[mythtv] RFC: Alerting in Myth

[Roo]

On 17/01/2008, Kevin Kuphal <kkuphal at gmail.com> wrote:
> The addition of the UI clock on the menu system got me thinking that it
> would be straightforward to add a graphic/button element that could be added
> to themes (or even a simple textual one) that could query a database table
> for outstanding alerts.  If one or more was present, it could display
> simply: "2 items require attention" on the menu.
>
> Then we could bind the INFO key (which does nothing in the menus to my
> knowledge) to bring up a new "window" that presents simply a list of alerts
> that can be read and acknowledged by the user.
>

<snip>

> Any thoughts on this?

The recent miniplayer addition can give you some idea how this could
be integrated. In particular  look at the Metallurgy theme, which as
Stuart has said is designed with a notification area  defined.

Some random thoughts follows (some of which may have been mentioned):

 * Consider whether the message notification area needs to "grab" the
remote/keyboard input. It is mildly annoying to be navigating the menu
and have the miniplayer popup and steal the input.

 * If the notification message does steal input focus ensure there is
a way to make this clear to the user. Something like a fade on the
background  or other better mechanism, this may be theme defined which
would allow for great flexibility.

 * A message priority queue would be great, meaning that *all*
messages are guaranteed to be displayed, with high priority messages
pre-empting lower priority ones.

 * Integration / assimilation of mythtvnotify, including the message
submission mechanism.

 * Include a tcp (acknowledged) remote message mechanism as we can be
sure that messages will be displayed with this mechanism, whether
watching a recording or in a menu.

 * Some sort of message classification and importance level that
allows for filtering, similar to syslog. For instance all "Mythtv"
messages of "warning" and above can be displayed but "Note" and less
filtered. And no Mytharchive or MTD messages shown at all.

 * Submitted messages can be shown once, repeated for N mins or until
acknowledged.

 * Ability to cancel a message in the message queue.

 * Optional audible alert for critical messages.

I have thought about this for some time, but did not pursue it any
further once Stuart indicated he was looking at it. As he indicated,
it either requires scrolling text area or possibly the UIRichTextType.

Possible use cases:

 * The obvious and important insufficient Guide data.
 * Insufficient hard drive space, if auto expire is disabled
 * Weather notifications like current temp and storm alerts etc.
 * Temperature monitoring, warn if CPU temps are too high
 * Unread email checks
 * Mythzoneminder alarms
 * Mythcalendar/reminder (doesn't exist yet), alert on birthdays,
anniversiaries etc.
 * Long lived process alerts, Mytharchive has completed etc.
 * Many other things...

This is as much a wishlist as anything else, I had not started any
real design process.


Cheers,

Roo.