Having trouble getting started

[Andrew Arensburger]

Hi! I've been running SlimServer for a few weeks, and would like
to make some changes, add some features, and generally hack on it. But I'm
having trouble finding finding my way around the source.
Is there an overall roadmap, explaining what the various modules
do and how they fit into the overall scheme of things? Is there a
reference listing the various functions, the arguments they take, and what
they're supposed to do (as opposed to what they actually do)?
IMHO, it'd be useful to have PODs for all of the Perl stuff, but
maybe that's just me. If I were to write any PODs, should I send them in?

Oh, and just in passing: what does mDNSResponderPosix do? Is the
source available?

Thanks,

--
Andrew Arensburger Actually, these _do_ represent the
arensb (AT) ooblick (DOT) com opinions of ooblick.com!
Generic Tagline V 6.01

[dean]

Hi Andrew,

Alas, documentation isn't something we're too good about right now.
Feel free to post questions and we'll do our best.

Creating PODs would be terrific. Feel free to post them as patches and
we'll merge them in...

mDNSResponderPosix is the Rendezvous daemon for multicast DNS that
advertises the SlimServer for Safari on the Mac and in other software
on other platforms. Source is in our repository: slim/platforms/mDNS
and also available from Apple.

-dean

On Dec 15, 2003, at 1:39 PM, Andrew Arensburger wrote:

> Hi! I've been running SlimServer for a few weeks, and would like
> to make some changes, add some features, and generally hack on it. But
> I'm
> having trouble finding finding my way around the source.
> Is there an overall roadmap, explaining what the various modules
> do and how they fit into the overall scheme of things? Is there a
> reference listing the various functions, the arguments they take, and
> what
> they're supposed to do (as opposed to what they actually do)?
> IMHO, it'd be useful to have PODs for all of the Perl stuff, but
> maybe that's just me. If I were to write any PODs, should I send them
> in?
>
> Oh, and just in passing: what does mDNSResponderPosix do? Is the
> source available?
>
> Thanks,
>
> --
> Andrew Arensburger Actually, these _do_ represent
> the
> arensb (AT) ooblick (DOT) com opinions of ooblick.com!
> Generic Tagline V 6.01

[Paul Warren]

On Mon, Dec 15, 2003 at 03:39:12PM -0800, dean blackketter wrote:
> Alas, documentation isn't something we're too good about right now.
> Feel free to post questions and we'll do our best.

While we're on the subject of docs, I might be able to throw something
together documenting the current SliMP3 protocol. Where/how would want
such docs?

Paul

[Andrew Arensburger]

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003, Paul Warren wrote:
> On Mon, Dec 15, 2003 at 03:39:12PM -0800, dean blackketter wrote:
> > Alas, documentation isn't something we're too good about right now.
> > Feel free to post questions and we'll do our best.
>
> While we're on the subject of docs, I might be able to throw something
> together documenting the current SliMP3 protocol. Where/how would want
> such docs?

The main reason I like PODs is that the documentation is right
next to the source, so people are, hopefully, slightly more likely to
update the documentation than they would be if it were in a separate file.
Presumably in the CVS-to-release process, any PODs can be
converted to HTML, and installed with the rest of the documentation.

Just my overpriced two cents' worth.

--
Andrew Arensburger Actually, these _do_ represent the
arensb (AT) ooblick (DOT) com opinions of ooblick.com!
Generic Tagline V 6.01

[dean]

I'd love them. Send them to me and I'll add them to the documentation.

-dean

On Dec 15, 2003, at 3:43 PM, Paul Warren wrote:

> On Mon, Dec 15, 2003 at 03:39:12PM -0800, dean blackketter wrote:
>> Alas, documentation isn't something we're too good about right now.
>> Feel free to post questions and we'll do our best.
>
> While we're on the subject of docs, I might be able to throw something
> together documenting the current SliMP3 protocol. Where/how would want
> such docs?
>
> Paul
>

[Andrew Arensburger]

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003, dean blackketter wrote:
> Alas, documentation isn't something we're too good about right now.
> Feel free to post questions and we'll do our best.

Thanks. I'll list a motley assortment of questions and suggested
additions. If anyone can provide hints as to how to implement them, or
what to look for, I'd appreciate it.

Is there a database of known MP3 files, or does SlimServer scan
the MP3 directory every time it starts up, and keep the list of known MP3s
in memory?
I already have a MySQL database of MP3s. It would be nice if I
could point SlimServer at this database, and use it as the authoritative
repository for information such as artist, song title, album title,
lyrics, liner notes, etc. (This should be optional, of course.) If I were
implementing this from scratch, I would define an API for interacting with
the database, define a class that implements this API, but also allow user
settings to override the defaults.

iTunes's "smart playlists" are cool. I would like to define
playlists such as "Rolling Stones songs from before 1970", "80s dance
music", and other playlists derived from rules, rather than by listing
files explicitly. Since SlimServer can cope with different playlist
formats, is there a unifying class or API for them? If so, perhaps a new
class can be added to match this API.
Adding to this, I would like the server to just play something
at random, preferably something that I like. If there's an API for
conventional playlists, then presumably this could be adapted (except that
it would be a playlist of infinite length).

Of course, it would be nifty if the random-play playlist mentioned
above could favor those songs that I like most, and it should learn what I
like. One algorithm that I've found promising involves counting the number
of times I've let a song play to the end vs. skipping to the next song.
The obvious way to implement this (and much, much more) would be
to add Emacs-like hooks to a bunch of events. These can be implemented
simply as lists of references-to-code.

Any hints will be appreciated. Thanks.

> Creating PODs would be terrific. Feel free to post them as patches and
> we'll merge them in...

Okay, thanks. Just making sure I wasn't missing some extant
documentation. Perhaps someone with disk space could set up a Wiki?

> mDNSResponderPosix is the Rendezvous daemon for multicast DNS that
> advertises the SlimServer for Safari on the Mac and in other software
> on other platforms. Source is in our repository: slim/platforms/mDNS
> and also available from Apple.

Ah-ha! So it is, as I would have known if I'd looked a bit more
carefully. Thanks!

--
Andrew Arensburger Actually, these _do_ represent the
arensb (AT) ooblick (DOT) com opinions of ooblick.com!
Generic Tagline V 6.01