Storing Certain Plugin Data in Sequence, not Profile

[cbell]

I'm working on a plug in that will write to a text file that is then read by MiniRDS to update the RDS text on a radio.

My initial thought was just to get the file name, strip off the directory and extension and display that on the radio with an optional prefix/suffix.

I'm now thinking I don't like this idea and would like the text to be completely user definable, however I don't immediately see a way to choose whether the plug in data is saved in the sequence vs. the profile. The problem being if it is stored only in the profile, then it won't be variable by sequence. It seems as though it is always stored in the profile if indeed one is attached.

Any experience and/or thoughts on this.

[Aurbo99]

Any luck?

[dirknerkle]

What if you used the naming convention of the sequence itself for the RDS message. You could design a specific way to name a sequence that would be picked up by your plug in such as SONGNAME+PERFORMER.VIX. This information is already stored in the program so all the editing would take place at the point of when the person gives the sequence a name. Piece of cake.

Example: Silent_Night+Amy_Grant.VIX and your plugin would simply parse the name from the performer based on the + character and do it's thing. If you needed a station ID in between, your plugin could be set to alternate between the song name, performer, and station ID automatically. The Station ID would be a special file such as STATION_ID.RDS and you'd define the folder where it would reside.

Just a couple ideas...

[Virtus]

I'm working on a plug in that will write to a text file that is then read by MiniRDS to update the RDS text on a radio.

My initial thought was just to get the file name, strip off the directory and extension and display that on the radio with an optional prefix/suffix.

I'm now thinking I don't like this idea and would like the text to be completely user definable, however I don't immediately see a way to choose whether the plug in data is saved in the sequence vs. the profile. The problem being if it is stored only in the profile, then it won't be variable by sequence. It seems as though it is always stored in the profile if indeed one is attached.

Any experience and/or thoughts on this.

Can't this function already be done using the LAUNCHER plugin? I think it can have 254 options and change several times during each sequence.

[cbell]

Any luck?
No.


What if you used the naming convention of the sequence itself for the RDS message.
Good chance this is the route I will take. I've got a few other projects at work that need to take precedence to this one, but I hope to whip something up soon. I got stuck on not being able to store the data and gave up before Christmas, but at the very least would like to use the scheme you are talking about.

I originally didn't want to use the sequence name because I didn't want to have rename all of my sequences for 2009, but didn't really come up with a better way to do it. Vixen uses the ID3 tag of the songs when they are loaded into the music player, but only when they are first added and writes it to the music player data file for subsequent use, so the functionality of reading the ID3 tags isn't accessible to a plugin (I thought for sure this would be the way to go).


Can't this function already be done using the LAUNCHER plugin? I think it can have 254 options and change several times during each sequence.
Yes, and it works OK, I'm just not a fan of having the command windows pop up at the beginning of every sequence. The other issue I was having, was only having one square set at the launcher intensity sometimes wouldn't launch the batch file, and having a second's worth of squares set at the intensity would launch 10+ batch files. Wasn't really a big deal because they were all doing the same thing, but it was still annoying. That's why I wanted to write a plug in to do it.

[djulien]

I don't immediately see a way to choose whether the plug in data is saved in the sequence vs. the profile.

If you want to store it in the sequence, I think you can use the Load* and Save* methods on the EventSequence object, whereas if you want to put it in the profile, you would first go thru the Profile property on the EventSequence, and then use the Load* and Save* methods from the profile rather than the sequence.

don

[Virtus]

Yes, and it works OK, I'm just not a fan of having the command windows pop up at the beginning of every sequence. The other issue I was having, was only having one square set at the launcher intensity sometimes wouldn't launch the batch file, and having a second's worth of squares set at the intensity would launch 10+ batch files. Wasn't really a big deal because they were all doing the same thing, but it was still annoying. That's why I wanted to write a plug in to do it.
Perfect reasons...I just wanted to be sure you knew about it.

[cbell]

If you want to store it in the sequence, I think you can use the Load* and Save* methods on the EventSequence object, whereas if you want to put it in the profile, you would first go thru the Profile property on the EventSequence, and then use the Load* and Save* methods from the profile rather than the sequence.

don

I will definitely look into this. Thanks don.