[mythtv] GUI setup (mythmusic & others)

[Joseph A. Caputo]

(Sorry if this is a duplicate post; I sent it using the wrong email address
before)

Hi,

I noticed that Robert K. is rumored to be working on a GUI setup patch for
mythmusic, so I thought this would be a good time to chime in with an idea
or two that I've been kicking around.  I've been meaning to code this up
myself, but I don't have much time for coding lately, so if anyone else
wants to tackle it, have a blast.

The idea is to implement a generic setup method in libmyth.  Any Myth module
that wanted to have a setup gui could simply export an object containing
relevant information about its options:  display string, type of option
(integer, string, enumerated list of options, etc), table & field in
databse, etc.  Then the setup method in libmyth could dynamically build a
MythDialog with all the setup options presented.

Of course, this is rather a simple description.  There are some
complications to be worked out, such as how to control the layout (to group
related options, say) or how to split the options over multiple pages if
there are too many to fit on one screen.  However, I really think that the
effort would be well worth it as it would greatly increase the extensibility
of Myth from a developer perspective.  Also the same scheme could be
employed to configure keybindings, once we have a mechanism for that.  It
would also promote interface consistency between modules.

If anyone (esp. Robert K.) thinks this would be a good thing to do, I'd be
happy to collaborate.

On a side note, this is only one part of my current attempts at re-wrapping
the existing Myth modules in a new plugin architecture.  At the moment, I'm
stuck trying to get a shared object loaded using QLibrary.  But, I'll keep
"plugging" away at it :-) (sorry for the bad pun).

-Joe C.