Table of Contents

ticMusicServer assumes these applications, installed and working, on your system:

Python-2.x (where x >= 1).
SoundPlay (available on BeBits)
BeInControl (or Marco Nelissen's IRMan input_server add-on), available on BeBits.

This chapter describes the use (and not the mis-use!) of the applications inside the package known as "ticMusicServer".

In a Terminal, go to the folder in which ticMusicServer-0.2b1.zip was unzipped.

1. cd app
2. python tmsServer.py

to start the server.

The text might not be the same on your system!

To cleanly exit the server, type exit in the Terminal window where you started tmsServer.py.

The settings for the server (such as the default start-up folder for clients) is stored in /boot/home/config/settings/ticMusicServer/settings.

The values you can change are:

current_directory -- sets the default directory on client-connect.
port -- set the port the server will listen for connections on.

current_directory = /
port = 5038

Start the application tmsClient.py by double-clicking it, or in a Terminal window typing: python /path/to/tmsClient.py where /path/to/tmsClient.py is the full path to the directory (and the app) in which you've installed the client application. If you've installed ticMusicServer into /boot/apps, it might look something like this: python /boot/apps/ticMusicServer-0.1b2/tmsClient.py.

Upon application start, three windows are brought up:

Christmas gift, jazz is cool!

Player
Playlist
/path/to/folder

Here you can change the volume and seek into the song. Note that not all songs supports seeking, especially not modules (.xm/.mod/etc.), and some VBR mp3s. Otherwise, it does just what you'd expect from a standard music player.

The rightmost button has the text "Nichts!" on it, which is German for "Nothing!". And that, my friend, is exactly what it does -- nothing!

The songs you've added to the playlist will end up here. The buttons do pretty much what they say they do:

Playlist.

Eject -- Remove the currently selected song/songs from the playlist.
Clear -- Remove all entries in the current playlist. If a song is playing, it'll be left in the playlist. Press Clear again to remove it (or "Eject" while it's selected)
Save -- Save the playlist. An input dialog will ask you for a name for the playlist. Can later be accessed in the "Chooser" tab. Press the Escape key to cancel.
Down -- Move a song or a set of songs up or down in the playlist.
Up -- see Down
Enter (key) -- Start playing the selected song.
1 (key) -- Activate the "/path/to/folder" window. (directory browser)

Chooser.

Everything else in the client is the same.

Set -- Set the current playlist to the one selected.
Add -- Add the playlist to the current one.
Delete -- Physically remove the selected playlist from the server. Note that only the playlist and not the files it references is deleted.
Enter (key) -- see Set.

Add -- Add the song to the playlist.
Play -- Play the currently selected item (directory or file).
Space (key) -- Same function as Add.
Enter (key) -- Invoke the current item. For files, "Play" is used, directory entries are entered and their contents displayed. You get it.
Backspace (key) -- Jump up to the previous directory.
2 (key) -- Activate the "Playlist" window.

Start the application tmsRemoteClient.py by double-clicking it, or in a Terminal window typing: python /path/to/tmsRemoteClient.py where /path/to/tmsRemoteClient.py is the full path to the directory (and the app) in which you've installed the client application. If you've installed ticMusicServer into /boot/apps, it might look something like this: python /boot/apps/ticMusicServer-0.1b2/tmsRemoteClient.py.

A new window is brought up, covering the entire workspace. The window consists of four tabs; Browser, Playlist, Chooser and Player. You change between the tabs using the "Option" button. To navigate in the lists in the tabs, you use the "Up" and "Down" buttons. The "Action" button is used to perform an action with the currently selected item in the list. The "Cancel" button, if used, is a quick button for escaping from the currently Action-requester. The messages the application accepts and their meanings:

Message Function 1 Option 2 Down 3 Up 4 Action 5 Cancel 6 Next Song 7 Previous Song

The ones you -must- preset are 1 through 4, the others can be reached through the menus. A configuration file for BeInControl is provided. Place the file tmsRemoteClient.bicc in BeInControl's Configurations sub-directory and teach BeInControl the buttons as usual.

You can also use Marco Nelissen's IRMan input_server add-on and Jeremy Friesner's SpicyKeys to send messages to the application.

List of files and directories.

Works basically the same as the GUI client, with the exception for the Action-button approach.

The Action-requesters are:

Directory Action,
File Action,
Previous Directory Action.

Directory Action

Action Description Change to [Directory] Makes [Directory] the default directory. Add to Playlist Adds the entire directory, including sub-directories, to the current playlist. Cancel: [Directory] Jumps back to the browser view.

File Action

Action Description Play [File] Play the current file. This sets the current playlist to the file played. The playlist will be replaced with this song, without asking. Add to Playlist Adds the file to the end of the playlist. Cancel: [File] Jumps back to the browser view.

Previous Directory Action

Action Description Up One Directory Level Sets the previous directory to the active and updates the file listing. Cancel Jumps back to the browser view.

The current song is marked with a hash-sign ('#').

In this tab, you manipulate the songs being played.

The available Action requester is:

Playlist Entry Action

Text in []'s represents the item on which the Action command was applied to.

Playlist Entry Action

Action Description Play [Playlist Entry] Sets the currently playing song to [Playlist Entry]. Does not change the playlist. Cancel: [Directory] Jumps back to the playlist view.

All playlists are timestamped automatically.

Here you manipulate the playlists saved on the server.

The available Action requester is:

Saved Playlist Action

Text in []'s represents the item on which the Action command was applied to.

Saved Playlist Action

Action Description Set [Saved Playlist] as Active Playlist] Replaces the current playlist with the one in [Saved Playlist]. The current playlist is not saved. Add [Saved Playlist] as Active Playlist] Adds [Saved Playlist] to the end of the current playlist. Cancel Jumps back to the chooser view.

Missing in this screenshot is "Volume +".

Control the most common functions of a music player. The actions for this tab view is the one specified in the list items themselves (and thus no second action menu is brought up).

Greetings fly out to the following persons:

Donn Cave for Bethon.
Chris Herborth for Python and find_directorymodule.
Mikael Eiman for suggestions and help.
Wyldfire for helping me out with mutex/socket problems.
Elin... Love ya!
My Winnie-the-Pooh-mouse, for annoying me enough to write this app.