit more......

dgeezer · #10 12-09-2016, 09:35 PM

The simplest way to do this now is with the ADM plug in. I've been using it with the miniclient. It's easy to delete or modify the main menus without loading an alternative front end such as Phoenix.

Our usage is probably similar. We use Netflix, kodi and SageTV on the shield. We only use SageTV for recorded Ota TV. With ADM I have my menu simplified. I just have 4 entries: Recordings, Guide, Settings and Exit.

I tried the Phoenix 3 beta, but ran into problems with comskip. It does have a simplified menu which is also just geared toward Dvr usage.

cculpepp · #11 12-10-2016, 08:42 AM

Unless I'm missing something here, why not just install Gemstone on the mini-client and use the menu manager to simplify your menu down to just the items that you want to see. That's basically what i did on the mini-client on my Shield where I basically edited my main menu down to just Live TV, Guide, Recordings and Setup. It took all of about 5 minutes.

Taddeusz · #12 12-10-2016, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cculpepp

Unless I'm missing something here, why not just install Gemstone on the mini-client and use the menu manager to simplify your menu down to just the items that you want to see. That's basically what i did on the mini-client on my Shield where I basically edited my main menu down to just Live TV, Guide, Recordings and Setup. It took all of about 5 minutes.

Then you still have the awkwardness of using the Miniclient on a touch screen. Sorry, but double tapping for "select" is not self evident. Not a proper way for a touch interface to work.

Fuzzy · #13 12-10-2016, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

Then you still have the awkwardness of using the Miniclient on a touch screen. Sorry, but double tapping for "select" is not self evident. Not a proper way for a touch interface to work.

I only single tap when using the miniclient and gemstone on my phone. The only time I double tap is to pull up the options while watching a show.

KarylFStein · #14 12-10-2016, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I only single tap when using the miniclient and gemstone on my phone. The only time I double tap is to pull up the options while watching a show.

Yeah, single tap and swipe to scroll were added a bit ago. Navigation is more straightforward now.

kenfox · #15 12-11-2016, 09:49 AM

Wow... looks like I stirred up a hornet's nest, here. Seems that there is a need for a simple gui and anyone has it's on approach to it. Anyway, my major goal is not the microclient. My major goal is to learn about the sage api, the microclient is only an exercise. Therefore, it's nice to know that a simple gui can be done with gemstone in five minutes, thanks a lot. But I'll take a look at a android microclient just for the fun of it.

@stuckless:

Quote:

SageTV v9 has a httpls server built in, so I'm currently investigating that for the new web ui that I'm doing... I'm not 100% sure how to access it, so I'm combing through code to see how it works.

Let me know, I've you dig out an easy way ;-)

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