System Plugin - New Test Release (29th Jan)

[imilne]

Before I release this to the wiki, I thought I'd post it here for some feedback and testing first.

What's changed:

- Now uses the hidden menu style rather than a button list
- Only five buttons can now be visible because of this (use Settings to configure which ones and their order)
- Monitors CPU, memory, and network activity
- Detects updates to NPVR and changes status message at the bottom of screen to show this
- Major rewrite of the threading code - should be faster, use less resources, cause less problems (!)
- Settings now stored in /Plugins/System/System.xml rather than config.xml
- Logging level can be specified
- Change view with Blue/Alt+B or activate Shutdown with Stop/CTRL+S
- Lots of bug fixes

If you don't use the default skin, you'll need to delete your skin's System folder until an update for it is available. You also might want to delete the plugin's settings from config.xml as they won't be used anymore.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]32880[/ATTACH]

Iain

[pcostanza]

Looks great here Iain. I did have to re-add my hard drives on 2 installs, but no big deal.
Thanks for a great plugin.

[McBainUK]

Only five buttons can now be visible because of this (use Settings to configure which ones and their order)

Why not have a "more" option, which allows access to the rest of the commands.

Settings now stored in /Plugins/System/System.xml rather than config.xml

Any particular reason for this? A shame to have another file to take care of when migrating a NextPVR system.

[mvallevand]

The only reason five buttons can be shown is when using global.xml If you put buttons in your skin you can put as many as you want.

Martin

[stustunz]

i really dislike the top menu and how it works (just my 5 cents) this is npvr wide not a dig at you
i would rather have a more button at the bottom of the left menu
makes no sense to have to use left right to select after using up down

[smajor]

i really dislike the top menu and how it works (just my 5 cents) this is npvr wide not a dig at you
i would rather have a more button at the bottom of the left menu
makes no sense to have to use left right to select after using up down

Than I guess you and I make 10 cents. I'll be sticking with the previous version rather than using the top menu version. I just don't like how that top menu works either.

[johnsonx42]

Nah, I like the top menu in this case (which is not to say that I always like the top-bar menu implementation in NPVR). The only appropriate user-level function in System is to disk space usage, and to a lesser extent see which tuners are doing what; this view is easily switched with the Blue button or some other button on your remote you might assign. The rest is admin stuff and ought to be hidden from the regular users.

[sub]

I dont think the top menus are perfect, but I think the're a big improvement over the buttons down the left we had in every screen in GBPVR. These just took up far too much space, particularly on 4:3 setups. We've now got a lot more space for metadata etc. Other HTPC apps have come to similar conclusions, and do pretty much the same thing.

In the early days of NextPVR I'd considered using the buttons down the left in some screens like Recordings, and a top menu for more real estate in Video Library etc, but in the end I decided it was better to be consistent and do it the same everywhere.

[imilne]

In the early days of NextPVR I'd considered using the buttons down the left in some screens like Recordings, and a top menu for more real estate in Video Library etc, but in the end I decided it was better to be consistent and do it the same everywhere.

That was my feeling here, as I thought it was time the plugin was consistent with the rest of NPVR. People had also asked for it to use the menu back in its original discussion thread too. The other reason I switched was due to a bug with the View option losing focus when toggling between drive space and tuner activity. It didn't take long to switch over to the menu - which left me with a big empty space to fill - and rather than centre the existing display I thought it might be nice to put some additional bits n bobs there instead.

Actually, on the subject of View, I'd love to see an Alt+B mapping for that in your library screens like GBPVR had.

Why not have a "more" option, which allows access to the rest of the commands.

Wife aversion mainly
Her main use for the plugin is to shut the PC down at the end of the night, and she wasn't keen on increasing the number of remote button presses required to do this. That's one of the reasons the CTRL+S shortcut to Shutdown exists, but I think because of that now it's probably worth shunting all the power related options into a single menu button that then popups up a list for final selection.

Any particular reason for this? A shame to have another file to take care of when migrating a NextPVR system.

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...nt-context

The only reason five buttons can be shown is when using global.xml If you put buttons in your skin you can put as many as you want.

Yeah, Jaggy's given me some skin code for that, but I've not tried it yet. Is it really as many as you want, or just as many as will fit?

Iain

[bgowland]

I certainly don't want anything like Shutdown, Reboot or Quit in a default menu layout.

Actually, in saying that I'm not sure what 'Quit' does (sorry haven't downloaded this version yet). If 'Quit' is just an exit kind of function to leave the plugin then that can be done with the Esc key on a PC or the various remote buttons surely?

But back to my original statement - any Shutdown / Reboot ability MUST be hidden by at least one level of re-direction in my opinion.

BTW, in conclusion, I've used the previous System plugin for a while now - useful to check disk stats and do the occasional manual EPG update. Thanks Iain

Cheers,
Brian