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Wiki > Main > RootMenu

The Root Menu ( AKA annoy the left-to-wps people big grin )

NOTE: this page was used while working on the new menu system. It was later agreed to understand the result as new main menu because calling it "root" implies a hierarchy that isn't present. The term "root menu" isn't used anymore (except in the code for historical reasons). To avoid confusion please don't refer to this page (and the term "root menu") anymore.

Flyspray link

http://www.rockbox.org/tracker/task/6630

Where we are...

  1. Recent Bookmarks (only shown when the setting for this is "on")
  2. File Browser
  3. Database ( user is told db is not ready if it isnt.)
  4. Now Playing / Resume Playback
  5. Settings (post commit we need to rearrange the settings to a more logical order, needs to wait untill after the menu rework is finished to make it easiest)
  6. Recording
  7. Fm Radio
  8. Playlist Options (the first 4 of the old menu go here.. the 2 settings go in the actual settings menu)
  9. Plugins
  10. System (info menu)

Suggestions to reorder the above?

That is 10 items, we dont really want any more, but put suggestions here on a better order, or which should be changed.

Commit critical "bugs"

  • Keymaps have only been done for the h10, sansa, hxxx (not remotes) and the X5... so we need gigabeat, ipod and archos keymaps.
  • Get resuming in the DB working. (and dont allow it to resume to the db if its not init'ed (Fixed)
  • exiting either browser should goto root, not previous (Fixed)
  • The start screen setting needs to be put in (settings > display > start screen?) (Fixed)
  • unless needed, STOP should stop playback in the menus (affects all menus, not just root) (Fixed)
  • anything else?

Old discussion

Original idea

  1. Recent Bookmarks (only shown when the setting for this is "on")
  2. File Browser
  3. Database (Should prompt the user if (s)he wants to init the database if it isn't already done) -> Rename this to "[Music] Library"?
  4. Plugins
  5. Now Playing / Resume Playback (the WPS, got a better name? What do we do when nothing is playing? resume? and what if we have nothing to resume? )
  6. Recording screen
  7. Radio
  8. Settings

I would suggest to put Recent Bookmarks more in the middle.
Going into "Settings" and then further down into "General Settings" is too much imho. Maybe we can rearange the settings later to get rid of the additional nesting "General Settings" (Not im important right now, just a note) -- SimonMenzel - 13 Feb 2007

Alternative suggestion (DaveChapman)

(I'm not sure about the order)

  1. File Browser
  2. Database
  3. Now Playing / Resume Playback (change according to playback status)
  4. Settings
  5. Recording
  6. Radio
  7. Recent Bookmarks
    • (this entry is not working if "manage recent bookmarks" is off, I would suggest to hide this setting in that case SimonMenzel)
    • This is not done currently, because non-sighted users would possibly get confused. So probably wont happen post patch. -- JonathanGordon - 10 Feb 2007
    • This setting isn't changed very often, most users would decide if they use bookmarks or not only once or twice. There is no confusion in every day use for blind people in this case. SimonMenzel
  8. Playlists
  9. Plugins
  10. System

The Database option is always visible, but if database is not initialised, tell the user, and ask if he/she wishes to initialise)

The Now Playing / Resume Playback option changes according to playback status. "Resume Playback" will be the name of the option in the "Startup Screen" setting.

The "Settings" menu should be re-organised, but that can be done later...

The "Playlists" menu is the old "Playlist Options" menu. (excluding the 2 bottom items)

The "System" option will contain everything in the current "Info" main menu option, but with the addition of the sleep timer (it's not really a setting IMO, more an action).

Another suggestion (ChrisWong)

[Rockbox]
  1. Library
    • I don't like this - I don't use the Database, but File Browser, so not clicking on Music to get to my Music is wrong -- AlexParker - 13 Feb 2007
    • Then use the option just under Library - after all, before this Root Menu, you would have been using File Browser anyway, isn't that wrong already? -- ChrisWong - 13 Feb 2007
  2. File Browser
  3. Radio (Should be hidden on Radioless targets, unless on iPods FM Remote is present)
  4. Recording
  5. Plugins
  6. Settings
  7. System
  8. Now Playing (Now playing essentially implies that there is something playing and you want to resume, should be hidden if nothing is playing)

Playlists should go into a submenu in Music along with Artist etc
    • Again, I don't use the database, so how do I get to my playlist catalogue? -- AlexParker - 13 Feb 2007

Bookmarks should go into a submenu in Music too, as you can only Bookmark music
    • So, with me not using the Database, how do I get to my recent bookmarks? -- AlexParker - 13 Feb 2007

* Good point =/, then the Playlist and Recent Bookmarks should come up if only they are present, like the FM Radio* -- ChrisWong - 13 Feb 2007

System should have About, Running Time, Debug

About should have information about the target, the version of Rockbox, and some simple stats e.g. Number of music files, free space available

Button mappings and navigation

This needs to be considered on a target-by-target basis - we need to be consistent between Rockbox targets, but we also need to fit in with the available buttons. Now could be a good time to rework target button mappings a little as well.

Ipods

  • Pressing MENU in any of the screens (WPS, Browsers, Settings Menu) will exit back to the Root Menu - not call up the main menu as happens now.
  • A long press on MENU brings up the quick-menu for a particular screen.
  • A long press on SELECT brings up the context menu for a particular screen.

Question: What should a short press on SELECT do in the WPS? Currently it exits back to the file browser, but is that the best choice? Maybe SELECT could be STOP in the WPS, instead of a long press on PLAY/PAUSE.

Iriver h1x0/h3x0

These have more buttons than ipods, so could have more shortcuts between screens.

My suggestion (SimonMenzel)
  • PLAY to go to the WPS in every other screen and usual play/pause in WPS
  • MENU (A/B) to go to root menu from every screen. In the root menu this is a short cut to Settings
  • long MENU is the quick menu.
    • An alternative suggestion would be a customizable short cuts menu (JonathanGordon wanted to do something like that if I remember correctly)
    • I wasnt exactly... but it could be done, I thought everyone was happy with the quickscreens? -- JonathanGordon - 10 Feb 2007
  • short SELECT goes to file browser in WPS (I don't think we should lose a short way to browse files), selects things in menus and file browser
  • long SELECT context menu
  • RIGHT, LEFT, UP, DOWN work the same way they used to work
  • STOP in WPS stops playback and goes to root menu, In other screens STOP is used to cancel things.
  • REC button should be used for short cuts, too. I would like to have this user-customizable. If this is out of the question, my suggestion would be to make playlist handling and recording better:
    • short REC - view current playlist in WPS; (customizable) insert action in file browser, rec menu in root menu
    • long REC - go directly to recording screen from root menu; gives the list of insert options in file browser;

Gigabeat

Suggestions by MarcoenHirschberg

  • Pressing MENU in any of the screens (WPS, Browsers, Settings Menu) will exit back to the Root Menu - not call up the main menu as happens now.
  • A long press on MENU brings up the quick-menu for a particular screen.
  • A long press on SELECT brings up the context menu for a particular screen.
  • POWER in WPS stops playback and goes to root menu, In other screens POWER is used to cancel things.
  • A is a nice modifier button to use in combination with other buttons (page up/down etc) don't know if it should do anything by itself
  • VOL+ and VOL- could change the volume from all the screen. Plugins might be an exception
  • RIGHT, LEFT, UP, DOWN work the same way they used to work
  • short SELECT in the WPS is play/pause

How to understand the root menu

IMO the root menu should be understood as a menu and not as a root tree everything backs out to and having a setting for choosing the root screen. In other words: if the user selects the file browser as root screen left from the file browser root will not back to the root menu. Instead, the root menu needs to be called with a button (like the main menu currently does). Optionally the root menu could back out to the root screen with left (similar to the way the main menu currently does). That way one can have the same "feel" Rockbox currently has but it's still possible using the common way in OF's having a root menu everything backs out to (i.e. if the root menu is set as root screen the file / database browser backs out to the root screen, which is the root menu). Making the file / database browser always back out to the root menu also will make it harder for blind users. -- DominikRiebeling

My understanding of the root menu is, that it is the root level of the main menu, with the addition, that it is also a starting point when rockbox is started without resume playback and that it can be set as the root of file browser/database. -- SimonMenzel - 10 Feb 2007

I was thinking more of a starting point for the system, but with the option that it can be skipped on boot. We decided that left from the browsers would never leave them and menu in the browsers would goto the root menu, regardless of which screen you have set as the startup screen. -- JonathanGordon - 10 Feb 2007

If I understand correctly, the problem with left-from-browser taking you to the "root menu" is that this would break the predictable behavior unsighted users have come to expect. How would the first item on the root menu being "Music" (or whatever term is settled upon) make the experience any more difficult for blind users? It becomes simply one more button press, hold left to root, then "select" to filebrowser/database. I feel that this behavior is important to making the "root menu" feel like a real root menu. -- DavidHall - 13 Feb 2007

OK, end of argument smile This is how it now works... Left/Off DOES exit the browsers.. except, if you hold off to go back up the dir tree it will stop when it gets to " / ". you will have to press the off button again to actually exit. -- JonathanGordon - 14 Feb 2007

Title for the screen?

  • Rockbox ?

Thought I would add this link to a video tour of the Trekstor Vibez, it has the Rio Karma's OS which was regarded as one of the best OS's out the box.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1330791372072230176&q=trekstor+vibez

Tiny note about the 'database' name

The name was (kind of) agreed on after a long debate, much as the one about the root menu. Renaming things to "less geeky" names is out of the scope of the root menu discussion. And yes the "music", various constructions with the word library and several others came up and the name 'database' was chosen because it is descriptive of what it really is and deemed quite easy for new users to understand. "Music" is a bad name for another reason, the database can contain audiobooks, podcasts, varous other spoken word entries too as well as about any kind of sound, not just music. To sum it all up stay on topic.

end of rant wink

How about Library then? That covers everything. 'Database' is something that is new to everyone when switching from their original firmware - I have yet to see one that uses 'Database'. Library IMO is a much more familiar term to users. The switch from the original firmware to Rockbox should be easy, learning how to use Rockbox shouldn't require having to dig into menus and change lots of settings. We shouldn't be naming menu items which people aren't going to know what they do - for example, someone new who installs Rockbox on their iPod immediately says - where's my music? This is because the default view is the file browser - any freshman who uses an iPod with the OF always uses iTunes to sync their songs and naturally they would like to access their songs much like their original firmware. Thus the RootMenu is invented. Perhaps on the first bootup Rockbox should ask, "Would you like Rockbox to scan your [device] for music and add it to your Library?"

I don't know if iTunes or any other music player uses "Library" for the music database, but I'm fine with that if it turns out to be the most intuitive name for it. Remember, though, that iPod is only one of many Rockbox targets, and it is impossible to make Rockbox behave like all those different original firmwares out there. I also have a hard time believing that learning that "Database" is the music database is a big hurdle. I like the "would you like to scan" idea though. -- LinusNielsenFeltzing - 17 Feb 2007

Tagcache was renamed to Database only 2 months ago (or whatever it was), I dont believe its in our best interest to rename it again... So with that said its staying Database in this patch. If you want it renamed make a patch and go through th eusual submit process.. -- JonathanGordon - 17 Feb 2007

Righto, keep it as Database then, you guys need a break from the nagging xD. -- ChrisWong - 18 Feb 2007

Configurable Menu?

  • Why not make the total menu structure with all shortcut-keys configurable for the user? My idea is to do that with some text-based files. Everything in one file or maybe several files with options in it. For example a file with all shortcut-key bindings and one file for every menu page. Next, like the WPS-screen, people can download their preferred menu configuration from a twiki page or edit it themselves. Then this fairly difficult discussion could come to an end. -- PaulClaassen - 21 Feb 2007
  • I'm completely against configurable buttons: they will be hell to support and only cause confusion. I really don't see that much advantages -- the main problem with keys afaics is not all devices having enough buttons. Configurable buttons also have been discussed several times on irc -- DominikRiebeling - 21 Feb 2007

r35 - 02 Apr 2021 - 20:46:07 - UnknownUser

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