[WebService] General Media Access Webservice (1 Viewer)

[Mike Lowrey]

Any developer who is interested in testing the service can download a first public preview here General Media Access WebService - Download: 0.1.0.0 Preview

 

[offbyone]

When installing I get an error that the service can't be started. Error in EventLog:

Der Dienst kann nicht gestartet werden. System.InvalidOperationException: Fehler beim Laden von Attribut "OperationBehaviorAttribute" für Methode "MP_GetFullSeries" in Typ "IMediaAccessService". Weitere Details finden Sie unter "InnerException". ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Die Datei oder Assembly "System.ServiceModel.Web, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" oder eine Abhängigkeit davon wurde nicht gefunden. Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
   bei System.ModuleHandle.ResolveType(RuntimeModule module, Int32 typeToken, IntPtr* typeInstArgs, Int32 typeInstCount, IntPtr* methodInstArgs, Int32 methodInstCount, ObjectHandleOnStack type)
   bei System.ModuleHandle.ResolveTypeHandleInternal(RuntimeModule module, Int32 typeToken, RuntimeTypeHandle[] typeInstantiationContext, RuntimeTypeHandle[] methodInstantiationContext)
   bei System.Reflection.RuntimeModule.ResolveType(Int32 metadataToken, Type[] genericTypeArguments, Type[] genericMethodArguments)
   bei System.Reflection.CustomAttribute.F...

What do I need to have installed? (.Net Framework 4.0 Client Profile is installed - came on Windows Update)

 

[DieBagger]

When installing I get an error that the service can't be started. Error in EventLog:

Der Dienst kann nicht gestartet werden. System.InvalidOperationException: Fehler beim Laden von Attribut "OperationBehaviorAttribute" für Methode "MP_GetFullSeries" in Typ "IMediaAccessService". Weitere Details finden Sie unter "InnerException". ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Die Datei oder Assembly "System.ServiceModel.Web, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35" oder eine Abhängigkeit davon wurde nicht gefunden. Das System kann die angegebene Datei nicht finden.
   bei System.ModuleHandle.ResolveType(RuntimeModule module, Int32 typeToken, IntPtr* typeInstArgs, Int32 typeInstCount, IntPtr* methodInstArgs, Int32 methodInstCount, ObjectHandleOnStack type)
   bei System.ModuleHandle.ResolveTypeHandleInternal(RuntimeModule module, Int32 typeToken, RuntimeTypeHandle[] typeInstantiationContext, RuntimeTypeHandle[] methodInstantiationContext)
   bei System.Reflection.RuntimeModule.ResolveType(Int32 metadataToken, Type[] genericTypeArguments, Type[] genericMethodArguments)
   bei System.Reflection.CustomAttribute.F...

What do I need to have installed? (.Net Framework 4.0 Client Profile is installed - came on Windows Update)

Yeah, Client Profile isn't enough iirc, you need the full .net 4.0 -> Download details: Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (Standalone Installer)

 

[offbyone]

Thx that was it. The installer could have a launch condition for that!
Next question as there are neither docs on codeplex or in the thread :
What port do I have to free in my firewall?

 

[Mike Lowrey]

Normally the installer should add a firewall exception. To do this by yourself you have to free port 44321. If this port doesn't fit to your needs you can change it in the services config in the program folder.

And no currently there is no documentation, just ask what you need to know.

 

[offbyone]

Thx the firewall exception is in place, working fine!
What's an sample URL I can call in the browser to test some functions?

 

[Mike Lowrey]

If you want to check the basic functionality you can use http://localhost:44321/GmaWebService/MediaAccessService

For a more "interesting anwser" you can use this http://localhost:44321/GmaWebService/MediaAccessService/json/MP_GetSupportedFunctions

My answer for example is this:

{"MoviesFunction":{"Description":"MovingPicture Movies","Id":0,"ImagePath":"\/Thumbs\/Movies.png","Name":"Movies"},"MusicFunction":{"Description":"Listen to your music","Id":0,"ImagePath":"\/Thumbs\/Music.png","Name":"Music"},"PicturesFunction":{"Description":"Watch your pictures","Id":0,"ImagePath":"\/Thumbs\/Pictures.png","Name":"Pictures"},"SupportsMovies":true,"SupportsMusic":true,"SupportsPictures":true,"SupportsTV":false,"SupportsTvSeries":true,"SupportsVideos":true,"TVFunction":null,"TvSeriesFunction":{"Description":"MP-TvSeries TV Shows","Id":0,"ImagePath":"\/Thumbs\/TVSeries.png","Name":"TV Series"},"VideosFunction":{"Description":"MediaPortal Videos","Id":0,"ImagePath":"\/Thumbs\/Videos.png","Name":"Videos"}}

When you use the last url your browser will prompt for a username and a password which is saved in the config.xml default values are admin/admin

 

[Oxan]

I've some feedback the development version of WebMediaPortal. You probably already know this, but anyway:
- SQL Server is required. I guess that most users of MediaPortal use MySQL, and that forcing another database server for just an authentication mechanism is a bit too much.
- The home link links to the document root (/), not to the root of the application (I run it under /WebMediaPortal)
- You need to be logged in to register... That's hard to create the first user.
- The white text of the 'log off' link is quite hard to read on the light-yellow background.
- Util.GetLogin() expects username and password to be childnodes of <config> instead of attributes (in config.xml)

But except these issues it looks really good. Thanks for your work!

 

[Mike Lowrey]

Hi,

thank you for your feedback

Just for clarification: The WebMediaPortal isn't ready yet that's the reason why things like authentication and registration aren't working on everyones machine.
The release is mainly for the webservice because for example aMPdroid needs a release

If you are interested in contributing to WebMediaPortal (especially with regard to issues with authentication and registration since i'm not familiar with all the options to implement this) feel free tell me how you would do it

 

[Oxan]

I'm not too familiar with ASP.NET at all, so you shouldn't take my answer for the truth, but I have an idea. You can create a subclass of the MembershipProvider class that reads and writes the users into the XML config. Then you can create a default user and the first-registration problem is solved too. But if you're planning to use the database for more features than this isn't very scalable and using the DB is probably a better option.

I'm interested in contributing to WebMediaPortal (especially the television part), but as I said above I'm not that familiar with ASP.NET MVC so I'm trying to get how it works first. As for the code; I agree that a cleanup of GmaWebService, as you said here would be nice, but the WebMediaPortal code itself looks good. Also, I miss the point of prefixing all methods with MP_. Was that done with a reason?