New Webinterface (1 Viewer)

[Smirnuff]

One other possibility would to be use WPF browser apps. Since the whole app is delivered in a single file it will be much quicker than a traditional web page; far less roundtrips. Its going to be a new thing for 90-100% of us but its greatest advantage is that the code could also be used directly within MP where appropriate, naturally this would only be possible when the new WPF skinning engine is released.

Another alternative would be to use ASP.NET combined with CSS Friendly ASP.NET 2.0 Control Adapters. My reason for mentioning this is that some guy had the really smart idea of writing a set of adapters that churns out WPF code... something that in the future could prove to be very useful.

AFAIK this would rule out all those wishing to run their web servers on Linux . However, VMware could offer a solution to that problem in addition to this. Strangely enough the original source of the previous link came from one of Microsoft's WPF/WinFX program managers .

 

[samuel337]

One other possibility would to be use WPF browser apps. Since the whole app is delivered in a single file it will be much quicker than a traditional web page; far less roundtrips. Its going to be a new thing for 90-100% of us but its greatest advantage is that the code could also be used directly within MP where appropriate, naturally this would only be possible when the new WPF skinning engine is released.

Speaking of which I was going to do this as part of an experiment into WPF during my summer break. It looks very interesting... Its out of the hat anyway so - I was going to create a WPF-based music remote control because I really don't like using my remote to pick songs, so I was going to create that so I can control it using my tablet and wifi/BT.

I do have a few more projects to do first (including completing the ECP2 plugin for client/server operation) so don't start bugging me

Sam

 

[Maschine]

Damn, now I just read about the first 200 pages of my asp.net book and began to really like that language and now you tell me this is old stuff again

Maschine

 

[Smirnuff]

now you tell me this is old stuff again

Hiya Maschine, its not old stuff buddy. IMO its a great solution, assuming you go with ASP.NET now you can get something everyone can use today. Once MP makes use of WPF you can then use the CSS Adapters to convert to WPF. I'd call that a win-win situation.

began to really like that language

I love and hate it. I get fed up of bouncing from the code-behind to ASP.NET and then CSS way too often. I am learning some neat tricks though, one to look out for is the Model View Presenter; great way of creating truly UI independant code and unit testable without a UI too! Its helping change the way I code for the better, thinking far more OO than before.

first 200 pages

I no longer have a concentration span that can manage that, 200 words possibly?!?!?

Two caveats... not sure how well WPF browser apps work in non-Microsoft browsers, although I think I've read that it isn't an issue. The other is that you would most likely require .NET 3 to be installed per machine.

 

[jawbroken]

Yes, another thing to consider with WPF browser applications is that it is really a step backwards as far as compatibility goes; one of the nicest things about web applications was that you could pretty much use them from anywhere with a web browser, whereas with WPF you will begin locking people in to specific platforms again.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is clear than Microsoft are trying to create a defacto standard for web applications that is incompatible with competitors platforms and thus lock people into their platform for another generation. It is clear that web applications are starting to scare them, so it is a smart move on their behalf.

Again, this is just something to consider and not necessarily a dealbreaker, especially since it is probably the best way to deliver thick client functionality through a browser on the horizon. Then again, it is pretty much just a nicer way to automatically download and run applications from the web, as I understand it. As far as I can tell it is just a more tightly integrated version of Java WebStart or even C# ClickOnce. wikipedia says "Although one gets the perception of the application running in the browser it actually runs in an out of process exe different from the browser" for the WPF XAML browser applications, so I suspect I am right on this point.

As MediaPortal is a Windows application perhaps this isn't a consideration, I am just a little wary about the possible impact on web applications in the future.

 

[samuel337]

WPF apps can run within IE on windows and as a standalone app. The point of doing it for me wasn't to replace the web-interface, but to provide a good-looking, slick, responsive controller for the music module. Like I said, its really just a little experiment for me. ASP.NET will be around for a while, and the WPF app I'm thinking of isn't really envisioned to be a web-interface replacement, more a touch-screen controller. So don't worry - your ASP.NET reading will still be much needed

Speaking of compatibility between browsers - like I said, I'm not planning this WPF app as a web-browser app (I just mentioned it because smirnuff mentioned WPF). However, Microsoft isn't really as evil as everyone seems to think, especially recently WPF Everywhere (WPF/E) is planned for release on firefox (there's already been discussion between the firefox devs and MS about how to go about this), but its still to be seen whether it makes it past the windows barrier. WPF/E btw, is basically a cut-down version of WPF (no 3D features and some other stuff cut out - think of it as MS's version of flash).

It would be unlikely that WPF would make it past the windows barrier - it relies heavily on DirectX.

Sam
p.s. if you really want to run full WPF apps within firefox, you can always use the IE Tab plugin

 

[jawbroken]

I don't think Microsoft are evil at all, just smart on the business side. They are afraid of browsers becoming a platform rather than an application (as has pretty much already occurred), so locking websites back into their platform (Windows) is a smart move for them.

But yes, a nice remote control application would be great. Whenever I VNC in using my laptop to schedule a show I always think there must be a better way.

 

[MJGraf]

Hello everyone,

I just want to share some of my thoughts on this topic because I think this is very interesting here.

I could use some kind of web interface for the following scenario:

My "perfect" htpc will have a case with a built in touch screen (e.g. silverstone lc18 or dign x15e) and a 720p beamer. When I just listen to music, I could control MP via touchscreen with no need to turn on the beamer. When watching TV the beamer would of course come in handy ;-)

The first thought was to use the clone mode of my nvidia card to achieve this. The problem is: none of the built in touch screens can really display a resolution of 1280x720. (I know, the silverstone might emulate this but it's not really nice to look at...).

So the next solution could be: primary display = beamer with a resolution of 1280x720. On primary display there should be directX acceleration so the main MP app should have no problem there.
Secondary display = touch screen with native resolution with some kind of nice looking and easy to handle control tool for MP. This could be the web interface. For this purpose it would be very helpful if the use of directX isn't as heavy as on the main MP interface beacuse on the secondary display there is no directX acceleration.

I've got no idea of all those programming languages you're talking about (last one I really used was C++...). But of course it would be really great if the interface would be resolution independant. In this case one could use the same interface on a touch screen, on my windows mobile pda etc. This would increase the WAF incredibly ;-)

But of course the most important thing would be - as already mentioned - a uniform interface in MP through which all remote controlling applications, no matter if it's one application or many different, could access and control MP.

Just my two cents...

cheers, michael

 

[Maschine]

Hey guys,

just joking about the old stuff Seriously from what I read now I'd say we try "MPW - the next generation" with asp.net. I hope to have some time this evening to write a little asp.net script that communicates with MP.

So stay tuned

Maschine

 

[Smirnuff]

If you're going the ASP.NET route then I'm sure I'll contribute also.