[larrikinaus]

I notice that Growl notifications won't display whilst XBMC is running. I'd really like Growl notifications to continue to work whilst XBMC is running.

Is this a bug or done deliberately based on how XBMC has been ported?

[eduo]

This is the way XBMC currently works.

XBMC is supposed to run fullscreen and is supposed to take over the whole system when it's running (that is, be a kind of "virtual operating system"). This is so it's not dependant on the OS it's running in.

To achieve this when you start XBMC it behaves in pretty much the same way as a fullscreen 3D game, where no Growl notifications are displayed (nor any window from the parent Operating System) until you quit (you don't want growl notifications obscuring your HUD when killing someone in a shooter ).

Something to consider is if this behaviour should exist only in fullscreen (which I would agree with) or always.

[Gamester17]

Why not just write a python script to get Growl popup notifications in XBMC?
http://growl.info/documentation/develope...upport.php
http://www.google.se/search?hl=en&q=Grow...ifications

There are existing script that popup MSM, Caller-ID, etc. messages in XBMC.
http://www.xbmcscripts.com
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Building_Python_Scripts
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Category:Python

Such a python-script would be platform-independent and work in all XBMC.

PS! OK so python does not work in XBMC for Mac OS X yet but when it does.

[eduo]

Why not just write a python script to get Growl popup notifications in XBMC?
http://growl.info/documentation/develope...upport.php
http://www.google.se/search?hl=en&q=Grow...ifications

There are existing script that popup MSM, Caller-ID, etc. messages in XBMC.
http://www.xbmcscripts.com
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Building_Python_Scripts
http://wiki.xbmc.org/?title=Category:Python

Such a python-script would be platform-independent and work in all XBMC.

PS! OK so python does not work in XBMC for Mac OS X yet but when it does.

Can this be done in XBMC? I mean, I've always wondered on the level of support for python scripts as all I've used work within their own "sandbox" of sorts.

In the standard XBMC distribution for XBOX: Can Python scripts be created that "complement" contextual menus? For example, if I wanted to create a "Get Subtitle for this File" or "Zip this file" (random choices) and add that to contextual menus, would I be able to?

Can Python scripts run in the background and do things onscreen if needed? Can a script receive events from the system (say, email or temperature or new rss item or whatever) and pop it onscreen while seeing a movie or while in the menus?

I'm asking because even though I've been using XBMC for years I really haven't used scripts that much (not needed so far and the only one that interested me, auto-update, didn't really did what it said, it just auto-downloaded).

[jmarshall]

Scripts can't (easily) add things to the context menu, no.

They can, however run in the background, and if they really want to can steal controls and move 'em around etc.

They can also popup information at any time they like, fullscreen or otherwise.

So yes, they are somewhat "semi-sandboxed" in that they can interact with the UI in just the ways that we define in the python API.

Cheers,
Jonathan

[eduo]

jmarshall: That might be enough, really.

Although if they could complement the contextual menu (even in a secondary menu accessed through a "Work on item" that pops up the contextual menu scripts) it could open a lot of functionality (the subtitle thingy I mentioned is real, as could be other things done on files).

Still, what you've said is already good enough to try something when we have scripting working in the OSX port.

[Gamester17]

Can Python scripts run in the background and do things onscreen if needed? Can a script receive events from the system (say, email or temperature or new rss item or whatever) and pop it onscreen while seeing a movie or while in the menus?

Yes that is how the current Caller-ID scripts functions.
http://www.xbmcscripts.com
They autostart on boot and runs in the background listening on a specific IP port on the network then give a popup when a correcttly formated notification comes in on that port.

You could probably take one of those existing Caller-ID scripts and modify to to recieve and popup Growl notifications instead.

I also believe some other existing scripts such as MsnX (MSM notifications), XBOX InBox, XBMCMail, AIM notification, MyCalendar, etc. ...please do a search for "popup OR popups" in the python support and the python development forum for much more information.

Again, having it in python would mean that XBMC running on any operating-system platform on the same local-network could recieve such notifications.