[mythtv] RFE: conditional UI settings presentation
Jeremiah Morris
jm at whpress.com
Thu Sep 9 11:50:52 EDT 2004
As the new mythui library will be a big post-0.16 push, I wanted to
bring up something that I feel is lacking in the current presentation.
All of the settings are present, even when they are inappropriate. In
some cases, it is known at compile time that the settings can never be
used. I would like to see these options hidden or removed when they
are irrelevant to the user's situation.
The UI decision can take place either at compile time or at run time.
An example is the screen for PVR-350 options. If the ivtv config flag
is disabled, then Myth knows at compile time that I will never use a
PVR-350. It doesn't even have to build that code. If ivtv is enabled,
I still may not have a PVR-350 installed; at run time, it could execute
a check for the required hardware, and skip the screen if a 350 is not
found. Ultimately, I'd like to see both types of checks in place,
although the compile-time decision is much more straightforward and
would be a big help by itself.
As the audience for MythTV grows and its capabilities become more
fragmented, this will become more important. The dynamic menu
structure (based on which plugins are loaded) is a good start, but
applying this principle at a finer level will lead to less user
confusion. I find myself toggling settings that do nothing on my
setup; the situation is worse on Windows and OS X, where hardware
abstraction makes many of the choices meaningless.
I've spent very little time in the UI code, so if you've already
thought about this, well, I'm glad. :) I know it makes a tough job
tougher, but I hope that a future release of Myth will only ask the
user when there's really a decision to be made.
- Jeremiah
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