Gmenu2x V0.2 Released

[iignotus]

Just to pop in, I've edited the links my own on linux, and it works great. Just making sure it's known that this works fine, if you do it correctly.

I really do love it. I have some suggestions though. I would like it better if there were three rows of 6 (or even 5) instead of 4 rows of 6, that way the titles would have more room to breath They overlap wickedly as is. Maybe in time you can make colums/rows an option in a config file? That'd be best.

Also, the selection doesn't go to the next line after it reaches the last item in a row, it just starts at the beginning of that row again. It should progress down, I'd think.

Great work, and if I can get a build env. set up on my computer, I'd love to help you out with it.

 

[daclassicgamingmaster]

Finally done setting everything up, seems to be working nicely. I have to say, things are a lot neater and more user-friendly than before. I really like this new menu

I have to agree with iignotus, a config that allows the user to customize rows and columns would be quite good, because on a few (such as mame, neo geo aes, and megadrive, I get some horrid overlap). Would this be difficult?

Im not sure if ill bother mounting this to the nand, as i'm rather picky with homebrew and im always deleting and adding new stuff. No point in making links every minute for things I just try and delete after a few days.

For emus this rocks. Many thanks

 

[DaveC]

Also at can anyone on here provide me with a nice icon i can use for the "emulator" section I made? i have trouble making these kind of decisions

I made a section for emulators too, and had a browse through the Nuvola icon set for something appropriate, as some of the icons Ryo supplies are taken from it.

I couldn't really find an icon that said 'emulators' to me, so I settled on this cat.

Aww!

Yep, nothing makes me think emulators like a kitty. Actually if any animal makes me think of emus it would be a chameleon, not sure why.

Just to pop in, I've edited the links my own on linux, and it works great. Just making sure it's known that this works fine, if you do it correctly.

I really do love it. I have some suggestions though. I would like it better if there were three rows of 6 (or even 5) instead of 4 rows of 6, that way the titles would have more room to breath They overlap wickedly as is. Maybe in time you can make colums/rows an option in a config file? That'd be best.

Also, the selection doesn't go to the next line after it reaches the last item in a row, it just starts at the beginning of that row again. It should progress down, I'd think.

Great work, and if I can get a build env. set up on my computer, I'd love to help you out with it.

I like having the current amount of rows and columns. Please don't reduce them. Just limit your icon names a bit you have a whole title line at the bottom for long winded wordy titles . Having a good amount of icons keeps scrolling and paging to a minimum.

Making the selector drop after the end of a line is a horrible idea, just move the stick down :rolleyes: It is better to wrap like this because if you are all of the way at the right and want to get to the left icon you just press right one more time and you are right on it quickly. Having the cursor jump around without you doing it would be terribly counter intuitive and you would just end up fighting it all of the time.

 

[iignotus]

Also at can anyone on here provide me with a nice icon i can use for the "emulator" section I made? i have trouble making these kind of decisions

I made a section for emulators too, and had a browse through the Nuvola icon set for something appropriate, as some of the icons Ryo supplies are taken from it.

I couldn't really find an icon that said 'emulators' to me, so I settled on this cat.

Aww!

Yep, nothing makes me think emulators like a kitty. Actually if any animal makes me think of emus it would be a chameleon, not sure why.

Just to pop in, I've edited the links my own on linux, and it works great. Just making sure it's known that this works fine, if you do it correctly.

I really do love it. I have some suggestions though. I would like it better if there were three rows of 6 (or even 5) instead of 4 rows of 6, that way the titles would have more room to breath They overlap wickedly as is. Maybe in time you can make colums/rows an option in a config file? That'd be best.

Also, the selection doesn't go to the next line after it reaches the last item in a row, it just starts at the beginning of that row again. It should progress down, I'd think.

Great work, and if I can get a build env. set up on my computer, I'd love to help you out with it.

I like having the current amount of rows and columns. Please don't reduce them. Just limit your icon names a bit you have a whole title line at the bottom for long winded wordy titles . Having a good amount of icons keeps scrolling and paging to a minimum.

Making the selector drop after the end of a line is a horrible idea, just move the stick down :rolleyes: It is better to wrap like this because if you are all of the way at the right and want to get to the left icon you just press right one more time and you are right on it quickly. Having the cursor jump around without you doing it would be terribly counter intuitive and you would just end up fighting it all of the time.

Config file, do you know it?

 

[DaveC]

Config file, do you know it?

If possible but that sounds like alot of work. If you made a config file for all suggestions the file would fill your card. If the font was slightly smaller there would be more room too.

Ryo what I did notice is that there is no vertical space between icons. Maybe you could add one horizontal scan line between icons? There should be enough room and still have 4 rows.


I can't get my XMESS links to work either. I have everything else working I am stumped with these. Everything else seems to work, doesn't make sense. I used Programmers notepad to do them.

title=XM_A7800
description=Atari_7800
exec=/mnt/sd/Emulators/XMESS/a7800.gpe

 

[Griffer]

i need some simple help
im using a mac but im having no luck making the links.
ive downloaded 2 programmers notepads, J edit and subethaedit but simply writing the link and saving it dosent work.
Do i need to 'compile' it? If so how do i go about that on a mac?

sorry for the very basic question!

ive also got a pc i could try it on if theres any easy programs for windows?

I use BBedit, works fine, and support unix line endings. (Their homepage)

 

[bja]

This works great on my (linux) phone too! Much better than the default Qtopia based menu

gmenu2x-e680i.jpg

It's amazing how easy things are to "port" with SDL. Love it!

 

[mamewarrior]

I have been having constant trouble with this menu'ing system since v0.1.

BUT yesterday I got it figured and it's all down to Windows XP. I arrange my directories into /EMU /GAMES /APPS using the afforementioned machine. Problem with using these locations in the scripts is that on the gp2x these show up as lowercase (although mixed names seem ok i.e. /EMu /gAMES / ApPs).

So I renamed the folders and all is fine.


I have a feature request (if that's ok): -
- When you implement the scanning could you create a configuration screen so that the user can select which items go in a particular section. I think a good idea would be something similar to the explorer on the gp2x where all the files are listed and you set a checkbox for each item you want in a particular folder. When configuration exits the scripts are generated automatically (for possible manual configuration later i.e. description /clockspeed / icons). Also when another scan takes place those items that already exist in a particular section have there checkboxes selected already.

- Is it possible when you have completed work on this that you could create a plug-in module for each emulator. Something along the lines of selector but with your graphical interface. So you would have a settings sub-section with all available settings as icons and of course a game selection sub-section to launch the emulator. With this many devs would be able to spend more time on the actual app they are working with.

 

[ryosaeba]

Ryo what I did notice is that there is no vertical space between icons. Maybe you could add one horizontal scan line between icons? There should be enough room and still have 4 rows.

Yeah, I know that, but I reserved that space for when I'll implement a scrollbar for more than 24 icons. Maybe I can use some pixel though. I'll see...

I can't get my XMESS links to work either. I have everything else working I am stumped with these. Everything else seems to work, doesn't make sense. I used Programmers notepad to do them.

title=XM_A7800
description=Atari_7800
exec=/mnt/sd/Emulators/XMESS/a7800.gpe

Seems fine. Try using a all-lowercase path. If this does the trick we discovered the root of the problem and I can try to fix it.

This works great on my (linux) phone too! Much better than the default Qtopia based menu

gmenu2x-e680i.jpg

It's amazing how easy things are to "port" with SDL. Love it!

That's totally amazing! Power of opensource!

I have a feature request (if that's ok): -
- When you implement the scanning could you create a configuration screen so that the user can select which items go in a particular section. I think a good idea would be something similar to the explorer on the gp2x where all the files are listed and you set a checkbox for each item you want in a particular folder. When configuration exits the scripts are generated automatically (for possible manual configuration later i.e. description /clockspeed / icons). Also when another scan takes place those items that already exist in a particular section have there checkboxes selected already.

This has already been discussed in the previous topic and it's planned.

- Is it possible when you have completed work on this that you could create a plug-in module for each emulator. Something along the lines of selector but with your graphical interface. So you would have a settings sub-section with all available settings as icons and of course a game selection sub-section to launch the emulator. With this many devs would be able to spend more time on the actual app they are working with.

I already thought of something like that but not as a plugin and not for each emulator, but something more generic like the "selector" already in use for some emus.


Yesterday I set-up a nice bug-tracking software (don't like bugzilla) that I'll use and you all can watch progress of things.
It's also useful to find out if a bug is already been discovered or if a feature has already been proposed.
It's set-up so that you can add bugs and feature requests... Obviously their discussion can continue on this forum.
Be sure to not post bugs already submitted or already closed.
Here's the tracker: http://gmenu2x.sourceforge.net/bugs/

 

[ear]

Any suggestion why this one isn't working? Doesn't show up under applications at all.

title=edgepad
icon=icons/edit.png
exec=/usr/sd/edgepad03/edgepad.gpu



what would cause gmenu to ignore scripts? most that i've done using edit++ work fine, but some, like this one and mp2x are ignored.

 

[DaveC]

Ryo what I did notice is that there is no vertical space between icons. Maybe you could add one horizontal scan line between icons? There should be enough room and still have 4 rows.

Yeah, I know that, but I reserved that space for when I'll implement a scrollbar for more than 24 icons. Maybe I can use some pixel though. I'll see...

I wouldn't have a "scrollbar" though. This would be something that you would have to go to or activate, then scroll , then de-activate then select icons again. If this would require more buttons to activate it is getting too complicated and less intuitive. It is more that the user has to remember and do. EX: Hmm I have more icons so now I select the scrollbar now move to second section, ok now I am done now I can deactivate and go back to icons etc. The less buttons , combinations, and controls the better. KISS. It is different on a PC that works because you have a mouse that can get to places real fast and in the same way.

The way I would suggest is when there are more icons just make a small arrow appear (I would suggest paging vertical as there are less rows 4 vs 6 to go through) pointing down. Then to get to that page just move the cursor down, when it gets to the last row you would press down one more time and the second page would come into view. you would then see the second page and an arrow now pointing up indicating that there are icons on a page upwards. You could have buttons assigned that flip pages too but you should have it so the stick does it as well.

I think if you separated the icons vertically by one pixel you would only need 3 lines that should work. you could also move the description text to fit in the bottom bar next to those small CPU speed and SD card memory icons.

 

[paxl13]

Any suggestion why this one isn't working? Doesn't show up under applications at all.

title=edgepad
icon=icons/edit.png
exec=/usr/sd/edgepad03/edgepad.gpu



what would cause gmenu to ignore scripts? most that i've done using edit++ work fine, but some, like this one and mp2x are ignored.

its /mnt/sd/.... not /usr/sd...

BTW, Ryo, REAL great job, my perl script is comming along
I'll may be email it to you if you wish when it'll be completed.

Thanks your for your great job,
paxl13

 

[ear]

Jeebus. Can't blame lack of coffee, had 3 cups already. Thanks. Guess that's probably the issue with my other one to. Thanks much.

its /mnt/sd/.... not /usr/sd...

BTW, Ryo, REAL great job, my perl script is comming along
I'll may be email it to you if you wish when it'll be completed.

Thanks your for your great job,
paxl13

 

[ryosaeba]

I wouldn't have a "scrollbar" though. This would be something that you would have to go to or activate, then scroll , then de-activate then select icons again. If this would require more buttons to activate it is getting too complicated and less intuitive. It is more that the user has to remember and do. EX: Hmm I have more icons so now I select the scrollbar now move to second section, ok now I am done now I can deactivate and go back to icons etc. The less buttons , combinations, and controls the better. KISS. It is different on a PC that works because you have a mouse that can get to places real fast and in the same way.

The way I would suggest is when there are more icons just make a small arrow appear (I would suggest paging vertical as there are less rows 4 vs 6 to go through) pointing down. Then to get to that page just move the cursor down, when it gets to the last row you would press down one more time and the second page would come into view. you would then see the second page and an arrow now pointing up indicating that there are icons on a page upwards. You could have buttons assigned that flip pages too but you should have it so the stick does it as well.

I was planning a scrollbar but it was not going to be this difficult to use. The scrollbar would just show your position and the presence of other links up or down, much like the arrows you are suggesting. No need to select scrollbar or unintuitive controls...

I think if you separated the icons vertically by one pixel you would only need 3 lines that should work. you could also move the description text to fit in the bottom bar next to those small CPU speed and SD card memory icons.

Separating icons by 1px it's ok but I don't know how much this will help. The space on the bottom bar is not used now but would have been used in the future.
I'll do some tests with different settings...

BTW, Ryo, REAL great job, my perl script is comming along
I'll may be email it to you if you wish when it'll be completed.

Thanks your for your great job,
paxl13

Ok, I'm going to do it directly in the frontend instead of using an external scripts but it may be useful in the meanwhile and I'll look at how your solution works. Maybe you should also provide a pre-made working link for gmenu2x so it will be easier to get it to work.

 

[halljames]

I have to say, just got this installed, configured and working on my gp2x and think it is amazing. It is so much nicey having a nice graphical menu with all of your games and emulators accessible, instead of having to navigate the file structure.

Well done on a top notch piece of software.

 

[Durga]

Nice one Ryo, an amazing improvement to the normal menu!
Throw in a auto scanner with the next release and I'll keep it permanently.

 

[ear]

Auto scanner would be nice I guess as long as it's setup to allow you to move programs around into differnt folders and to remove stuff that you don't need/want to show up. I don't find it all that hard at all to setup the script files and plan on keeping it permanetly with or without the scanner.

Hmm, might be nice if the scripts were modifiable from within the app. For example, click select while on an app, then from a pop up menu get the option to choose a different icon, move to a different folder, add/change the cpu speed setting, etc...

or perhaps, instead of a scanner, how bout a file browser so you can browse to an app to have it added to the menu.

 

[ryosaeba]

or perhaps, instead of a scanner, how bout a file browser so you can browse to an app to have it added to the menu.

This is really a good idea, I would like to hear from other users which method they would prefer...
Personally I think the file browser is a better idea. It would prevent something like having to always delete an unwanted link over and over again at each scan, it would also allow to add a link to a non gpu/gpe file and there's no need for a dedicated category like "new links"...

 

[nickspoon]

You could have a horizontal scrollbar controlled by the Vol+/Vol- buttons.

 

[DaveC]

or perhaps, instead of a scanner, how bout a file browser so you can browse to an app to have it added to the menu.

This is really a good idea, I would like to hear from other users which method they would prefer...
Personally I think the file browser is a better idea. It would prevent something like having to always delete an unwanted link over and over again at each scan, it would also allow to add a link to a non gpu/gpe file and there's no need for a dedicated category like "new links"...

That would be ok too. Anything that would eliminate the need for editing scripts is welcome

Editing the scripts is a bit tedious but the real pain comes when something won't show up for some reason. I stil have a few scripts that don't work and I don't know why. Anything to eliminate this is great. Whatever is easier for you to code.

The browser would be slower in the initial setup as you would have to do it for every app. After that though it would be faster as you wouldn't have to scan the whole card every time. Since the latter would be used more maybe the browser would be better.

As far as the scroll bar you could make it pretty thin as to not use up alot of space, maybe 3 pix wide.