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Message: <blockquote data-quote="simex" data-source="post: 83894">Hey all.In case you havn't guessed, I'm the one who started the DAAP/iTunes plugin (or at least began to code it <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick Out Tongue    :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" /> )I was having a thought:Why not make a generic or abstracted Streaming-Media-That-You-Can-Browse plugin?This would roll up the DAAP, UPnP and possibly the radio plugin, as well as any other protocol that works with streaming media and has some sort of directory of playable files (possibly heirarchical!)So you can imagine, that it would look like the music plugin (ie. list on the right, options on the left) and you would first pick the protocol. The plugin would load up the protocol handler. If the protocol handler supported discovery (finding sources of media - Upnp and DAAP do this) then it would search and present a list of devices. For radio, there would be a flag that said it does not have 'devices' and instead goes straight to the track listing (which would be radio stations - more or less like the existing plugin is now).For the other protocols, there would be a heirarchical "Directory" listing for each remote database or whatever (Similar to the existing Music plugin after you select a drive or folder) so you can pick and choose tracks and playlist them, etc.I know that this is possible. I just don't know enough of MediaPortal to do it. (Ie. WTF VirtualDirectory's ?!?) If someone can do the nasty UI-stuff, I am quite happy and more than willing to put DAAP and UPnP into it!Or.... the ultimate - practically what the OS does...If media portal had (as well as window plugins and proccess plugins) a "protocol" plugin that would be called to do this - then it would be truely generic! (ie. if it got something like daap://server/101/1565432 it would pull up the DAAP protocol plugin and ask it to get a stream or (normal) http connection for the media at this location.Once again if the very-smart-people-who-know-how-to-implement-the-core-side-of-this could present such an interface for (people like me) to make protocol plugins, that would be very cool, and make MP even more extensible!<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big Grin    :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> Simon<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />PS. I know one of the possible problems with an all-in-one solution is that different protocols have different features that may require, say, user input of some kind (username, password, etc). It would be up the the Interface developer(s) to allow the protocol to interact with the user (or some othe solution <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> ). Also, protocol plugins should be put with the other plugins as another section in configuration (this will allow enable/disable, config, etc.)</braindump></blockquote>

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