Author Topic: IDEA: Shell extension to show total play time of media clips (Read 220240 times)

MilesAhead · « **Reply #25 on:** March 24, 2009, 06:23 PM »

Geez!! I didn't realize Explorer will show the total time of selected media files if you have Details Pane selected in Layout(or at least it does on both my Vista PCs but I have MediaInfo installed on each so I'm not sure who is doing what.)

Still, it's nice to have this utility to drag stuff from various folders etc..

edit: btw I noticed that Windows, for some reason, doesn't(at least on my systems) do total play times for .wmv files. If this is because I auto kill WMP I don't know.. but in any case it's good to have PlayTime on.

Miguel.2007 · « **Reply #26 on:** July 22, 2009, 12:17 AM »

This is a really nice little utility. Would it be possible to enhance it by enabling it to calculate the total media file time from a play list? Specifically from an .m3u file?

I have a blind friend who presents an Internet radio program using WinAmp and it would be very helpful if he could calculate the total playing time of the files in his playlist. His screen reader program will not read the total time field at the bottom of the Playlist Editor window.

skwire · « **Reply #27 on:** July 22, 2009, 12:25 AM »

Sure, can do. I'll make it handle m3u, pls, and wpl files.

skwire · « **Reply #28 on:** July 22, 2009, 04:45 AM »

PlayTime has been updated to v1.0.4: Webpage | Download

v1.0.4 - 2009-07-22
* Playlist files (m3u, pls & wpl) are now parseable for their contents.
Use the checkbox to toggle this behaviour. (Thanks, Miguel.2007)

Please let me know how it works out for your friend. Thanks.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #29 on:** July 22, 2009, 12:26 PM »

1.04 seems to work ok but the toolbar buttons are invisible on W7 7077 32 bit and Vista64 SP1. When you mouse over you just get an outline of the button and tooltip. No graphic.

I tried compatibility mode XP SP3 and SP2 and it made no difference. Must be something to do with the way Vista/W7 graphics differ from XP.

skwire · « **Reply #30 on:** July 22, 2009, 06:15 PM »

Did it used to work under v1.0.3? I don't have access to either of the operating systems you mention so this might be a bit difficult to troubleshoot.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #31 on:** July 22, 2009, 06:24 PM »

Did it used to work under v1.0.3? I don't have access to either of the operating systems you mention so this might be a bit difficult to troubleshoot.
-skwire (July 22, 2009, 06:15 PM)

I was using 1.0.0.28. I didn't realize there were others until I downloaded 1.04.

Miguel.2007 · « **Reply #32 on:** July 23, 2009, 02:31 AM »

Hi Skwire:

Thanks very much for the mod which works really well if you drag and drop an .m3u play list to PlayTime but not if you access the .m3u file via the "Open File" dialog. Unfortunately my mate can't use the mouse. Nearly there!

Miguel

skwire · « **Reply #33 on:** July 23, 2009, 02:58 AM »

Gah...silly bug on my part. It should be fixed now. Thanks for catching it.

Webpage | Download

v1.0.5 - 2009-07-23
* Single files selected via "Add files" did not work properly. (Thanks, Miguel.2007)

Miguel.2007 · « **Reply #34 on:** July 23, 2009, 03:45 AM »

Thanks skwire. It now works perfectly. I will install it on my mate's computer this weekend and test it with his screen reader but I don't anticipate any problems.

Thanks again for a really useful piece of work.

skwire · « **Reply #35 on:** July 23, 2009, 04:38 AM »

You're welcome; happy to help.

skwire · « **Reply #36 on:** July 23, 2009, 04:56 AM »

I thought this might be cool to add for your friend:

Webpage | Download

v1.0.6 - 2009-07-23
+ Added a simple text-to-speech option in the Edit menu. You can also
press F1 to hear the list total.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #37 on:** July 23, 2009, 08:49 PM »

skwire, if you want to give me source for a window with toolbar buttons using the same method as your app I can try it in W7 and Vista64 and see if I can find anything out if you like. It's tough to get any clue just from a compiled .exe.

skwire · « **Reply #38 on:** July 24, 2009, 09:31 AM »

Would you mind trying the latest snapshot build, please, and see if the toolbar icons work again? v1.0.6.4

MilesAhead · « **Reply #39 on:** July 24, 2009, 01:05 PM »

Would you mind trying the latest snapshot build, please, and see if the toolbar icons work again? v1.0.6.4
-skwire (July 24, 2009, 09:31 AM)

Looks like you got it. Both W7 and Vista64 like it.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #40 on:** July 24, 2009, 01:10 PM »

If I could suggest one feature to make drag & drop more convenient.. maybe a simple save of screen position to the .ini file and open at last saved? (maybe even optional with a checkbox?) That way I can have it come up in one corner of the screen and drag from explorer windows etc..

(edit: btw the checkbox isn't really important. If deleting the xy location from the .ini file will have it open in the center of the desktop then recovery from a case where the app opens off screen is available. Doesn't happen that often anyway even with simple xy position save.)

skwire · « **Reply #41 on:** July 24, 2009, 07:06 PM »

Done.

Webpage | Download

v1.0.7 - 2009-07-24
+ PlayTime's size & position is now saved. (Thanks, MilesAhead)
! Toolbar icons were not displaying properly under Vista64 and Win7.

garbanzo · « **Reply #42 on:** July 27, 2009, 03:18 AM »

this is an excellent little app, skwire! many thanks!

would you consider adding the ability to send files to it via the command line? i would love to add a button in Directory Opus to send selected media files to PlayTime.

skwire · « **Reply #43 on:** July 27, 2009, 02:12 PM »

this is an excellent little app, skwire! many thanks!
would you consider adding the ability to send files to it via the command line? i would love to add a button in Directory Opus to send selected media files to PlayTime.

-garbanzo (July 27, 2009, 03:18 AM)

Thanks for the compliments. Would a standard context menu option be sufficient? Right-click a selection --> Add to PlayTime.

skwire · « **Reply #44 on:** July 27, 2009, 04:05 PM »

I just added a shell extension option as well as commandline support for adding files/folders. If you'd like to test, download the latest snapshot build: Download v1.0.7.56

To use the shell extension, simply enable it from the "Extra" menu. Once enabled, you should see a new "Add to PlayTime" option when you right click a selection of files/folders in your file manager. The commandline stuff should be the standard [c:\path\to\PlayTime.exe "%1"] where %1 equals the files/folders you want to load.

Both options seem to work for me under XP SP2 but I'd appreciate feedback if they work on your system as well.

MilesAhead · « **Reply #45 on:** July 27, 2009, 04:19 PM »

Works for me

skwire · « **Reply #46 on:** July 27, 2009, 08:45 PM »

Works for me
-MilesAhead (July 27, 2009, 04:19 PM)

Did you try both? Or just the shell option?

MilesAhead · « **Reply #47 on:** July 27, 2009, 10:57 PM »

drag & drop & shell. i didn't use the load dialog

skwire · « **Reply #48 on:** July 27, 2009, 11:01 PM »

Cool, thanks for the report.

skwire · « **Reply #49 on:** July 28, 2009, 06:43 AM »

Added a few more bits:

v1.0.9 - 2009-07-28
+ Added a "Do not display files that report 00:00" checkbox.

v1.0.8 - 2009-07-27
+ Added a shell extension option under the "Extra" menu. This
will install an "Add to PlayTime" entry in the context menu.
+ Added command-line support for adding files. (Thanks, garbanzo)