Re-design/overhaul...looking for a little help.
#1
Okay guys...here's the deal.

I've gone back to work full-time, which means my ability to sit in front of a computer all day and program to my little heart's content has been destroyed. I have literally only an hour or two every day at my disposal now to work on Serenity.

However, I still feel like there are many things that could be improved/changed/added/fixed in this skin, and I'm hoping maybe some of you out there would like to help me. Here is a list of some of the stuff I would still like to tackle before I consider this skin fully completed:

1. Automatic updating: I'm trying to make a script that does this, but I'm very new to Python, so some of the usage is still foreign to me. Anybody with Python Experience...more than welcome to help. Broken code is here:

Code:
import urllib,os,re,urllib2
import xbmc,xbmcgui

# get current (active) skin dir
currentSkin = xbmc.getSkinDir()
# create the path variable
path = 'special://xbmc/skin/'+currentSkin
rarpath = 'special:/temp/serenity.rar'


def DownloaderClass(url,dest):
    dp = xbmcgui.DialogProgress()
    dp.create("Serenity Update","Downloading File",url)
    urllib.urlretrieve(url,dest,lambda nb, bs, fs, url=url: _pbhook(nb,bs,fs,url,dp))

def _pbhook(numblocks, blocksize, filesize, url=None,dp=None):
    try:
        percent = min((numblocks*blocksize*100)/filesize, 100)
        print percent
        dp.update(percent)
    except:
        percent = 100
        dp.update(percent)
    if dp.iscanceled():
        print "DOWNLOAD CANCELLED" # need to get this part working
        dp.close()
        
url ='http://www.iamkizer.net/xbmc/serenity/downloads/MusicFanartAddon.rar'
DownloaderClass(url,rarpath)
xbmc.executebuiltin('extract(rarpath)')

I'm pretty sure my problem is in the way I'm telling the execute(extract) function to handle the special/temp path.

2. Automatic studio icon updating: Same principle...only the script would be grabbing the icons from Fernferret's site instead of the serenity site.

3. Faster browsing - Scrolling in poster view is still very laggy, and I don't like this. I think it has something to do with the fanart (probably the fadetime tag).

4. Wholeness - The fullscreen info sections are a mess. TV show infopanel has a big hole in it. Some panels have perfect media flags, some look like a bomb went off. I want it to look clean and professional, not like I just threw some things together and went off to work on something else. Eek

5. Better Media Icons - This is mostly a "keeping up with the Joneses" thing. I feel like I should at least be offering the same level of media flags in other areas as the other big skins.

I don't care for them, but a lot of people seem to be interested in seeing "Blu-Ray" and "DVD" images, which means that I am interested in putting them in my skin. Same goes for audio-codec stuff. MP3/DTS/AC3/etc.

6. Game Library support - SHHHH! I'm supposed to be working on this in secret, so don't tell DJH. Wink

Leo's got the Game Library branch coming along nicely. When it's ready, XBMC will have a database dedicated to organizing your emu/roms in a method similar to Launcher, but better. I've got a list of infolabels and ideas as to how these should go, but outside input is always welcome.

7. Better weather stuff - I've been hoping (for a while now) to have time to implement a secondary weather bar that could show more detailed information about the day's weather. Even better, I want to take the Supplemental weather script and be able to use THAT information on the homescreen.

According to something Nukka told me a long time ago, this should be possible and requires switching the standard weather window with the one included in the script, then calling those infolabels from the home screen. I get the concept, but don't quite know how to make it real.

8. General prettification - I'll be the first to admit...I have ADD. I have an idea, implement it to the point of *just being able to work*, then get another idea and run off to work on that.

This leaves tiny holes in things, things looking out-of-place, or just not quite looking right. I'm aware of this. What I need is somebody who can help me find/fix these things.


I've now got the project hosted on goggle code's SVN. If you think you can help me out, I'd be more than happy to add you to the project and give you access.

So, if you think you can help...even a little...it is more than welcome. I have a rain day today, so I'll have *some* time to work on things, but I don't think six hours are enough to accomplish everything I'd like to see done. Sad
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#2
3. Check my blog.
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#3
I will be making judicious use of the background=true tag. Thanks for this addition.
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Re-design/overhaul...looking for a little help.0