How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

VastOne · 2012-06-14 03:39:44

As most of you no doubt know, I am a fan of GMusicBrowser, which is a powerful music application written in Perl by Quentin Sculo and has been around the Linux community for 6 years. Most have also seen my How To - Conky/Lua, Music and Cover Art - 2 Methods for 18 Apps and know of my passion for music apps and displaying the info on the desktop.

GMusicBrowser has allowed me to stop using Conky for information displaying on the Desktop because it allows for custom code known as layouts to be written and used by the user. This may sound daunting, just keep in mind the first time you ever saw a Conky script. Have no fear, included within this will be a collection of layouts from several different authors for several different looks.

This How To will detail installing GMB, installing the git version of GMB so that you can stay up to date with new releases and how to setup and run these layouts. This will not go into much detail on how to create layouts, although that can certainly be discussed.

The GMB Forums are also full of help and information on customizing layouts and the GMB Freenode IRC at #gmusicbrowser is very active with the developer squentin always available to help.
________

Step One Install GMusicBrowser from terminal.

sudo apt-get install gmusicbrowser

This should install everything needed to run GMusicBrowser.

Go ahead and start it and play a song from terminal with

gmusicbrowser

If there are issues terminal will tell you the problem, report those back here.

Step Two Download and setup the Layouts collection

VastOne Layouts and Collections

Get this file and extract it's contents to

/home/your user name/.config/gmusicbrowser/

Verify that there is now a layouts folder that has 107 items in it.

/home/your user name/.config/gmusicbrowser/layouts

Also download this plugin file for fetching song covers form any menu and save it in /home/your user name/gmusicbrowser/plugins/ directory. This little plugin will come in handy later.

Step Three Install git the git version of GMusicBrowser from terminal.

Install git first

sudo apt-get install git

git clone http://github.com/squentin/gmusicbrowser.git

This will create a /home/your user name/gmusicbrowser folder with the latest version of gmusicbrowser and you would run GMB from there with

./gmusicbrowser.pl

or

/home/your user name/gmusicbrowser/gmusicbrowser.pl

You are now set to run GMusicBroswer from that directory and you should setup any menus or launch files to run it from there.

For updates, I would make it a once a week practice to do this in terminal

cd gmusicbrowser

git pull

Step Four Starting GMB, Enabling the Plug Ins and Choosing the different layouts.

There are several different types of layouts. One is for the overall application which you can find in Main / Settings / Layout Tab

This one is called VastOne GLC II found in the gmb-art section of the dropdown menu.

There are 40 different layouts within Main / Settings / Layout Tab. I would try them all until you find what you want to use.

You also see in that first image within the Main / Settings / Layout Tab several other types of layout controls including the tray tip window layout. I use the VastOne Thin Layout Black which is an option from the dropdown menu next to the tray tip window layout. This is what it looks like

The next type is a widget type layout and this is what drew me to GMB and to stop using Conky for desktop CoverArt and Song Information. You find these in Main / Settings / Plugins Tab seen here. Make sure you everything that is selected on the left in this image the same on your setup.

Now click on Desktop widgets on the left and on the right menu you will then have options. In the dropdown menu between Layout: and +Add you will find several layouts you can use and experiment with on the desktop. This one is nowplaying_screenlet2 VastOne Now, you select it and then click Add from this menu. Below that, it will now show you options below where you can change the Text color, the font used and font size and where to position your widget on the desktop and the size you want it to be. This is what mine looks like:

-----

One is a closeup and the second is the same layout. When you hover the mouse over the widget, then the menu control items show up which is in the image on the right.

That is all for now on this How To. Please do not hesitate to ask anything, and If I cannot answer it, I will track down the answer.

lwfitz · 2012-06-14 06:01:15

Dude you absolutely freakin rock! Works perfect! Im getting things moved around and figuring out which layout I like the best and I will post a screenshot.

Last edited by lwfitz (2012-06-14 06:43:42)

VastOne · 2012-06-14 06:10:36

Great to hear... Just remember, there are literally hundreds of tweaks within GMB. Right click on just about anything and you can see what can be done. This is another project developed by one individual who is incredible ...

Looking forward to the screenshot...

lwfitz · 2012-06-14 06:44:19

VastOne wrote:

Great to hear... Just remember, there are literally hundreds of tweaks within GMB. Right click on just about anything and you can see what can be done. This is another project developed by one individual who is incredible ...
Looking forward to the screenshot...

Yeah I can see that. Everything I look at can be tweaked somehow...... I love it!

Here you go

VastOne · 2012-06-14 06:45:46

^ That looks great and fits your desktop perfectly! Nice... cool

lwfitz · 2012-06-14 06:51:50

VastOne wrote:

^ That looks great and fits your desktop perfectly! Nice...

Thank you cool

And I love Gmusic! I had used it a while back but then totally forgot about it......... silly me!

VastOne · 2012-06-14 06:53:05

If you do not like the icons used, you can also change those under Settings / Layouts

lwfitz · 2012-06-14 06:57:03

VastOne wrote:

If you do not like the icons used, you can also change those under Settings / Layouts

Yeah I found I liked this one cuz with the buttons it looked to much like a widget and stood out more than I wanted.

DrakarNoir · 2012-06-14 20:52:42

VastOne,

Great "How-to"! I have been wanting to move to GMB for some time but I "really" like the Amarok 1.4 look and behavior (just stuck in my ways I suppose smile ). However, this has given me some choices that allow me to use and enjoy GMB.

A question, I have been trying to get the main GMB to look and behave like Clementine (which you helped me get installed and working). Is this possible?

VastOne · 2012-06-14 20:54:59

Thank you DrakarNoir... smile

There actually is a layout in the archive that does make it look like Clementine. Try it to see if it is enough of a look alike and if not we can tweak it together to get it right.

DrakarNoir · 2012-06-14 21:07:39

VastOne wrote:

Thank you DrakarNoir...

You're welcome!

There actually is a layout in the archive that does make it look like Clementine. Try it to see if it is enough of a look alike and if not we can tweak it together to get it right.

This is what I get when selecting the Clementine option...

But, I am wanting this...

Maybe I am missing something in the settings.

VastOne · 2012-06-14 21:10:16

Nope, you are not missing anything...

Let me look at it and tweak some things and see what magic I can come up with

DrakarNoir · 2012-06-14 21:14:48

VastOne wrote:

Let me look at it and tweak some things and see what magic I can come up with

**The Dragon awaits the magic of the the VastOne!** big_smile

wuxmedia · 2012-06-14 21:23:48

OK so to break my foobar2k habit, can i get the music to display as 'by folder structure?' as all my music is sorted by that, Id3 tags are of little use.
I found one that seemed to work but once i clicked on it - the whole folder played/enqueued, not understanding i went back to foobar...
sorry to be a bit of a vampire 8^£
otherwise i dug the customization...

VastOne · 2012-06-14 21:24:32

@DragoNoir

It might be a couple of days...

In the meantime, take a look at my VastOne GLC II. It is not exactly the same but has all of the same options and somewhat same view, just structured different.

VastOne · 2012-06-14 21:27:42

@wuxmedia, there is actually a layout designed on foobar2000 that is included in these layouts.

This is what it looks like, but keep in mind it can be tweaked if not to your likings.

BTW, thanks for the compliments... I appreciate it.

DrakarNoir · 2012-06-14 21:40:28

VastOne wrote:

@DragoNoir
It might be a couple of days...

As I thought...no rush. My daddy always said "beggars can't be choosers!"

In the meantime, take a look at my VastOne GLC II. It is not exactly the same but has all of the same options and somewhat same view, just structured different.

The very layout I am currently using!

Thanks again! big_smile

wuxmedia · 2012-06-14 21:45:55

@vast1 cheers - will d.l your pack, the one in the waldorf repos had nothing close...

VDP76 · 2012-06-17 18:45:26

@vast1, thanks for this great how-to, I did not know GMB and I am already loving it!! big_smile
can you have a look at few errors I got while opening the program!?

mattia@CB-Mattia:~/gmusicbrowser$ ./gmusicbrowser.pl 
Reading saved tags in /home/mattia/.config/gmusicbrowser/gmbrc ...
Reading saved tags in /home/mattia/.config/gmusicbrowser/gmbrc ... done
gstreamer plugin 'lame' not found -> gstreamer-server mode not available
These commands were not found : mpg123, flac123, ogg123
 => these file types won't be played by the 123 output : oga, flac
utf8 "\xF3" does not map to Unicode at /home/mattia/gmusicbrowser/gmusicbrowser_layout.pm line 767, <$fh> line 41.
Ignoring layout 'test_visuals' because it is based on unknown layout 'default player layout'
playing /media/Data/My_Music/Depeche_Mode/1982_A_Broken_Frame/03_Monument.mp3

am I missing some package?? (I am using "NoisyBox 1.2" layout with the last GMB pulled from git)
thanks smile

Last edited by VDP76 (2012-06-17 18:54:44)

VastOne · 2012-06-17 19:01:21

Hi VDP76, thank you ! Did you install gmusicbrowser this way

sudo apt-get install gmusicbrowser

doing that should have resolved any dependency issues.

mpg321 appears to be missing, install it this way

sudo apt-get install mpg321

To make sure gstreamer is all installed, make sure these are installed

sudo apt-get install gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-good

As far as this message

Ignoring layout 'test_visuals' because it is based on unknown layout 'default player layout

Did you select test_visuals as a layout? If so just change that because that was a test layout for another layout.

Good luck and let me know the results.

VastOne · 2012-06-17 19:14:23

^^ Make sure you keep running gmusicbrowser this way

mattia@CB-Mattia:~/gmusicbrowser$ ./gmusicbrowser.pl

Or from a script ... or .desktop file, whichever way you run it.

You can just delete the test_visuals.layout from ~/.config/gmusicbrowser/layouts/

That is an unusual error that I have not seen before.

VDP76 · 2012-06-17 19:55:20

hi Vast1, thanks for your quick feedback! smile
I followed your instructions to install GMB, so first from repos, then from git and I launch it from a script. The packages mpg321 and gstreamer0.10-plugins* were already installed, so I have tried

sudo apt-get install --reinstall mpg321 gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad gstreamer0.10-plugins-ugly gstreamer0.10-plugins-good

but I had no result; however the layout error is gone with the layout file.. wink

VastOne · 2012-06-17 19:59:45

Is everything playing fine?

I will post your errors on the GMB forums and see if I can trace it down...

Thanks for reporting this.

VDP76 · 2012-06-17 20:14:02

VastOne wrote:

Is everything playing fine?

Yes, indeed, the player works just fine!

VastOne wrote:

I will post your errors on the GMB forums and see if I can trace it down...
Thanks for reporting this.

Thanks to you for the help! smile

VastOne · 2012-06-18 23:45:01

DrakarNoir wrote:

As I thought...no rush. My daddy always said "beggars can't be choosers!"

DrakarNoir...

Here is the first draft... I have a couple of items to get to yet but I want to know what you are thinking on this so far.. It is a simple design and I kind of like it.

Save it to your /home/your user name /.config/gmusicbrowser/layouts/ directory .. any name you want, as long as it is .layout.

(I know you know this but for any new user this info is important)

It will show up in Settings/Layouts as Clementine II

clemII.layout

[Clementine II]
Author = VastOne
Type = G+
# Category = "Make it look like"
Title = %t by %a
Default = Window(size=80%x80%)

KeyBindings = c-J GoToCurrentSong

VolumeScroll = HBVolume

# Window = hidden=FilterPane2|FilterPane3|FilterPane4|FilterPane5|FilterPane6|FilterPane7

VBMain = HBMenubar _HPSidebarCenter HBStatusbar

    HBStatusbar = 10Total(mode=filter)

    HBMenubar = _MBEdit -BMSettings
        MBEdit = MainMenuItem PSortItem PFilterItem QueueItem SMHelp4
    BMSettings = (icon=gtk-preferences,size="menu") SMLibrary LayoutItem PlayItem SeparatorMenuItem01 MenuItem34(click1=OpenCustom(Equalizer),label=_"Equalizer",icon=gmb-equalizer) SeparatorMenuItem20 MenuItem14(command=OpenPref,label=_"Settings",icon="gtk-preferences") MenuItem05(command=Quit,label=_"Quit",icon="gtk-quit")
SMLibrary    = (label=_"Library") MenuItem00(command="RunPerlCode(::ChooseAddPath(0,1))",label=_"Add Music",icon="gtk-add") MenuItem32(command="RunPerlCode(::IdleScan)",label=_"Rescan Collection",icon="gtk-refresh") 
            
            SMHelp4 = (label=_"Help") \
                MenuItem41(command="RunPerlCode(::AboutDialog)",label=_"About",icon="gtk-about")

    HPSidebarCenter = VBSidebar VBCenter

        VBSidebar = ABSearchBox _NBSidebar

  ABSearchBox = (yalign=0) SimpleSearch1(suggest=1)
    

            NBSidebar = (tabpos=left90,typesubmenu='PC') \
                NBSidebar1 \
                FilterPane0(tabtitle=_"Files",nb=1,hidebb=1,page=folder,pages=folder)
        Context(tabtitle=_"Context") \

                NBSidebar1 = FilterPane1(tabtitle=_"Library",tabpos=left90 \
                        group=2,\
                        nb=2,\
                        hidebb=1,\
                        pages=artist,\
                        page=artist,\
                        page_artist/depth=3,\
                        page_artist/lmarkup="0|<b>%a</b>%Y <small>%s <small>%l</small></small>",\
                        page_artist/lpicsize='0|32',\
                        page_artist/noall=1,\
                        page_artist/sort=default|default,\
                        page_artist/type=artist|album\
                    )

        VBCenter = 10HBPlayer _HBSongLists 5HBSearchAndToolbar HBControls

            HBSongLists = _NBSongLists \
                3Filler7

                NBSongLists = (typesubmenu='L') SongList(tabtitle=_"Playlist 1",mode=library,tabicon="gmb-list",cols="track artist title album length")

            HBPlayer = (maxheight=100,minheight=100) \
                HBCover \
                5VBSongInfo \
                _VBVolume \
                5Filler5

                HBCover = (maxheight=100,minheight=100,minwidth=100,maxwidth=100) \
                    Cover(default=elementary/no-cover.svg,showcover=0,minsize=100,maxsize=100)

                VBVolume = 100Filler3 HBVolume
                    HBVolume = \
                        -VolumeIcon(click1=TogMute,size=button,button=1)

                VBSongInfo =  \
                    _Title(yalign=0.5,minsize=0,markup="<big><big><b>%t</b></big></big>",click1="") \
                    _Artist(yalign=1,minsize=0,markup="by %a") \
                    _Album(yalign=1,minsize=0,markup="from %l")\
                    100Filler2


            HBSearchAndToolbar = _HBToolbar \
                Text1(text=_"Search:") \
                10_SimpleSearch

            HBControls = Prev(size=small-toolbar) \
                Play(size=small-toolbar) \
                Stop(size=small-toolbar) \
                Next(size=small-toolbar) \
                _VBTimeBar \
                
        
                VBTimeBar = 2Filler0 Length(markup="$length",initsize="XX:XX",xalign=0) _TimeSlider(direct_mode=1) PlayingTime(markup="%s",initsize="XX:XX",xalign=1) 1Filler1

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#1 2012-06-14 03:39:44

How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#2 2012-06-14 06:01:15

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#3 2012-06-14 06:10:36

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#4 2012-06-14 06:44:19

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#5 2012-06-14 06:45:46

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#6 2012-06-14 06:51:50

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#7 2012-06-14 06:53:05

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#8 2012-06-14 06:57:03

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#9 2012-06-14 20:52:42

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#10 2012-06-14 20:54:59

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#11 2012-06-14 21:07:39

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#12 2012-06-14 21:10:16

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#13 2012-06-14 21:14:48

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#14 2012-06-14 21:23:48

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#15 2012-06-14 21:24:32

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#16 2012-06-14 21:27:42

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#17 2012-06-14 21:40:28

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#18 2012-06-14 21:45:55

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#19 2012-06-17 18:45:26

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#20 2012-06-17 19:01:21

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#21 2012-06-17 19:14:23

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#22 2012-06-17 19:55:20

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#23 2012-06-17 19:59:45

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#24 2012-06-17 20:14:02

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

#25 2012-06-18 23:45:01

Re: How To - GMusicBrowser and Custom Layouts

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