Bug 263770

Summary: Indicate podcast channel new status without need for on-demand loading of episodes
Product: [Applications] amarok Reporter: mtz.inc .. <codenamed004>
Component: PodcastAssignee: Amarok Developers <amarok-bugs-dist>
Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME    
Severity: normal CC: bart.cerneels, bjoernv, mdspam
Priority: NOR    
Version: 2.5-git   
Target Milestone: 2.6   
Platform: Compiled Sources   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: an image showing amarok after startup

Description mtz.inc .. 2011-01-20 17:48:05 UTC
Version:           2.4.0 (using KDE 4.5.4) 
OS:                Linux

When there is a new/unlistened podcast, a yellowish start show up on the top level podcast feed icon.

In amarok 2.4.0. The star does not show when amarok is started and a feed must be first expanded for the star to show up.

This makes it difficult to know which podcasts are unlistened when starting amarok and i have to manually expand all podcasts just to force those with unlistened entries to show the yellow star.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. start amarok 2.4.0

2. download a new podcast episode and watch a yellow star show up on the top level podcast icon

3. restart amarok and the top level icon will not have the yellow star and no way to know there is an unlistened podcast

4. expand the podcast entry and a yellow start will appear.


Expected Results:  
If there is a new podcast, the feed icon should have the yellow start when amarok start up
Comment 1 Myriam Schweingruber 2011-01-20 18:10:49 UTC
Confirmed with current git.
Comment 2 Bart Cerneels 2011-01-21 09:00:57 UTC
This is a side effect of loading the podcast episodes on demand, a feature that was implemented to radically improve startup times.
When the tracks are not yet loaded Amarok won't know if a channel has new episodes unless we save that status in the database.

When the podcasts are updated all episodes will be loaded. So if you have auto-update enabled or press the refresh button you can prevent opening all channels to find new episodes.
Comment 3 Marcel Dischinger 2011-01-24 20:22:59 UTC
Bart, this does not work for me (although it would be an acceptable workaround for now).

1. I update all podcasts, podcast X has a new episode.
2. I restart Amarok. Podcast X does not show the star symbol to indicate new episodes.
3. I update all podcasts. Still, Podcast X shows no star symbol (unless there were additional new episodes just fetched). Opening Podcast X tree restores the star symbol.

I can see that you want to improve the startup time. But the podcast cold be read when clicking the podcast pane or changing the view to the podcast pane. To me, this would make sense.
Comment 4 Bart Cerneels 2011-01-25 07:43:44 UTC
(In reply to comment #3)
> Bart, this does not work for me (although it would be an acceptable workaround
> for now).
> 
> 1. I update all podcasts, podcast X has a new episode.
> 2. I restart Amarok. Podcast X does not show the star symbol to indicate new
> episodes.
> 3. I update all podcasts. Still, Podcast X shows no star symbol (unless there
> were additional new episodes just fetched). Opening Podcast X tree restores the
> star symbol.

Looks like I was mistaken. The episodes are only loaded when a new episode is detected in the feed.

> 
> I can see that you want to improve the startup time. But the podcast cold be
> read when clicking the podcast pane or changing the view to the podcast pane.
> To me, this would make sense.

The result would be a multi-second blocking of the UI when the podcasts are loaded. With a short show list this is not noticeable. But some people have huge lists and/or slow processors. There are also memory usage considerations.

I'll fix this using a field in the database.
Comment 5 mtz.inc .. 2011-03-20 16:25:51 UTC
This bug was scheduled to be fixed with version 2.4.1, using version 2.4.1 beta1 and its still there. Is ithe bug still scheduled to be fixed in this version or is it postponed to later versions?
Comment 6 Myriam Schweingruber 2011-03-20 20:45:07 UTC
The target is not a fixed schedule and is set automatically by the bug tracker. Since all developers are volunteers and work in their free time, this will be fixed as soon as somebody finds time to do so.
Comment 7 Bart Cerneels 2011-03-21 07:30:51 UTC
Rescheduling
Comment 8 mtz.inc .. 2011-12-24 01:44:26 UTC
using amarok 2.5.0 and the bug i reported in this report seem to be fixed. Closing the bug report.

I might as well stop updating amarok now because it is now perfect for me.

 I know you guys seem to hear only from complainers but there a lot of us who appreciate your efforts and greatly enjoy what amarok has to offer.

Thanks for your contributions to kde and free software
Comment 9 Bart Cerneels 2011-12-27 09:02:57 UTC
This is actually not fixed. But the behavior you want might actually be triggered by the use of gpodder podcast syncing. This causes a forced load of all the episodes.

If you are not using that there might actually be a regression. So please respond.
Comment 10 mtz.inc .. 2011-12-27 09:58:20 UTC
Created attachment 67153 [details]
an image showing amarok after startup


Attached image shows what i am seeing after i start up amarok without doing anything and it also shows the version of amarok i am using and kde version. I am using qt 4.8.0. I build amarok from sources,same as the two packages i just mentioned.

As you can see, amarok gives a visual indicator of all podcasts with un listened entries without first expanding them. You can simply look at that list and know where un listened podcasts are.

Re-reading my first post and it can be seen that the behavior i am seeing now solves the problem that caused me to open this bug and thats why i closed it.

I use amarok to listen to my local files and to manage my podcasts and i have disabled all plugins, including gpodder.

When i want to add a new podcast, i get the link from where the podcast is hosted and subscribe through "add podcast" button,
Comment 11 bjoernv 2012-01-31 13:07:10 UTC
The problem still exists with KDE 4.8 and Amarok 2.5.0. Amarok is mute with Xine backend. Sound works again with Gstreamer backend. Only Amarok seems to be affected. Other KDE apps like Kaffeine also play sound with Xine backend.
Comment 12 bjoernv 2012-01-31 13:27:40 UTC
Sorry, my last comment was for another bug report.
Comment 13 Myriam Schweingruber 2013-03-11 16:41:47 UTC
I can't reproduce this with Amarok v2.7.0-174-gbe2d8b6