Can I create an image that loads from a variable path/url ?

[CouchPotatoe]

(moved)

Hi,

Probably a classic 'newbie' question but I would like to have some images that are placed on various screens that are loaded from a varying location - possibly a network path or perhaps an internet URL. Frequently these are also known as 'dynamic images' although I don't need the image checking & refreshing all the time (should the remote image be updated). Ideally I would like to be able to set the opacity of these images and very importantly I must be able to set/alter the path/filename as a variable perhaps supplied by the xAP or HomeSeer plugin -so that the displayed image can be changed remotely. I don't want the images stored locally as they vary and are provided by external sources - eg perhaps a book of the day site that publishes a picture of a favourite book cover or something. An embedded web page doesn't have the overlay capabilities or cope with irregular/transparent graphics like PNGs.

Copying the file locally isn't going to be a workaround either for the application I have . Actually I'm trying to display the coverart for the track currently playing on my music server ( Sonos / Escient). I have the coverart path info and it may even be a remote path if I am listening to a radio station or Pandora etc. Napster/Rhapsody coverart is available too. Track, album,artist etc are already updating fine and I have transport control. I don't have useable integration with the XL music library , although I can see a way for some of this to work (selecting what to play), it's the state synch back to XLObby that may be troublesome - lapsed track times and tracklists etc. I need to understand collections better. Anyone else done any work on using external hardware players ?

I'm sure you must be able to do this as it's basic and desirable but I'm new to XLobby and struggling to see where/how.

K

PS A bit like the 'news' section that has those article thumbnails but bigger, overlapping and with varying opacity - and the path to each displayed image set from a variable, ie I alter the variable and the image updates

[CouchPotatoe]

It's so close with the 'website' object on a page in that it will load a remote url image. Just got to figure out the variable filename substitution bit as it seems to convert it to a constant when it stores the object. Can't vary the opacity , or get it to work with a local /network image filepath though.

K

[S Pittaway]

its easy to do via a plugin...


have a rumage arround the plugin section and i am sure you will find a few to do that.