[mythtv-users] Programming remote button bindings (WAS: What major features are planned for 0.27?)

[Yeechang Lee]

Christopher Kerr <mythtv at theseekerr.com> says:
> > Both menus are always available in Watch Recordings no matter which
> > one appears first depending on the context. Push MENU again.
> 
> Yeah. I know. I still want it put back where it made semantic sense,
> though!

That's what the context-sensitive nature of the menu does; it shows
the proper menu depending on which pane is focused. In other words,
the right menu is never more than two presses of the same button away,
and usually just one.

> Silly question, but possibly revealing: Why? Is it just for the
> filename?

* This movie next Thursday sounds interesting. Who are the stars?
* Did Steven Spielberg write this film as well as direct it?
* What is the MPAA rating of this film?
* In this episode I just watched, what is the name of that guest star
  I sort of recognized?
* When was this episode originally aired?[1]
* Which rule captured this recording?
* How large is this recording?[2]

Etc., etc. None of the above information is available anywhere else in
mythfrontend. The INFO binding pulls up Program Details for both
recordings and forthcoming programs. It works *anywhere* a current or
future program is selected, whether in Watch Recordings, Scheduled
Recordings, or Program Listings. During playback it, as noted,
similarly pulls up more information on the recording.[3] The binding
is, in fact, one of the triumphs of MythTV's context-sensitive design.

[1] While the Mythbuntu theme I use shows this data in Watch
Recordings and elsewhere, not all themes do

[2] Most themes do not display this information in Watch Recordings

[3] Something I'd like to do one of these is write a patch to add a
third screen to the playback OSD to show some of the Program Details
information, notably actors and guest stars. If a developer reads
this, please feel free to run with it!

> Just make it two separate key bindings ("Show Context Menu" and
> "Show OSD") and let me overload them onto the same key. There's no
> OSD in the menus, and there's no context menu in playback, so
> there's no conflict (unless you insist that it's not "Show OSD" but
> "Show Recording Information", which I continue to argue is less
> useful than having a menu system that makes semantic sense!)

On the contrary, the fact that only one menu exists during playback
supports the notion of making only one menu exist everywhere else.

If MythTV had always been built around the necessity of two discrete
menu buttons--with no alternatives and used everywhere--then everyone
would long ago have found remotes that permit this. Since, however, 1)
until 0.22 RIGHT--a binding *everyone* has--worked as an alternative
for one of the menu buttons, and 2) DETAILS was a more useful (and
sensible) binding choice for most people with "Info"/"Display" remote
buttons, few bothered to do so. And, in fact, Mythfrontend was built
around *one* menu in most situations except Watch Recordings and
MythVideo.

0.22, by eliminating RIGHT as a synonym for one of the two menu
buttons (as part of the worthy goal of permitting more flexibility in
theme design, including horizontal ones), forced many to find a second
menu button on their remotes to perform basic functions. I was one of
them; while my remote with softkeys has enough room for two, four, or
seven menu buttons, many others did not. More to the point, it caused
the community to discuss the inconsistent nature of two separate menu
buttons needed in some places in mythfrontend and one menu in most
others. The discrepancy was resolved in Watch Recordings by a patch
from a developer,[4] with support from other developers, and today
MythVideo is the only remaining place that necessitates two menu
buttons; I guess it's a leftover from back when it was a plugin and
not formally a part of mythfrontend.

[4] Far from Mike Dean's claim that the two menus were merged because
"It was changed because many people [i.e., non-developers] whined"--as
he knows very well, if developers don't want to do something ten
thousand non-developers "whining" 24/7 could not force otherwise, and
rightly so--said developer wrote at the time
(<URL:http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/405683#405683>):

    How many remotes have two menu buttons? So, you lose an 'info'
    button to the 'info menu'. Great, except now you need to find a
    button to map to U (Details) if you use that feature a lot. Up to
    0.21 it was a PITA to press INFO, then go into 'recording options'
    (wth?) and select 'show programme details') ...

    I've done some work on getting rid of the INFO menu, integrating
    items into the MENU bound menu & better contextualising it - thus
    freeing up INFO for displaying.. oh you know.. INFO (!) (currently
    DETAILS, bound to the U key by default, not quite intuitive IMHO)
    ...

    Of course moving the 'Program details' etc menu items is a good
    workaround.. but still.. two menus?

    I think we could all benefit from having less buttons tied to core
    functions, and for Pete's sakes name them more logically. Menu to
    bring up a menu, and Info to show information. So if that means
    lesser used features need another keypress who cares?

    ONE menu button, contextual menu content.