Is there a way to display differently within a category?

[WannaTheater]

I have a multi-level database:
Seinfeld (Level 1)
Season 1 (Level 2)
Season 2
Season 3
Episode 1 (Level 3)
Episode 2
... and so on

When I display this in XLobby, I would like to use different layouts for each layer (i.e. display 'nocover default' for Level 3, 'bottom 2' for level 2, etc).... but when I change the display for one level, it propagates to all levels.

Similarly for my music database, I would like to have my top level (artist) show nothing more than a list of artists (no coverart). Then selecting an artist will bring up albums and coverart for those corresponding artists.

Can this be done, or is "Layout" fixed PER CATEGORY?

[m_ski]

You can set it up to bring up an infoscreen which allows you to have two different layouts, but not three.

The other thing I have often contemplated is whether you could setup a click event on the category so that when you click the level 1 category item you actually go to a different screen which looks almost exactly the same but the category layout is different for level 2 / level 3 etc. The reset button would have to be setup to always take you back to level 1 screen and the 'up a level' commands would have to be setup to go to the correct screen but it might just work.

[WannaTheater]

The infoscreen method is what I use for Music.... basically Layer 1 is currently ALL cd's shown, displaying artwork... then when you click on a particular CD cover, it open infoscreen (which is listing of tracks).

Since I have many CDs, this is very cumbersome.... I would rather have the first screen be a list of ARTISTS... select an artist and get a screen of all the CDs for that artist with artwork. Then select that particular artwork CD and get the infoscreen.

[Marbles_00]

Not sure if you have done this, but you should verify that how you view your tags are set up for Artist>Album. This is done by:

1) going to F2/Setup/Databases
2) select the Import tab
3) select the "music" template from the dropdown
4) Under ID3 Options/Views select Artist>Album
5) goto F2/Setup/Basic and delete the existing music database
6) re-import new database...this should then be displayed in your music category as Artist, then select the artist of your choice will open to albums, then selecting the album will open to tracks (if you setup your overlay correctly).

Hope this helps.

[WannaTheater]

Thanks Marbles. If I remember correctly I tried back awhile ago. I'll try it again, but I believe the problem was as such:
- If I wanted to show album artwork for an 'albums-by-artist' screen, Xlobby also adjusted the Top level display (i.e. artist) screen to also show artwork.

So even though the "Layering" of data was correct, I couldn't find a way to have the following:

1) First screen show Artists with NO artwork (all listed in 1 column)
2) Second screen (albums by artist) shows artwork in 2 rows by 8 columns.

[Marbles_00]

Okay,

Not quite sure about if it is possible to display in different rows/columns, sorry, but I can't help you there.

For the artwork, if you look at the database in the editor, you will notice that at the top level (artist) the coverart field seems to fill with the art of the first album, you could go through a delete that image location or even place a seperate image there, say an image of the band's logo or band members. Though I don't know what would happen in the event that the database is refreshed (as I don't currently do this...I just use the first album schema), but I would think if you place the image in the top "artist" name folder, it should work. Worth a try for one or two artist first before trying it with your whole album collection.

[WannaTheater]

I was thinking of doing this with regard to "Artist coverart," but I would need to write script to automate... (very large music database )

My bigger issue is the row/column issue which propagates from level to level. This is what I am trying to overcome.

Thanks!

[S Pittaway]

you can do it on the current beta version... its in the default skin (using cd/song style databases).

On the last free version you can do it using the "prism view" type apporoach

You filter the music db on artist then use

"command:category:display folder in category:detailname" to display the album list then the detail screen.

They was a posta while ago showing how to do it (or look in the new default skin)



Sean.

[WannaTheater]

Thanks Sean... this has pointed me in the right direction, but I'm a bit confused.

I think I can execute this event to get the desired result, but where do I execute it from? Once I have an "Artist" screen open, I would like to select an artist, which would call the event to "display folder in category" then open a new screen (or overlay?) with the resulting category (so I can select a different layout).

Unfortunately I have not been able to figure out how to call an event when I select an artist...

[S Pittaway]

if you bring up the details for the category in the skin editor, tehn click on the "bottom" Events tab (ie the tab for the cat not the page) you can set an event there which will be called every time an item is selected in the cat.


it sounds a bit confusing but it might point you in the right direction