Rockbox Technical Forums

Support and General Use => User Interface and Voice => Topic started by: Davide-NYC on August 17, 2006, 03:30:23 PM

Title: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 17, 2006, 03:30:23 PM
OK here goes some suggestions for better useability in the WRS.


1.

This only applies for stereo sources, so while INPUT == LINE-IN:

Instead of displaying two separate Gains (Gain Left and Gain Right) display only one Gain labelled

Gain Stereo: < GvalueL | GvalueR >

Where 'GvalueL' and 'GvalueR' are the Left/Right Gain values as diplayed in the two-line display.
LEFT/RIGHT would just adjust both Gains in equal increments until either gain hits a min/max.

Volume: 0 dB
Gain Stereo: < -64.0 dB | +13.5 dB >
AGC: Off


If a user highlights Gain Stereo and presses the SELECT button the display adds a line displaying the separate Gain Left and Gain Right lines with both Gains highlighted/selected. As it is currently.

(SELECT)
Volume: 0 dB
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB
AGC: Off


The 'selection option' and 'change value options' are as they are now:
LEFT/RIGHT changes selected/highlighted value.
DOWN highlights/selects only Gain Left, DOWN again highlights/selects only Gain Right, and DOWN again selects the AGC line.

(DOWN)
Volume: 0 dB
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB
AGC: Off


(DOWN)
Volume: 0 dB
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB
AGC: Off


(DOWN)
Volume: 0 dB
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB
AGC: Off



Pressing SELECT while having any Gain Line highlighted/selected toggles between single line or double line display. So if you wanted to hide the extra line you could by just pressing SELECT with any Gain Line highlighted/selected.


2.

AGC max gain setting should be accessed with a SELECT press, not a DOWN.
This way if anything need to be added to the WRS it can be added without modifying the button schema.  :)

(I'm thinking real-time encoding values in the future)



The only problem I see with the first change is if the user has one gain 'max'ed and the other gain 'min'ed.

Volume: 0 dB
Gain Stereo: < -64.0 dB | +48.0 dB >
AGC: Off


In this particular case a user wouldn't be able to change the gain at all unless they were aware of this potential problem. I'd prefer it this way instead of incrementing/decrementing the other channel until they were both 'min'ed/'max'ed. But either way is cool I guess.


The second change *should* be easy and I think it makes sense. THe first one might be tricky but I think it's cool since most folks will never mess with their Left/Right Gain balance.


Alright everybody... Wadayatink?
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: petur on August 17, 2006, 03:56:45 PM
uch... sorry....
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 17, 2006, 06:26:40 PM
As an alternative, I and some others would like to offer this idea:

The gain is alway shown on one line, like this:

Code: [Select]
Gain: [<] -20.4db | [>] 36.4dbOne could highlight it as a normal line, and then press select to toggle between "Both", "Left", and "Right" selections, looking like this:

Both:
Code: [Select]
Gain: [<] -20.4db | [>] 36.4dbLeft:
Code: [Select]
Gain: [<] -20.4db | > 36.4dbRight:
Code: [Select]
Gain: < -20.4db | [>] 36.4db
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 17, 2006, 06:34:27 PM
I like it!  :D   More elegant (the screen doesn't re-organize itself) and achieves the goal.

Here's a minor suggestion:

Volume: 0 dB
Gain: [<] -20.4dB | 36.4dB [>]
AGC: Off



Volume: 0 dB
Gain: [<] -20.4dB | 36.4dB  >
AGC: Off



Volume: 0 dB
Gain:  <  -20.4dB | 36.4dB [>]
AGC: Off


I'm not sure the bracket is the correct character to designate selection.
It just doesn't seem to "jump out at you" enough.

Everybody... chime in! It's a party!
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 17, 2006, 07:01:02 PM
This is an interesting idea but my one, extremely massive complaint with it is that it looks awful. If I saw something like that when I first opened the recording screen I would just give up immediately. It's confusing!

The way it is at the moment is fairly intuitive. You press the down button and you see the different lines highlighted, it's fairly obvious that the highlighted lines are the ones that will change. One line down and you get the stereo change which, as you say, is what most people are going to want to be using and so that is why it is the first you come to.

There is no need to display the gain on one line (it fits nicely on two on all targets), so what is the advantage of this?

So there you go... it gets the NO vote from me! :)
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 17, 2006, 07:08:37 PM
It's been pointed out that while it fits nicely on the H100 and H300, you also have the Remote to be concerned about.

As well, the Archos Jukebox Recorder has a smaller screen than the H100, and is incredibly space-limited.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 17, 2006, 08:03:23 PM
I'm mostly thinking about the remote screens for the iRivers.
At 128x64 the iRiver RLCD is a little tight.
At 112x64 the Recorder LCD is a disaster.

I also do not find it confusing because UP/DOWN will select different lines, LEFT/RIGHT will change the selected value and only SELECT would change the active state of the channels. If a user does not press SELECT they wouldn't even notice any difference.

Also there was discussion in IRC about using icons. I think icons would be even better.
My main point in all of this was to get it to fit better on the RLCD and get the Gain(s) on a single line since the vast majority of all users never need to 'imbalance' their Left/Right Gains.

 ;D

Here are some Simulator screenshots of the WRS while source == Line-In.

[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 18, 2006, 04:13:13 AM
They all look pretty good to me! :)

OK, so on the Iriver remote AGC isn't displayed all the time, I'll give you that.... I suppose it would be better if it was, but I think your solution confuses things too much.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: petur on August 18, 2006, 05:54:37 AM
good luck getting the two values on one line + have meaningfull text in front of them ;)
do check this for Archos...

I'm still for scrolling. The top can stay fixed and below the peakmeters we can put a list with a scrollbar so the user sees there are more items to change on the fly...

Other option is to remove the AGC setting and maybe frequency from the screen as you can still change it on-the-fly by going to the settings menu. And just keep the stuff we _really_ need to adjust on-the-fly on the main recording screen.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 18, 2006, 11:43:07 AM
For the Archos Recorder screen, assuming we're using chars instead of icons....
Here there is a problem since the line is not labelled. That's bad I agree but here it is anyway:

Volume: -00.0 dB
[<]-00.0|-00.0[>]
44.1 kHz Stereo


I'm of the opinion that once seen in 'action' it all become immediately intuitive.
(The chars should be replaced with spaces so the line doesn't jump around.)


What about number 2?
Quote
AGC max gain setting should be accessed with a SELECT press, not a DOWN.
This way if anything need to be added to the WRS it can be added without modifying the button schema. 

(I'm thinking real-time encoding values in the future)
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 20, 2006, 04:05:00 PM
Other option is to remove the AGC setting and maybe frequency from the screen as you can still change it on-the-fly by going to the settings menu. And just keep the stuff we _really_ need to adjust on-the-fly on the main recording screen.

This is probably the best idea (in my opinion). Less is more.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 20, 2006, 04:06:10 PM
I would've suggested that as well, but since I don't use recording, I'd assumed you guys just all wanted that stuff to stay there, and needed a way to shuffle it around to fit. ;)
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: catstevecam on August 20, 2006, 07:42:15 PM
I've only just loaded Rockbox on my H120 - but am quite familiar with the recording functions on my Archos Recorder 20. I just love the time split function for extended recording.

The gain and volume elements are intuitive - I'd keep them the way they are.

One change I could use is the possibility to select 'mono/stereo' source.

I haven't tried extended use of the firmware - but first impressions are that it does all I need and has improved over the iRiver interface.

Thanks everyone.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 20, 2006, 07:42:58 PM
Other option is to remove the AGC setting and maybe frequency from the screen as you can still change it on-the-fly by going to the settings menu. And just keep the stuff we _really_ need to adjust on-the-fly on the main recording screen.
You can't enter the settings screen while recording!
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 22, 2006, 01:01:11 PM
I just thought of the obvious. (I presume there is some underlying reason why this is a bad idea)

If not here is the obvious idea:


I attempted to do this but it doesn't dissapear in the WRS or the RWRS.
I have just posted a feature request in the 'User Interface and Voice' forum.

I made a Flyspray Feature Request --> http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/5869

I am of the opinion that AGC doesn't belong in the WRS. Removing the AGC line and the status bar we'd be able to fit stereo gains and the bitrate info on the iRiver RLCD!

Discuss!  ;D
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 23, 2006, 07:08:48 AM
Ahhh... so it's the bitrate ifo you want displayed is it? I finally get what you're going on about now! :D
The status bar is important in the WRS as it displays the batt icon...the best thing would be to get the bitrate info into the statusbar....
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 23, 2006, 07:10:10 AM
Wouldn't the bitrate go on the line that currently says 44.1khz Mono anyway?
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 23, 2006, 07:15:48 AM
Wouldn't the bitrate go on the line that currently says 44.1khz Mono anyway?
Yes that's right but there isn't enough space to display that line on the remote.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 23, 2006, 07:17:53 AM
Ah. Well, I doubt realtime monitoring of bitrate is particularly useful.

It seems to me though, that the WRS could benefit from a configurable status-bar. Maybe a very very simple WPS-like code, just for that screen? As a lot of status-bar info is useless there.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 23, 2006, 02:01:34 PM
It seems to me though, that the WRS could benefit from a configurable status-bar. Maybe a very very simple WPS-like code, just for that screen? As a lot of status-bar info is useless there.
I don't think it needs to be configurable, it just needs to display different info.

So if you are in the recording screen, there is no need for Shuffle or Repeat indicators, instead we could have bitrate, frequency and stereo indicators...
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 24, 2006, 10:57:13 AM
Well, here is my first attempt...No problem with the code but I'm awful at doing icons!  ::)

So if you fancy it and you are feeling artistic see if you can make some better ones

The frequency icons must be 12 pixels wide by 8 pixels high
and we need icons for
44.1kHz
48kHz
32kHz
22.05kHz
24kHz
16kHz
That's analogue..

I havent got the code in for digital yet but for that we'll need extra icons for

8000hz
11025hz
12000hz
64000hz
88200hz
96000hz
It's a nightmare fitting them in 12 pixels (well, for untalented types like me that is)

Also the stereo/mono icons need to be 5 wide and 8 high.

Anyway, here are some screenshots..They have to fit into this space because the recorder has that darn clock! :D


[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 24, 2006, 11:16:40 AM
I know these aren't pretty, but they fit and are readable.

[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 24, 2006, 11:41:34 AM
Hello Everyone,

I missed a few posts in this topic and I am now (as usual) a bit confused.
I (unfortunately) do not like the samplerate displayed in the status bar.
It's too crowded and IMO it just doesn't belong there.

My intent for this topic was to make everything essential visible on the RLCD at the same time as well as making some room on the RLCD for future recording features (real time encoding options, thus the bitrate remark)

Please bear with my rant about this particular change:

[rant]

Currently the samplerate only changes depending on digital input.
Mic input and Line input only record at 44.1kHz so there is no change or need for display there. (at least for now)

On digital input there is no Gain line displayed nor is the AGC line displayed.
Therefore in the only instance in which having input samplerate displayed is necessary there is plenty of room to display it on both the LCD and the RLCD where it is being displayed now (under the Volume line)

[end rant]

The whole gist of this Suggestion topic was to get everything necessary displayed on the  iRiver RLCDs at the same time.

Having the status bar displayed is a good idea.
Having the ability to change AGC from the WRS is also a good idea.
Being able to remove either the AGC line or the Statusbar would allow all of the (deemed) necessary WRS information to be displayed on the RLCD at the same time.

I have an idea that might be best.
We could leave everything as it was and we'll deal with fitting the encoding options on the RLCD when they show up. I can live with the scrolling. It's not that bad. I was just nit  picking.

So since there's going to be scolling on the RLCD no matter what, why not have all three visible lines scroll? Mimicking the scroll behavior seen everywhere else?


Volume: 0 dB
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB



(click DOWN)
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB
AGC: Off


After that (if at all possible) we could implement a scrollbar on the left side on the lower portion of the screen (under the peakmeter) incase we end up with a lot of options. (doubtful)

A lastly (I'm really sorry about all of the ideas) I am of the opinion that the statusbar and the (if implemented) scrollbar statuses (sp?) should be retained from the main menu settings just for consistency across both the main WRS and the RWRS.

Mad respect to all at in the Rockbox mines digging away at this thing.
Assign me some trivial task that requires no programming.  ;)
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Llorean on August 24, 2006, 11:45:22 AM
In response to your rant, you even admit that it'll only be that way until encoded recording is possible. I'll just say it would be a *very* bad idea to assume that won't happen, or to make plans that don't take its presence into account.
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 24, 2006, 12:29:03 PM
I was in IRC for a bit and am now totally convinced that scrolling will be with us on the RLCD no matter what. As soon as encoding hits it will defeinitely be necessary on the remotes.

Later on today (need to find time) I will post a mock up of an idea I have about generalizing the WRS and the RWRS to all targets.

(I wish RockBox would dump official support for the teeny LCD targets, Archos Recorder etc.)

Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 24, 2006, 02:38:20 PM
Hello Everyone,

I missed a few posts in this topic and I am now (as usual) a bit confused.
I (unfortunately) do not like the samplerate displayed in the status bar.
It's too crowded and IMO it just doesn't belong there.
I agree it is too crowded but I thought some decent icons might fix that. I think that actually any info you can get in the status bar does belong there as it is a status bar after all! :)

Quote
So since there's going to be scolling on the RLCD no matter what, why not have all three visible lines scroll? Mimicking the scroll behavior seen everywhere else?


Volume: 0 dB
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB



(click DOWN)
Gain Left: -64.0 dB
Gain Right: -13.5 dB
AGC: Off


After that (if at all possible) we could implement a scrollbar on the left side on the lower portion of the screen (under the peakmeter) incase we end up with a lot of options. (doubtful)

I agree, but this is a different argument I think.... It would be ideal if the frequency/bitrate was visible at all times. The only way for this to work would be if it was displayed in the top half of the screen.

Quote
A lastly (I'm really sorry about all of the ideas) I am of the opinion that the statusbar and the (if implemented) scrollbar statuses (sp?) should be retained from the main menu settings just for consistency across both the main WRS and the RWRS.
Not sure what you are getting at here but are you saying it is important to keep the shuffle and play mode on the statusbar while in WRS? If that is what you are saying, why?

Quote
Mad respect to all at in the Rockbox mines digging away at this thing.
Assign me some trivial task that requires no programming.  ;)
Make some icons! :D
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 24, 2006, 02:40:38 PM
I know these aren't pretty, but they fit and are readable.
Ta Llorean..but it would be nice (not necessarily possible though) if we could keep the accuracy (at least 1dp anyway) :)

Oh and 7 pixels high is the correct measurement! sorry..  :-[
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 25, 2006, 05:46:47 AM
With some slightly modified versions of Llorean's Icons and a slightly changed stereo/mono icons It's looking pretty good I reckon. Its clear and easy to read now (especially on the unit).

Have a look....

[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: Suggestion for Button Behavior and Display in WRS.
Post by: Mmmm on August 25, 2006, 08:25:02 AM
It appears that this just ain't going to happen....  :(

" The statusbar is the statusbar. It should be identical for all screens"

seems to be the opinion. So that's the end of that.
I can't see any logic in this but there you have it....The gods have spoken! ;)

We have 1 less line that we can play with...Oh well.

Back to the drawing board. :-\
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on August 27, 2006, 11:24:31 AM
I have created a flyspray task for this patch http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/5891

Please post comments in the patch tracker supporting this idea if you agree with it and actually even if you don't :D

I have also included the patch in the REP (http://forums.rockbox.org/index.php?topic=2513.msg17218#msg17218) so you can try it out in that if you like (or in the build in my sig)
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on August 29, 2006, 11:53:23 AM
Update to this shunned patch:

Due to the new encoder options
Now the filetype and bitrate are displayed in place of the Volume icon which was pointless anyway.
Patch on the tracker and included in the REP.
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on August 31, 2006, 10:15:51 PM
OK, here is my latest idea and I think this one will even pass muster with the devs.  :o

Since scrolling is with us on the iRiver remotes no matter what I suggest we simply implement a scrollbar at the bottom part of the left hand side of the screen. This is 'generalizable' to all targets and all remotes.

I've included the scrollbar in instances where it wouldn't be needed (not enough items in the list to fill the main screen) for illustration purposes only. The scrollbar should appear and dissappear as necessary.

I also suggest that we 'right justify' the values and leave the labels left justified (as they are now)
If the labels are too long in certain languages they should be hidden behind the values. Ugly, but rare.

I also think that the status and scrollbars should turn on/off in the WRS as they do in the File Browser and Menu. Others may disagree.  :P

Check out the bitmaps:

[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 01, 2006, 02:04:13 AM
Another idea:   If the encoding type/quality cannot be changed *while recording* then I think it should be displayed above the peakmeter with the other stuff that cannot be adjusted "on-the-fly".

Keeping the design consistent:   Interactive stuff (while recording) goes below the Peakmeters, passive information above.

And yet another idea: This idea is to alleviate the 'crowded remote' problem that started this thread in the first place.
    Is it possible to have a momentary "joystick up" button press on the remote show this information by overwriting the peakmeters, and once the button is released the peakmeters return? That would rule!!!

Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 01, 2006, 05:30:59 AM
Another idea:   If the encoding type/quality cannot be changed *while recording* then I think it should be displayed above the peakmeter with the other stuff that cannot be adjusted "on-the-fly".

Keeping the design consistent:   Interactive stuff (while recording) goes below the Peakmeters, passive information above.
The problem with this is anything moved from the bottom to the top pushes all the other info down and so we end up with a bigger problem than we started with!
Quote
And yet another idea: This idea is to alleviate the 'crowded remote' problem that started this thread in the first place.
 Â   Is it possible to have a momentary "joystick up" button press on the remote show this information by overwriting the peakmeters, and once the button is released the peakmeters return? That would rule!!!
Hmmm that's not a bad idea you know...but maybe it'd be better if it overwote the top two lines instead of the peakmeter, You wouldn't want to miss that clip while you were looking at your samplerate now would you?

Oh, and looking at your screenshots above, I noticed a bug for the AGC players where samplerate was getting overwritten with filetype... Should be fixed now though.
The scrolling you suggest is a given...I think that is definitely on the cards already.
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 01, 2006, 01:39:04 PM
Quote
The problem with this is anything moved from the bottom to the top pushes all the other info down and so we end up with a bigger problem than we started with!

 :D

Not if you combine this design paradigm:

Quote
Interactive stuff (while recording) goes below the Peakmeters, passive information above.

with this:

Quote
have a momentary "joystick up" button press on the remote show this information by overwriting the peakmeters

 and this:

Quote
it'd be better if it overwote the top two lines instead of the peakmeter,


Here is the current refinement:

On the main unit display everything gets pushed down a line because of the encoding line being moved above the peakmeters.

But on the remote you only show the Time and Size lines above the PMs unless a 'joystick up' is pressed (while at the Volume line) and then they get replaced by filename and encoding lines.

The main unit screen is static (or consistent) and the remote unit does the display switching only because it's necessitated by RLCD size limitation.

Wadayatink? Discuss...

Hey Mmmm: What above the 'Right Justified Values' idea? Can this be done? It would clean up the look a bit, the lines wouldn't 'jump around' and (I assume) it should be be easy to implement.
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 02, 2006, 11:31:33 PM
Mmmm, if you give me exact sizes for everything I will generate icon code for you with nice readable icons even on teeny targets like the Recorder.

I know that the statusbar is 8 pixels high, with the bottom pixel being generally blank. (The "Q" being an exception, poking down to the eigth pixel.) Just tell me how wide everything should be on the Recorder screen.


Questions:



I'm hoping with a tiny bit of refinement we can get the RSB (recording status bar) looking really slick. See gifs below:



[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 03, 2006, 07:00:19 AM
    What is displayed between the stereo/mono icon and the RTC in the statusbar?
    If nothing then we can afford slightly better stereo/mono icons and maybe a tiny bit of breathing room.
I'm afraid that all the space is used up, the bit of space you refer to is used for the hold icons, and the space after the battery icon is used for the charging icon...I was initially excited about these too, but they are used!

If you look in statusbar.c you can see all the sizes near the top in the #define lines.

What do you feel is unclear at the moment? I thought MQ3 might look better as Mq3 instead... I have actually used the system font for the sample rate and Q value. We're only using icons now for bitrate on SWcodec targets, as the font wouldn't fit and channels.
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 03, 2006, 10:48:17 AM
I think that bitmaps in the statusbar are the way to go from an esthetic perspective.
They give a nicer more even look and tell the user that they are not modifyable while recording.

Harder to read true, so maybe a bit less functional, but less 'crowded' looking. I would use them for the HWCODEC targets too, since they have the teeny screen.

My 2 cents. As usualy I come bearing gifs -->

[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 05, 2006, 03:32:46 PM
After playing around in some image editing software I have changed my mind about the Archos targets.: The system font works better.  :P

I guess it's the non-symmetry on either side of the play/pause/stop/rec/fm icon that bothers me... so I still think that the samplerates on the SWCODEC platforms should be displayed with a bitmap of the same height.

Any body else agree? Am I nit-picking?

Mmmm, I made a couple of changes to your patch...
Huge thanks and respect to the devs in IRC.

PATCH -->>  Check it out. (http://home.earthlink.net/~davidegentile/rockbox/RecStatusbarIcons.patch)

I used a blocky font becuse at that tiny size it's easier to read.

[attachment deleted by admin, too old]
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 07, 2006, 04:40:31 AM
Ok...brace yourself..here goes....

Why have you changed main.c?
I'm confused as you seem to have added a setting to settings.c which should already be there... I'm surprised it compiles.
in statusbar.c you seem to have re-enabled the volume display for non swcodec targets.

It appears that you have merged one of my old patches with your changes...is that right?
all you should need to change are statusbar.c for the display of bitmaps for swcodec tasrgets (the stuff near the bottom) and icons.[c,h] for the new icons.

Well done on making your first patch though... maybe I'll commit it if you get it fixed up...

Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 07, 2006, 08:14:07 PM
Thanks!

This (crap) hack job of a patch took a dolt (me) four hours to get functioning without error.

I have very little understanding of the logic. I'm going to pick up a C book and try to read some over the weekend (if I find time). Only by the extreme helpfulness of the devs in IRC was I able to get this done.  I actually understand next to nothing of what's going on. :P

It works in the SIM for FMRec, H120 and H320. (that's what I tested) and on an actual H120 target (what I have).

Anyways, jdGordon says that all the recording statusbar stuff might break when he commits the new recording menu stuff. At that point, if you feel the need to fix the RSB-encoder/bitrate/samplerate display maybe you could just 'roll-in' the 'SWCODEC gets icons', 'HWCODEC gets sysfont' feature. I plead!   :)
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 10, 2006, 05:36:45 PM
OK, I think I fixed it.  ;D

PATCH --> See Here. (http://home.earthlink.net/~davidegentile/rockbox/RecStatusbarIconsV2.patch)

Please scrutinize carefully and let me know what you think. If it passes muster please commit it.

If I made any whitespace error please let me know.
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 11, 2006, 05:10:33 AM
Ahh...much better than before...

I'm just going to point out what each "hunk" of your patch does just so you can tell me if it was intentional or not
statusbar.c:
Hunk#1: adds an extra pixel gap between play state and sample rate
Hunk#2: enables the volume display in non swcodec players
Hunk#3: char buffer[4] should be indented 4 spaces,
Hunk#4: quite a few blank lines deleted and re-added
Hunk#5: get width & height indentation right
Hunk#6: display->setfont(FONT_UI) indentation needs fixing

Icons.[c/h]
Looking good!

Some tiny things
look in the patch at lines like this
-    }
+   }
and think to yourself why is it replacing this line with itself? Is this necessary, can I stop that?

Mostly just presentation now...good work...

Do you want to make one more tidyup before I actually test it and maybe commit?
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 11, 2006, 11:02:47 AM
Also, have you tested this on an actual build (ie not the simulator)?

 I didn't think so...It won't compile for SPDIF targets AKA H1xx!!  ::)

You are using an array that you #ifdef'd out. Also you have an unused char which is a waste of memory, "buffer" isn't used in swcodec targets any more!

and you change the font to sysfont but don't change it back to uifont... not disastrous, but sloppy! You don't need to change to sysfont at all for swcodec targets anymore as you aren't printing any characters.

But these are all tiny things (apart from it not compiling ;))... Nice fonts by the way!
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Davide-NYC on September 11, 2006, 11:22:56 AM
Clearly I am getting ahead of myself.  I have purchased a book but have read nothing yet (no time)

Please do me the honors of dismantling this disaster and re-implementing this thing in a way that makes some kind of sense.  All this is supposed to do is use the bitmaps I specified and implement the following conditional switch:

IF target=HWCODEC use sysfont to display encoder/bitrate and samplerate in the Recording Statusbar
ELSEIF target=SWCODEC use bitmaps to display encoder/bitrate and samplerate in the Recording Statusbar.

That's it. Please, and thank you.


Before you commit could you post a stand-alone patch so that I may peruse it and maybe learn something from it. Thanks.
Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 12, 2006, 08:12:49 AM
Ok, here's a fixed version of your patch, I have also made some lines shorter (my fault from my previous patch) as they are all supposed to be < 80 chars per line in the code.

I preferred my old WAV and WV icons as yours were a bit big and you lost the balance that you were looking for on either side of the playstate icon, so I've changed them back... Also I think that "M64" looks better than "M 64"...anyway give it a go...what do you think?

One thing I've been having loads of problems with, not only with this patch but it seems with any patch, is that the Recorder V2 target wont compile "REGION FLASH FULL" is what I get all the time...could you just check that you get the same (with a normal build not sim). I'm not sure whether it's me or not..people on IRC don't seem particularly interested in this so I thought it's probably just my setup. I'm not going to commit anything that breaks anything else, so if it's the case that it isn't me, i'll wait until someone sorts out whatever the problem is...

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Title: Re: While Recording Screen - User Interface Discussion - including remotes
Post by: Mmmm on September 12, 2006, 02:27:47 PM
I #if def'd the icons out of the HWcodec players and it just squeezed in for the V2 recorder, so it's in now......