52 replies to this topic

[skeezix]

busted actually, it shows 'preview pics' for the application, and those are whatever are specified in the PXML.xml; so presumably for an emu, its just got a bunch of random preview pics. So pmenu could show you a slideshow of images for the emu, but its not going to show you 'by rom', since pmenu has nothing to do with picking and launching a rom within an app.. it just launches the app.

(ie: Having pmenu pick a ROM is rather out of scope; some suystems need just a ROM, some also need a BIOS choice or hard drive or floppy choices, or how much RAM it has at the time. Further it coudl be a word processor, should the menu also let you pick files to hand to a word processor, video files for a movie editor, etc? Yes, PXML has some facilities to let that happen down the road, but none of that info is used these days. We got enough to deal with

jeff

[WizardStan]

Question regarding PND format: can you associate file types with a PND? So you can double click a ROM file and it kicks off the the appropriate emulator, with arguments? Or is that outside the scope as well? Perhaps a future revision, or not a consideration at all?

[skeezix]

The PXML spec includes a 'file association' bit where a PND can publish what types of files it expects to get, and how to invoke its command line to handle them.

We're not using that level of information yet, but down the road someone can try to sort it out. But it has been planned ahead for. (Credit to ED for the original idea in his original PXML spec.)

The libpnd page in the pandora wiki includes a link to the current PXML spec page, which should be considered 'current, and updatable'

jeff

[WizardStan]

The libpnd page in the pandora wiki includes a link to the current PXML spec page, which should be considered 'current, and updatable'

D'oh, that's the "associations" tag, isn't it? I read that before, and just plain forgot. Sorry. Thanks!

[RenegadeChic]

is it possible to have it so the pnd files show up in a slot folder rather than populate onto the desktop? when you have 32gig and only 4.something inches of space for things to spread over, populating straight on the desktop would get pretty mess at times i reckon. the option to load a SD1 or SD2 folder would certainly suit me

[Tensuke]

is it possible to have it so the pnd files show up in a slot folder rather than populate onto the desktop? when you have 32gig and only 4.something inches of space for things to spread over, populating straight on the desktop would get pretty mess at times i reckon. the option to load a SD1 or SD2 folder would certainly suit me

From a cursory glance of the wiki, it looks like you will be able to change that.

[CameronCross]

So good I watched it twice. Top job guys.

It doesn't look much but wow... just wow. Totally noob proof.

Just wait until someone complains that they can't get it to work without the sd card in.

[conso]

how deeply is it integrated in xfce? will pnd'd apps also show up in the proper xfce-menu (or a replacement plugin) categories?

Would be cool to have something like a "desktop"-tag that specifies if an app should be displayed on the desktop or just in the menu.

Edited by conso, 11 November 2009 - 12:55 AM.

[Kagato]

Not sure if I should ask this here or elsewhere -- How do pnd apps handle configuration and save data?

Given there are two SD card slots, aside from NAND there isn't a 100% reliable location to write to.
Can the apps identify the SD slot from which they were loaded, and therefore write back to it if needed?

Is there a standard path (eg. /pandora/appdata) for this job?

[Dead1nside]

Struggled to see what was going on there, until I read the accompanying text. That is very cool. However I too would like to be able to specify a folder or a menu for the detected .pnd files on the SD card/s to populate instead of spamming my already limited desktop real estate.

Looking really cool though. I'm glad that XFCE will be the default, so will there be a GRUB type menu on boot to select which environment? Can you add to this with say Ubuntu etc. ?

[Vimacs]

Not sure if I should ask this here or elsewhere -- How do pnd apps handle configuration and save data?
(...)
Is there a standard path (eg. /pandora/appdata) for this job?

yes, kinda
an app is supposed to only write to its own folder/pnd(cwd), those writes get redirected to %mountpoint-the-file-is-on/pandora/appdata/appname-uid using aufs.
This ensures a logical place for app specific configs etc and also always keeps the appfolder/pnd in a clean stock state, you can just give em to someone else and they are as good as new.
Made some mess in an app and want it to revert to its shipped state? Just delete its appdata folder!

[second exodous]

Not sure if I should ask this here or elsewhere -- How do pnd apps handle configuration and save data?
(...)
Is there a standard path (eg. /pandora/appdata) for this job?

yes, kinda
an app is supposed to only write to its own folder/pnd(cwd), those writes get redirected to %mountpoint-the-file-is-on/pandora/appdata/appname-uid using aufs.
This ensures a logical place for app specific configs etc and also always keeps the appfolder/pnd in a clean stock state, you can just give em to someone else and they are as good as new.
Made some mess in an app and want it to revert to its shipped state? Just delete its appdata folder!

I could never understand why all OS's don't functioned like this. I remember Mozilla on Windows did this, not sure if Firefox on Windows does it now. I remember explaining this to my older brother once, he's a Microsoft fan boy, and he didn't understand this concept, he thought he needed to run a program to get rid of things, even config files.

A perfect program install is one that is contained solely in one folder, not scattered throughout the hard drive.

[Yoyobuae]

*snip*
A perfect program install is one that is contained solely in one folder, not scattered throughout the hard drive.

Or throughout the Windows Registry. *shudders*

[Kagato]

an app is supposed to only write to its own folder/pnd(cwd), those writes get redirected to %mountpoint-the-file-is-on/pandora/appdata/appname-uid using aufs.
This ensures a logical place for app specific configs etc and also always keeps the appfolder/pnd in a clean stock state, you can just give em to someone else and they are as good as new.
Made some mess in an app and want it to revert to its shipped state? Just delete its appdata folder!

Awesome.
That's exactly the sort of info I was hoping to hear

A perfect program install is one that is contained solely in one folder, not scattered throughout the hard drive.

Two folders -- application and saved data.
You should have the option to keep your saved data if you upgrade/uninstall, and you should be able to delete your saved data without breaking the application. Exactly what the pnd format provides!

[second exodous]

A perfect program install is one that is contained solely in one folder, not scattered throughout the hard drive.

Two folders -- application and saved data.
You should have the option to keep your saved data if you upgrade/uninstall, and you should be able to delete your saved data without breaking the application. Exactly what the pnd format provides!

I would like that also, keeping all saved game data of every game/emulator in one folder would be nice. I also like the idea of a central rom folder, this way browsing your rom collection would be easier and there would never be any guessing where to put roms.