[RELEASE] Launcher - application launcher plugin for Linux, Mac, Windows, and Xbox

lawsy5 · 2010-01-10 18:36

Hi guys I have been using and fiddling with launcher for about 3 months now, Ive managed to twist to do all kinds of things beyond launching games or emulators. My current endeavor is launching ebooks using adobe reader and I have no problem in launching an ebook or anything with the plugin however I have run into problems while trying to extend the code. I wanted to add a description field to the rom definition (I have it set up so the author is the application and each book is listed as a rom) and I would very much like to be able to assign a blurb to each book, much like is shown by albums and movies in their respective views. I realise that this requires editing the skin to recognize an extra field and I have already managed to edit the polaroid skin from transparency! to look like a stack of books. My issue isnt with having the skin find the data, it is with having the plugin process the stored information from the xml, I confess my xml skills are somewhat better than my poor python skills.

I dont need any automated scraping or the like as I can edit the xml file directly, I just hoped someone with more adapt python skills might be able to help me with the processing portion.

In short I have added an additional field to each rom entry as <desc></desc>
and attempted (in vain) to have the python file launcher_plugin.py process this as romdata["desc"] = romdesc but unfortunately the script now fails when i execute it, I need to process this field in the python script such that the <desc> field can be interpreted by the skin xml as <label>$INFO[ListItem.desc]</label>

Thanks in advance for anyone who can help me unravel this small mess, I would ask Leo himself as he coded it in the first place but I know he has moved onto the Games Library project now.

yngwi · 2010-01-13 17:04

Hi,
I've got a few problems/questions:
I was able to install laucher fine and in the xbmc interface i can choose a snes or nes rom just fine, but when launching the rom, the emulators (ZSNES or Nestopia) just launch without a rom loading. Nestopia gives a "File not found" error, ZSNES just starts in GUI mode without a message and without loading anything. I'll show you how the emulators are configured:

Nestopia:

Code:

<launcher>

        <name>Nestopia</name>

        <application>D:\Anwendungen\Spiele\Emulatoren\Nestopia\nestopia.exe</application>

        <args></args>

        <rompath>D:\Anwendungen\Spiele\Emulatoren\ROMS\NES\</rompath>

        <romext>nes|nst</romext>

        <thumb></thumb>

        <wait>true</wait>

        <roms>

            <rom>

                <name>Exodus (u) (v4.0) [!]</name>

                <filename>D:\Anwendungen\Spiele\Emulatoren\ROMS\NES\Exodus (U) (V4.0) [!].nes</filename>

                <thumb></thumb>

            </rom></roms>

    </launcher>

ZSNES:

Code:

<launcher>

        <name>ZSNES</name>

        <application>D:\Anwendungen\Spiele\Emulatoren\ZSnes\zsnesw.exe</application>

        <args></args>

        <rompath>D:\Anwendungen\Spiele\Emulatoren\ROMS\Snes\</rompath>

        <romext>sfc|mgd|fig|swc|smc|srm|zst</romext>

        <thumb></thumb>

        <wait>true</wait>

        <roms>

            <rom>

                <name>X-kaliber 2097 (e)</name>

                <filename>D:\Anwendungen\Spiele\Emulatoren\ROMS\Snes\X-Kaliber 2097 (E).mgd</filename>

                <thumb></thumb>

            </rom></roms>

    </launcher>

As a second question:
The rom lists are sorted by date. Is there any way that I can sort them alphabetically?
Regards,
Daniel

zosky · 2010-01-14 16:00

@yngwi, there is a fix for both issues (sort order & files with <spaces>)
i know this thread is now 60 pages long Frown

, but read it

rausch101 · 2010-01-16 09:31

At this point, there are so many tools/plugins/features for XBMC that depend on this plugin. I personally depend on it for a variety of things including seamless integration of Live TV, web browsing, and several multi-player PC games. I'm not sure what percentage of users actually use this, but I imagine a large portion looking to go beyond media end up needing this at some point.

Is there any plan to have this (or some form of this) implemented into the SVN as an official feature?

I'm aware of the Games Library, but as far as I know that doesn't include everything that this plugin is capable of. Considered starting a new thread, but thought I'd see here first Smile

Correct me if I'm wrong please

And great job leo2.

coendeurloo · 2010-01-18 11:48

Awesome program!

Could someone tell me how to install, for instance, Firefox on an XBMCLive (XBMC + Linux) system? I bet it has to be some terminal code...but how? Smile

yngwi · 2010-01-18 12:53

zosky Wrote:@yngwi, there is a fix for both issues (sort order & files with <spaces>)
i know this thread is now 60 pages long , but read it

Thanks for your reply!
I already did that, and found a fix Big Grin

I just forgot to report that... :o

Alceste · 2010-01-18 14:02

Hey guys!
Probably this problem has already come up, but the thread is huge!! Anyway When I follow the steps on the first page of the thread by adding the launcher to my games section in XBMC I can only see the folder structure- no content or anything. However I click on add to favorites but there is no icon or arrow in the bottom right corner..

coendeurloo · 2010-01-18 23:06

I have managed to install firefox by using a guide somewhere else on the forum (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=54318)

However when I open firefox, the firefox window is too large and the focus is still on XBMC, not the new firefox window... I'm using XBMCLive.

kurojaki · 2010-01-19 01:42

Alceste Wrote:Hey guys!
Probably this problem has already come up, but the thread is huge!! Anyway When I follow the steps on the first page of the thread by adding the launcher to my games section in XBMC I can only see the folder structure- no content or anything. However I click on add to favorites but there is no icon or arrow in the bottom right corner..

I have the exact problem. Did the steps in the first thread, but all i get is folder structure. No content och app to run?

EDIT: Okey, so i got the launcher to work (have put it in the wrong dir every f***ing time)
Now im wondering wot it should say at "APPLICATION ARGUMENTS" ??
Ive tested visualboyadvance, snes9x and epsxe, all detects roms/games, but no game will start. Im just getting error

Alceste · 2010-01-19 12:09

kurojaki Wrote:I have the exact problem. Did the steps in the first thread, but all i get is folder structure. No content och app to run?

EDIT: Okey, so i got the launcher to work (have put it in the wrong dir every f***ing time)
Now im wondering wot it should say at "APPLICATION ARGUMENTS" ??
Ive tested visualboyadvance, snes9x and epsxe, all detects roms/games, but no game will start. Im just getting error

Hey man could you be so grateful and tell me the RIGHT place ^^ `?

zosky Member+ Posts: 302 Joined: Dec 2008 Reputation: 1 Location: toronto. canada	2010-01-14 16:00 Post: #593 @yngwi, there is a fix for both issues (sort order & files with <spaces>) i know this thread is now 60 pages long , but read it 8 xbmc frodo's (rc3) ... atom/ion(xbmcBuntu) \| amd3000/nVidia9800(mint12) \| iphone4(5.1.1) \| hpTouchPad(cyanogen9) ... and more + central mySQL db + 11TB mdadm raid6 (+transmission-daemon & flexGet) + maraschino + IRtoy.v2
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coendeurloo Senior Member Posts: 263 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-01-18 11:48 Post: #595 Awesome program! Could someone tell me how to install, for instance, Firefox on an XBMCLive (XBMC + Linux) system? I bet it has to be some terminal code...but how?
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yngwi Junior Member Posts: 19 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-01-18 12:53 Post: #596 zosky Wrote:@yngwi, there is a fix for both issues (sort order & files with <spaces>) i know this thread is now 60 pages long , but read it Thanks for your reply! I already did that, and found a fix I just forgot to report that... :o
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Alceste Member Posts: 52 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-01-18 14:02 Post: #597 Hey guys! Probably this problem has already come up, but the thread is huge!! Anyway When I follow the steps on the first page of the thread by adding the launcher to my games section in XBMC I can only see the folder structure- no content or anything. However I click on add to favorites but there is no icon or arrow in the bottom right corner..
	find quote

coendeurloo Senior Member Posts: 263 Joined: Jan 2010 Reputation: 0	2010-01-18 23:06 Post: #598 I have managed to install firefox by using a guide somewhere else on the forum (http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=54318) However when I open firefox, the firefox window is too large and the focus is still on XBMC, not the new firefox window... I'm using XBMCLive.
	find quote