My first BIG project in C#...

[Josh]

Welp, I've started to pick up C# here recently. After writing a few cheesy programs like the infamous "Hello, World" stuff, i've decided to tackle a much bigger project.

I've started construction on a home based "server". Server may be a strong word, more like a computer on a network that will serve as a server with shared hard disks. I'm going to be using the network to achieve high file xfer rates for DVD rips. Basically a movie server. The program i am currently writing, will provide an easy to use interface that will allow for copying multiple movies at a time, and launching them with the media player of their choice.

What will basically happen:

User will start my program. Upon startup(after the program is run once, it will save these settings for future use), they will need to specify the Source Directory(where the movies are at), then select a Destination Directory for them to be copied to. These can be changed at any time right from the control tab. The program won't look for movies only, so be sure you have a directory free of any other file types.

They can then select the movies they would like to copy over by moving them over to the "Download List" and clocking GO!(this will create a simple text file for the program to analyze that will be removed upon completion of file xfer) Progress of the xfer will be displayed in the lower left corner's progress bar.

Once file xfer is complete, user will be notified, text file will be removed, and will have the ability to launch the movie(s) in the media player of their choice

Users will have the ability to choose the media player of their choice by simply pointing the program to the media players' executable.

After the movie completes, they will be able to remove the movie manually, or run my program and click on the movie under the destination directory, and click the delete button.

Here's a sample image of what the interface is like right now, i'm open to sugggestions, comments, features that users would like, etc. The program is only about 427k as it stands, i haven't added any real programming yet, that's next on the list. Thanks!

[Clint]

why?

[Vito_Corleone]

lol

[...mikey]

You gotta start somewhere, good work.

[Jeff]

Not being a dick here, but so basically the program will copy a file from one folder to another?

[Vito_Corleone]

You gotta start somewhere, good work.

Starting with C is a mistake, IMO.

[POLLO]

Starting with C is a mistake, IMO.

Not really, becuase once you learn C, everything else will seem very easy. After all everything is written in C.

[Josh]

Not really, becuase once you learn C, everything else will seem very easy. After all everything is written in C.

true and i'm also using Microsoft Visual Studio to do the coding so it's very easy to do.

[Vito_Corleone]

Not really, becuase once you learn C, everything else will seem very easy. After all everything is written in C.

That's like kids should learn how to preform brain surgery when they're 2 because everything else will be simple after that..

And, I don't code, but from what I read, C programmers are becoming less and less in demand.

[Clint]

I assume you are writing this because it will help you in some way?

[TNathe]

That's like kids should learn how to preform brain surgery when they're 2 because everything else will be simple after that..

And, I don't code, but from what I read, C programmers are becoming less and less in demand.

umm, with him using the .NET Framework as his coding environment he can seamlessly tie his C program into any visual basic or j# and all that other crap VS.NET supports. programming language of choice is becoming LESS of a factor with the new technologies.

Good work man on your program. People make fun of simple programs like this, yet they LOOOVE to download simple little utilities from the internet. Well, those simple little utilities were prob once someones first real program. 8) Upon further inspection of your program man, you did an awesome job of thinking of thinking of everything one could possibly want. I was gonna recommend maybe giving the option for the user to tell the program to delete the movie after they were done watching or after x number of days but you already did that :bigthumb:

[Clint]

its more like... if you lived in a country (coder-vania) where everyone rode motorcycles then you should learn how to ride a bicycle first.

Now that being said, I learned java first and now I am a php guy, I don't do jack with windows apps.

[Clint]

Not being a dick here, but so basically the program will copy a file from one folder to another?
thats what I was getting at...

[Jeff]

Starting with C is a mistake, IMO.

This isn't C - This is C# - COMPLETELY different.

It's .NET programming. Once he learns this he can program in .NET.

[Clint]

c-sharp

[Vito_Corleone]

This isn't C - This is C# - COMPLETELY different.

It's .NET programming. Once he learns this he can program in .NET.

Ah ha. Mah bad, ngas. Again, not a programmer, lol.

[TNathe]

you make fun, but honestly how much NOT FUN is it to browse to a network drive > copy > paste > wait > watch movie > forget to delete movie > use up all HD space on your PC > try and clean up files 6 months later? :lol: Not to mention browse your network folder for movie titles written out in windows system fonts and prob not in any decent kinda order. :lol:

OOO, put a mod in that bish that they can rate the movie and what not and maybe assign it a genre or stuff it under a favorites. Then when you populate the list you could supply the user with a filter. I bet you could get $5 a copy :) for it

[Josh]

I assume you are writing this because it will help you in some way?

yes :lol:

[Josh]

you make fun, but honestly how much NOT FUN is it to browse to a network drive > copy > paste > wait > watch movie > forget to delete movie > use up all HD space on your PC > try and clean up files 6 months later? :lol:

:lol: exactly my reasoning behind this.

[Clint]

make a shortcut to the folder, double click on the movie file, it opens automatically... just watch it over the network.. *shrug*

thats what i do

[Vito_Corleone]

make a shortcut to the folder, double click on the movie file, it opens automatically... just watch it over the network.. *shrug*

thats what i do

I map drives to all my ish.

[Clint]

I map drives to all my ish.
yeah or that, just about the same thing.

[Josh]

make a shortcut to the folder, double click on the movie file, it opens automatically... just watch it over the network.. *shrug*

thats what i do

i could do that if i wanted to blast my network's bandwidth for the duration of the movie. I'd rather not do that. I'd rather download the movie from the server, watch it, delete it, and be done with it. No more DVD cases. No need to have massive amounts of storage on each media PC.

[Josh]

I map drives to all my ish.

effectively that's what i'm doing, just creating a tool to have one access point rather than using windows explorer. :dunno:

[TNathe]

like i said, it also opens up new possibilities with sorting a filtering. What does ANY utility program do like SmartFTP. Any schmuck can use a browser to go through FTP sites but SmartFTP provides a nice interface and options you would nt get normally. Thats what programs are all about. Taking whatever you do and making it a little bit easier or providing something that didnt exist.

[Vito_Corleone]

effectively that's what i'm doing, just creating a tool to have one access point rather than using windows explorer. :dunno:

Doesn't seem like it. Mapping a network drive will still stream it across the network.

[Clint]

i could do that if i wanted to blast my network's bandwidth for the duration of the movie. I'd rather not do that. I'd rather download the movie from the server, watch it, delete it, and be done with it. No more DVD cases. No need to have massive amounts of storage on each media PC.
that makes zero sense, the same amount of network bandwidth is going to be used either way.

[Josh]

umm, with him using the .NET Framework as his coding environment he can seamlessly tie his C program into any visual basic or j# and all that other crap VS.NET supports. programming language of choice is becoming LESS of a factor with the new technologies.

Good work man on your program. People make fun of simple programs like this, yet they LOOOVE to download simple little utilities from the internet. Well, those simple little utilities were prob once someones first real program. 8) Upon further inspection of your program man, you did an awesome job of thinking of thinking of everything one could possibly want. I was gonna recommend maybe giving the option for the user to tell the program to delete the movie after they were done watching or after x number of days but you already did that :bigthumb:

thanks man. it's nowhere near done, but it is just that, just a simple little tool i can use to make things marginally easier for me. I'm going to be giving it to my folks to use so they have to fart around with dvd's. They can just copy the movie they want and watch it - less hassle for them.

[m0nk3y]

unzip anywhere but the steam folder and run the exe

ok, sounds pretty neat!

[Josh]

i also plan on implimenting some type of parental control, but that's way down the line.

[Josh]

that makes zero sense, the same amount of network bandwidth is going to be used either way.

yes, but over a shorter period of time. it takes less time to copy than to watch.

[Clint]

like i said, it also opens up new possibilities with sorting a filtering. What does ANY utility program do like SmartFTP. Any schmuck can use a browser to go through FTP sites but SmartFTP provides a nice interface and options you would nt get normally. Thats what programs are all about. Taking whatever you do and making it a little bit easier or providing something that didnt exist.
ok lets list out the steps involved to watch a movie using my method vs his new improved method...

my way:

Step 1: double click shortcut to my movies folder
Step 2: double click on the movie I want to watch
Step 3: drink a beer

his way:

Step 1: double click his program icon
Step 2: click the movie to watch, then click ok
Step 3: sit back, drink beer and wait for movie to finish copying over.

:dunno: am I missing something?

[m0nk3y]

ok lets list out the steps involved to watch a movie using my method vs his new improved method...

my way:

Step 1: double click shortcut to my movies folder
Step 2: double click on the movie I want to watch
Step 3: drink a beer

his way:

Step 1: double click his program icon
Step 2: click the movie to watch, then click ok
Step 3: sit back, drink beer and wait for movie to finish copying over.

:dunno: am I missing something?

Bandwidth. Especially if running wireless or otherwise transferring info.

[Vito_Corleone]

Bandwidth. Especially if running wireless or otherwise transferring info.

I don't understand what you mean.

[Josh]

I don't understand what you mean.

transfering that much info over wireless, i can't imagine the movie running smoothly. better to copy it to the PC then watch.

[Vito_Corleone]

transfering that much info over wireless, i can't imagine the movie running smoothly. better to copy it to the PC then watch.

I watch movies wirelessly. Even HD movies aren't usually an issue. And, the time it takes to copy over 100mbit is pretty shitty.

[Josh]

I watch movies wirelessly. Even HD movies aren't usually an issue. And, the time it takes to copy over 100mbit is pretty shitty.

that's honestly what i've been thinking about. I've been tossing around the idea making the media pc's wired and going with gigabit or even keeping them wireless and going with N.

[Vito_Corleone]

Gigabit is pretty nice, that's what my home network is.

[Jeff]

I think you should use this as a learning tool, but you should probably have some sort of net sockets to actually get a lesson out of this project.

[TNathe]

i was gonna say, even if you prove its not 'practical' the point of this was to write a REAL program that performed REAL functions. The more programs you write the more code you write the more you learn ;)

[Jeff]

See System.Net.Sockets();

Have fun. =)

[Josh]

I think you should use this as a learning tool, but you should probably have some sort of net sockets to actually get a lesson out of this project.

that's mainly what i'm using it for. if it becomes more than that, that's cool too!

[Josh]

See System.Net.Sockets();

Have fun. =)

yea....i had a lot of fun just figuring out how to exit and reload from the menustrip. :lol:

{

Application.Exit();

}
-----------------------------------
{

Application.Restart();

}

[aaron1017]

I watch movies wirelessly. Even HD movies aren't usually an issue. And, the time it takes to copy over 100mbit is pretty shitty.



I watch movies wirelessly as well and it is fine. The only thing that acts up its fast forwarding and rewinding sometimes.

[Jeff]

What class uses Application.Restart()?

[Josh]

here's the Form 1 source code for the new version i'm working on right now

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Text;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace beta
{

public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InititalizeComponent();
}
private void exitToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Application.Exit();
}

private void reloadToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
Application.Restart();
}

}
}
}

[The Spectacle]

<<<<<----------- can't stand programming

which probably means I'll have to learn it at some point