Feature request: clear cache on next restart

[simoncn]

(06-10-2013 14:49)haggis999 Wrote:  It's a Synology DS412+ NAS. The last setting I tried for writeAllTags was as follows,

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\MinimServer\Data\AllMyNASTags

David

If you are using MinimWatch to manage a MinimServer instance running on a NAS, you need to use a Linux-style path to a directory on the NAS. Alternatively, you can use a relative filename, and this will put the output file into the NAS directory

/volume1/homes/minimserver/appData

After you have created the output file in this way, you can use File Station on the Synology to view or download the output file.

[haggis999]

(06-10-2013 15:32)simoncn Wrote:  If you are using MinimWatch to manage a MinimServer instance running on a NAS, you need to use a Linux-style path to a directory on the NAS. Alternatively, you can use a relative filename, and this will put the output file into the NAS directory

/volume1/homes/minimserver/appData

After you have created the output file in this way, you can use File Station on the Synology to view or download the output file.

I was not previously aware of the existence of the /volume1/homes/minimserver/appData folder on my NAS but I can now see that all my past attempts to make writeAllTags work in MinimWatch were actually stored in this folder. Whenever I quoted a Windows path it just became part of the filename in Linux, as shown in the following example!

C:\Users\David\AppData\Roaming\MinimServer\AllMyNASTags

BTW, I find it very confusing that opening a program called MinimWatch on my PC actually creates an icon called MinimServer on the taskbar. This confusion is compounded by the fact that it looks utterly identical to the icon for a separate instance of MinimServer that handles my PC-based files. Have you an easy way to make a clear distinction between MinimWatch and MinimServer?

David

[winxi]

(06-10-2013 16:22)haggis999 Wrote:  BTW, I find it very confusing that opening a program called MinimWatch on my PC actually creates an icon called MinimServer on the taskbar. This confusion is compounded by the fact that it looks utterly identical to the icon for a separate instance of MinimServer that handles my PC-based files. Have you an easy way to make a clear distinction between MinimWatch and MinimServer?

David

MinimWatch will create an icon for each instance of MinimServer it finds in the local network, please see this section in the user guide.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say that the icon you see is called MinimServer. In Windows, when you move the mouse over the icon, you will get a tool tip text which contains the name of the corresponding instance. In case of the instance running on your Synology, this may be something like MinimServer[Diskstation]. You can change this default name by setting the dsiplayName property, please see this section of the user guide.

[haggis999]

Oops. Bit of a senior moment there. I had forgotten that the tooltips that appear when I hover over my MinimServer/MinimWatch tray icons in Windows are simply repeating what I chose to define several weeks ago as the displayName.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I would have left the user to create the only obvious distinguishing feature between an icon for MinimWatch and an icon for MinimServer. If there was something like a small 'W' in the background of the MinimWatch icon it would eliminate any risk of confusion. I would also suggest that your planned update to the User Guide should make it clear that the default storage location for a writeAllTags file in MinimWatch will be wherever the associated MinimServer instance is running rather than where MinimWatch is running.

David

[winxi]

(06-10-2013 17:44)haggis999 Wrote:  On the other hand, I'm not sure I would have left the user to create the only obvious distinguishing feature between an icon for MinimWatch and an icon for MinimServer. If there was something like a small 'W' in the background of the MinimWatch icon it would eliminate any risk of confusion

The instances are distinguishable by default because of the [HostName] suffix.
I don't think that changing the icon created by MinimWatch would be consistent, as the icon refers to a corresponding MinimServer instance.

[simoncn]

(06-10-2013 18:00)winxi Wrote:  I don't think that changing the icon created by MinimWatch would be consistent, as the icon refers to a corresponding MinimServer instance.

Yes, that's the reason for using the same icon for a local instance of MinimServer running on the same computer and any number of other MinimServer instances running on your home network. (I often have three or four of these icons active.) In all cases, the icon represents a MinimServer instance that you are managing via the icon's menu and dialogs.

You might have noticed that in these posts I always refer to "the minim icon" rather than "the MinimServer icon" or "the MinimWatch icon". This is part of the same philosophy that in most cases you shouldn't need to care about whether the minim icon was displayed by MinimServer or by MinimWatch.

As well as viewing the tooltip text, you can select 'About' from the minim icon to see where the icon's MinimServer instance is running.

[simoncn]

(06-10-2013 17:44)haggis999 Wrote:  I would also suggest that your planned update to the User Guide should make it clear that the default storage location for a writeAllTags file in MinimWatch will be wherever the associated MinimServer instance is running rather than where MinimWatch is running.

David

This is a more general point that affects other settings as well, such as 'contentDir' and '.logFile'. I think this right place to explain this is probably the 'Running MinimWatch' section of the 'Monitoring and control' page.

[haggis999]

(06-10-2013 18:38)simoncn Wrote:  Yes, that's the reason for using the same icon for a local instance of MinimServer running on the same computer and any number of other MinimServer instances running on your home network. (I often have three or four of these icons active.) In all cases, the icon represents a MinimServer instance that you are managing via the icon's menu and dialogs.

You might have noticed that in these posts I always refer to "the minim icon" rather than "the MinimServer icon" or "the MinimWatch icon". This is part of the same philosophy that in most cases you shouldn't need to care about whether the minim icon was displayed by MinimServer or by MinimWatch.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over this issue and can live with the current setup. I also understand the philosophical position you have taken for this interface design. However, my case for a change is based on what I presume to be the fact that MinimServer is a UPnP server application, while MinimWatch is a remote control application for an instance of MinimServer running on another system. Despite the similar user interface requirements, they are two very different apps and to blur the distinction creates the risk of user confusion, especially over key issues like the default location of files. It certainly confused me!

Every other remote control app for a UPnP/DLNA server I have come across so far has been given a different name, appearance and icon from the server it controls on another system, e.g. Gizmo and JRemote for J River Media Center, Synology DS Audio and DS Video for Audio Station and Video Station. I am well aware that these are not exact analogies to the MinimServer/MinimWatch situation but they are close enough to make my point. I can't think of another example in Windows of two separate apps being presented as virtually identical.

There are clearly two ways of viewing this matter. Einstein's General Theory of Relativity may provide a useful unifying approach ...

David

[winxi]

(06-10-2013 19:44)haggis999 Wrote:  I'm not going to lose any sleep over this issue and can live with the current setup. I also understand the philosophical position you have taken for this interface design. However, my case for a change is based on what I presume to be the fact that MinimServer is a UPnP server application, while MinimWatch is a remote control application for an instance of MinimServer running on another system. Despite the similar user interface requirements, they are two very different apps and to blur the distinction creates the risk of user confusion, especially over key issues like the default location of files. It certainly confused me!

Every other remote control app for a UPnP/DLNA server I have come across so far has been given a different name, appearance and icon from the server it controls on another system, e.g. Gizmo and JRemote for J River Media Center, Synology DS Audio and DS Video for Audio Station and Video Station. I am well aware that these are not exact analogies to the MinimServer/MinimWatch situation but they are close enough to make my point. I can't think of another example in Windows of two separate apps being presented as virtually identical.

There are clearly two ways of viewing this matter. Einstein's General Theory of Relativity may provide a useful unifying approach ...

David

MinimServer and MinimWatch aren't completely different applications. MinimServer consists on the one hand of the UPnP server application and on the other hand of a frontend which allows to control this UPnP server application (i.e. the minim icon or the console on headless machines). MinimWatch provides just the frontend to remotely control instances of the UPnP server application on other machines in the LAN. I personally consider this to be quite a clever concept.

Your suggestion to change the icons from MinimWatch would allow to distinguish between an icon generated by MinimWatch for instances on other machines and an icon generated by MinimServer on the same machine. However, it would not allow to distinguish between two instances running on other machines. The unique distinction is provided by the tool tip text for the icon. Maybe it would be a good idea to add the displayName also to the top of the icons context menu to make the distinction more obvious.

Because the current concept allows to control multiple instances, the user is always required to check/specify for which instance he wants to change the settings and I think that there is no way around this.

[haggis999]

(06-10-2013 20:32)winxi Wrote:  MinimServer and MinimWatch aren't completely different applications. MinimServer consists on the one hand of the UPnP server application and on the other hand of a frontend which allows to control this UPnP server application (i.e. the minim icon or the console on headless machines). MinimWatch provides just the frontend to remotely control instances of the UPnP server application on other machines in the LAN. I personally consider this to be quite a clever concept.

MinimServer and MinimWatch are, of course, very closely related and the functionality this combination provides is unquestionably clever. However, just as with my television, I continue to think of the remote control as being a separate beast from the thing being controlled - but I can't get too excited about this matter. It is only a minor issue.

Quote:Your suggestion to change the icons from MinimWatch would allow to distinguish between an icon generated by MinimWatch for instances on other machines and an icon generated by MinimServer on the same machine.

The primary advantage of this as I see it would be to emphasise that local and remote instances behave in different ways, with a key difference being that the default file location for settings such as writeAllTags is on another machine for MinimWatch.

Quote:However, it would not allow to distinguish between two instances running on other machines. The unique distinction is provided by the tool tip text for the icon. Maybe it would be a good idea to add the displayName also to the top of the icons context menu to make the distinction more obvious.

I have just found that changing the displayName setting on MinimWatch does not change the associated tooltip. It only changes the name of the related MinimServer instance as shown by a control point such as BubbleUPnP. What you actually get as a tooltip for MinimWatch is just the default value of 'MinimServer[<Host name>]'

David