[WINDOWS] Launcher plugin for XBMC

I finally got it working on Vista 32bit. I seems that you must manually add a launchers.xml to /documents and /settings/user/appdata/xbmc/userdata/plugin_data/programs/launcher/ I had already tried adding one to /xbmc/userdata/plugin_data/programs/launcher/

I tried it on my gentoo box briefly but when I went add a program it limited me to the xbmc folder and my media folder so I could not actually add the executable. I'm sure I can add it manually though, so I will try that later today and see what happens. Cheers.

I'm looking at using this to do the following.. hoping it will....
I've built an HTPC and have been using Media Portal which i've added options to to launch Powerd DVD (for HD / bluray) and DVBViewer (For cable TV).. in there, mediaportal dissapears (does not close) and the app launches.. then when i close the app, mediaportal appears again.. is this possible with this plug in yet?

By the way, i've played with xbmc on windows and with the install of IR Server Suite have my MCE remote working perfectly. it's playing everything i'm throwing at it including HD content.. well done guys!

OK, i've got this working.. kind of.. added 2 apps which appear to launch however XBMC stays in front and i cant see anything.

But when i switch back to PM3 skin, and try to click on launchers.. XBMC crashes.

leo2 Wrote:Hi, I'm glad to know that this plugin is usefull for someone.
I'll be happy to help solve problems in it, sorry for the delay in my answer.
1. The command prompt cannot be hidden - it's an XBMC system call that is out of my control.
2. the command prompt disappears immediately if the application was started on as a different process, it's depends on the application itself.
3. in order to launch standalone programs like firefox, etc there is need to create an empty launcher, and put the program as a rom for the launcher.
like this:

Code:

<launcher>
        <name>PC</name>
        <application></application>
        <rompath></rompath>
        <romext></romext>
        <thumb></thumb>
        <roms>
            <rom>
                <name>Firefox</name>
                <filename>"c:\Program Files\Internet\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"</filename>
                <thumb></thumb>
            </rom>
        </roms>
    </launcher>

if the program is in "program files" or any other directory that has a space in the its name, a double quotes is needed.

4. the rompath is unused right now, so ignore it.
5. the thumb isn't working either. so ignore it.
6. this plugin can be easily support linux, about mac i'm not sure.
when I'll change it to support linux - I'll be happy if some linux guy will test it.
7. it's far away to be a beta, it's hardly an alpha version.
I'm planing to add an ability to configure everything from the XBMC and auto download images from the web.

I'll be happy to get more ideas.

leo

i got this off another thread

Quote:If you'd like to do away with the ugly black command prompt window you'll get from the batch file, you could try creating an AutoIt script. (Which you could even compile to an executable.)

http://www.autoitscript.com/autoit3/

Great scripting language, very powerful, and yet very easy to learn. =)

so apparently it is now under your control

I found a way to start an external process without the command prompt. The question is now should XBMC wait and do nothing until the process returns or shall it still run further.
I dunno about the side effects though but one can test both methods.

WiSo Wrote:I found a way to start an external process without the command prompt. The question is now should XBMC wait and do nothing until the process returns or shall it still run further.

If you can't make it optional then I think XBMC should just pause/freeze everything and wait until the process returns, ...and if you can make optional then the default should still be to pause/freeze everything and wait until the process returns. Preferably it should be a setting per application that is added; I mean if I started an game from XBMC then I would want XBMC to pause/freeze everything and wait until the process returns but if I started a webbrowser then I would still want XBMC to keep running in the background.



By the way, how will that affect the other XBMC platforms (Linux, Mac, and Xbox)?
...is it possible to somehow implement parts of it as unified/playform-independent code?

Gamester17 Wrote:If you can't make it optional then I think XBMC should just pause/freeze everything and wait until the process returns, ...and if you can make optional then the default should still be to pause/freeze everything and wait until the process returns. Preferably it should be a setting per application that is added; I mean if I started an game from XBMC then I would want XBMC to pause/freeze everything and wait until the process returns but if I started a webbrowser then I would still want XBMC to keep running in the background.



By the way, how will that affect the other XBMC platforms (Linux, Mac, and Xbox)?
...is it possible to somehow implement parts of it as unified/playform-independent code?

I agree 100%. I use Meedio as my main frontend at the moment. I launch many different apps from it. One such thing is like Gamester17 said, launching a browser. Maybe I am listening to music or watching a tvshow in XBMC, then I think I need to go online really quick. Well, I don't want the music or tvshow to stop, they could keep playing. For dual monitor people, the browser opens on the second monitor not interfering with what XBMC is doing. Then there might be times where XBMC freezes like playing a game. Optional per item would be the best way to go if possible. Meedio has that as an option and it is quite nice to have.

kricker Wrote:Meedio has that as an option and it is quite nice to have.

Good point, GUI-wise we should maybe first check how MeediOS (not Meedio) and MediaPortal does to get some ideas.

WiSo Wrote:I found a way to start an external process without the command prompt. The question is now should XBMC wait and do nothing until the process returns or shall it still run further.
I dunno about the side effects though but one can test both methods.

I'd be happy to test the heck out of it, both ways.