"On Demand Audio with Shoutcast" up to date?

[otherwise777]

I was just reading this topic: http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=75736
Since i needed some information and testing about it,
While reading it i kept getting across some things that i didn't recognized, like the "content" folder.

My question: Is that topic still up to date? it was last updated in 2002, that's some time ago..

btw, i came across that topic through here: http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=246636

[ronin89]

There is a reference to the contentdir in http://wiki.winamp.com/wiki/SHOUTcast_DNAS_Server_2 however no explicit information about it. I tried including it in my sc_serv config and I get "Invalid item on line..." in the log.

I used to use the on-demand content folder with Shoutcast v1. It would be great to have this functionality again.

Is there a way to run a live capture stream AND have on-demand content at the same time?

[DrO]

there probably shouldn't be any references to 'contentdir' in the v2 documenation since it's not something which is supported / implemented hence the one random mention of it.

and i didn't even know about the 'contentdir' option (i guess i need to look at the v1 configs again), however as for bringing it back, i'm really not sure and if it wasn't put in before i took on things, then there must have been a reason for doing so. plus this i the first thread i've seen of anyone about the option in the time i've been doing things with the tools so i'm not even sure it's worth the time / effort to add back in.

-daz

[ronin89]

Thanks DrO,

The main benefit of the old on-demand content folder is to allow content to be streamed, but not downloaded, when it's linked from a website. Looking for other ways to do this, I'm only finding options with Flash, Windows Media, or Real Media, etc. It's important to be able to offer archival/historic radio shows that are not (easily) downloadable.

Most radio station websites I've investigated are resorting to offering links to .m3u files, which, when saved locally and viewed in notepad, can easily direct someone to the URL of the mp3/ogg file to download.

My station is in the process of migrating from v1 to v2 and this was a bit unexpected. We've got GBs of archived audio that we're still offering on-demand by v1. But the hardware needs to be replaced, so we're looking for options.

If you don't think there are any plans to support the old way, can you think of any workarounds or alternatives to offer this kind of functionality? I'm willing to get creative...

Thanks!

[DrO]

i don't know if there are / aren't plans to re-implement it. all i know is it's never been something mentioned to me though from my side of things, i've made a note of the request and that's about all i can offer for the time being (and doesn't guarantee i'll ever get around to implementing something which brings back the functionality or improves on it, etc).

-daz

[Tag]

I always thought that the content directory was silly. It offers no protection to keep people from downloading, it's really a simple 'http file server' that's limited to .mp3 files, and a crappy http server at that.

I'm glad they didn't carry it forward

[DrO]

Originally Posted by Tag

it's really a simple 'http file server' that's limited to .mp3 files, and a crappy http server at that.

aye, does seem to be that way and the more i'm thinking about it, the more hassle it would be to re-support it with better management support for it. so i think that can be taken as a no from me now on it coming back.

now if only i could ditch the pain the bum that is the introfile support... as dumping the file into the stream is just insanely rubbish *grumble*

-daz

[ronin89]

Tag,

That has not been my experience. When the mp3 is placed in the contentdir it cannot be downloaded via a browser or by other means. If you save the .pls file it's just a text file. When trying to access or download the URL of the mp3 file directly you get an "Invalid resource" response.

Also, when loading this URL in Winamp, it streams the file instead of letting you skip forward/back. This is also desirable compared to m3u for certain circumstances.

So if there is a way to download the actual mp3 file, it's certainly not obvious. It does offer protection from downloading.