Cover Mess

BugFix Update 0720

- Fixed most sizing issues where flip button would not appear, still needs improvement

- Fixed double song entries on backcover
  This happened  if useid3=1 in rr.ini. Works fine now and showextensions flag in rr.ini will also be honored...  

- RR 07/01 changed (fixed) the way it responded to fscommand("GETDL","");	
  This version supports both the newer and older versions ( for now )...

- Changed default in albums.txt for songmenubutimage=none.jpg so that no bubble will occur

- Changed default zoomspeed=2 in albums.txt for faster animation


***BE CAREFULL NOT TO OVER RIGHT YOUR ALBUMS.TXT, AS YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR CUSTOM SETTINGS***


Update 0714 

-Now supports custom text and text settings for all buttons


Major Update 0710!!!!

-This version now only has one mode!!! XML mode is gone
-This version is easier to configure and has less pre-requisites
-You can flip the covers and select song(s) individually
-All list are ilist style, ie throw lists
-CM will display folders with no cover art

Introduction
Cover Mess ( CM ) is a GUI for selecting and playing digital audio files on a windows PC. It is writen in actionscript 2.0 v8, and requires the
carpc front end 'Ride Runner' ( RR ) to operate. It will NOT work without RR.

The covers can be moved around, double clicking zooms them in and allows for furter actions, such as playing the audio files that are 
associated with that cover.
CM displays a user configurable amount of covers at a time, in this case I've configured it for 25 max. CM spreads the total amount
of covers between a series of pages. This can be seen in my screenshot near the bottom left, in the green box.

The covers are sorted alphabetcally by artist name. You can move from page to page using the arrows or select a specific page from the 
'Alpha Selection' menu.

You can filter the albums by using the 'Genre' menu. This menu is created dynamically from your file structure - requirements explained
below. 

You can further filter by artist by using the "Selected Artist" menu. This way you can isolate all of an artists albums on the screen easily. 

CM can load covers from a txt file, that is user selectable.

Mine is called paths.txt...here is a sample part of it...

LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\- Various -\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Pop-New Wave\- Various -\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\10,000 Maniacs\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\10cc\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\38 Special\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Pop-New Wave\A Flock Of Seagulls\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Pop-New Wave\A Ha\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Pop-New Wave\ABC\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\ACDC\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Pop-New Wave\Adam Ant\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\Aerosmith\folder.jpg
LSTc:\testmusic\Music\Classic Rock-Metal\Air Supply\folder.jpg

This file is automatically created in your skin path by CM and RR.

CM searches your RR musicpath for audiofiles, and then asks RR to create a custom list of folders pointing to cover art.

If you do not have cover art, CM will substitute with a default cover , user specified, and if that does not exist it will fallback to a blank white cover.

You do not have to and should not specify jpg in your audiofiles rr.ini anymore.

So now CM can operate without any coverart! It will display all your folders, regardless.



The structure of your music files must follow certain conventions for CM to work, I will cover this more in the
Pre-Requistes section.

Several commands and settings must be in place in RR for this mode to work, I will cover this more in the
Pre-Requistes section.


Configuration

Pre-Requisites:

- 	Latest version of Ride Runner ( RR )

- 	The included swf file

- 	A functioning RR skin, and an RR Cover Mess skin ( sample skin included )

- 	A music collection stored with the following convention:
	
		your hardrive\root music folder\genre\artist\audio files

		OR/AND

		your hardrive\root music folder\genre\artist\album\audio files

		e.g.

		c:\music\acid jazz\jamiroquai\jamiroquai - dynamite\jamiroquai - starchild.flac

		Personally, I don't put my songs in album folders, I clump all of an artists songs in the artist folder, so the above example
		for me would be:

		c:\music\acid jazz\jamiroquai\jamiroquai - starchild.flac

		You can intermix both formats.

		The 'root music folder' can be as deep as you want, the rest must comply to the above , e.g.

		c:\media\collection\music\acid jazz\jamiroquai\jamiroquai - starchild.flac
		

- 	A button command to load the covermess skin, eg.

	B30,0,0,200,100,"LOAD;covermess.skin",""

- 	The skin must include 3 hidden lists, a hiiden directory list, playlist and custom list , like the included skin:

	------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	MEDIACAR Skin
	RRScreen "COVERMESS"Skin
	background.jpg

	L,0,0,0,0,,,,,,"CUSTOMDL",
	L,0,0,0,0,,,,,,"CUSTOMPL",
	L,0,0,0,0,,,,,,"CUSTOMCL",	

	F,0,60,800,480,"RFCM_albumstxt.swf"

	S01,-1000,-1000,1000,1000,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,0,0,0,5,143,233,false,18,"Arial"
	S01,-1000,-1000,1000,1000,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,false,12,"Arial"
	SC01,-1000,-1000,300,500,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,255,false,18,"Arial"

	END
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	
Advanced Settings

The above configs will get you up and running relatively quickly, but with default settings only.

CM is highly configurable, there are two mechanisms for configuration:

1. SWF file name.
	
	The name of the swf file included is RFCM.swf. As shown above, if this is used as is, it will scan for music folders
	every time (slowish) and it will use builtin default settings builtin to the swf.

	The swf is programmed to check its name, and to act differently depending on the name.
	The parmeters are as follows:

	RFCM__config file name.swf

	An example of this is:

	RFCM_albumstxt.swf  (included in RAR like this).


	If you rename the swf file like this CM would load config settings from albums.txt file.
	

	You can make multiple copies of RFCM.swf and give them different names, such that you could load different settings.

	
		
2. Settings txt file.( Included as albums.txt with RAR )
	
	By default CM uses it's built in settings. this can be overiden and you can specify all kinds of additional settings via a txt file.
	Here are the default setting used, and their expalnation:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------General Settings---------------

&zoomspeed=2&END			zoom speed when cover double clicked
&smallsize=30&END			small size of covers
&bigsize=100&END			zoomed size of cover
&maxdisplay=25&END			maximum number of covers to display at once
&menuspace=5&END			space between drop down menuitems
&cover=folder.jpg&END			cover jpg in skin folder if music folder does not have cover art
&backcover=folderback.jpg&END 		backcover jpg in skin folder if music folder does not have back cover art
&nocovercolor=0xFFFFFF&END		cover color if 2 above jpg do not exist in skin folder
&defaultpaths=paths.txt&END		txt file to store paths of folders (generated by CM automatically)
&menumask=475&END			masked height of drop down menu

&titlefontsize = 28&END			This group are for the text of the title that appears below the cover
&titlefont = ARIAL Narrow&END
&titlefontcolor = 0xffffff&END
&titlefontalign = Center&END

-----------Stage Button Settings---------------

&shufbutx=0&END
&shufbuty=5&END
&shufbutw=60&END
&shufbuth=60&END
&shufbuta=64&END
&shufbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&shufbutimage=paw.png&END
&shufbuttextsize=28&END
&shufbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&shufbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&shufbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&shufbuttext=&END


--------

&playstagex=675&END
&playstagey=5&END
&playstagew=60&END
&playstageh=60&END
&playstagea=64&END
&playstagergb=0x0000ff&END
&playstageimage=pbut.png&END
&playstagetextsize=28&END
&playstagetextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&playstagetextcolor=0xffffff&END
&playstagetextalign=CENTER&END
&playstagetext=&END

--------

&addstagex=740&END
&addstagey=5&END
&addstagew=60&END
&addstageh=60&END
&addstagea=64&END
&addstagergb=0x0000ff&END
&addstageimage=abut.png&END
&addstagetextsize=28&END
&addstagetextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&addstagetextcolor=0xffffff&END
&addstagetextalign=CENTER&END
&addstagetext=&END


----------

&reloadbutx=0&END			Reload Button  - reloads txt file with directory paths from hd
&reloadbuty=415&END
&reloadbutw=100&END
&reloadbuth=60&END
&reloadbuta=64&END
&reloadbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&reloadbutimage=button.png&END
&reloadbuttextsize=28&END
&reloadbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&reloadbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&reloadbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&reloadbuttext=Reload&END

-------

&prevcovpagex=65&END
&prevcovpagey=5&END
&prevcovpagew=60&END
&prevcovpageh=60&END
&prevcovpagea=64&END
&prevcovpagergb=0x0000ff&END
&prevcovimage=lbut.png&END
&prevcovpagetextsize=28&END
&prevcovpagetextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&prevcovpagetextcolor=0xffffff&END
&prevcovpagetextalign=CENTER&END
&prevcovpagetext=&END

---------

&nextcovpagex=610&END
&nextcovpagey=5&END
&nextcovpagew=60&END
&nextcovpageh=60&END
&nextcovpagea=64&END
&nextcovpagergb=0x0000ff&END
&nextcovimage=rbut.png&END
&nextcovpagetextsize=28&END
&nextcovpagetextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&nextcovpagetextcolor=0xffffff&END
&nextcovpagetextalign=CENTER&END
&nextcovpagetext=&END

--------

&infobutx=100&END			an info display of total albums/folders and current page
&infobuty=415&END
&infobutw=180&END
&infobuth=60&END
&infobuta=64&END
&infobutrgb=0x00ff00&END	
&infobutimage=none.png&END
&infobuttextsize=24&END
&infobuttoptextsize=20&END
&infobuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&infobuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&infobuttextalign=CENTER&END

---------------Cover Button Settings-------------------

&playbutx=-35&END
&playbuty=135&END
&playbutw=70&END
&playbuth=60&END
&playbuta=64&END
&playbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&playbutimage=pbut.png&END
&playbuttextsize=28&END
&playbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&playbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&playbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&playbuttext=&END


----------

&addbutx=35&END
&addbuty=135&END
&addbutw=60&END
&addbuth=60&END
&addbuta=64&END
&addbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&addbutimage=abut.png&END
&addbuttextsize=28&END
&addbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&addbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&addbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&addbuttext=&END


----------

&prevbutx=-160&END
&prevbuty=135&END
&prevbutw=60&END
&prevbuth=60&END
&prevbuta=64&END
&prevbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&prevbutimage=lbut.png&END
&prevbuttextsize=28&END
&prevbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&prevbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&prevbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&prevbuttext=&END


---------

&nextbutx=177&END
&nextbuty=135&END
&nextbutw=60&END
&nextbuth=60&END
&nextbuta=64&END
&nextbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&nextbutimage=rbut.png&END
&nextbuttextsize=28&END
&nextbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&nextbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&nextbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&nextbuttext=&END

---------

&flipbutx=177&END
&flipbuty=-207&END
&flipbutw=60&END
&flipbuth=60&END
&flipbuta=64&END
&flipbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&flipbutimage=fbut.png&END
&flipbuttextsize=28&END
&flipbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&flipbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&flipbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&flipbuttext=&END


--------------Back Cover Button Settings------------------------

&selbutx=177&END
&selbuty=-90&END
&selbutw=60&END
&selbuth=60&END
&selbuta=64&END
&selbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&selbutimage=selbut.png&END
&selbuttextsize=28&END
&selbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&selbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&selbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&selbuttext=&END


-----------

&deselbutx=177&END
&deselbuty=20&END
&deselbutw=60&END
&deselbuth=60&END
&deselbuta=64&END
&deselbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&deselbutimage=deselbut.png&END
&deselbuttextsize=28&END
&deselbuttextfont=ARIAL NARROW&END
&deselbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&deselbuttextalign=CENTER&END
&deselbuttext=&END


-----------------

&songmenubutx=10&END
&songmenubuty=0&END
&songmenubutw=420&END
&songmenubuth=40&END
&songmenubuta=-255&END
&songmenubutrgb=0xffffff&END
&songmenubutimage=none.jpg&END

&songmenubuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&songmenubuttextsize=28&END
&songmenubuttextcolor=0x000000&END
&songmenubuttextalign=Center&END

&songmenubutsela=255&END
&songmenubutselrgb=0x000000&END
&songmenubutseltextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&songmenubutseltextsize=28&END
&songmenubutseltextcolor=0x00ff00&END
&songmenubutseltextalign=Center&END


-------------Menu Button Settings------------------------------

&alphabutx=290&END
&alphabuty=5&END
&alphabutw=155&END
&alphabuth=60&END
&alphabuta=64&END
&alphabutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&alphabuttoptext=Alpha Selection&END
&alphabutimage=Button.png&END
&alphabuttextsize=24&END
&alphabuttoptextsize=20&END
&alphabuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&alphabuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&alphabuttextalign=Center&END

&alphamenubutx=290&END
&alphamenubuty=70&END
&alphamenubutw=155&END
&alphamenubuth=40&END
&alphamenubuta=64&END
&alphamenubutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&alphamenubutimage=Button.png&END
&alphamenubuttextsize=24&END
&alphamenubuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&alphamenubuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&alphamenubuttextalign=Center&END

-------

&genrebutx=130&END
&genrebuty= 5&END
&genrebutw=155&END
&genrebuth=60&END
&genrebuta=64&END
&genrebutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&genrebuttoptext=Genre&END	
&genrebutimage=Button.png&END
&genrebuttextsize=24&END
&genrebuttoptextsize=20&END
&genrebuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&genrebuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&genrebuttextalign=Center&END

&genremenubutx=130&END
&genremenubuty=70&END
&genremenubutw=155&END
&genremenubuth=40&END
&genremenubuta=64&END
&genremenubutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&genremenubutimage=Button.png&END
&genremenubuttextsize=24&END
&genremenubuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&genremenubuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&genremenubuttextalign=Center&END

--------

&artistbutx=450&END
&artistbuty=5&END
&artistbutw=155&END
&artistbuth=60&END
&artistbuta=64&END
&artistbutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&artistbuttoptext=Filter artist..&END
&artistbutimage=Button.png&END
&artistbuttextsize=24&END
&artistbuttoptextsize=20&END
&artistbuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&artistbuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&artistbuttextalign=Center&END

&artistmenubutx=450&END
&artistmenubuty=70&END
&artistmenubutw=155&END
&artistmenubuth=40&END
&artistmenubuta=64&END
&artistmenubutrgb=0x0000ff&END
&artistmenubutimage=Button.png&END
&artistmenubuttextsize=24&END
&artistmenubuttextfont=ARIAL Narrow&END
&artistmenubuttextcolor=0xffffff&END
&artistmenubuttextalign=Center&END


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you do not want to see a button/menu , just position it so that it is not on screen...

So, are some scenarios as to how CM now works...

-CM with no settings txt: ie RFCM.swf

	Will use builtin default settings/buttons contained in swf file...ie,

	CM will scan hardrive for folders containg music, starting from your rr.ini specifeid musicpath location

-CM with specified settings txt ie RFCM_coverstxt.swf..

	CM will attempt to load paths from defaultpaths setting
	if no file exists, it will scan hardrive for folders containg music, starting from your rr.ini specifeid musicpath location
	it will then automatically write a txt file (ie paths.txt) to your skin folder.
	next time cm runs, it will use this file

	
	


That's it for now....Good luck...






	



