[RELEASE] Advanced Launcher - Applications Launcher Addon for XBMC

(2012-08-16 21:22)Angelscry Wrote:  

Code:

Run ( 'C:\Windows\System32\PsTools\pssuspend.exe XBMC.exe' )
Run ( 'D:\GameEx\GameEx.exe' )
ProcessWaitClose ( 'GameEx.exe' )
Run ( 'C:\Windows\System32\PsTools\pssuspend.exe -r XBMC.exe' )
WinSetOnTop ( 'XBMC', '', 1 )
WinSetState ( 'XBMC', '', @SW_MAXIMIZE )

Here is mine last script with Autoit, and it work ! Be carefull to disable mouse in GameEx :

(2012-08-16 23:55)dkplayaclub Wrote:  1.) I use the same fanart for all comics in a particular series, rather than separate art for each issue. Do I really need 400 copies of the same artwork in my fanarts folder to cover my avengers collection?

There is actually two solutions : make 400 copies of the same artwork (as you do) or manually link all your artwork issue to the same artwork file. I'm agree with you, that's not really easy. I will try to see if it is possible to add an option into Advanced Launcher to automatically assign the launcher fanart to all the related items fanart.

(2012-08-16 23:55)dkplayaclub Wrote:  2.) If I export all of my comics data to .nfo files can I erase the artwork to save HDD space? Also will the comics import into a new installation the way I set them up if the .nfo files are there?

No. .nfo files only contain data information, no images (thumbs or fanarts). You cannot earse the artworks files, because it is those files that are used do be displayed into XBMC. .nof file do not contain any setup information. All the setup/data/image paths are located into the launchers.xml file. It is this file that you have to backup if you want to import all the information for a new installation (except that the absolute path to files could be different for an installation to another). To resume :

• NFO file -> item information (title, date, description)
• local artwork -> thumb and fanart images displayed into XBMC
• launcher.xml file -> launchers setup, items paths, item information, artworks paths.
  

(2012-08-16 23:55)dkplayaclub Wrote:  3.) Is there a script available to export the entire collection to .nfo files, much like I do with my video library? I have almost 4000 comic scans now and that equals a ton of time to invest.

Actually you can export .nfo files : item by item or launcher by launcher. You can also export all the item .nfo files of a same launcher. But actually Advanced Launcher do not allows to export all the .nfo files at the same time.

(2012-08-16 23:55)dkplayaclub Wrote:  4.) Almost forgot this one. Many of my scans are all set up and renamed so they all match. When I go to import the data, they are always renamed. Is there an option to import data from the scraper without changing the names (which do not match the file names in most cases)?

Yes, there is an option into Advanced launcher ("Ignore Scraped Title") to force to display the filename of an item instead of the scraper title into XBMC.

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(2012-08-17 00:56)rockstartower Wrote:  Quick question guys. I'm new to this so I appreciate help from all of you experienced people

I installed the dolphin emulator and am trying to set it up with advanced launcher. The game runs really well without going through xbmc. However when I set it up to run through xbmc it always returns this page when I launch the game.

http://imgur.com/dF38A

According to your screenshot, there is something wrong with the arguments of your Dolphin launcher. Which argument are you using? Could you please post here the content of your launchers.xml files using pastebin service.

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(2012-08-17 02:13)myghalloween Wrote:  Here is mine last script with Autoit, and it work ! Be carefull to disable mouse in GameEx :

PHP Code:

Run ( 'C:\Windows\PsTools\pssuspend.exe XBMC.exe' )
Run ( 'D:\GameEx\GameEx.exe' )
ProcessWaitClose ( 'GameEx.exe' )
WinSetOnTop ( 'XBMC', '', 1 )
Run ( 'C:\Windows\PsTools\pssuspend.exe -r XBMC.exe', '', @SW_MAXIMIZE )
Sleep ( 500 )
Send ( '!{ESC}' ) 


Thank you myghalloween for sharing your script.

Angelscry

The question you asked me was just enough information to figure it out. I was able to go into my launchers.xml (which i never knew existed) and change the arguments. So it does launch and exit now with xbmc. Thanks for the help with that.

Version 1.9.0 : Long time ago that Advanced Launcher have not been updated. This new version of Advanced Launcher allow to diplay the file launcher fanart image by default for all related items that do not have any fanart image. Rules are simples :

• no launcher fanart / no item fanart => no fanart displayed
• no launcher fanart / item fanart => item fanart displayed
• launcher fanart / no item fanart => launcher fanart displayed
• launcher fanart / item fanart => item fanart displayed

I have also made some code cleaning into tabs/spaces indentations that could eventually fix errors.

Changelog :

• Automatically set launcher fanart as default item fanart
• Code cleaning (tabs/spaces indentations)

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(2012-08-17 02:15)Angelscry Wrote:  

(2012-08-16 23:55)dkplayaclub Wrote:  1.) I use the same fanart for all comics in a particular series, rather than separate art for each issue. Do I really need 400 copies of the same artwork in my fanarts folder to cover my avengers collection?

There is actually two solutions : make 400 copies of the same artwork (as you do) or manually link all your artwork issue to the same artwork file. I'm agree with you, that's not really easy. I will try to see if it is possible to add an option into Advanced Launcher to automatically assign the launcher fanart to all the related items fanart.

This problem is now fixed by version 1.9.0. If for an item, no fanart image is defined, and if a launcher fanart image is defined, this image will the displayed as item fanart.

Version 1.9.1 : This new version of Advanced Launcher simply add XBMC File manager entries into context menus. A lot of new users encounter difficulties to add drives sources during the launcher creation. So I have added 2 entries, named "Manage Sources" that will redirect to XBMC File Manager.

The first entry is located into launchers context menu :


The second entry is located into launcher creation menu :


Launcher creation menu and entries have been also slightly renamed. I hope this will help new, actual and experimented users to more simply add sources.

Changelog :

• Add "Manage sources" entry into launcher context menu.
• Add "Manage sources" entry into launcher creation menu.
  

Is there anyway i can have this running twice within XBMC with just slightly different names like Advanced Launcher Games & Advanced Launcher Emulators, i ask because i would like to keep my emulators and games separate, at the moment they all show in one screen, i know it puts the emulators at the top of the list and the games underneath but it would be so much easier if i could have the games separate altogether then on my XBMC home screen i could have 2 extra menu items, one for Emulators and one for Games.

(2012-08-19 22:48)catcher36 Wrote:  Is there anyway i can have this running twice within XBMC with just slightly different names like Advanced Launcher Games & Advanced Launcher Emulators, i ask because i would like to keep my emulators and games separate, at the moment they all show in one screen, i know it puts the emulators at the top of the list and the games underneath but it would be so much easier if i could have the games separate altogether then on my XBMC home screen i could have 2 extra menu items, one for Emulators and one for Games.

You can duplicate Advanced Launcher (how many time you want) on your XBMC system. Here is a Youtube tutorial : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gMFJcxdcEg. And as proof, this is how look like my XBMC devellopement system with 5 version of Advanced Launcher installed at the same time :

Thank you very much Angelscry this is exactly what i was looking for and thanks for an amazing addon.

(2012-08-20 00:58)catcher36 Wrote:  Thank you very much Angelscry this is exactly what i was looking for and thanks for an amazing addon.

Other solution for your games is to create a PC games launcher that will use windows shortcuts (.lnk files) and manage them as a roms : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyfRa7gygEc

I'm having issues with Advanced Launcher that I can't sort out. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling, manually removing folders and reinstalling, rebooting, etc and no dice. No matter what, my Advanced Launcher does the same thing.

I added an SNES library, but I forgot to set it to scan for images and such while adding. So, I removed the library from Advanced Launcher and planned to reimport it, but with the scan set.

However, now whenever I go to set up AL, I get the following pop-up "Loading directory, retrieved 0 items" that never goes away. I can cancel, but then I can't do anything else. Selecting another menu item just results in the window closing and going back to my add-on list.

The debug log states the following:

00:05:35 T:1128 NOTICE: ERROR: Main::get_xml_source (1409) - [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:\\Users\\one800higgins\\AppData\\Roaming\\XBMC\\userdata\\addon_data\\plugin.​program.advanced.launcher\\launchers.xml'
00:05:35 T:1128 NOTICE: Launcher: found 0 launchers