How about this idea for Emplode 2 then.

Instead of Emplode doing everything itself in this area, why not leverage the current feature set in emplode [e.g. the manipulating and working with MP3 'file sets' and associated ID3 tags and 'resyncing'] and leaving the implementation of the 'reading/writing/updating' of MP3 files and associated ID3 tags to a [yet to be developed] COM object [aka a Windows plugin] that someone else other than the empeg/Rio guys (i.e. one or several people on this board) can write for emplode.

All we need from the Empeg folks is for them to publish a standard COM interface supported by emplode that we can use for this purpose.

We can't do this without this interface and we need the Empeg guys to come up with [or at least agree to our proposed interface and then implement it in emplode].

I would envisage a very simple interface with only a few methods. I'm thinking like a very focussed and stripped down 'plug-in' interface here, a bit like the Winamp plugin SDK only much less work all round - I don't see we need a vast array of methods etc - just enough to let emplode be able to get and save the tag information from files we read/write/update for it.

The 'read' method on this interface would allow the emplode program to request a 'set' of MP3 files and associated tag properties [similar to connecting in emplode to your player now, except you'd connect to your 'hard drive' via the COM interface - there may be UI issues here in that the COM interface may have to ask the user for the directories etc to 'read in' ]. For that purpose we may need to implement a 'initialise' method also to let us obtai nthis information from the user and/or from configuration information from somewhere (e.g. the Windows Registry)

The 'save' method would let the emplode program save this [possibly changed/rearranged] set of MP3 files and associated tag properties back to the files where the ID3 information is actually stored.

The interface COM object would be responsible for the implemention of the actual file/directory reading, remembering which file, which ID3 Tag info came from, then when it gets the set of MP3 tags back from emplode, working out the updates needed to the on disk MP3 files that have had their information changed within the emplode UI. Then updating these files with the new ID3 tag information.

While its not a simple task to do such a interface it would free the empeg guys up to do their regular jobs and/or improve the player software. The only work the empeg guys need to do is to spec/agree to the interface and produce a emplode that can invoke the the interface - we can then build the COM object seperately and glue them together.

Think of this idea as a Windows equivalent to the 'userland' break out menus hack that others are working now to allow 3rd party developers to use the Empeg menus from 'user' [as opposed to] Kernel level apps in the empeg/rio car player.

I am putting my hand up as someone who is willing to write such a COM add on for emplode [I don't mind if we open source the plugin object - but its really up to the Rio guys to decide if they want to open emplode up in this way but as emplode is the property of Rio and is not GPL'ed they do not have to do any of this].

The only problem for me is that I don't do C++ only VB6 - but for Windows thats not such a issue if the emplode guys design the COM interface to emplode so that they are 'language neutral'. There are enough Windows ID3 tag libraries around that we can use for the ID3 stuff, or we can write our own/ use a GPL'ed version already out there for windows now.


I envisage that the 'installation' process add-on would be pretty seamless as the current emplode installation is - the installation could be done as a seperate download which during the installation informs emplode that its available so emplode will now be able to work with disk based MP3 files for tagging/renaming purposes, or it could even be bundled with the next version of emplode on the installation image - depending on how the software is licensed etc (e.g. under GPL or not).

Thats my suggestion. So, any takers out there for this idea?

Or has someone got a better idea?
Personally I find the new emplode UI fantastic and I would prefer it as my mp3 tag editor - even if I had to pay to do so - most of the other tag editors out there are not as good.

The major benefit for Empeg/Rio owners is one place to update/wrestle with your MP3 tags from - whether on your PC's hard disk or on your car player.