Improvements tips for 5.9+

[NJK]

as the title already says , it's all yours....

[PeterK.]

as the title already says , it's all yours....

Cool Frisian fella! Thank you very much.

Hereby I would like to invite other skinners to share their tips on the current version 5.8 but this time from the "skinner-point-of-view": what is annoying, what broken and what does not work properly while creating an awesome skin.

Now this is going to be fun!

[PeterK.]

I am starting with the COLOR THEMES list:

1) This list seems not to have its own background. I have to use this "old fashioned" background="wasabi.list.background" instead of "my" background="standard.background" in the layout in order to make it visible. Otherwise it would not appear at all.

2) The column header is way too small. Yes I know I can hide it by adding the TRUE value to the XML-tag nocolheader but still, this should be as big as those ones in the Media Library. Also the scroll bars are too small. Please compare with Media Library.

3) I cannot change the size of the font. The font used here should either be dpi-aware or the same like in Playlist Editor.

4) Do we need the Color Themes option in the main context menu while there is (always) a Color Themes window?

[PeterK.]

A similar candidate is the Playlist Directory list:

1) I cannot change the font size.

2) The column header and scroll bars are too small.

3) Clicking on different entries leaves multiple background colors on depending on the background color (see attached screenshot).

4) the columns are never properly aligned after fresh start. I have to resize the entire window in order to have them under the corresponding tab.

5) Weird! Double click on an entry in the Color Themes window makes the colums in the Playlist Directory window jump into the proper locations beneath the tabs! (Those two lists seem to be somehow linked to each other - so I was told).

[PeterK.]

Another request from my "bucket list".

I had this idea to add shadows to my skin. I started with components like Main Player, Equalizer, Spectrum Analyzer, etc ... and ended up having all six of them "shadowed". Everything went fine until I decided to move on and added alphabackground XML-tag to Winamp's standard windows: Playlist Editor, Media Library, Video and Visualization. And this is were things got ... complicated.

As soon as I added alphabackground to the layout of those windows the content vanished. But wait! It gets worse. Once the option Enable desktop alpha blending is unchecked, those windows get real holes: you can see the content of your folder or the desktop wallpaper beneath them.

Would it be possible to make those windows "alphabackground-compatible"?

[PeterK.]

Would you please add font() and fontsize() to edit box.

[PeterK.]

In the vis object the colorband16 is missing. We only have 15.

[PeterK.]

When I create a field in a component, in which a text line should appear (like artist + title) and know that this field is not wide enough for most of such text lines, I actually could use the ticker() tag. It is supposed to make a text line move according to this description.

It does not work.

[PeterK.]

I use a script called oldtimer.m made by Plague, which basically adds an additional "0" to the timer. So we have 05:33 instead of 5:33.

Would it be possible to implement this feature and have it as built-in option?

[PeterK.]

Would it be possible to implement the ability to create acrylic layers/backgrounds?

[PeterK.]

On Winamp's WIKI site there is a sentence about scrollbars on browsers:

"... the skinner can control how the scrollbars of the embedded browser are displayed by setting the scrollbars parameter to one of the following four string values: "auto" "never" "always" or "default" - default is to allow the HTML page to specify, all others override...

Adding scrollbars="never" to my browser ...

<browser
    x="0" y="0" w="0" h="0" relatw="1" relath="1"
    id="browser.id"
    url=""
    scrollbars="never"
    visible="1"/> 

... does not hide them.

[PeterK.]

I had this idea of giving Winamp users a wallpaper-window with a collection of their own wallpapers, which they would use regardless of their "official" desktop wallpapers. (somehow like in Victhor's gorgeous Komodo skin).

So I created an additional frameless window which would stretch to the dimensions of user's desktop. But! Opening such a window would "put" it in front and give focus to it - which is in Windows' world understandable and common. Therefore it would cover ALL Winamp components currently running. I found the command guiObject.bringToBack(), but it applies to guiObjects only and not to layout. Let alone container.

Would it be possible to add such functionality to a container/layout, so opening such wallpaper window would "send" it to the background of all currently running Winamp components and keep it there pinned = clicking on it has no action. Closing such window would work via context menu by changing its attribute value.

[PeterK.]

In the std.mi there is this command:

code:
 setMenuTransparency()



 Set the menu's transparency value (alpha blending). Ranges 

 from 0 to 255. 0 being totally transparent and 255 being 

 totally opaque.



 @param alphavalue   The transparency value to set.



extern System.setMenuTransparency(int alphavalue);

Is this command supposed to make Winamp's main context menu transparent? Because if yes, nothing happens.

[Benski]

In the std.mi there is this command:
Is this command supposed to make Winamp's main context menu transparent? Because if yes, nothing happens.

The standard context menu is a hacked-up standard HMENU (win32 menu control).
I believe the command you are referring to is effecting only the menu objects in the XUI system, which aren't used in very many places.

[PeterK.]

In the upcoming update of my skin there will be an additional window called Playlist Editor2. It will provide a set of useful options for editing the content of a playlist coming from the pldir.mi library.

For instance, when I choose a song (number 3) and hit play Winamp sets this entry active and I also see the proper CURRENT INDEX=3. (screenshot 1). Now let us move this particular song to the bottom of the playlist. I enter the track number 3 and hit MOVE DOWN - GO button for so long until the song's position is 1. Winamp keeps playing this activated song and the CURRENT INDEX shows 1. Perfect. (screenshot 2)

But when we use the MOVE TO POSITION option and enter 1, Winamp makes the song number 3 jump to the bottom of the playlist and three things happen:

1) this particular track loses its focus - it is not active anymore (although Winamp keeps playing it)
2) CURRENT INDEX is still at 3 - which in this case should be 1.
3) Clicking on SHOW CURRENT shows the song number 3 which is now active but not this one being played. (screenshot 3)