A filesystem-based playlist for Noatun
I no longer develop or even use most of the software in this section. Contact me if you need support or custom development of something here, or if you're interested in taking over development of something here. Arrangements can be made in either case.
Hayes is the playlist for Noatun 2 / KDE 3 that attempts to be efficent for those users with large directories full of music, especially directories futher organized by album. For these users, Hayes should be more efficient in speed and memory than the usual playlist. Plus, the playlist is updated in realtime as the directories change on-disk, so playlist maintenance is no longer an issue.
For everyone else, Hayes has some nice features, too: Full integration with the KDE global "MetaInfo" system for generic handling of tag information, Fully KDE standard user interface, proper shuffle behavior with a history, multiple sort modes (including a drag-reorderable custom sort), and nifty checkboxes that let one turn on and off particular files or directories. Two-way Konqueror integration adds convenience to playback and file management.
All playlist data is stored in .directory files, which are easily readable and reusable by other applications and tools.
Current Release
Download for KDE 3.1 hayes-1.4.tar.bz2 (280947 bytes) (Signature by 0x28103A61)
New in Hayes 1.4:
- Bugfix for the Konqueror service menu when the path to the playlist directory has a symbolic link in it.
- New Toolbars! The seeker is in its own toolbar, and a volume control toolbar has been added.
- Right-clicking on a directory gives you the option to fully open up or close the tree under it.
- Directories that haven't been touched in a while now get closed automatically.
- A case-sensitive sort option is now available.
- The bug where some random file might get played first is fixed.
- The Noatun Actions menu (giving access to certain plugins) is now in the Hayes menu bar.
Release History
New in Hayes 1.3:
- The Konqueror service menu is replaced by a plugin. Now the menu item will only appear when Noatun is running with Hayes and only when you click a file in your Hayes tree. Because of this features, Hayes now requires the kdebase package to be installed.
- Hayes tries harder to understand Noatun's KFMI-incompatible tagging system. This should lead to better results with the Noatun "Title" setting and plugins like Jefferson that use it.
- Carsten Pfeiffer added a slider to the player toolbar.
- Bugfixes, including some lockups with the back button.
- Probably more little things that have slipped my mind since the last release.
New in Hayes 1.21:
- Bugfixes in shuffle and the back button
- New options to hide unplayable files and files that start with "."
New in Hayes 1.2:
- A rewrite of the shuffle play feature, resulting in a more uniform distribution across files, and hopefully fix the reported crashes.
- Startup and sort optimizations by Carsten Pfeiffer
- Compile fixes for gcc 3 and KDE CVS HEAD
New in Hayes 1.1.5: Bugfixes, including a fix for the stupid mistake I made that caused Hayes to open unchecked directories in shuffle mode.
New in Hayes 1.1.4: Konqueror servicemenu "Play in Noatun now," which will use DCOP to tell Hayes to find and play that file. Of course if the file isn't in your playlist nothing will happen. Various bugs are fixed as well.
Testimionial:
<kervel> Neil btw hayes rocks. <kervel> congrats <Neil> glad it's working for you :-) <kervel> Neil i finally got rid of xmms :)
And another user is saved from bad UI!
Notes
Turn off "Automatically play first file" in Noatun if you expect Hayes to work. Hayes will try to turn this option off for you.
Thank you to all who have tested, given ideas, and reported problems. Without good testing and ideas, Hayes will not become a good playlist.
For more on Rutherford B. Hayes, consult your local library or the White House biography of President Hayes.