Replacement Interface

[iignotus]

List only make sense if your using the menu as a front end for command line driven programs - the question is do we want it to work that way?

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That's the way it would have to be.

 

[DijiTao]

There are two very different approaches to the menu –

1) The menu is file driven. It list files in directories, and when one of these files is selected it is opened with the appropriate program.

2) The menu is config file driven. Config files define the items in the menu, when one of these items is selected, a command as defined in the config file is executed.

In approach #1 to launch a rom in an emulator you would browse to the rom directory and select the file.

In approach #2 you would move through the menu structure (which was layout as the user saw fit) and select the emulator. This leaves the process of selecting an individual to emulator not the menu.


Both options have some Pro’s and Con’s.

 

[DijiTao]

Which one is a better option is a much hard question then I would have originally thought. My instinct tells me option 1 results in the same kind of illogical layout we have now. That is to say that some programs insist on being in a certainty directory and therefore browsing to them can be quite counter intuitive. Now this can be overcome by dropping scripts in the places where you wanted the game to appear, but that is a less than optimal solution. Additionally in this approach directories that unrelated to anything are displayed. On the other hand option 2 lets you layout your menu however you like, but now it takes a bit more effort to make things work. So given that dilemma, I’m trying to think of a solution that is the best of both worlds. So here’s my idea:

Every directory will contain a .gp2xmenu file. This file will be plain text and will store information about how this directory is displayed by the menu program. This file will never be shown by the menu, (nor should any file that begins with a “.” since that’s how you denote hidden on Unix style Operating Systems). When a directory is open by the menu it will first read the .gp2xmenu file in that directory to determine things such as;

What icon should be used for this directory?
Should this directory’s contents be displayed as a list or as tiled icons?
Should sub directories in the directory be displayed?
Should filtering be applied based on file extension?
If filtering is applied, files of what extension should visible?
Files of what extension should be launched with what program?

So for example the .gp2xmenu file in my /mnt/sd/roms/NeoGeo might look like this:

icon “/mnt/sd/roms/NeoGeo/neogeo.png”
style “list”
subdirectories_hidden
filter “zip”
launch “zip” “/mnt/sd/emulators/gngeo2x/gngeo2x”

After the menu has loaded and phased the .gp2xmenu file of the open directory it needs to phase the .gp2xmenu file of the immediate sub directories. This is done to determine what icons should be displayed for these directories, or if the directories should be visible at all. If a subdirectory has a “style” of “hidden” it should not be displayed when browsing the parent directory.

Now to address the problem of creating these .gp2xmenu files I would suggest a hot key such as L+R to open an editor. When the editor is invoked it should create a .gp2xmenu file for the current directory if one does not exist, and then once the file exist, or if it already existed it is opened. I’ll have to draw up a mockup of what this editor would look like, but really it shouldn’t be too complicated.

So anyways, that my idea for how to make a file driven, browser style menu work acceptably.

 

[Shirohagen]

If you do that you need to make sure that there is a list view for Multimedia (And personally 2 seperate Film and Music categories).
Reason being an icon view would be pointless as all of the icons would be the same, and MP3s and AVIs often have very long names (aka. "a.random.movie.name.dvdrip.cd1.xvid-deity" which would not fit in the space given, unless the icons were shifted right apart which would look very unsightly).
Personally while I like this interface I would not use its only pro.
I prefer my interfaces to be more coherent/seamless and not to need an icon view and a list view.

I am not really one with the idea that Music playing and Video playing are not in the launcher at all, and you instead have to launch a seperate app, that would be a step back from the original launcher to me.

Well that's the main thing here - Iguess we disagree. I was suggesting that dedicated files like MP3s and AVIs aren't shown in the overall GUI menu, that would be for APPS only, just as you wouldn't expect to see 300 GB ROMs in there, just one GB emulator from which you launch the ROMs.

You launch the app to deal with the files in it's own way, the GUI simply launches the apps. If you expect the GUI to launch all the content types of files, you start to make it a "jack of all trades" and a "master of none" Let the authors of the various apps decide how they handle the files and cater their apps perfectly towards that (browsing ROMs, MP3s and Movies etc), let the GUI simply allow you quick and simple access to all the apps.

A dedicated File Manager app would do things like browse folders, copy rename etc, it's not an operating system we're discussing here, it's a GUI, a Launcher, a "Frontend".

Just my take on it...

®

Oh, and DaveC, you're not so bad either!

 

[Hanz™]

A dedicated File Manager app would do things like browse folders, copy rename etc, it's not an operating system we're discussing here, it's a GUI, a Launcher, a "Frontend".

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What is the point in running a fully fledged copy of linux with no functionality?

 

[Shirohagen]

My understanding of this is that it was to be a more intuitive interface for launching files, not a replacement OS to perform all the functions we can think of. Linux powers the console, and it's functions are available to any apps people code, it doesn't mean we have to use them all in the GUI. I'm just tempted to say keep it simple, leave specific functionality to specific areas of the GUI or custom apps and keep true to the core purpose of the exercise. In the main, use this launcher app as a means to present the often cluttered and confusing contents of a typical SD card as straightforward, friendly and beautiful.

®

 

[chris_r]

I think list is better for movies and music (possibly pictures too if not using thumbnails) because
1. Movies would all have the same icon anyway so I see no point in showing them
2. A list would let you read long filenames easier because you've got the whole screen width. Most apps wouldn't have a very long filename at all.
3. You're probably likely to have more apps than movies so if icon view is essential anyway it's in apps

 

[rokdcasbah]

My understanding of this is that it was to be a more intuitive interface for launching files, not a replacement OS to perform all the functions we can think of. Linux powers the console, and it's functions are available to any apps people code, it doesn't mean we have to use them all in the GUI. I'm just tempted to say keep it simple, leave specific functionality to specific areas of the GUI or custom apps and keep true to the core purpose of the exercise. In the main, use this launcher app as a means to present the often cluttered and confusing contents of a typical SD card as straightforward, friendly and beautiful.

®

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http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=26157&st=35#

 

[DaveC]

My understanding of this is that it was to be a more intuitive interface for launching files, not a replacement OS to perform all the functions we can think of. Linux powers the console, and it's functions are available to any apps people code, it doesn't mean we have to use them all in the GUI. I'm just tempted to say keep it simple, leave specific functionality to specific areas of the GUI or custom apps and keep true to the core purpose of the exercise. In the main, use this launcher app as a means to present the often cluttered and confusing contents of a typical SD card as straightforward, friendly and beautiful.

®

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http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=26157&st=35#

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Your icons are nice but I am sorry that interface is not too good in design functionality wise. Only one row of a few icons means a LOT of scrolling. It would take forever to get anywhere if you have lots of stuff. It is a waste of screen space and very tedious to use. I think Shirohagen totally gets wht I have been saying about this. I am glad that someone does agree.

 

[DaveC]

I think list is better for movies and music (possibly pictures too if not using thumbnails) because
1. Movies would all have the same icon anyway so I see no point in showing them
2. A list would let you read long filenames easier because you've got the whole screen width. Most apps wouldn't have a very long filename at all.
3. You're probably likely to have more apps than movies so if icon view is essential anyway it's in apps

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The video app shows the movie titles and the music player shows the song names. It really isn't needed to show a big list of songs in the interface because you will see the icon for the music player in there. Just click the icon and the music player loads showing your list of songs. Same for movies. Much cleaner that way anyway. The interface isn't meant to be a file manager, it is just a way to access and load programs quickly.

 

[chris_r]

But it would be nice to have that kind of thing incorporated. Say like when you've selected emulators from the top or side menu it scans a certain directory on the sd and returns icons for all the apps, but then when you choose movies from top/side menu it scans a different directory and returns a list of movies.

This way it leads to a more unified feel to the menu, in that you can launch what you need from the single menu.

 

[BradN]

Having a unified file manager is kinda a good thing - otherwise every emu porter, etc, has to reinvent the wheel or copy someone else's code... a single menu can be improved and made more usable without all of the other devs needing to update their code.

As a side effect, this will encourage programs to support command line options and filenames, which will make scripting more useful (I'm thinking mostly background music players and things of that nature).

I guess in general, modularity is nice because it gives more options to the user - if there's a few menu programs around, people can choose the one they like best, and they can avoid ugly/difficult to use file selectors (if anyone's tried using the file selection box built into xmms in linux, you'll see my point...)

 

[Delsabre]

there seems to be some confusion as to what the interface will do...

some people want it to launch games, play movies etc...


i'd just like to jump in and say that it would be best if the new interface only launches applications. no file manager. no movie player. no image viewer. no system tweaker.

those would be included as applications as part of the 'suite', but adding them directly into the launcher would cause bloat, and force you to upgrade the whole thing everytime one of the components is updated.

plus if someone codes a movie player/whatever that you like better you can use that instead, without the default one you dont use cluttering your menu.

i really like rok's idea:

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=26157&st=35#

my suggestion would be to have a menu when pressing select or something, that would give you options such as:

open
properties
rename
cut
copy
paste
delete
add new item

the 'add new item' option would prompt if you wanted a new folder or a shortcut, then would go about setting it up.

the 'properties' option would show all the details of the file, and an option to change its settings ( icon, path, etc.. )

hope this goes somewhere B)

 

[PSyMastR]

Personally, I really like mocca, the only problem is that it could be organized more, as it scans everything on the card, and some gpe's i dont want with others.

 

[chris_r]

there seems to be some confusion as to what the interface will do...

some people want it to launch games, play movies etc...


i'd just like to jump in and say that it would be best if the new interface only launches applications. no file manager. no movie player. no image viewer. no system tweaker.

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I know that its for launcing apps and every emu maker will keep their own menu system, I just meant that as long as gph is making the movie player/music player etc. they could probably integrate with a file list into the gui. And it wouldnt take up any extra memory/loading time because you could just use the interface to select a file from a list which it would then pass on as a parameter to the mplayer binary as opposed to now where you have to load the mplayer binary and then chose a file. That way it also gets rid of that annoying black screen inbetween clicking video and actually getting to the file loading screen.

 

[Hanz™]

those would be included as applications as part of the 'suite', but adding them directly into the launcher would cause bloat, and force you to upgrade the whole thing everytime one of the components is updated.

I agree more or less, but do think that it should have the ability to browse those types of files. And then when they are clicked they can open in the default app.
Anyway it doesn't realyl matter now. Anyone who is anybody has already made up their minds on what they are doing. Or would not take ideas from this thread.

 

[Shirohagen]

One thing I quite liked about how I used to have my GP32 set up was that I had different cards with different stuff on, so because Windups and it's assets all ran from the SMC card, I could make each one look different. So when I put in my Atari card and switched on I immediately got an Atari background with icons for all the emulators arranged how I had left them. Then I might put the MAME card in and that would behave differently to the homebrew or SCUMM cards etc etc.

Just a thought, but I really liked the ability to do that, to customise the appearance of each card a bit, even if it's just a background image or colour scheme to the GUI to complement what you've chosen to use that card for.

®

 

[Minkoff]

Having a unified file manager is kinda a good thing - otherwise every emu porter, etc, has to reinvent the wheel or copy someone else's code... a single menu can be improved and made more usable without all of the other devs needing to update their code.

As a side effect, this will encourage programs to support command line options and filenames, which will make scripting more useful (I'm thinking mostly background music players and things of that nature).

I guess in general, modularity is nice because it gives more options to the user - if there's a few menu programs around, people can choose the one they like best, and they can avoid ugly/difficult to use file selectors (if anyone's tried using the file selection box built into xmms in linux, you'll see my point...)

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I agree fully with this. I think it could go even further though - for instance, an interface for command line config:

A file like this (just an example ):

<app name="Some App">

  <var name="Some Option" type="bool">
  --some-option
  </var>

  <var name="Some Other Option" type="int" min="1" max="10" needs="Some Option">
  --some-other-option
  </var>

</app>

Might generate a menu like this:

Some Option [ x ]
Some Other Option [ 1 ]

It would leave almost nothing to put in the app menu-wise and would feel alot more integrated.

 

[Aninhumer]

Well that's the main thing here - Iguess we disagree. I was suggesting that dedicated files like MP3s and AVIs aren't shown in the overall GUI menu, that would be for APPS only, just as you wouldn't expect to see 300 GB ROMs in there, just one GB emulator from which you launch the ROMs.

For a second there I thought you meant 300 GigaByte Roms :blink:

 

[Hanz™]

I think list is better for movies and music (possibly pictures too if not using thumbnails) because
1. Movies would all have the same icon anyway so I see no point in showing them
2. A list would let you read long filenames easier because you've got the whole screen width. Most apps wouldn't have a very long filename at all.
3. You're probably likely to have more apps than movies so if icon view is essential anyway it's in apps

​

The video app shows the movie titles and the music player shows the song names. It really isn't needed to show a big list of songs in the interface because you will see the icon for the music player in there. Just click the icon and the music player loads showing your list of songs. Same for movies. Much cleaner that way anyway. The interface isn't meant to be a file manager, it is just a way to access and load programs quickly.

​

So are you saying that in the multimedia category there are 4 apps: music player, video player, picture viewer and ebook viewer?
Great use of space there, and totally a step back from GPHs current interface in features.