[vlc-devel] Re: Proposals and questions

[Derk-Jan Hartman]

On 04 apr 2005, at 13:53, Clément Stenac wrote:
> Here are some proposals and questions for 0.8.3
>
> I: Per-instance variables
> -------------------------

I don't really have much to say on this. I usually personally solve 
this by sending my variables to the specific higher objects they are 
connected (for instance with vouts) and have these handle my action by 
setting the proper variable. Since the higher level object (vout 
window) knows which lower level object belongs to it (vout), the 
correct variable instance is called (fullscreen, float on top, etc)

This however requires you to bypass "automatic" menu generation.

For me the vout instance is pretty much the only object affected with 
these issues, and for me it's not so much a problem yet.

> II: RC/RTCI/Telnet interfaces
> -----------------------------
> Quite a mess here.
> This proposal is not new here : merge these interfaces.

I concur
telnet, rc, rtci, they all do the same, but in different input/output 
modes. they can be merged with ease.
Hmm, perhaps even the http control interface can be integrated in 
this???????

> Commands are "vlm" (VLMCallback), "play" (PlaybackCallback), "stop"
> (PlaybackCallback) and "exit" (ExitCallback).
>
> The goal is that you can use "vlm setup foo bar" or "vlm" to "enter vlm
> mode" and then "setup foo bar". To get out of vlm mode, you have to 
> type
> exit (IOS-like syntax).

Isn't this a bit over the top?
I don't really see the need for "descending" into specific stuff. It 
adds code complexity. It's also asking for trouble with possible 
external interfaces. Think of the case where a command is first top 
level and in a next release becomes "descendable". That's asking for 
getting stuck in "acommand"- mode. KISS is the key for these interfaces 
if you ask me.
eyecanc

"vlm setup foo bar" is good enough for me.
"vlm" could show "help vlm" perhaps in case of such a "submenu command 
thingie" or "vlm status" perhaps.
>
> Each command also features a right level. Users could be defined
> (login + hashed pwd + access level) in a configuration file.

that would be nice indeed.

> Another thing that would be appreciable is an option for
> machine-readable or human-readable output (for easy interaction with
> other programs, though things like XML-RPC or SOAP might be better for
> this).

There definitely should be a way to read a load of info from VLC in an 
easy format.
Many ppl have asked about vlc being able to read out Meta-Info, bitrate 
info etc and output that into a format that can easily be scripted into 
a Webdatabase  for instance.
It would be a nice addition, but the implementation might just be a 
little bit more for 0.8.4
However, what is important that at least we consider outputting stuff 
like this in the design. That we don't need to redesign all over when 
we want to tackle this issue.

Of course we have plenty of other stuff to do :)
http://developers.videolan.org/vlc/tabletodo.html
But the above mentioned things are quite important I think.

DJ

---
Universiteit Twente
Derk-Jan Hartman (d.hartman at student.utwente dot nl)
http://home.student.utwente.nl/d.hartman

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