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

[Bruce Markey]

Geoffrey Hausheer wrote:
> 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.

Thanks for the clarification. Here you say 'we'll take the
default profile for whatever card is free'. I didn't see that
in your last message. Several months ago someone had suggested
profiles that would only work for one type of card but I know
were aware of the pitfalls of that approach from your message
last week.

> 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 see what you are saying. Still the user would  need to
decide on bttv-high-res or MPEG2 high-res rather than simply
choosing "high-res" and getting the highest resolution for either.
With what you are describing, I would get "Default" if I didn't
get the card I hoped for.

>>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.

Not at all. That would be a function of the ranking. I made
a change a few weeks back to make sure the highest ranked show
gets the first card. If you prefer your PVR-250 and set it up as
card 1 the highest show will always get the PVR-250.

Here is a real situation I often face. My second highest preference
would be Giants baseball games. These would almost always be
recorded on card 1. However, my highest ranked show is Survivor.
Sometimes a Giants baseball game is on Thursday night. I'd like
to select "HighRes" and know that I'll get the best recording for
any game. With the scheme you've described, I'd specify MPEG2
high-res and Thursday games would become bttv Default. Of course,
I could make baseball the highest but then I'd have the same
issue with Survivor ;-).

> 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.

Actually my Default is medium. I have a HighRes with both a
higher resolution and bitrate for sports, movies on digital
channels, etc. I also have LowRes for talking heads, animation
and things that I might keep for awhile that I don't want to
take up a lot of space (all episodes of Big Brother so I can
refer back to previous conversations).  I usually have just
one recording at a time but can put as many as five tuners
in my production pool and I'm surprised how many times I'll
have three or four at a time during prime time.

This is why I'd like to choose LowRes for news, Big Brother and
Dilbert then HighRes for Nova and basketball games etc. and
not consider the card type in choosing a profile. Even my very
lowest ranked show might not overlap anything so there is no
reason to specify bttv-default if the PVR card 1 is available.

I do appreciate that you've taken on this issue and I hope you
understand that I just want to express what I believe would be
the best solution before anything gets committed.

--  bjm