[Loto_Bak]

kraqh is right the library provides a far faster search with better result searching than any simplistic filename search could.

for example... (queried 'k-os')


to use the library you need to fix the id3/ogg/flac/ape tags for your music. the you simply need to scan your music into the database. i wrote a quick and dirty tutorial on tag&rename which will allow you to do this (and fetch album art while your at it)

http://manual.xboxmediacenter.de/wakka.p....2&v=wqt

filename searches are nearly useless on the xbox due to its speed and fatx filesystem limitations (specifically the 48 character filename limit) these limits will cause many music filenames to be cryptic and therefor unsearchable.

the library search produces results from albums, songs, genres and artists completely independent of filenames. xbmc already provides a very powerful search mechanism.

[msaspence]

I, like many xbmc users i imagine, have a huge music collection and trying to scroll through them to get to the artist, song or album i want is a thankless task.

Wouldnt it be great if lists could have a live search that when activated a text input dialog popped up (positioned not over the list) where you could enter text to narrow down the items in the list.

[Gamester17]

CODE PATCH: http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=35296

VIDEO DEMO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcbs7RsrPHM

[msaspence]

i thought somebody would have come up with this already

i did search first ... promise

[jmarshall]

Use PM3 in music library there's a search button, or there's a filter button.

Filter button is in video library as well - it's an edit control, so just focus + type away. If you have a remote, the filter button takes SMS style input. The search in the video library isn't quite as good as the one in the music library (it's not done asynchronously).

[msaspence]

i feel really stupid now
how did i not see that
so is this the implementation of what talked about in the other topic
i know i should read it all but its got so long now its hard to get a good impression of where it is now

[jmarshall]

My blog contains some info, that might be a good place to start: http://xbmc.org/jmarshall

In summary:

1. Fast scroll and a letter can pop up (assuming it's skinned) showing you where you are at.

2. Filter control (which can be an edit control, allowing direct text input from keyboard for live filtering) filters the list - available in music lib and video lib.

3. Search control (available in music lib) is an edit control that you can type into directly with the keyboard - it searchs song titles, album titles and artist names, and updates the list as you type.

4. You can use the JumpSMS2 -> JumpSMS9 actions in keymap.xml to jump through letters using the number keys on a remote. eg press 2 twice and it'll take you to the B's. Three times and you'll be at the C's, 4 times for the 2's and so on.

5. There's two actions for jumping letter by letter (NextLetter and PrevLetter).

6. You can implement the filtering via SMS style input directly (i.e. without a separate filter button) using FilterSMS2 -> FilterSMS9 actions in keymap.xml. There's also FilterClear to clear the current filter.

7. I have code (currently not in SVN as it's still being refined) to jump through the list based on keyboard input when you hold down SHIFT. Currently implemented as: SHIFT B -> takes you to the first B. SHIFT->BO takes you to the first entry starting with "BO" (if it exists). Times out at 1 second for more than one text input, and ignores current text input if there isn't a valid match (eg no "BO" things to find, would jump to the O's on press of the O)

I think that's it, but check my blog in case I missed anything.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[msaspence]

those are some really cool features
love the sms idea unfortunately i am using a wii remote so no use to me
the shift and letter jump is something im looking forward to and will really use

[Atramhasis]

3. Search control (available in music lib) is an edit control that you can type into directly with the keyboard - it searchs song titles, album titles and artist names, and updates the list as you type.

This is nice, but I think it is too confusing for most users to have both, "Filter" and "Search". I think it would be better to have just "Search" but it should show most relevant results first which would be the "Filter" results. Simple and efficient.

4. You can use the JumpSMS2 -> JumpSMS9 actions in keymap.xml to jump through letters using the number keys on a remote. eg press 2 twice and it'll take you to the B's. Three times and you'll be at the C's, 4 times for the 2's and so on.

I think it should be a standard feature! I tried Vista MC and MediaPortal, they both have this functionality. Then I tried xbmc and nothing happend when I pressed a number key. Why not? What does a modern man (used to SMS on his mobile) expect from a number key if not jumping (or searching) to the associated letter? I don't think someone expects volume changing... (please, drop this key mapping by default).

6. You can implement the filtering via SMS style input directly (i.e. without a separate filter button) using FilterSMS2 -> FilterSMS9 actions in keymap.xml. There's also FilterClear to clear the current filter.

Is this the only "documentation" of this features (4. and 6.)?
I think it would be nice to have a toggle key for turning on the filter (or better search) function. When you press it (e.g. "0" or "1") then you should see a small info pop up showing what you are doing and how to get back (e.g. "Press 0 to cancel search"). Currently you are "blind" when using this feature.

[jmarshall]

Most skins simply implement search. It's entirely skinnable - there's no need for filter to be anywhere in the UI.

Feel free to design a keymap that does this by default - obviously it depends on the remote that you are using.

Documentation is _always_ lacking - please feel free to volunteer to improve it.

We tried it with a popup, and to be honest it didn't work very well. With that said, the filter label is available within the skin, so the skin can simulate a popup behaviour.

Note that search is cumbersome with a remote as it relies on SMS style input, which isn't as efficient - we popup the virtual keyboard for remotes.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[Atramhasis]

With "by default" I meant for all users, I did it already for me but I think it is good for everyone.

So we have now "JumpSMS" and "FilterSMS" but there is no "SearchSMS"?

And what about the toggle action? Is it somehow possible to switch on/off the live filter or search?

[jmarshall]

Hit the search button on the left -> you get the virtual keyboard with live search, SMS input works on this no problem.

Also, just highlight the Search button on the left (PM3 at least) and SMS input in to it using the remote.

This is in the library view of music. The search for video has not been "livened" up as yet.

Is anything else needed?

Cheers,
Jonathan

[Atramhasis]

1. Unfortunately no other sikn I know uses this edit button for search. Maybe it easy to change by myself... Anyway, it would be nice to have the possibility to use an action like FilterSMS2-9 but with SearchSMS2-9.

2. It would be good to have toggle keys to switch between the SMS functions (JumpSMS, FilterSMS, SearchSMS). E.g. I made JumpSMS my default actions for the number keys in keymap.xml. But sometimes I want to use the numbers to filter (or search) without using the (edit) buttons, just live searching. So I would press for example "1" and start live searching with SearchSMS then press "1" again to go back to normal view and use JumpSMS again.

This would be just perfect.

[jmarshall]

It's trivial to change a skin to use the edit control - pretty much just change type="radiobutton" or type="button" to type="edit". You may have to add a couple of extra lines, depending on what the skin includes for it's font types and so on on those buttons - just compare PM3 with whatever skin you want to use.

I doubt we'll ever have a function to "toggle" the search modes - this makes no sense to me whatsoever - Filter and Jump act on a list, and are both just as capable of finding something - thus I don't see the point of allowing both. JumpSMS is IMO the most useful in that regard.

You can always setup your keymap so that "press 1" actually sets focus on the edit control for search - that way you get everything you need without me doing anything. Getting out of search mode is just a matter of navigating away from the button. With the cooperation of the skin, said edit control could be hidden until activated.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[Atramhasis]

Thank you, this is something to try. I think there are enough possibilities for now. The only thing I would recommend is to make JumpSMS as default for everyone on a standard installation.