Another config question …
Is it possible to open various tabs in the browser (say directory tree, database search, database browse etc) on startup?
Alternatively, is it possible to load a saved desktop (which includes the open browser tabs) as a batch file switch on startup?
I know this is possible, Ron, but I can’t offhand remember definitely whether it’s a switch on the command line or just a matter of saving the Desktop with the tabs open.
I’m fairly sure you do need to save a Desktop file and the name is either DEFAULT or STANDARD or something similar: again I forget which.
BFN
CAD
Enable the needed options to save/load the browser config from Desktop Template (.mlt) files in the config.
Open mAirList, clear the playlist, and open all browsers as needed.
Save the desktop as standard.mlt (mind the extension!) in the mAirList program folder.
mAirList will load the file and restore the browsers at startup.
Thanks - I knew there would be a way … another one for the wiki!
Talking of wiki… Would a list of all the possible options/parameters related to the various configuration files (mAirlist.ini, layout.ini, skin.ini, *.mmd etc) be useful?
I for one would find it useful to have a ‘list’ of all the parameters that could be used to customize the operation of mAirlist. Perhaps Torben already has a master list that could be used - if not then I have started to gather these together so could publish that.
Would this be useful to anyone else?
I could easily generate a list of all tick-box-options in the config and corresponding names in mAirList.ini - but would that make sense, when people are supposed to use the config dialog anyway?
For layout.ini, the section names correspond to the screen objects (I don’t have a list, but this is fairly easy to figure out), and the only settings are Left, Top, Width and Height.
For skin.ini, things are more complicated. Even in the source code, there is no complete list of all options, as many values are read in loops or encapsulated in other objects. For example, for reading the state-dependent font settings in the playlist, the names of ten different player states (Empty, Loaded, Playing, Fading, EOF, Error, Paused, Stopped, PFL, Next), four different font categories (Name, Time, Title, State), and four different Font settings (Name, Style, Size, Color) are automatically combined in order to read settings like “LoadedTimeFontStyle”.
I will provide a complete list shortly before the next stable release.
Torben,
Thanks for the info.
Are all the mAirList.ini settings changable using the config dialog? I seem to recall that someone mentioned that you need to go in an manually configure some things but that may be for a different ini file.
The layout.ini seems straight forward although there are probably some screen objects that are not in common use therefore may be missed.
The other element I would like to get clear in my own mind is the command line switches (-c -l -i any more?) and any standard.* or default.* files that are picked up when run.
If I ever get around to producing something then I’m sure other on the forum can point out any errors or additions.
As background - I am trying to set up mAirList for use in a hospital radio station using the same core mAirList but have different layouts and options such as :
… a ‘basic’ setting (batch file) which sets things up to look very similar to our current playout software and everything comes out the same fader (for those who just want it to work)
… an ‘advanced’ setting (batch file) with more features and the output coming out of separate faders (for the more computer literate and advanced users)
… an ‘unattended’ setting (batch file) which just plays from a pre-determined schedule list.
This is also the reason for my previous post regaring locking down mAirlist to stop fiddling with the important settings and ‘it’s not working’ phone calls 
I have currently defined separate mAirList.ini, layout.ini and skin.ini files for each scenario which are called from 3 batch files selecting the appropriate ini files. This works reasonably OK but the batch file remains open so there is an additional open tab which is just a bit tacky!
Ron.
You can use a Shortcut instead of a batch file to get rid of the extra window. (Right-click in Explorer -> New -> Shortcut.)
Most of the settings in mAirList.ini can be changed through the config. I recall that there are some very special settings which can only be placed manually into the .ini file, but I need to look those up again.
The command line switches currently supported are:
-config (run configuration dialog)
-tag (run in file tagging mode)
-c (alternative mAirList.ini file)
-l (alternative layout.ini file)
-s (alternative skin.ini file)
-p (alternative position.ini file)
-o (desktop or playlist file to open)
If you omit the -o parameter and place a file called “standard.mlt” into the program folder, mAirList will load that file instead.
You can also auto-load event lists at startup. The file needs to be named “standard0.mle” for the first playlist, “standard1.mle” for the second playlist etc. Alternatively, you can just name the file “standard.mle”, and it will be loaded by any playlist (not desired if you have configured more than one playlist). Note that the event list might be overwritten by standard.mlt in case that desktop file contains an event list as well. There is an undocumented parameter in the [Playlistx] section of mAirList.ini, “DefaultEventList”, which can be used to manually specify an alternative event list for that playlist.
This is all I remember at the moment. Perhaps someone can copy this to the Wiki?
Torben
Cheers Torben.
The -o switch was going to be my next question but you have covered that already.
I have also just thought that if the mAirList directory only had read access as a general user then that would prevent anyone without admin rights being able to change settings. I don’t think that anything needs to be written to the mAirList directory during operation (assuming no saving of playlists etc). Perhaps you can say if you see this as a problem.
I guess other stations manage so perhaps I am being a bit paranoid about security but I know who will get the phone call when things are not quite as they should be!
Ron.
The mAirList.ini etc. files are not modified during normal operation. You should be able to make them read-only (change file permissions) for the ordinary users.
The only file updated is position.ini, in case you have the “remember window positions” option enabled.
Sorry to continue this thread but I can’t seem to get the browser toolbar to disappear even if I add the following to the mAirList.ini or skin.ini files as stated in section 8.12.2 of the documentation.
[BrowserToolbar]
List=off
Captions=off
AutoSize=on
ShowAdd=off
ShowRefresh=off
ShowClose=off
Am I missing something?
You mean, you want it to disappear completely? I need to try that.
You mean, you want it to disappear completely?That was the plan - the required links to database searches etc would be preset using browser tabs. It also releases some more screen space!
Try to add this to your skin.ini:
[Browser]
ShowAdd=off
ShowRefresh=off
ShowClose=off
Looks like I have changed the identifier from “BrowserToolbar” to “Browser” at some point.
Cheers Torben - I will do that tonight.
Does this mean that all references to [BrowserToolbar] should now be [Browser]?
For mAirList 2.0, the settings need to be placed into the “BrowserToolbar” section of mAirList.ini.
For mAirList 2.1, you put the settings into the “Browser” section of skin.ini instead.
The online documentation still refers to mAirList 2.0.