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{{mininav|[[Development]]|[[:Category:Google Summer of Code]]}}
{{mininav| [[Google Summer of Code]] }}
{{info|{{big|Unfortunately, XBMC was not selected as a GSoC mentor organization for 2014. }} }}


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[[File:GSOC_2014_logo-blog.jpg‎|left|200px]]Welcome to the XBMC [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2014 Google Summer of Code] ideas page. <!--We are pleased to announce that we have been accepted as an official [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/google/gsoc2014/xbmc GSOC mentor organization this year].-->
Welcome to the XBMC [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2014 Google Summer of Code] ideas page. <!--We are pleased to announce that we have been accepted as an official [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/org/google/gsoc2014/xbmc GSOC mentor organization this year]-->.


We encourage interested students to review some of the ideas on this page, and then feel free to provide input on any ideas you may have in the [[#Students Project Proposal Ideas|Student Project Proposal area]]. Alternatively, feel free to jump into the {{editor note|1=Update forum link: '''[http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=191 XBMC GSoC subforum]'''}} and chat about any project you’d love to cover.
We encourage interested students to review some of the ideas on this page, and then feel free to provide input on any ideas you may have in the '''[http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=207 XBMC GSoC subforum]''' and chat about any project you’d love to cover. To propose a project, see '''[[#Students Project Proposal Ideas]]'''.


From {{highlight|color=lightblue|START DATE}} to {{highlight|color=lightblue|END DATE}}, any interested students may apply at the [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2014 GSOC home page] to work with XBMC. After that, we’ll notify applicants whether we get to work with each other according to the [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/events/google/gsoc2014 GSOC schedule].
From '''10 March''' to '''21 March''', any interested students may apply at the [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2014 GSOC home page] to work with XBMC. After that, we’ll notify applicants whether we get to work with each other according to the [http://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/events/google/gsoc2014 GSOC schedule].
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== About Us ==
== About Us ==
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== Team-XBMC proposal ideas up for discussion ==
== Team-XBMC proposal ideas up for discussion ==
=== Focus on a distributed model ===
For this year's GSoC, XBMC will be focusing on projects related to making XBMC easier to use in environments where multiple XBMC clients need to interact. With XBMC running on tablets and new embedded devices (iOS, rPi, and Android) more and more folk are accessing both local and remote media from multiple machines. It makes sense, therefore, to keep information about what content is available and what has been watched in sync across multiple clients.


The primary goal of GSoC 2012 was to focus on the "client/server" model. That goal has been extended this year to one where every instance of XBMC can act either as a client or a server, so that the XBMC ecosystem can act more as a distributed network, meaning, for example, your HTPC can direct and update your tablet, and your tablet can direct and update your HTPC.


Other projects that don't fit in this category but may still be of interest to students are listed in the last section. And needless to say, students are more than welcome to completely deviate from this focus. Great new ideas are always welcome.
=== Web development ===
XBMC has grown greatly over the past several years from a standalone program with very little interaction with the outside world to a full platform in its own right, complete with hundreds of media-centric addons and means of communicating between machines. This year, we are particularly interested in students with a background in web development to work on projects that haven't received the focus they should, including...


=== Existing ability within XBMC for client/server setups ===
* '''New web interface -''' Virtually every aspect of XBMC can now be controlled through JSON-RPC, as can be seen by numerous apps on Google Play and the iOS store. However, the default web interface for controlling XBMC remains woefully old and featureless. A major step in eventually releasing a server version of XBMC would require a new, fully functional web interface. Students with a background in web development are encouraged to review the JSON-RPC code and submit ideas for this project.
XBMC contains several features that allow for a client/server setup. These include:
* A UPnP server and client built-in.
* The JSON-RPC API for two-way passing of information.
* The EventClient API for two-way remote control communication.
* MySQL server support for sharing XBMC's music and video databases, with path translation services for sharing across different machines.
While these are each useful, they're typically either difficult for the user to setup (mysql server) or do not quite contain everything required for true client/server communication (editing isn't available from the client etc.) With some focused projects in this area, the user experience of XBMC across multiple clients/servers would be dramatically improved.


=== Projects within the client/server area ===
* '''Further development of the add-ons browser/showcase -''' The current addon browser found at addons.kodi.tv lacks many of the features of found in other major app stores, including a dev portal, ratings, comments, and more. Additionally, there is no current method for installing an addon into XBMC from the Addon Browser website. A review of some particularly excellent addon sites, such as [https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/ Add-ons for Firefox], may be of benefit. Students are encouraged to submit proposals for improvements along any these categories and more. Creativity in this area is highly encouraged.
* '''Improved database layout''' - The existing SQL database layout for music and videos is steeped in history, not all of it good. The layout is non-optimal for the storage system that XBMC needs for data. The need is for a fast store from which movie information can be retrieved. It's mostly static information, and there's a lot of interlinked information (m:n maps) that need to be associated with each item and displayed when a list is fetched. i.e. either the information is grabbed in a single query, whereby you have a bunch of unnormalised data (e.g. a list of genres for each movie item) or the information is grabbed through multiple queries per item, whereby you can have everything nicely normalised. A hybrid solution might be best - some work has been started on this as part of garbear's piccture library project, such as [https://github.com/garbear/xbmc/tree/photolibrary-bson-cpp this branch]. Various other suggestions and notes are available on the [http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=155304 forums] and [http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Database_Schema_4.0/a wiki].


* '''Improved UPnP serving and client''' - XBMC includes a UPnP server and client. Last Google Summer of Code, much of the project of sharing metadata available in XBMC libraries was completed; however, a long road lays ahead for the UPnP server and client. This project would fill in the gaps, as well as ensuring that niceties such as resume bookmarks and the like transfer seamlessly from client to client. In addition, the interaction between client and server would be enhanced to allow the client (or server) to update watched status, resume bookmarks and the like as well as allowing on-client editting of metadata which then updates the server (either using UPnP methods or the JSON-RPC interface) and potentially even transcoding content where appropriate. Any such improvements would be available transparently to listings other than UPnP (eg addon listings) by setting the appropriate properties.
=== Build tools projects ===
* '''Cmake build system -'''
** Make a cmake build system for binary add-ons for the various XBMC platforms, using the work done in Linux as a guide.
** Create/Extend a template system for quick and easy adding of new addons compatible with all xbmc platforms and port at least 1 addon to them (e.g. pvr.demo or any of the XBMC screensavers).


* '''Improved remote clients for tablet/touch devices''' - Design and implement a remote client for touch-based devices (Android, iOS) that interact with the main APIs that XBMC provides for client apps (JSON-RPC and UPnP server). This may involve building on the existing Android or iOS remote control, and extending the JSON-RPC API and/or UPnP server for any additional requirements, including server transcoding, remote control playback, using the remote as a local audio stream for quiet watching/listening with headphones, or even copying transcoded files locally for future playback.
=== Code-base improvements ===
This summer, in addition to the traditional big, new feature focus, we'd also like to focus on some features that don't always get a lot of attention. Namely, usability features. Typically these are things that require a lot of creativity and varying degrees of code. Sometimes, they can act as a complete paradigm shift from business as usual. Below are a few ideas in this category...


* '''Better support for multiple profiles within the server APIs''' - Currently XBMC has a profile system whereby multiple users can interact with the XBMC client and share the same library. These are currently stored outside of the main database, which makes interacting with XBMC using a particular profile troublesome. In particular, watched counts, resume points, ratings etc. are forced to be shared between profiles, and the only filtering of content is done based on which filesystem locations the profile is allowed access to. A better system would involve the profiles being stored inside the main database (or at least a representation of them in the database), allowing content and meta information related to the content (playcounts, resume points, ratings) to be linked to one (or more) of those profiles. In addition, specification of which profile is accessing JSON-RPC/UPnP would then allow those services to offer just the content information that the profile has access to.
* '''Accessibility -''' Improve XBMC to be more useable for the visually impaired. Possibly in relation to XBMC's [[JSON-RPC]] support, in order to interface with screen readers and allow for alternative ways of setting up XBMC. Other ideas include such things as a large-font skin with easy to see colors, and other user interface element improvements needed for the those with partial sight. See [http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=184505 this thread] for discussion.
* '''Menu-less control -''' Control every screen and item in XBMC without relying on a context menu button.
* '''Music library improvements -''' Unify the handling of the music and video libraries.
* '''Key indicators -''' Many UIs include a toolbar that lists what buttons perform what actions, as well as in-action indicators (see e.g. the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim UI). Implement such a system using XBMC's default Confluence skin.
* '''Parental controls -''' XBMC's current [[master lock|lock]] methods and [[profile]] support is very easy to bypass and leaves much to be desired. Implement parental controls without relying on the current profiles hack, in order to restrict content based on ratings or other methods.


* '''Extend skinning engine to better support touch interfaces''' - With tablets and other touch interfaces being used more and more, it makes sense to define UI controls that better interact with these devices. In particular, a drop down list box (combobox) would be an ideal addition that would benefit touch devices (and non-touch devices). In addition, the addition of buttons attached to items in list would be useful to serve as hints for additional menu options available to the user, most of which is currently hidden behind the context menu (not discoverable), or clumsily available via always-popping up menus when the user taps an item. Further, the potential for XBMC scaling panel or list controls using multi-touch zooming would be useful to explore.
=== More ===
We feel it is important to note that, while we are interested in a focus on the listed three areas, we would like to stress passion, expertise, and creativity above all else. If you would like to do something completely different, like create a Game Library to match the existing Movie, TV, and Music libraries and complement [http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=194 Retroplayer], definitely send in that proposal. The ideas listed above are, as always, merely suggestions. We will be interested in any idea, so long as you can communicate your interest, your background, and your solution the problem.


* '''Extend skinning engine to better support multiple layouts''' - Many tablets are 3x2 or 4x3 interfaces, where as televisions are typically 16x9 (or even 21x9). Having the layout/scaling and positioning of the skin being done on a controlgroup basis rather than being defined at the window layer would allow groups to automatically reposition their content to better align with the aspect ratio of the users' device. For example, aligning a group to the center of it's parent, while ensuring it doesn't stretch would allow information to remain in the middle of the screen regardless of aspect ratio. Other improvements would be to allow relative control positioning (i.e. control <foo> should be positioned 10 units to the right of control <bar>) which allows the skinner to both more easily prototype and skin as well as making it easier to alter.
== Students project proposal ideas ==


* '''Extend skinning engine to allow populating lists/panels with filesystem content''' - Currently skinners must choose between static content, defined by the skinner, or dynamic content filled by XBMC over which they have no control. This project would look to add a 3rd option, whereby the skinner specifies that they want the list filled with particular content from the filesystem or from XBMC's libraries. XBMC would then retrieve the listing and any metadata and populate the list (all in the background). In addition, XBMC would then apply it's default actions for that listing (with interaction to the skin as needed) when the user interacted with that listing (eg playing a music file when the user clicks on it).
Submit your own proposals on the '''[http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=207 XBMC GSOC 2014 forum]'''. They can be as big or as small as you feel you can comfortably accomplish between '''19 May''' and '''18 August'''. In the end, it's better to have a smaller, completed project, rather than a larger, incomplete project.
 
* '''Picture Library''' - Design and implement a database schema suitable for storing and retrieving picture metadata. Fields should consist of the typical fields found in picture files (eg EXIF information) along with an extensible key/value field system to allow tagging/keywords/people etc. Support should include the ability to identify when new pictures have been added to the users' filesystem or when metadata information has been changed for one or more pictures. Design and implement a filter/directory node system so as to allow the user to browse and search this information, allowing smart filtering and smart slideshows to be generated. Lastly, add support for such filters to the picture window.
 
=== Improved support for Linux windowing systems ===
XBMC's EGL implementation was recently overhauled to allow for dynamic detection of the current window system, so that a single binary can be used everywhere that EGL is supported. However, since this work was done, no new windowing systems have been added. A student may wish to work on support for one or more of these. Work may also include further abstraction of our current windowing and input implementations. Possible windowing systems for consideration include:
* '''Wayland'''. This would require a matching input implementation as well.
* '''X11'''. As GLX is semi-officially deprecated, dynamic EGL replacement would be very valuable moving forward.
* '''KMS/GBM''': A barebones framebuffer implementation for drivers supporting KMS.
* '''Mir''': If sufficient documentation exists, this could be a consideration as well.
 
This work would mainly benefit ARM devices in the future, as it would mean that distributions would be able to provide a single binary capable of running in any graphical environment.
 
The current EGL interface is well abstracted and documented, with 3 working implementations for use as reference. Further, there are proof-of-concept interfaces for X11 and KMS that could be provided to a student.
 
=== Other projects of interest ===
 
* '''Improved Picture Player''' - Write a new picture/slideshow engine to be more like a normal player (see [[DVDPlayer]] and [[PAPlayer]] as examples). Ideal would be to utilize the existing GUIImage code to handle loading of images, and the animation engine for transistion effects (pan/zoom/rotate, etc.)
* '''RSS reader''' - Create an addon which works much like google reader that supports parsing text, video and pictures, (supporting multiple RSS feeds), and displaying this in the GUI. This should be simple enough, like the RSS readers on mobile devices, but suited for a TV display.
* '''Offline Content''' - Add the ability to mark media from the database to be available offline. The use case for this is - someone with a mobile device (for example ipad or android tablet) wants to go for vacation or whatever and just wants to watch some media from his db when away from home. Part of this feature would be the easy selection/marking of offline content and then transfering it to the device where the xbmc instance is running. Bonus would be some sort of offline db so that the experience during traveling is as fancy as on the home network.
 
== Students Project Proposal Ideas ==
 
Submit your proposals on the {{editor note|1=Update forum link: '''[http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=191 XBMC GSOC 2014 forum]'''}}. They can be as big or as small as you feel you can comfortably accomplish between {{highlight|color=lightblue|START DATE}} and {{highlight|color=lightblue|END DATE}}. In the end, it's better to have a smaller, completed project, rather than a larger, incomplete project.


To submit a proposal idea:
To submit a proposal idea:
# Copy the text from '''[[#Outline for proposals]]'''.
# Copy the text from '''[[#Outline for proposals]]'''.
# Create a new forum post {{editor note|1=Update forum link: '''[http://forum.xbmc.org/forumdisplay.php?fid=191 here]'''}} and paste the text.
# Create a new forum post '''[http://forum.kodi.tv/forumdisplay.php?fid=207 here]''' and paste the text.
# Fill out everything using your specific proposal.
# Fill out everything using your specific proposal.


[[Category:Google Summer of Code]]
[[Category:Google Summer of Code]]

Revision as of 00:44, 13 May 2015

Home icon grey.png   ▶ Google Summer of Code ▶ 2014
Notice Unfortunately, XBMC was not selected as a GSoC mentor organization for 2014.
GSOC 2014 logo-blog.jpg

Welcome to the XBMC Google Summer of Code ideas page.

We encourage interested students to review some of the ideas on this page, and then feel free to provide input on any ideas you may have in the XBMC GSoC subforum and chat about any project you’d love to cover. To propose a project, see #Students Project Proposal Ideas.

From 10 March to 21 March, any interested students may apply at the GSOC home page to work with XBMC. After that, we’ll notify applicants whether we get to work with each other according to the GSOC schedule.

About Us

As there may be many students who have landed here as a result of GSOC, but are unfamiliar with the project, here are a few resources that may help explain what we are about.

XBMC is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media player and entertainment hub for digital media, designed around the 10-foot interface (living room) environment. Created in 2003 by a group of like minded programmers, XBMC is a non-profit project run and developed by volunteers located around the world. More than 50 software developers have contributed to XBMC, and 100-plus translators have worked to expand its reach, making it available in more than 40 languages. For more information, see the page XBMC Media Center.


To get an idea of what XBMC is truly capable of, it really must be seen. Check out a few other user-created videos:
XBMC with the default Confluence skin
XBMC with Aeon Nox skin
XBMC on Raspberry Pi
XBMC's new PVR functionality

XBMC is written primarily in c++ and runs on a variety of platforms including Android, iOS, Linux, OS X, and Windows. It has been ported to work on several low-power platforms including the BeagleBoard, PandaBoard, AppleTv, AppleTV2, the Raspberry Pi, and most recently Android.

XBMC was a mentoring organization in 2008, 2012 and 2013, and had team members involved in GSoC for other projects in 2011.

If XBMC is selected as a mentoring organization for 2014, students will need to review the Overview of a good project proposal, follow the outline for proposals when applying, and review the list of project ideas detailed below. Students are welcome to propose ideas outside the list and are encouraged to be as creative as they like.

Mentors

All mentors and backup mentors are extremely experienced in the XBMC codebase and will thus be able to assist students in getting to know the codebase and in quickly identifying projects that are both achievable for someone unfamiliar with the internal workings of XBMC and desirable to the wider XBMC community.

Project Proposals

Overview

Qualifications for a good Summer of Code proposal:

  • Discrete, well-defined, modular
  • Comprised of a series of measurable sub-goals
  • Based on open specs that are available free of charge
  • Based on complete specs

An example of a good proposal is the implementation of a new feature or function that is not yet available in XBMC.

An example of a less desirable proposal is one that's not as measurable, such as refactoring an existing API. Bad proposals tend to be ones that would require touching a lot of core code.

To re-iterate:

  • Localized/isolated code projects = good
  • Global code refactoring = bad
  • A project should have a set of subgoals, so even if the end goal turns out to be too big some of the parts will be of benefit.
  • Not too big! This is an important problem when choosing a project, while it is fun to think about solving a grand project its not always realistic. Its better to finish a smaller project than to start a grand one.


Outline for proposals

Team-XBMC proposal ideas up for discussion

Web development

XBMC has grown greatly over the past several years from a standalone program with very little interaction with the outside world to a full platform in its own right, complete with hundreds of media-centric addons and means of communicating between machines. This year, we are particularly interested in students with a background in web development to work on projects that haven't received the focus they should, including...

  • New web interface - Virtually every aspect of XBMC can now be controlled through JSON-RPC, as can be seen by numerous apps on Google Play and the iOS store. However, the default web interface for controlling XBMC remains woefully old and featureless. A major step in eventually releasing a server version of XBMC would require a new, fully functional web interface. Students with a background in web development are encouraged to review the JSON-RPC code and submit ideas for this project.
  • Further development of the add-ons browser/showcase - The current addon browser found at addons.kodi.tv lacks many of the features of found in other major app stores, including a dev portal, ratings, comments, and more. Additionally, there is no current method for installing an addon into XBMC from the Addon Browser website. A review of some particularly excellent addon sites, such as Add-ons for Firefox, may be of benefit. Students are encouraged to submit proposals for improvements along any these categories and more. Creativity in this area is highly encouraged.

Build tools projects

  • Cmake build system -
    • Make a cmake build system for binary add-ons for the various XBMC platforms, using the work done in Linux as a guide.
    • Create/Extend a template system for quick and easy adding of new addons compatible with all xbmc platforms and port at least 1 addon to them (e.g. pvr.demo or any of the XBMC screensavers).

Code-base improvements

This summer, in addition to the traditional big, new feature focus, we'd also like to focus on some features that don't always get a lot of attention. Namely, usability features. Typically these are things that require a lot of creativity and varying degrees of code. Sometimes, they can act as a complete paradigm shift from business as usual. Below are a few ideas in this category...

  • Accessibility - Improve XBMC to be more useable for the visually impaired. Possibly in relation to XBMC's JSON-RPC support, in order to interface with screen readers and allow for alternative ways of setting up XBMC. Other ideas include such things as a large-font skin with easy to see colors, and other user interface element improvements needed for the those with partial sight. See this thread for discussion.
  • Menu-less control - Control every screen and item in XBMC without relying on a context menu button.
  • Music library improvements - Unify the handling of the music and video libraries.
  • Key indicators - Many UIs include a toolbar that lists what buttons perform what actions, as well as in-action indicators (see e.g. the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim UI). Implement such a system using XBMC's default Confluence skin.
  • Parental controls - XBMC's current lock methods and profile support is very easy to bypass and leaves much to be desired. Implement parental controls without relying on the current profiles hack, in order to restrict content based on ratings or other methods.

More

We feel it is important to note that, while we are interested in a focus on the listed three areas, we would like to stress passion, expertise, and creativity above all else. If you would like to do something completely different, like create a Game Library to match the existing Movie, TV, and Music libraries and complement Retroplayer, definitely send in that proposal. The ideas listed above are, as always, merely suggestions. We will be interested in any idea, so long as you can communicate your interest, your background, and your solution the problem.

Students project proposal ideas

Submit your own proposals on the XBMC GSOC 2014 forum. They can be as big or as small as you feel you can comfortably accomplish between 19 May and 18 August. In the end, it's better to have a smaller, completed project, rather than a larger, incomplete project.

To submit a proposal idea:

  1. Copy the text from #Outline for proposals.
  2. Create a new forum post here and paste the text.
  3. Fill out everything using your specific proposal.