[mythtv] How to edit the gui? (And some profile related stuff)

[Geoffrey Hausheer]

On Mon, 08 Sep 2003 19:27:58 -0700, "Bruce Markey bjm-at-lvcm.com
|mythtv/1.0-Allow|" <2obvhk58d70t at sneakemail.com> said:
> 
> It sounds like what you've come up with suggests that a profile
> selected on the advanced option page may limit which cards are
> available to record a show.
This is not possible.  If you chose a 'record this program whenever it is
on any channel' then assuming it would normally get scheduled (i.e. it's
priority is deemed high enough) it will record.  It is just a question of
whether you get it on your first-choice card.  That is why it is coded as
a 'desired profile'.  Wel'' try to fulfill your desire if it doesn't
conflict, but if not, we'll take the default profile for whatever card is
free.

> Please consider the following. If profiles are thought of as
> descriptions then a translation table could map the profile
> number to a codecparams number based on the profile and card 
> group.
> 
> For example, the initial TV Settings->Recording page could be:
> 
> (Create new profile)
> (Create new encoder group)
> Default
> Live TV
> Transcode
> 
> I'd set these profiles for, say bttv cards. If I then added a
> PVR-250, I'd choose 'Create new encoder group', fill in a name
> like "PVR" and choose the card(s) that should should be included
> in this group. After hitting Finish the top page would show:
> 
> (Create new profile)
> (Create new encoder group)
> Default
> Live TV
> Transcode
> PVR->Default
> PVR->Live TV
> PVR->Transcode
> 
> I'd then set my profiles for the PVR entries. If I then wanted
> to add a new profile name, the top page would show:
> 
> (Create new profile)
> (Create new encoder group)
> Default
> Live TV
> Transcode
> High Res
> PVR->Default
> PVR->Live TV
> PVR->Transcode
> PVR->High Res
> 
> and I'd set my bttv settings for 'High Res' and hardware MPEG2
> settings for 'PVR->High Res'. I could then set "Survivor: Pearl
> Island" to "High Res". If the recording is assigned to a card
> in the PVR group it would use the codecparams for "PVR->High
> Res" or 'High Res' if not in the PVR group.
I see the reasoning for this, and it was, sort of, the way I was
originally planning to go, but I think the current method is easier for
the user to underestand.  I.e. we can predefine 'MPEG2 high-res, MPEG2
low-res, bttv-high-res, bttv-low-res (or whatever), and the user just
assigns the profiles to his cards during configuration.  However, with
the framework I've currently got, it means (basically) rewriting one
function to go from my current implementation, to something like what you
describe.  If Isaac voices an opionion, I'll be swayed that way, but
otherwise, I think what I have will be the easiest to understand for the
users.
> 
> I think this would be much better for the user in the long run
> because she wouldn't need to concern herself with which card
> might be available on some future date when it may unexpectedly 
> conflict with something else. The only concern is the objective
> of the profile and it will do the right thing for whichever
> card records the show.
Again, I see the rationale for this, but at the same time, A user might
prefer that a show get scheduled to a specific card, and that seems like
it'd be more convoluted with your scheme.  IN theroy, you could build
'virtual profiles' which allow multiple card-types at specific
configurations to be equated as equivalent.  This would allow you to
obtain your goal.  I don't think it would be too challenging, as today
the MPEG2 recording ignores all settingfs except for resolution.  I
havem't looked into it though.

> 
> This would also be very flexible for situations other than just
> different types of cards. for example, if someone had bttv cards
> on a fast master and a slower slave. The user could create a new
> group for the card on the slower machine with more conservative
> params for high res. A show marked for high res would use the
> best possible setting for either card whereas currently the
> settings would need to be the lowest common denomination.
> 
Well, I assume you set your 'Default' to the highest resolution the card
can achieve on a given machine, in which cased everything works fine.  If
you set your default for a given card to the bare-minimum space/CPU-wise,
yes, you are correct.

By the way, I haven't dealt with the transcoder yet.  Making that work
(making 'X' do the right thing), is going to be quite challenging, I
believe.  My main goal is to make sure that upgrade to the new system is
painless.  It should 'just work' for everyone, and those inclined can
take advantage of the more advanced options.
.Geoff