bpa;184527 Wrote: > In Windows ini files are no longer in fashion - the registry (ugh) is > the preferred MS option.
Stay out of the registry. SlimServer uses a prefs file, which is the same thing, just a different internal data format. > Whatever mechanism is used, it would be Slimdevices who would have to > support it as INI files make installation and upgrades a pain (e.g. do > you have one INI file per user or one system one, what happens to INI > files during upgrade). SlimServer doesn't support users, so that's not currently an issue. > Also INI files require user to use editors which just adds to > complexity. My feeling is command line options are better. Consider it a feature only for advanced users. Like I said, you could keep the current behavior via the use of the hardcoded strings within SlimTray, but look for the INI file to pick up the optional configuration. Command line options have their place, but there's no way you're going to pass a couple dozen configuration options on the command line. It would be like the current prefs file, where some things can only be edited manually. An INI file is at least a lot more human friendly than the prefs file format. I suppose you could actually add the stuff to the SlimServer prefs file, but editing that thing requires shutting down SlimServer itself since it's constantly being written to. And it's decidedly unfriendly when it comes to editing anything but the simplest setting. > I think service name is hardcoded into Slimserver so this is not just a > SlimTray issue. But SlimTray runs completely independent of SlimServer, so if that's the case, it shouldn't have any affect on SlimTray. > Current Slimserver just runs a shortcut to start IE. Yep. But it won't necessarily start IE. Whatever the associated application for URL file extensions is what will be launched. It'll probably be a browser, but not necessarily IE. > Give an working example of a shortcut that you can use from the desktop > that does what you want. The recent change I made rewrites the > shortcut using a template adding in prefs port no. where needed - > allowing user supplied template should be straightforward if the your > shortcut can bemade into a template. Yep, anyone using SlimTray and SlimServer on a port other than 9000 in the past was doing exactly that - using a separate shortcut or a bookmark in a browser. If the config INI contains all the info needed to find the web server (IP address or host name and port number) then the need for a URL file is unnecessary and could give the added flexibility to run a browser of your choice. This is a pretty trivial request. I have IE as my default browser, but find that SlimServer's web interface only works well in Firefox. > Don't understand what you mean by "Restart" - explain in more detail. If the service is running, offer 'Restart' in the menu. Restart is just 'Stop', wait to see that the service has stopped, then 'Start'. Like I said, look at the Windows Services applet. It's just a simple convenience over manually stopping, waiting, then restarting the service. I tend to restart SlimServer a lot after updating through SVN, or to change plugins or debugging switches. > remote control should be straightforward as current code uses blank for > host name - realtime management of status would not be so for remote > system I think a "Status" menu options would be best. That makes sense. The status is the least useful of all features for me. If monitoring multiple servers, then the 'green light' becomes meaningless anyway. > Slimtray could get overloaded with functionality and confuse users > especially as remote control of Windows slimservers would be a minority > sport - how about a separate RemoteSlimTray which is just for > controlling remote Slimservers. That would be fine, but I'm not sure it requires a separate app, so long as the interface on the default one that controls the service on the local machine looks the same with a default install. > One of the hardest things is to get User interface right - when the UI > is elegant and intuitive, functionality is obvious. I am not good at > UI - so when suggesting functionality , suggest the UI as well. For Start, Stop and Restart, gray out options that don't apply, according to the running status of SlimServer. I'm not sure if SlimTray currently does this or not. If running then only Stop and Restart are possible. If not running, then only Start. For multiple servers, use a submenu, with the friendly server names in the main menu. Select a server, then a submenu flies out and presents a link to the Web interface, plus Start, Stop, and Restart controls. For the default setup with only a single server, show no server name and present only Start, Stop, Restart in the main menu, as it is now. Remote servers requires no addition UI changes. Anyway, you did a fine job already. These are all just "it would be nice if" things. Like it would be nice if I could get a pony for my birthday (actually a couple strippers and a bottle of Herradura Añejo would be prefered). -- JJZolx Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JJZolx's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=10 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=32257
_______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/discuss
