Changes between Version 7 and Version 8 of rpld/Understanding

Timestamp:

10/05/12 22:24:34 (12 years ago)

Author:

ph3-der-loewe

Comment:

Added infos about pointers

rpld/Understanding

@@ -93 +93 @@
 
 == Playlist Pointers ==
+Playlist pointers are rules to automatically fill the playback queue. Each pointer points to a playlist entry (track). There are currently four pointers defined: STARTUP, DEFAULT, CURRENT and TEMP. STARTUP, DEFAULT and CURRENT exists once per queue and TEMP once per client.
+When rpld is started and the STARTUP pointer is set the song it points to is queued as first entry and played. This pointer is used to play startup sounds of all kinds.
+The CURRENT pointer is used to fill the queue whenever it runs out of songs: The song CURRENT points to is inserted into the queue and the pointer is moved to the next entry in the playlist. This allows to play back from a given position.
+When CURRENT is moved 'off the list', meaning the last song of the list was played it is set to the DEFAULT pointer. This allows to endlessly play back a playlist.
+The TEMP pointer is a pointer that can be used by the client at will. It has no specific meaning.
+
+Each pointer can in addition point to 'the random entry' in a playlist. This is used to support random playback. There are two types: 'random:' and 'randomlike:'. The later one uses the likeness value as described in the next section. To start random playback one just needs to set the CURRENT pointer to 'random:'. User interfaces should provide a way to do this like an option in a context menu.
+
 == Playlist Entry Likeness ==
 Each entry (Track) has a value called 'likeness'. It tells rpld how much you like a song. This is most useful in random playback: rpld supports classical random playback as well as playing back randomly queuing songs you like more often. This information can also be used by user interfaces to sort songs or create 'best of' views.