Shortcuts plugin

[GodEater]

I've just finished the beta version of my "Favourites" plugin : http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/7486

This allows the user to keep a list of up to ten favourite directories that are accessed directly from the plugin once it's launched.

To add a favourite :
Call up the context menu on a directory you'd like to mark as a favourite, and you should see an "Add to favourites" option at the bottom of the menu. Click this to enter the directory into your favourites file.

To switch to a favourite directory:
Launch the favourites plugin from the plugins menu, and then click on the entry you'd like to be whisked to.

TODO:

Currently there's no way to remove entries from the file with the plugin yourself, but you can do it with the text editor by removing the relevant line from the /.rockbox/rocks/favourites.link file.
I plan on adding a delete feature at some point - but would like some feedback from people in it's initial form first

PS - This was in response to the feature request here :
http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/7445

(See - we do read feature requests!)

[bascule]

Does it work on the Database's 'virtual' folders?

I'm expecting a 'no' in response  

[GodEater]

You're clearly psychic bascule

I haven't looked at the database code, so no idea what's involved in implementing that feature.

Edit:

Having though about it for a good 30 seconds or so - how would you expect it to work? Save a database query of some sort ?

[bascule]

I'm guessing it's nigh-on impossible, as the database structure is built (and the results may be different every time) by browsing a user-defineable set of filters.

I suppose if you noted the list of filters used up to the point of calling the context menu, you could 'replay' those filters when requesting the favourite in future...

I am still faintly surprised by the number of devoted filetree browsers when, for my money, the database is a far superior solution.

* bascule hugs his tagnavi_custom.config file

[Llorean]

Some of us only ever need the simplicity of the filetree. I've got 40gb of lossy music and I've never needed something that I couldn't get to in my \Music\Artist\Album\Track.ogg structure quickly and easily. Honestly, I've never understood what the database could *add* to "I already know where my music is, and can get to it in merely a few button presses."

As to the database thing, I imagine a saved query would work, though the best way would be not to care about the tagnavi in any way while doing it. That way a saved database query could work with or without the presence of a valid tagnavi (or even if it changed).

Which leads me to: How well does it handle if a stored favorite points to a folder removed from the disk?

[GodEater]

Which leads me to: How well does it handle if a stored favorite points to a folder removed from the disk?

Um.

Let me find out

EDIT:

It just exits back to the root of the file tree. I guess some sort of error message would be in order.

[bascule]

Some of us only ever need the simplicity of the filetree

I did say I was only faintly surprised

I just like the mixture of stuff a database choice throws up. Today I was just listening to all my Year=1994 music and got quite a few favourites and some stuff I hadn't listened to for a while.

For me it gives flexibility and a structured randomness.

[GodEater]

For me it gives flexibility and a structured randomness.

Hahah - I like the idea of "structured randomness" !!

Anyways - patch has been updated to produce a friendly error message if the entry in the file no longer exists on disk.

[jetonia]

Is it possible that you assign a custom key to the patch, like the Custom Menu patch has?

So we can start it right from the Main menu instead of going to Plugins->Favorites.

[GodEater]

Short answer: No - because then it would never get accepted into the main Rockbox core - and that's what I'm shooting for here.

Long answer: You don't need to launch it from the plugins menu. The last update I did to the patch I decided to move the place where the favourites.link file is saved into the root directory of the player, so you now just click on *that* and the plugin launches - Much quicker than hunting through the plugin menu.

[perfectdrug]

wouldn't it be better to have a real shortcut, and as many as i want, rather than a list which means additonal scrolling again?
i don't know anything about coding, and the right method of implementing it into the core, but i just wanted to throw my 2cents in.

[Llorean]

Exactly how is "scrolling through a list of shortcuts in a file" different from "scrolling through a list of individual shortcut files"?

[gratt]

The latest version Shortcuts is working well for me.
Great plugin Thanks a lot.
Just found one small bug. If you select a name.link file the plugin
will add it to the list in the shortcuts.link file.

I was thinking not necessarily of individual shortcuts but possibly
the ability to have multiple "shortcut.link"  or "name.link" files in
various locations. In addition to opening with the plugin,
if it was a single line (link) in the file no selection is required,
just open the directory or file.

GRaTT

[GodEater]

The plugin isn't designed to handle multiple .link files - only the one "shortcuts.link" - which is why you can't use multiple ones.

This is a design feature rather than a bug, since when it was discussed on IRC, the preference amongst those that expressed one was to have one location to keep all your shortcuts in.

[Llorean]

As a note, this can be paralleled to the playlist catalog (essentially a favorites list for playlists.)