New Music Additions

[VAXman(Admin)]

It has just occurred to me while looking at the long list building in the Latest Additions news item that I might be able to add a query function to the web page to show all new additions within a certain time span.

The SAM database songlist table maintains a date_added column.

Using the SQL query:

SELECT * FROM samdb.songlist s WHERE (songtype = 'S') ORDER BY date_added DESC

shows me all of the recent additions by date from the most recent. I can sort (collate) this alphabetically, by artist and then by album to build Jim's list programatically.

Question to all of you, should I?

If yes, should I allow a time span option such as the following to look back:

1 week
2 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
2 months
3 months
6 months
1 year

Any other suggestions for adjunct features, bells, whistles, etc., if this function is added?


BTW, for Cozy and Moses: If you're reading this, I found your show uploads are flagged 'S' when I did the SQL query. This means they will show up as tracks that can be requested. If you could, please try to insure that they are set 'C'. Because Jim's library adds go into a different folder on a completely different drive, I can program around this 'S'/'C' omission/oversight in a new additions feature but SAM will continue to list your tracks for request if they are set to 'S'. There's also another thing you should do with SAM when you take down your shows. I'll take this up in the staff forum.

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

This is a very exciting feature. I like the idea a lot. You so smart!!

The time spans are appropriate. That should suit the our needs for going back in time.

Question - will this be for query only, in that would this function be able to link to the request pages. For example (just to be redundant), if I queried a new artist on the webpage, could it link me to the request page so I could choose a song from that artist.

If it is for viewing only, it would still be easy enough for us to copy/paste album or artist names and just go to request page. As requesting is a member priviledge, that would prevent non-members from accessing requests.

Gee, I guess I answered my own question.

Anyway, this is a great addition to the site, IMHO (and MNSHO).

[gr8sho92]

Whatever you finally decide to do, keep website performance in mind. The now playing section and shout continue to suffer connectivity loss.

About the query, one other bell or whistle might be to search on release year. Not all new adds are actually new releases.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by OverHillandDale

This is a very exciting feature. I like the idea a lot. You so smart!!

The time spans are appropriate. That should suit the our needs for going back in time.

Question - will this be for query only, in that would this function be able to link to the request pages. For example (just to be redundant), if I queried a new artist on the webpage, could it link me to the request page so I could choose a song from that artist.

If it is for viewing only, it would still be easy enough for us to copy/paste album or artist names and just go to request page. As requesting is a member priviledge, that would prevent non-members from accessing requests.

Gee, I guess I answered my own question.

Anyway, this is a great addition to the site, IMHO (and MNSHO).

I knew, the second that I clicked the [Submit], that this would be one of the feature requests. Yes, it is possible. Will I do it in the first go-round? Who knows?

[littlesteviefyr]

great idea VAX. I can see us wanting to know what has been added for a certain time span too. This is a real nice feature for someone like me who has only been around the Moon for a couple of months and still learning the library.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by gr8sho92

Whatever you finally decide to do, keep website performance in mind. The now playing section and shout continue to suffer connectivity loss.

There are a couple of changes that can be made in this regard. If only the streaming server could be NTP synched with a stratum time server. Then that section of the page could be obtained by and maintain on the web server and the <iframe> refresh could be tightly coupled with the current song's playing time in conjunction with the user's site arrival time.

To explain this...

Assume it is about noon. The current song started at noon and it is exactly 6 minutes in length. That section of the page will be static until 12:06:00. The information that is displayed could be obtained at noon and cached on the web server. At 6 mins past the noon hour, the page <iframe> needs to be refreshed in any browsers connected. This would be done by setting the refresh on the <iframe> when the new song loads. But you ask, what happens if a user arrives at exactly 3 mins past noon? Well, the refresh interval would be computed from the following: <track finish time> - <user arrival time> In this example: <12:06:00> - <12:03:00> is 3 minutes. This would be set as this user's refresh timeout on the <iframe>. This is all pie-in-the-sky unless we can get NTP up and functioning on the streaming server.

The performance hit now is that EVERY user causes a database query to the streaming server to pull over the information and CPU time to format this information.

Originally Posted by gr8sho92

About the query, one other bell or whistle might be to search on release year. Not all new adds are actually new releases.

The search would be on the date added to the library regardless of the fact that the album's release was yesteryear. Jim's current list is compiled on date added to the library. My intention is to have the code mimic that trend. FWIW, there a many albums in the AM library with incorrect information regarding release date. When they've been brought to my attention, I have corrected them. Therefore, release date isn't really one of the better search criteria for this feature.

Performance-wise... Unlike the ON-THE-AIR/Dedication/RECENTLY-PLAYED (I often shorthand this as OTA/Ded/RP) section which automatically refreshes (and all too often), this feature would be a form. The USER would need to click on a link to pull up the form. Much like Jim's present list of additions news item, it is not (or will not be) a part of the main page load.

[museman]

Vax your the man . Your efforts benefeit all of us.

[gr8sho92]

Originally Posted by VAXman

Therefore, release date isn't really one of the better search criteria for this feature.

That suggestion was in addition to (another option), not in lieu of date added. The release dates are for the most part good enough.

Performance-wise... Unlike the ON-THE-AIR/Dedication/RECENTLY-PLAYED (I often shorthand this as OTA/Ded/RP) section which automatically refreshes (and all too often), this feature would be a form. The USER would need to click on a link to pull up the form. Much like Jim's present list of additions news item, it is not (or will not be) a part of the main page load.

Understood. My concern here is more about transactions hitting the remote SQL database having an overall impact on the website.

[ErikM]

All great ideas !
But where's that album from Mythos - Mythos ? Added on 15th january ?

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by ErikM

All great ideas !
But where's that album from Mythos - Mythos ? Added on 15th january ?

Not on Jim's List?

My query shows it added:

http://tmesis.com/am/mythos.html

[progdirjim(Admin)]

Originally Posted by ErikM

All great ideas !
But where's that album from Mythos - Mythos ? Added on 15th january ?

Operator (me) error - the Artist is Mythos and Album Title is actually Concrete City. I've edited the list to reflect this.

Vax, do I need to chime in that I think this is a great idea? I think this is a great idea...

Thanks!

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by progdirjim

Operator (me) error - the Artist is Mythos and Album Title is actually Concrete City. I've edited the list to reflect this.

Vax, do I need to chime in that I think this is a great idea? I think this is a great idea...

Thanks!

I've already been working on it. In fact, I had hoped to have a preliminary up today but my son just came home from school and now I need to run off.

Working at home SUCKS because I'm never given the time and respect to get anything done.

[VAXman(Admin)]

OK Moon units... a preliminary proof of concept:

http://www.auralmoon.com/addhis.php?days=7

You can also see that the first three tables are not adds. They are the result of the DJs adding tracks and not setting the track types accordingly. I will add the code later to extract these (unless the DJs will make the effort to correct the codes on the tracks they've added).

You can use the History menu bar too to look back as far back as 3 years!

More formatting needs to be done and I will try to incorporate the web site color scheme too. For now, I borrowed the CSS from some admin functions that I wrote some time ago. The artist column is "almost" collated. I'll see if I can get that 100% too.

I'm out tomorrow for the better part of the day. My son is in the state's bowling championships.

[OverHillandDale(Admin)]

That's really cool, Vax. Thanks!

[KeithieW]

Excellent stuff man.

Using ctrl+F allows you to seach for whatever you want to pick out to (Well it does on my PC - don't know what to do for MACs) and that was interesting too.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by KeithieW

Excellent stuff man.

Using ctrl+F allows you to seach for whatever you want to pick out to (Well it does on my PC - don't know what to do for MACs) and that was interesting too.

That's a text search function in the browser. Under OSX the search is CMD+F (find) and CMD+G (find again/next). I will link the artist or the album up with the request engine too so that you can, after viewing new library adds, request them.

FWIW, I don't like the use of the CTRL+char as redefined by M$. ConTRoL characters have very well defined notions in serial/ASCII communications. CTRL+F is ACK, CTRL+G is BEL. When you are here in the states, remind me to tell you a story about how this silliness with M$ took down an entire US government data facility.

[KeithieW]

I have to say peeps that VAX has done an amzing job in getting the "Latest music library updates" added to the home page.

You can search for Bands/album titles (Firefox users see ctrl+f post above - Mac users ask ) then you can link directly to the requst page for that album by just clicking on it.

A tip for Firefox users:

If you right click on the album and "open in new tab" you can request and then go back to the same place that you were at before just by closing that tab. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks again VAX.....that is one great enhancement.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by KeithieW

I have to say peeps that VAX has done an amzing job in getting the "Latest music library updates" added to the home page.

You can search for Bands/album titles (Firefox users see ctrl+f post above - Mac users ask ) then you can link directly to the requst page for that album by just clicking on it.

A tip for Firefox users:

If you right click on the album and "open in new tab" you can request and then go back to the same place that you were at before just by closing that tab. Hope that makes sense.

Thanks again VAX.....that is one great enhancement.

Thanks Keith...

The Latest Music Library Updates (LMLU) is, for all intents and purposes, complete. I tweaked a bit of the code this morning. JT, vt, et al. playing with it last even found a slight limitation but, since it was late, I fixed it this morning.

The initial frame now looks back 21 days. You can, of course, use the history draw-bar I've provided to look back: 1,2 or 3 weeks, 1,2,3 or 6 months and even as far back as 1,2 or 3 years! A history of the growth of and addition to the Aural Moon music library. However, if there are no additions for a period (1 month) this will display a blank. I will work on that today. I hope to have the page always display the last/latest AM update even if that update was 6 months ago. I'm sure Jim's compulsion for music will make this extra bit of programming moot but as a programmer I'm inclined to program for the boundary conditions even if they are never met.

As Keith has already reported, you can mouse-over the artists and albums in the list and click on them. This will take you to the familiar Aural Moon request page. If you click on the artist link, you are taken to the request page and shown all of the albums for the artist. You can then drill down to the tracks and request. If you click on the album link, you are taken immediately to the request page and album track information. Request away. Hopefully, this new web page feature will foster more requests from the newly added material.

If there's anything else you moonies can suggest, let me know. You should also thank Jim and Museman for this new feature. When I saw that Jim had to manually type in the large list of additions contributed by Museman after having to rip, upload and enter into SAM's database, I thought that there just had to be an easier and better way. I hope this LMLU module is the better way.

Features:

1. Collated, by artist, list of newly added music grouped and collated by date added to the Aural Moon music library.
2. Draw-bar history selector. Look back at the history of the Aural Moon library by:
   • Latest Update
   • 1 Week Ago
   • 2 Weeks Ago
   • 3 Weeks Ago
   • 1 Month Ago
   • 2 Months Ago
   • 3 Months Ago
   • 6 Months Ago
   • 1 Year Ago
   • 2 Years Ago
   • 3 Years Ago
3. Link to the request function for:
   1. request by Artist
   2. request by Album
4. Automatic scroll bar if display selection exceeds the vertical window dimension.
5. Long Artist or Albums are truncated and an ellipsis (...) shown. This keeps the window from requiring/acquiring a horizontal scroll bar.

[KeithieW]

Originally Posted by KeithieW

A tip for Firefox users:

If you right click on the album and "open in new tab" you can request and then go back to the same place that you were at before just by closing that tab. Hope that makes sense.

OK Peeps.....forget what I said. that smart Alec VAX has rigged it so that NOW when you click on the band name or album title it opens in a new tab/window automatically.

Remember VAXman....nobody likes a Smart arse.

[VAXman(Admin)]

Originally Posted by KeithieW

OK Peeps.....forget what I said. that smart Alec VAX has rigged it so that NOW when you click on the band name or album title it opens in a new tab/window automatically.

Remember VAXman....nobody likes a Smart arse.

Well, LMLU has been a work in progress. I installed it yesterday to get a feel for how the moonies felt about it.

There were several issues that I still wanted to address when I left for bed last eve. I handled that this morning.

The display now defaults to the most recent update added to the Library. The draw-bar reflects this as [Latest Update]. This will insure that there will always be something displayed there even if Jim sloughs off on adding music for an extended period -- not likely knowing his voracious appetite for music and the generosity of moonies.

Secondly, clicking on the artist or album will open the request window in a new browser window. If your browser uses tabbed browsing and you have it configured to open new windows as a tab, this is what you will get. The reason behind this is change is two-fold :

1. Refreshing the main page upon return is no longer necessary making this more bandwidth friendly.
2. The timer events on the main page will continue to function while you are in the new window (separate or tabbed).