
Media X Menu Version 0.9m Beta

NOTE: Do not use 0.5 or 0.6 on a DVD-R. There was a bug that is now fixed in
0.7 and above... sorry for the confusion.

Media X Menu is a menu system to launch applications from a DVD collection or from 
a hard drive. It is intended to be very configurable and allow new "styles" to be added 
in, both with simple visual changes (skins), or adding 3D effects (later) to the presentation
of the menus by re-writing the software.

It was intended to supercede Complex Menu X, which has some bugs and is lacking many 
desired features that MXM now has.

It is now in "Beta" status. It should be stable to use on DVD-R discs, but who knows?
As usual, use at your own risk. 


I am releasing this source code for others to use for both their own projects, and 
hopefully, to enhance this project. The current features are as follows:

There *ARE* still some bugs with this thing.... but I've tried to do as much testing as 
possible without spending three weeks on it. I believe most of it relates to the 
handling of the soundtracks at the moment, but tracking down everything is time consuming
and at the moment, it seems to work 99.9% of the time. My suggestion would be to not use 
"random" soundtrack play, and it will be turned of by default.

* Impliments the "Simple" theme, allowing a title screen, menu screen, loading screen 
  and saver screen, each with configurable elements (custom backgrounds, custom bouncing 
  logo for the screen saver)
* Simple theme uses Skins based in subdirectories, and can use randomly selected skins 
  on every run of the program.
* Launches applications from the hard drive and the CD/DVD drive.
* Screen saver! 
* Can play one or more music tracks, with multiple options, such as-
  - Disc-specific tracks (played from subdirectory, for example)
  - Can play from the XBox soundtracks the user has on his hard drive
  - Can play random or in order
* Supports BMP, PNG, TGA, JPG image formats as well as WMV video files!
* All settings are done via XML file support, a format familiar to many users.
* Supports 640x480 at the moment. Sorry, just ran out of time to get the multi-res
  support in.

==================================================
===   IR Remote Support                        ===
==================================================

Thanks to d7o3g4q and RUNTiME for releasing their source code as without this Remote support wouldn't have been possible.

Here is the latest Build with full IR Remote Support.

The COntrols are as Follows:
============================

IR Remote up/down = scroll trhough the menu list
IR Remote Select  = Select's the Game / Emulator
IR Remote Info    = Media X Menu Version Info Displayed
IR Remote Back    = Return To Media X Menu Title Screen
IR Remote 0       = Reboot XBOX back to Dashboard

Any button on the IR Remote will come out of the screensaver and skip past menu's like the 
Controller does.

IR Support By SpOoK with thanks to d7o3g4q and RUNTiME for their IR Remote Code.

Note from BenJeremy: I don't have the remote, but the code looks good and SpOok has tested this
with most of the releases. 

==================================================
===   A Note about XML                         ===
==================================================

For those not familiar with XML, it's basically a method of tagging information in a text file.

Configuration XML files in MXM, for example take on the following structure:

<Config>
 <Main>
  <DiscTitle>My Collection</DiscTitle>
  <DiscSubtitle>MAME</DiscSubtitle>
  <Theme>1</Theme>
 </Main>
</Config>


The entire config is surrounded by the <Config> tags, and each section has their own group.

Generic skins will get much more sophisticated, due to the nature of what needs to be done...
When these are implimented, there will be a very detailed description of how these XML
files must be built.

In the meantime, all INI files can be converted into MXM XML files using the INItoXML 
converter for Windows in this binary release.



==================================================
===   Auto-Config Items                        ===
==================================================

To make things a bit more bulletproof, MXM now supports "Auto-config" I would
encourage those who make software releases for the Xbox to include a game/logo
screenshot and an MXM_Entry.xml file as part of the release.

Auto-config loading sequence:
1. First MXM loads all the entries in the MXM.xml file
2. MXM then searches the IMMEDIATE subdirectories for MXM_Entry.xml
   files. If found it will attempt to load those values... missing values
   or non-existant files will cause MXM to fall back to the following steps.
3. If an executable has not been assigned by the MXM_Entry.xml file, MXM will 
   look for "default.xbe", failing to find default.xbe, it will search for the 
   FIRST *.xbe file it finds in the directory and use that.
4. If an executable has been found, but no title has been assigned, it will
   use the title stored as part of the XBE's built-in certificate.
5. Lastly, if there is no game/logo screenshot assigned at this point, the system
   will look for the first MXM_SS.* file that is a JPG, BMP, TGA, or PNG and use
   that file.

So the easiest thing to do, for each game, is to simply through a screenshot in the 
directory named "MXM_SS.jpg" (or whatever the extension is for the chosen format).

Next easiest thing is the above screenshot file, with an MXM_Entry.xml file including 
the following:

----------
<Config>
<Item>
<Title>Mame Vol#3</Title>
<Description>CAPCOM collection!</Description>
</Item>
</Config>

----------

The <Item> node may also include the following:

<Media>[image filename]</Media>
  The image file, relative to the location of this entry ini file.
<Exe>[xbe filename]</Exe>
  The filename only, of the XBE to use in this directory.
  Ex: "Exe=XMarbles.xbe"




===================================================================
FAQ:
===================================================================
Q: I've got an Enigmah Beta, why doesn't this run?
A: I don't have a patch tool for Enigmah users. Sorry.... if you 
   have such a tool, please get a hold of me at xbox-scene or 
   xboxhacker.net.

Q: I don't like the title screen. Can you get rid of it?
A: Well, it's simple enough to give the title screen delay a value of '0'
   to skip by it.

Q: I don't like the screen saver feature, how do I get rid of that?
A: Same thing, a delay time of zero will de-activate the saver.

Q: Where can I find skins?
A: I'll try and release a few, but at the moment, nobody is hosting 
   skins specifically for my menu system; HOWEVER, since the 'default'
   layout for simple happens to match up to Complex MenuX, you can use
   skins created for that system with this menu (of course, MXM is far
   more flexible in positioning screens and items)

Q: How about a tutorial on using this?
A: I'd love to put one together for it, but to be honest, I'm probably 
   the wrong person to do the job (as the developer, I'd have a hard 
   time making a tutorial from a nontechnical perspective). If anybody out 
   there feels up to the task, please do and send it to our good 
   friends at xbox-scene.

Q: I can't get this to boot.
A: Well, I need a copy of your INI file, at the very least, in order to 
   determine what the problem is. Try checking your image files and make
   sure they are there and are correctly formatted. Get a hold of me at 
   xbox-scene if all else fails.

Q: I don't like the Sky-and-logo splash screen. How do I get rid of it.
A: You don't.
   1) Internal images: Does not require ANY external resources to load. 
      External Resources=BAD.

   2) It's Initialization. If MXM crashes, I have a very good idea WHERE 
      based on the progress with relation to the splash screen (before during 
      or after)

   3) Well, it's initialization, you don't want to load up anything externally 
      (there's that first point again). You can't grab information from a config 
      file that hasn't been loaded yet.

   4) It's an ID logo. Call me vain, but it's been months of hard work to put 
      this together. At least I haven't put my face or something there.

   5) MXM is open source. If somebody wants to, they can re-write the code 
      themselves for their personal version. They can also support such a 
      version when people screw up their config files or something and can't
      boot - because it will be harder to do.

   6) Loading times. Part of the reason it was added was to let people know MXM 
      was doing something while it spent the time loading files and looking for
      executables. (though that load time has been reduced a bit)

   Look, I know the sky-and-logo clash sometimes with people's skins. That's part
   of the reason I fade it to black before displaying the title screen or menu screen.

   The new version will be enhanced by adding a variety of "Init Screens", including a 
   Matrix-style tumbling symbol thing. I am also considering adding a plasma-lightning 
   animation as well. You will be able to choose with a simple patch to the XBE file. The 
   splash will ALWAYS be there in my versions, in some format.



===================================================================
HISTORY:
===================================================================

Alpha 0.2
  Minor bug fix release
* Fixed problem identifying the correct partitions. (Thanks ITM of xboxhacker.net for the fix)
* Added speed enhancement, again, thanks ITM for this code.
* Moved soundtrack to it's own thread to prevent pausing in screen saver
* "About" box added  when pressing "White button" in the menu screen
* Added the  PersistDisplay() call, but didn't notice a difference. No loading screen joy.
* Added "DrawDescription" to Menu section to allow you the ability to turn off the description.
* Keyboard support - Cursor Up/Down, ENTER to select. Keys skip title and saver, F1 brings up 
  "about box" and PrintScreen key will reboot to the dashboard.

Alpha 0.3
  Minor bug fix release
* Fixed problem identifying the correct partition for F:. AGAIN.
  Bah! The generic code didn't want to work, even after I identified
  a problem with the code. Fixed it with a specific case for F:

Alpha 0.4
* More bug fixes! Didn't realize that C:, E:, and F: were unmounted, causing 
  problems when the image files didn't "live" in the directory below the 
  menu system and get called as "D:\***" This problem is now fixed.
* Changed option "Theme" in section [Main] to "Style" This will represent the
  type of menu displayed (simple, or in the future, 3-D styles)
* Smooth scrolling menu items and descriptions.
* Menus and description placement are fully configurable. Defaults to MenuX style,
  to be compatible with existing MenuX skins. Now menus, screenshots, and the 
  description can be placed anywhere on the screen and in just about any size.
  You can also select the maximum number of options displayed at any given time
  (that is, how many item rows are displayed in the menu item box)

Alpha 0.5
* Phew. Bug fix. Sorry about that, people, but there was a big bug causing 
  instability in the system. It's very difficult to debug an app wthout a 
  debug console. Many problems solved now.
* SKINS! SKINS! SKINS! SKINS! This is the first release supporting 
  self-contained skins! "DefaultSkin" is included with the release,
  basically the same images and sounds as in the previous releases, now
  in a handly subdirectory with their own ini file.
 
Beta 0.6
* Cleaned up a couple of cosmetic bugs.
* Fixed a problem with the skin soundtracks
* Implimented a few more skin attributes. Not all are there yet.
* Changed the screensaver slightly.
* Release will be a bit cleaner than before, with the ini files 
  cleaned up.

Beta 0.7
* Fixed a bug that prevented skins from working in 0.5 and 0.6
  I now will test each release with a XDFS formatted CD-RW (problems and
  time make testing on DVD-RW or DVD-R prohibitive at the moment)

Beta 0.8
* Fixed issue with descriptions that are missing.
* Cleaned up message box popping up when a screenshot is missing.

Beta 0.9
* AutoConfig!! See the section on AutoConfig for complete details.
* Sped up menuing by offloading screenshots to a seperate thread.

Beta 0.9b
* Added IR support, courtesy of SpOoK from the  xboxhacker.net forums
  (See the section on the IR support)
* Fixed 'overzealous' keypress issue.
* Changed dashboard sequence for the controller from BACK+START to RIGHT STICK+LEFT STICK
  It remains "PrntScr" for the keyboard.

Beta 0.9c
* Added the ability to navigate using the thumbsticks
* Fixed the PersistDisplay() issue. Loading screens now display.
* WMV is now a supported format! The videos will loop, and sound is disabled
  in this release by default. I'll add parameters to change those (sound does
  work) shortly. WMV files can be used ANYWHERE an image file is used.
  Thanks go out to Syn3rgy @ the xboxhacker.net forums for knocking down the
  remaining barriers on this feature.
* Moving away from ini files. XML will be the new standard (faster loading)
  To make things easier, I've included a converter, to modify existing files to 
  the new format.
* Disable for auto-config - Set Main->AllowAutoConfig to No (or Off/false)
* Main->MoveDelay - Time between pressing down/up and the menu changing selections in Repeat mode.
* Main->RepeatDelay - Time between holding down/up and the program repeating the move.
* Main->LoadSkin parameter to select a specific skin (Based on directory name)
* Main->ExitApp allows you to specify a dashboard other than the 'default' one, such 
  as "C:\evoxdash.xbe" when using the dashboard sequence. This solves a problem
  when using MXM as your default dashboard application.
* Well, a lot of work, but I've sped things up a bit (well, not really sped up, as
  much as shuffled things around) and added a nice fade in to a moving sky and MXM logo
  just before hitting the title screen.
* Smooth transitions now occur between menu states
* the slight "stutter" from the music when MXM starts up is now fixed.


Beta 0.9d
* Fixed a problem that prevented Auto-config from finding the correct *.xbe file, even if
  it was specified in the MXM_Entry.xml file. It will work correctly now.
* Added WMV as an Auto-config media type (It will use a file named MXM_SS.wmv in the game 
  directory.)

Beta 0.9e
* Fixed glitchy graphics issues. This included messed up looking menus and the odd flash before 
  the title screen faded in.
* Changed the "intro" screen to fade out to black before the title screen. The textures are no longer
  loaded externally.
* Fixed (hopefully all) the issues with the music manager. Random and global should work with skin
  soundtracks.
* Dpad, stick and IR direction "repeat delay" issues are now resolved. They should act the same.
* Added "VerticalSelection" to "Menu" options, defaults to TRUE. When set to FALSE, will allow the 
  controller input Left to Right to select menu items.
* I ==THINK== I have the empty description bug fixed. It has been tested, and should work. The details 
  are still a mystery to me, though... but my fix has done the trick.
* A little change in the way autoconfig works... if you define entries in the MXM.xml file, then
  AllowAutoConfig defaults to FALSE, if there are no entries in the MXM.xml file, it defaults to
  TRUE. Of course, you can specify your own value for this as well.

Beta 0.9f
* Moved "Font16.xpr" internal to the xbe, so no media directory is required anymore.
* Added the ability to put passcodes in the game entries. This will allow those with children 
  to prevent easy access to games without having to enable parental controls or prevent unauthorized
  access to programs. (I added this so my 10 year old son would not have easy access to BMXXX)
* Changed IR remote "boot to dash" function to "Title" (Was "0" key)
* Added support for MXM and game help screens. There are 3 built-in help screens for MXM. See "Entry"
  and "Help" configuration for more details on these options.
* Help for games may also be auto-config'd like the screenshots, using MXM_GHxx.* where xx is a value
  from 01-99 (must start with 01 and continue contiguously) and '*' is a valid image extension.
* A TitleDelay of 0 prevents the display of the title screen.
* Added a TitleImage.xbx icon to be 'friendly' with NexGen. It will install the icon on startup, if it
  doesn't already exist (internally generated, no extra files needed).
* Cleaned up the launch code a bit. Now it checks to make sure a title exists before launching it;
  if the xbe does not exist, it puts up a detailed message and kicks back to the menu screen.
* Added ability of AutoConfig items to pull title and description from the Game's ID. A few titles
  have regular descriptions (in many cases, this is the part of the title following the colon) and
  for those without, the publisher's name can be used in their place.
* Odd, for some reason, the system was not initializing all of the drives (T:, U:).
* MXM should run without any MXM.xml file or support files. If it doesn't find entries, it 
  will display the likely entries it finds for a dashboard.
* A new switch "AllowVideoSound" allows you to pause the music when videos are shown as
  screenshots, so the audio may play (good option to use on DVDs, too, due to speed/disc access
  issues)

Beta 0.9g
* Reorganizing MusicManager to stomp all known issues with song selection and local soundtrack.
* Added two additional "intro" screens that can be configured with patching
  0 = Matrix Effect intro screen
  1 = Large Logo with sky
  2 = Small Logo with sky
* Added Matrix effect to screen saver; Saver will SOON allow combination of several elements:
  - Background can be black or shifting colors
  - Matrix Effect "falling symbols"
  - Bouncing MXM logo
* Added a system menu accessed with "Back" button
* Fixed memory/resource leak with fading screen logic
* Matrix Symbolic font was added to "built-in" data - Font designed by me (BJ), includes 12
  symbols and letters A,D,E,I,M,N,U,X	
* MenuX Compatibility BROKEN - DO NOT USE THIS ONE - SORRY.

Beta 0.9h
* MenuX Compatibility - MXM's default.xbe can be dropped in as a direct replacement
  for the MenuX app... it will use the XDI file to configure the games, and also use the
  PNGs and sounds from the MenuX media directory as a 'skin', unless another skin is loaded
  (If 'real' MXM skins are available, the MenuX 'skin' will be randomly selected with the 
  other choices).
  Was broken on 0.9g - That's what I get for not testing completely!! I am very sorry, while
  I could rattle off a slew of excuses, it doesn't change the fact that I screwed up.

  Expect the goodies in the next version. None of the future features were ready for prime time
  at the time of this bug fix.

Beta 0.9i
* Setting TitleDelay to "-1" will leave the title screen on until the user presses a button 
  (Unless <EndAfterSequence> selected in image for layout)
* New skinning technology (See accompanying SkinningOverview.doc for details)
  Key Features:
  - Font cache: Fonts are skin loadable resources. One is built in, and the MenuX fonts are loaded in 
    in that mode.
  - "Old School" MenuX style menublock. While MXM's version is much more configurable, in MenuX mode, we
    make it look EXACTLY like the original, provided correct fonts are present. 
  - Dynamic text fields with numerous effects using modifiers. Uses fonts from cache.
* Added capability to use SubMenus and load from secondary menu files. This is a big one... still
  works the old way, but with true XML loading of the menu information, you can now group items in a variety
  of ways and also you don't need to worry anymore about the <Item_1> indexing.
* I think the dashboard issues are fixed. More detail will be explained in the new User's Guide. It should
  run from any partition, but it does so by searching for itself as a dashboard (this is due to the fact that
  I have no way that I can tell where MXM is run from).
* MXM supports multiple directories and files to be added to the local soundtrack (supported in skin)
* Added power off to System Menu
* Supports TitleImage.xbx (Program Icons) for image types. Using the XBE as an image source now redirects to the 
  appropriate TitleImage.xbx file.
* AutoDir supports "Flatten" and "Recurse" flags. Flatten keeps all entries, regardless of how deep they are in the
  directories, in the same menu level as the AutoDir tag - defaults to FALSE. Recurse, causes the AutoDir search to look 
  into subfolders beyond one level down - defaults to TRUE.
* <RemoveDuplicates> option will eliminate multiple occurances of the same app from popping up. Defaults to TRUE.
* Internal images can be used as resources. These have unique filenames:
  ::SkyTile
  ::Logo
  ::HelpGCScreen
  ::HelpKBScreen
  ::HelpIRScreen
* Ugh. Dashboards menu doens't work too well. Not sure what's going on there. Hopefully it will be fixed by 0.9h
* FTP server is enabled, but it will likely lock up on use. It requires a valid FileZilla.xml file, and I've run out 
  of time to get it sorted out.

Beta 0.9j
* Does not exist. There is no spoon. These are not the versions you are looking for.

Beta 0.9k
* Fixed a nasty parsing bug in the XML parser that was hosing menu XML configs.
  The parser I used failed to consider nested nodes with the same node name, so it 
  would stop parsing the node at the first end tag, instead of doing a reference count
  and incrementing/decrementing the reference count on pairs of tags. Understandable, 
  as the code gets more complex. Hopefully my fix will hold :)
* Fixed problem with FontBundle toolkit created XPR files. The tool used a newer version
  of the XDK tool, resulting in a version conflict with the MXM font routines. MXM now 
  supports both versions of fonts without complaint.
* Soundtrack issues seem to be cleaned up.
* Fixed problem with "Passcode" conditionals
* FTP Server Working! No longer using XBFileZilla, using J.P.Patches' code. Not perfect yet, as
  I've got configuration and such. For now, l/p: xbox/xbox Configuration will come in on the next version.
* Fixed minor issue with MXM style menu block - if you specify "Scale Y"a dn number of items, it didn't use 
  the proper height, and failed to display allthe items, now it does.
* Fixed synchronization issue with gadget timers
* Added new strings:
   MAC
   XboxVersion
   SerialNumber
   VideoStandard
   ShortDriveCSize
   ShortDriveESize
   ShortDriveFSize
   ShortDriveCFree
   ShortDriveEFree
   ShortDriveFFree
* Text elements can be used as horizontal menus. Suggested usage is to include conditional triangles on either
  side, with "CGTitle" as the string source... Tag for Text Gadgets is: <IsMenu Horizontal="true">true</IsMenu>
  "Horizontal" attribute changes the control to left/right instead of up/down.
  All the usual Text attributes apply... so have fun with it.
* Cacheing Menus! Turn off this feature in the MXM.xml with <UseMenuCache>False</UseMenuCache> under the Main node.
  Otherwise, cache_menu.xml will be generated when running from the hard drive, and used by the program
  whenever it is more current than the MXM.xml and/or the menu.xml file.
  It can be reset from the System Menu (Y Button)
* Fixed problem with Soundtracks! Didn't reveal itself until testing for release... The problem would cause
  lockups on the transition between Title and Menu states.

****************************************************************************************************************
****************************************************************************************************************
Big shout out to J.P.Patches for his FTP Server code.

J.P.Patches shouted back to send back a thanks to Myself (BenJeremy) and HSDEMONZ for assisting in the testing 
of the server, way back when...
****************************************************************************************************************
****************************************************************************************************************


Beta 0.9l
* New strings:
  TempSys
  TempCPU
  TempSysF
  TempSysC
  TempCPUF
  TempCPUC
  BIOSMD5
  BIOSName
  CurrentSubMenu
  TrayState (Open/Closed/Init)
  DVDType  (Identifies the type of disc currently inserted: Game, Movie, Unknown, Empty)
  Name (Identifies the nickname)
  CurrentSong
  CurrentSoundtrack
  NumFTPUsers
  DefaultGateway (These new IPs do not have 'dressing' - add with Compound Strings)
  SubnetMask
  DNS1
  DNS2
* Added Preferences node to configuration.
  - <UseCelsius> If True, displays temps in degrees Celsius, otherwise uses Farenheit
  - <TimeFormat> 0=24-hour format, 1=am/pm format
  - <DateFormat> 0=American mm/dd/yy, 1=Euro yy/mm/dd (More to follow)
  - <Nickname>   Adds the nickname of your choice to the head of the nickname cache
  - <AutoLaunchGame> Will run single game discs and load multi-game compilations into the menu (MXM and MenuX)
    Defaults to FALSE
  - <AutoLoadMulti> Loads multidisc DVD compilations into the menu (Like AutoLaunchGame, but won't run single game discs)
    Defaults to TRUE
  - <DeepMultiSearch> When loading discs, this indicates whether the AutoLoad should search beyond the first layer of subdirectories
  - <AutoLaunchMovie> Will run movie discs using the selected movie player
    Defaults to FALSE
  - <DVDPlayer> and <DVDPlayerCmdLine> get called when playing a DVD movie disc that's autolaunched
                 If not specified, it will search all menu items for the DVD Region X v2 player.
* Added "Overrides" - have to be careful here.... overriding music/video interaction could 
  lead to issues!!
   Overrides::PreviewEnableSound True/False
   Overrides::PreviewSuspendMusic True/False
   Overrides::ForceGlobalMusic True/False
   Overrides::ForceLocalMusic True/False
   Overrides::ForceRandomMusic True/False
* Added new conditionals:
   SubMenu   - True when current menu displayed is submenu
   MainMenu  - True when current menu displayed is main menu (topmost)
* Fixed potential issues with multiple FTP users accessing DVD drive.
* Item element <CommandLine> now supported. Untested, but should work.
* On StrongBad's suggestion, added "B" button to act as "Back" when navigating menus.
* Fixed nonworking <ArrowColor> tag in Menu::MenuX gadget.
* Skins now may assign menu and message box colors:
   MessageBox::BoxColor (Defaults to 0x80000000)
   MessageBox::BorderColor (Defaults to 0xffffff00)
   MessageBox::TextColor (Defaults to 0xffffffff)
   MessageBox::ShadowColor (Defaults to 0xff000000)
   SystemMenu::BoxColor (Defaults to 0x80000000)
   SystemMenu::BorderColor (Defaults to 0xffffff00)
   SystemMenu::TextColor (Defaults to 0xff909090)
   SystemMenu::SelectColor (Defaults to 0xffffffff)
   SystemMenu::ValueColor (Defaults to 0xff000090)
   SystemMenu::SelectValueColor (Defaults to 0xffc0c0ff)
* Added check to prevent AutoDir from loading MXM as an item
* "X" button on gamepad now skips to the next song in the menu screen.
* Added new image sources, menu based ones, analogous to the entry ones... for the current menu:
  Menu
  MenuNamed
  MenuBase
  MenuBaseIdx
  (These are untested)
* FTPServer was "slightly rewritten" - J.P.Patches core was great, I just re-did it using a bit 
  more robust string object (no overflows) and added XML configuration. Some testing was done, 
  looks OK. PASV mode still going to be an issue.
* New Node in Text Gadget <Multi> to support compound strings
  Example:
  <Multi>
   <Text>This is </Text>
   <Text source="disctitle" />
   <Text constant=" more text" />
   <Text const=" this also acceptable " />
   <Text source="configvalue" section="information" key="UserName"/>
   </Multi>
  This will create a compound string that combines the values.
* Fixed nasty little parsing issue - It didn't affect too much before, but arose under certain circumstances.
* XML values now support HTML Codes: &lt; &gt; &amp; for "<", ">", and "&" respectively.
* Added Time Synchronization. Supports network Timeservers (port 13) at the moment, more will be added.
  Preferences::SynchronizeClock (True/False, false if TimeServer is not defined, otherwise defaults to True)
  Preferences::TimeServerIP (Defaults to null)
* Added Network settings node:
  Network::UseDHCP (True/False, defaults to last setting, otherwise)
  Network::IP
  Network::DNS1
  Network::DNS2
  Network::DefaultGateway
  Network::SubnetMask
* FTP Priority setting: 
  Preferences::FTPPriority (Lowest/Low/BelowNormal/Normal/AboveNormal/High/Highest Defaults to Normal)
* Made improvements to speed on FTP uploads and downloads
* Tweaked startup to use the undocumented XeImageFileName to determien the startup path. This should fix
  a few problems, hopefully. 
* In the skins, multiple image resources can be randomly selected from at bootup. See the skinning guide for details.  
  (This is untested)
* If no items are found in the MXM.xml as subnodes of "Config" then it will also look for a "Menu" subnode as second chance.
* Added System Information screen - It's not too exciting for now, but it does consolidate much of the info available.
* Fixed issue with FTP and root directories.

Beta 0.9m
* Fixed FTP Issues:
  - Can now properly overwrite files
  - Corrected issue with some FTP Clients not displaying directory listings
  - RMD should work 100% now
  - Directory Listings clone Evo-X output
  - PASV now works (some testing done)



To do:
* Add ability to synchronize with atomic clock server
* Add Flash BIOS code
* Add Dialog/Control Classes
* Add "DupeOK" to allow duplicate entries
* Check <LoadSkin> again.

* Verify settings work as advertised
* Allow some settings to be configured from system menu

Configuring IP:
 DHCP or Static
 


FATX
UDFX

! # $ % & ' ( ) - . @ [ ] ^ _ ` { } ~ 
Numerals 0 through 9 
Upper and lower-case letters A through Z 
Character values 128 thru 255 


====== Can Wait For Later =======
14. Consolidate init screen code
13. Create one or two new init screens
4. Add arrow gadgets	
5. Poly Gadgets

New Options:
<AutoDir Flatten="true">E:\</AutoDir>

<RemoveDuplicates></RemoveDuplicates>



Text Fields to support:
*Current Game Title
*Current Game Descr
*Disc Title
*Disc SubTitle
*Disk Free Space
*Disk Total Space
Disk Used Space
*BIOS
(Find out all the Evo-X supported strings and add them)
*CD (Disc inserted status?)
*Time*
*MXMVersion
*KernelVersion
*BiosVersion
RDName
*Name
*Temps
*Date
*DateTime
*IP
*ConfigValue (Section, Key)
*SkinValue (Section, Key)
*CGEntryValue (Section, Key)
Ethernet Line Status
IP Type
*Subnet Mask
*Default Gateway
*DNS1
*DNS2
Xbox Hardware Info
Flash Type


Number of items in current menu
Number of total items
Number of items in submenu selected


Loading Entries:
Each Xbe Entry will perform the following checks:
- File Must Exist (Unless "Debug" is on)
- If No Title, one is grabbed from the Xbe
- If No Description, One will be generated (Unless disabled via config)
- If No Media Entry:
  Searches for MXM_SS.xxx files. WMV first, followed by JPG, BMP, TGA, and PNG
  Uses TitleImage.xbx, if available
- Creates a "Thumbnail" Entry for TitleImage.xbx file (uses Media if not available)  






The Kernel Sits in Memory at start address of 0x80010000 You can try and patch some of the unused .EXE headers in RAM, shutdown your app, run a new one and inspect the changed area to see if the change persisted.. It theoretically should've.. Havnt tried it yet, but this is like 5 lines of code to test it..

not sure where you whould put your "igr" interrupt service routine and where you would "hook" it in, but thats at least a start...




This release is intended to bring the new skinning technology to AT LEAST the level of the old skins,
and compatibility will be maintained (we will load the old skins in and rebuild them internally as
new skins). Many enhanced features will also be available. See the SkinReference guide for more details.



KNOWN ISSUES/TO DO LIST:
* Add polygon definition for Image Gadget, so they can be displayed in a non-rectangular region.
* Add Yes/No dialog to app toolbox.
* Apparently, MXM cannot be launched from BoXplorer. It hangs on the call to DirectSoundCreate()
  only a few lines into initialization. If anybody knows why this is happening, please clue 
  me in. Tulkas... if you read this, CONTACT ME.
* Users have expressed a desire to see the screenshots fade from one to another.
* Items loaded from the MXM.xml are not checked yet for validity. If they don't exist,
  the entries should be tossed.
* WMV files *MUST* have sound present, even if you are not playing sound.
* Support for XMV is not present.
* More styles needed (this is beyond the skinnable "simple style", referring to 3D styles
  like a spinning screenshot cube, for example.)
* Circular menus option
* Easy access to additional entry fields for Generic skinning
* Still some soundtrack issues...
* Get default sound into xbe
* Update smooth scrolling to work for circular and horizontal options.
* Add thumbnail screen
  Displays "x" entries in HxW format on screen
  Skin defines 'box', and number of entries H and W.
  Define key behavior (Up/Down/Left/Right)
* Helper Win32 apps needed for HD configuring and another for validating DVD layouts.

===================================================================
Dashboard Enhancement Project
===================================================================
OK, it's really a wishlist of features I'd like to see included to offer 
fullfledged dashboard support in MXM:

* FTP server
* HTTP Server
* Telnet Server
* Executable Scripting language 
* VNC Client
* VNC Server 
* BIOS Flasher
* EEPROM config manager
* CD Music Ripper
* Save game management
* Xbox-to-Xbox transfer util with CRC file checking
* Installer
* Filemanager
* Instant Messenger client
* IRC client
* Voice/video over IP
* DVD ripper  (Seperate application, launched by MXM)
* Audio Media Player with visual effects
* Graphics slideshow display
* E-Mail client
* Defrag utility (I'm kinda iffy about this, as to need, but I've had a killer idea to do this FASTER than anything before it)
* Time setting Manual and 'atomic'
* Format and HD Prep

Other goodies:

* Flash viewer


References:

http://www.uk.research.att.com/vnc/faq.html

===================================================================
Things that couldn't make it into this release, but are planned:
===================================================================
* More detailed directions. Look, this stuff takes forever, and this will
  have to do until the later. Sorry.
* XMV and other animated format support. WMV is supported for now, though.
* Smarter relative paths. For now, we must assume any relative path is a CD/DVD. There
  is still work to be done to examine symbolic links so the menu system knows "where" it 
  actually  is being run from.
* More eye-candy. 
  - Animated menus (M$ Dash style or a rotating screenshot cube, for example)
  - Soundtrack-aware visuals in a screensaver
* Support for all video modes (HDTV, PAL).
* Full support for external fonts.



===================================================================
Other ideas:
===================================================================

* A PC-side app to handhold through the process of making and verifying a menu.

===================================================================
Suggestions:
===================================================================

[maidenman from xbox-scene]----------

 How about waiting five seconds and then automatically booting that game. (Similar to the Windows multi-boot  menu). This way, those who use Media X as their dashboard can have their current game of choice boot  automatically, no user-intervention, when they turn on their Box! This should be an option than can be  disabled in the .ini.

 If you want to get fancy, remember how many times every game on the menu has been loaded, and re-order the  menu so most popular games are on top, the way the Windows XP start menu works. Those games you have on the  Hard Drive just for the occasional demo for friends will automagically be positioned on the end of the list.

[weavus from xbox-scene]----------
 Too many to count. :) I'm trying to get as much as possible in 1.0

 I think we are going to need the ability to turn off the admittedly nice new loading sky/logo as it looks out of place when you are using nested MXM's. I.E. having one as a main menu and sub ones for categories. I like the fact it displays quickly but would rather have the title screen while I wait for a sub MXM to load.  

>>My response<<
What I might do, when I get it working, is have the initialization screen (which is what's happening when it's displayed) disabled when it loads with parameters... which is how I might handle using multiple MXM.xml files. I'm still tweaking that particular issue in my head.

The title screen is a bit difficult to throw up, since a lot has to happen before we can even get to that stage (including loading & parsing MXM.xml, looking for skins, loading and parsing the MXM_Skin.xml, and loading the associated image). It's much faster now (a few seconds) and believe it or now, image loading is actually QUICKER when using WMV videos. I'll play around a bit more with it.

I might also make an optional "fade to black and back" transition between states (actually, there's probably a whole slew of transitions I could add now).



[NetDan]----------------
 How about adding game categery menus? It would be great to organize the games like (FPS, Racing, Action, Sports, etc). I know I can do this with EvolutionX but I really like MenuX because I can see game covers and screenshots. I don't know how hard this would be but thanks in advance if you do decide to add this feature!


===================================================================
Configuring MXM:
===================================================================
Configuration is now done with XML files. This was done to maintain 
consistency, since the upcoming features require the flexibility of 
XML for more Generic skinning options.

For the most part, you only need to run the INI to XML converter for 
Windows (released with these binaries) to convert your existing files
over to the new file format. You may even edit these files as INI 
files and convert to XMl with the tool.

XML is pretty straightforward, looking much like an HTML file. For
MXM configuration, the files will look something like this:

<Config>
<Section>
<Key>value</Key>
</Section>
</Config>

This format will also allow multi-line descriptions in game entries
which will be very useful in the near future.

Well, enough discussing the merits of XML, on with the show:

We won't be detailing skin options. These should be set from the Skin
configuration file. From this version on out, such options are 
"officially" unsupported in the main MXM.xml file, and while they 
may work at the moment, they may not in the next version.



-------------------
Menu items:	
-------------------

Each menu item will be listed in its own section, using "Item_x" as the name.
It will read each item in order, starting with Item_1, until it fails to find 
the "next" one.... See the sample INI file for a detailed example.


Example:

<Item_1>
<Title>ToeJam and Earl III</Title>
<Description>Platforming classic returns!</Description>
<Media>TOEJAM3.png</Media>
<Dir>TOEJAM</Dir>
</Item_1>


Title
[title string]
  The title that's displayed in the menu selection

Description
[text to be displayed at the bottom of the selection menu]
  The text displayed at teh bottom of the menu selection box

Media
[filename (may include absolute or relative path) of image]
  The bitmap (BMP,TGA,PNG,JPG) used to display a screenshot or title screen

Dir
[Relative or absolute path to program]
  The directory the exeutable resides in

Exe
[executable filename]
  The executable filename, defaults to default.xbe

Passcode
[5 letter alphanumeric passcode]
  User must enter this code in a special screen before they are able to run a program.
  NOTE: This feature will not prevent a persistant user, but should work for most people.

HelpScr_(xx)
  (xx) - two digit index value from 01-99
[image filepath]
  If present, will enable game help for that entry (Black button on game controller). This is 
  handy for games that have complex controller setups, but can be used for other things as well.
  You may use WMV files here, too. MXM will search from 01, 02, ... until it hits a break in the 
  entries. These are accessed when viewing the help screen by pressing Left or Right when there
  is more than one help screen available. 
  (NOTE: Some people might want to toss the games video clips in here)

-------------------
Main config:	
-------------------


DiscTitle
[Title String Here]
  The title displayed in the title screen

DiscSubtitle
[Subtitle String Here]
  Text displayed below title in title screen

Style
[Style ID]
  Style ID, currently unsupported, when supported, this option
  will determine the menu 'style' used. NOTE: This does not refer 
  to the "skins" being used. 2-D skins are, as a whole, a style.
  It is unsupported, because in the future, MXM will have 3-D
  styles, in addition to the 2-D skinnable style.

*TitleDelay
[Delay in seconds]
  Delay, in seconds, for the display of the title screen on startup. (Default 20sec)
  Hitting a button will bypass the title screen. A value of 0 will disable the title screen.

*SaverDelay
[Delay in seconds]
  Delay before launching the screen saver from the menu screen. If "0" turns saver off.
  If greater than 0 and less than 30, it will set the delay to 30.
  (Default 300sec, or 5 min)
  
	
MXMPath
[Absolute path]
  Defaults to D:\, this represents the path the menu is being run from.
  Used to launch apps run from relative paths. This is only useful when running 
  the app from the hard drive, otherwise, just leave it off.


ExitApp
[Absolute filepath to dashboard]
  Because some are using MXM as a dashboard, this option was included to 
  facilitate the launch of a dashboard application using the "Dash" button
  combination (both thumbsticks down). Normally, this can be ignored.

ExitAppParams
[Text to feed to ExitApp application]
  Not currently used. 

LoadSkin
[Name of skin to use on startup]
  Technically, it's the name of the directory the skin resides in, for example 
  "LCARS" or "DefaultSkin" - a skin MUST exist in this directory for this to work.

AllowAutoConfig
[Yes/No]
  Defaults to Yes (if there are no item entries in MXM.xml), but if you set to No, 
  it will prevent MXM from searching subdirectories for games and applications to load up.

AllowAutoTitle
[Yes/No]
  Defaults to Yes (if there are no item entries in MXM.xml), but if you set to No, 
  it will prevent MXM from defaulting the game titles based on a preset value in MXM 
  using the game's unique ID code. This is automatcally overriden, if a game title is 
  specified for the entry.

AllowAutoDescr
[Yes/No]
  Defaults to Yes (if there are no item entries in MXM.xml), but if you set to No, 
  it will prevent MXM from defaulting the game titles based on a preset value in MXM 
  using the game's unique ID code. This is automatcally overriden, if a game title is 
  specified for the entry. If MXM does not have a unique description, it will attempt
  to use the publisher's name for the description.

AllowVideoSound
[Yes/No]
  Defaults to Yes. Pauses background music while videos arte played and plays the sound
  that accompanies the video. The reason it defaults to Yes is that it seems that when
  running videos on a DVD, it can sometimes bog down due to excessive disc accesses.

MoveDelay
[delay time in milliseconds]
  Defaults to 220 milliseconds

RepeatDelay
[delay time in milliseconds]
  Defaults to 220 milliseconds

EXAMPLE:

<Config>
<Main>
<DiscTitle>MediaX Menu</DiscTitle>
<DiscSubtitle>Subtitle here</DiscSubtitle>
<TitleDelay>20</TitleDelay>
<SaverDelay>300</SaverDelay>
<ExitApp>C:\evoxdash.xbe</ExitApp>
<LoadSkin>LCARS</LoadSkin>
<MXMPath>D:\</MXMPath>
<MoveDelay>100</MoveDelay>
<RepeatDelay>500</RepeatDelay>
</Main>
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
 Other sections
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
</Config>



-------------------
Menu config:	
-------------------

AllowSaverMusic=<on/true/1/yes or off/false/0/no>
AllowSaverSound=<on/true/1/yes or off/false/0/no>
  These are pretty much self-explanatory


Example:

<Config>
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
 Other sections
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
<Menu>
<AllowSaverMusic>on</AllowSaverMusic>
<AllowSaverSound>on</AllowSaverSound>
</Menu>
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
 Other sections
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
</Config>




-------------------
Help config:	
-------------------

Screen_(xx)
  Where (xx) is the screen index. There are three default help screens for MXM built
  into the system, but these can be overridden with this command. If any are defined here,
  they will prevent any of the built in ones from appearing.
  The screen numbering is sequential, from "01", until it reaches the last continuous 
  sequentially numbered item. You may witsh to use video files for help (sound is not played, 
  however).

Example:

<Config>
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
 Other sections
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
<Help>
<Screen_01>Help\GameControllerHlp.wmv</Screen_01>
<Screen_02>Help\IRControllerHlp.wmv</Screen_02>
</Help>
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
 Other sections
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
</Config>




-------------------
Music config:	
-------------------

Adding music tracks to the menu system

You have several basic options:
1. Playing a specific file
2. Playing a directory of music
3. Playing the Xbox's own soundtrack

You should always have something to play.

Options under [Music]:

UseMusic
[on/off]
  If on (Default), music will play, if off, no music will be played.

Background
[filename]
  This option allows you to place a single file into the "local" soundtrack. Use this
  to select a single file to play during the menu operation.

Directory
[directory]
  This option will cause the menu system to read an entire directory and add it to the 
  "local" soundtrack.

Global
[on/off]
  This option, when activated (default) will play any tracks contained on the Xbox's 
  regular soundtracks.

Random
[on/off]
  Default is on. This randomizes the order used to play the soundtrack files. If off,
  it will play the local soundtrack (in order) followed by the Xbox soundtracks (if 
  Global is on, of course)



<Config>
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
 Other sections
  :     :    :   :
  :     :    :   :
<Music>
<UseMusic>true</UseMusic>
<Background>MyTrack.wma</Background>
<Directory>MUSIC</Directory>
<Global>true</Global>
<Random>off</Random>
</Music>
</Config>





===================================================================
Skins:
===================================================================
  Eventually, there will be a more comprehensive guide on this. All I can 
suggest for the moment is to examine the current skins and work from those.
Remember that skins directories reside in the directory MXM itself is run
from. 


===================================================================
Directories:
===================================================================

On a DVD disc, it will look much like this:

D:\default.xbe   <-MXM.xbe renamed
D:\MXM.xml
D:\DefaultSkin
D:\DefaultSkin\*.* <-Default Skin files, including MXM_Skin.xml
D:\LCARS\          <-Another Skin, LCARS
D:\LCARS\*.*       <-LCARS skin files, including MXM_Skin.xml
D:\Media
D:\Media\font16.xpr
D:\Media\SkyTile.jpg
D:\Media\LargeLogo.png
D:\GAME1           <-Directory of a game
D:\GAME1\default.xbe
D:\GAME1\MXM_Entry.xml <-Game Entry configuration
D:\GAME1\MXM_SS.jpg    <-Screenshot (could also be a WMV, for example)
D:\GAME1\*.*           <-Remaining files and directories
D:\GAME2           <-Directory of a game
D:\GAME2\default.xbe
D:\GAME2\MXM_Entry.xml <-Game Entry configuration
D:\GAME2\MXM_SS.bmp    <-Screenshot (could also be a TGA, for example)
D:\GAME2\*.*           <-Remaining files and directories


On a hard disk, it will look similar, except you may specify the game entries
in the MXM.xml file, instead of relying on auto-config, for games not located 
immediately below MXM.

===================================================================
Note to developers:
===================================================================


Sorry this is in such a messy state.

I'd like to acknowledge CodeProject as the source of the CStdString class.
I've discovered that it really helps with the Xbox APIs, particularly with 
conversion, but it's a bit kludgy. Best to use CStdString natively (compiles 
as 8-bit ASCII strings) and whenever you need wchar_t types, simply assign 
to a temporary CStdStringW object and pass out "wsTemp.c_str()" for the 
desired wchar format. You could even use:

    CStdString sThis String(_T("test"));

	SomeFunctionW( CStdStringW(sThis).c_str() );

to pass in the value.

The INI classes were built specifically with the Xbox in mind, They utilize
STL templates for mapping the parameters and CStdString as the basis for
the strings. Feel free to port this to your own applications. I intended 
this implementation to support other formats as well, on multiple platforms,
such as XML and registry configurations on desktop systems or handhelds.
Support may be added for more data types, as well.

The application is laid out with the idea of operating the applications
in different states. Each state has it's own initialization, activation, 
movement and rendering functions. This makes it easier to bounce between 
the different modes. This is in it's second incarnation, and I've got some 
ideas to improve it further. I plan on integrating the music manager further
as well as more utility functions.

Did I mention it's rather messy right now? Ugh. I'm working on cleaning it up.

The music manager required quite a bit of work to make it more robust. Please 
keep in mind I'm not working with a debug console, so when something breaks, 
the system just doesn't work at all.... MusicManager was a big headache. I plan
enhancing the current classes with more dynamic support in the future, but for now,
it's pretty complete. Callbacks into the Application class (or access to buffers 
for the app) would be nice, particularly for the visualization stuff.


"xntdll.h" The magic NTDLL routines are generally the realm of device driver 
programmers. There's a lot of cool stuff in here. As I said online, I think 
new BIOSes could theoretically support LAN drives through enhancing the driver 
support in the BIOS. This file will hopefully grow with other functions, as well.

CStdString GetRealCDROMPath( void ): :::sigh::: This should have worked, but
it's not at the moment. If anybody can figure this one out, I'd greatly appreciate
it. I'd prefer not to have to kludge up some detect based on writing to D:\ to see
if I'm on the hard drive or not - and it makes it absolutely impossible to see if
I'm running from a subdirectory of the hard drive. This routine was supposed to
unravel the symbolic links that convert the menu program's directory to be seen
as "D:\" instead of what it really is. Microsoft has even been so kind as to 
change the parameters used by NtOpenSymbolicLinkObject() call in the Xbox.

Video support: I'm probably missing something simple, something I'll see a half hour
after I send this whole thing out.... but it's not working at the moment. Everything 
is in place.... it's just broken as it sits. Dunno why at the moment. It should load
up the video info initially, then when "getting" the texture, load up the next frame, 
and send the texture from the "current" frame. Seems pretty simple. Once it's working,
any video should be able to be used where a bitmap is.

Modularizing the themes: I'd like to look at doing sections for this, but even better if 
there is a way to do it like a DLL. Again, I don't know if this will be possible, given
the way the XBEs are loaded, but I get the impression the dashboard uses standard XBEs in
EXACTLY this fashion, when they are renamed .xip's. I suspect there is a kernel function
to load these by section to run. Anybody look at this?



Thoughts on initialization:
  Currently, MXM is using the XBApplication helper class. This will soon be modified to allow 
different display standards. Because the previous application may have left a persistent display
in a different resolution from what we are running, we need to save off the persistent display
immediately after running to a texture, so we can use it.
  A flag, "m_bAllowAppRender" will be set to false initially, while a seperate thread runs to 
display an init "loading" screen with throbbing logo. Since the D3D presentation parameters are 
initialized in the app constructor, but not used until the "Create()" has been called, we
can modify these parameters in our "local" MXMApp object's constructor before the Create() is 
called.

XBApp()
MXMApp()
XBApp->Create()
 MXMApp->Initialize()  ---> Grab PersistImage, Load Init Screen data, spin thread
  States->Initialize()
XBApp->Run()
 MXMApp->FrameMove()
  States->FrameMove()
 MXMApp->Render()
  States->Render()

Thread will slowly blend the PersistImage out and the loadscreen render in with throbbing "Initializing"



Notes on generic Skinning:
XMl files will define two primary things:

Resources and Layouts.

Resources are those items which can be used globally in the skin, and are defined exactly once.
Once Images are defined, they can be used anywhere images are defined in layouts, in use as masks, 
backgrounds, etc.

Resources:
 Fonts
  Defined by an XPR file. 
 Images
  Any image file  

Layouts will consist of images, text, and special fields.

Images will have several attributes, including Mask Image, AlphaEnable, and AlphaColor. Sources can 
include fixed (skin directory based), local (such as screenshots), and generated.




I plan on creating a fairly generic skin renderer, which could be used on other things as 
well (such as a media player, dashboard, or game interface).


Fonts and masks must be defined as resources.

<Skin>
 <Resources>
  <Font Name="Font16">
   <File>Font16.xpr</File>
  </Font>
 <Image Name="ShotMask">
  <File>Mask1.jpg</File>
 </Image>
</Resources>
<Layouts>
 <Layout Name="Menu">
  <LayoutElement Type=Image>
   <Source>Fixed</Source>
   <File>MenuBack.jpg</File>
  </LayoutElement>
  <LayoutElement Type=Image>
   <Source>Local</Source>
   <Tag>CoverShot</Tag>
   <SubSource>Game</SubSource>
   <AutoBasename>MXM_COVER</AutoBasename>
   <Location>40,50</Location>
   <Size>200,300</Size>
  </LayoutElement>
  <LayoutElement Type=Image>
   <Source>Local</Source>
   <SubSource>Game</SubSource>
   <Tag>ScreenShot1</Tag>
   <AutoBasename>MXM_SS1</AutoBasename>
   <Location>240,250</Location>
   <Size>64,64</Size>
   <Mask>ShotMask</Mask>
  </LayoutElement>
  <LayoutElement Type=Image>
   <Source>Local</Source>
   <SubSource>Game</SubSource>
   <Tag>ScreenShot2</Tag>
   <AutoBasename>MXM_SS2</AutoBasename>
   <Location>340,250</Location>
   <Size>64,64</Size>
   <Mask>ShotMask</Mask>
  </LayoutElement>
  <LayoutElement Type=TextBox>
   <Source>Local</Source>
   <SubSource>Game</SubSource>
   <Tag>LongDescr</Tag>
   <Location>240,50</Location>
   <Size>200,175</Size>
   <Justify>Center</Justify>
   <Font>Font16</Font>
   <Color>0xffffffff</Color>
   <Shadow>0x80000000</Shadow>
  </LayoutElement Type=MenuChoice>
   <Font>Font16</Font>
   <Location>100,350</Location>
   <Size>450,50</Size>
   <Resize>KeepAspect</Resize>
   <NumChoices>1</NumChoices>
   <Orientation>LeftRight</Orientation>
   <Color>0xffffffff</Color>
   <Shadow>0x80000000</Shadow>
  <LayoutElement Type=MenuArrowLeft>
   <Location>50,350</Location>
   <Size>50,50</Size>
   <Color>0xffffffff</Color>
   <Shadow>0x80000000</Shadow>
  </LayoutElement>
  <LayoutElement Type=MenuArrowRight>
   <Location>500,350</Location>
   <Size>50,50</Size>
   <Color>0xffffffff</Color>
   <Shadow>0x80000000</Shadow>
  </LayoutElement>
 </Layout>
</Layouts>


Data will come from several different places:

***Source->SubSource***

Local->Main
Local->Game
Fixed (File location, relative to skin.xml location)
Resource-><name>



Layout Names:

Title
Menu
Saver
>Help (to be added)
>Thumbnail (to be added)
>GameHelp (to be added)
>Loading (to be added)
>Password (to be added)

Types of elements:
 Image
 TextLine
 TextBox
 "Specials"
  MenuArrowRight
  MenuArrowLeft
  MenuArrowUp
  MenuArrowDown
  ScrollDescription
  ScrollMenu
  ScrollChoice


Sounds:
 SoundTrackDirectory
 IntroSound
 UpSound
 DownSound
 SelectSound
 TransitionSound
 


Thoughts on....


Generic Help Screen Definition:
1. GameTitle
2. HelpScreenTitle
3. Controls as defined:
   Dpad
    
    DpadLeft
    DpadRight
    
    DpadUp
    DpadDown
    DpadX
    DpadY
   LThumb
    :
   RThumb
    :
   A
   B
   X
   Y
   RTrigger
   LTrigger
   Start
   Back
   White
   Black


Game Controller:

Navigate Choices: D-Pad or Thumbsticks
Select Choice: Start or A button
Boot to Dash: Press both Thumbsticks
About MXM: Y Button
Game Help: Black Button
Help: White Button
Thumbnail: X Button


IR Controller:

Navigate Choices: Cursor
Select Choice: Select
Boot to Dash: Title
About MXM: Display
Game Help: Info
Help: Menu
Thumbnail:

Keyboard 

Navigate Choices: Cursor Keys
Select Choice: Enter
Boot to Dash: PrtScr
About MXM: Tab
Game Help: F2
Help: F1
Thumbnail: F12

<Help_01>
<HelpTitle>Help Screen 1</HelpTitle>
<DpadX>Select Item</DpadX>
<DpadY>Select Power</DpadY>
<A>Use Item</A>
<B>Use Force</B>
<LThumbY>Move forward/Back</LThumbY>
</Help_01>


On bootup:
Prepare screen
Launch InitScreen Thread
Initialize MXM, Skin and Items
End InitScreen
IF TitleDelay != 0, launch TitleState
    WAIT on TitleState until delay exhausted, or if TitleDelay = -1, until keypress
Launch MenuState



Loading Menu Items:
IF !MXM.xml and !Auto-Config XMLs and menu.xdi exists...
  Go into "MenuX" mode:
   * No title screen
   * Use "MenuX" skinning - menux external fonts and layout, using their images
   * Single level DVD menu


Global Image (non-Video) Cache using CImageSource:

Keep global list with following information:
FilePath
FileSize (When loaded)
CacheLocation (NULL is not loaded)
TimeStamp (Last time loaded)
TimeStamp (Last time used)
ReferenceCount (Currently used count)
UniqueID (Used by referencer to release)

When CImageSource is created needing an image loaded:
-Dereferences currently cached image (if there)
-Requests Texture from Global Cache & attaches result

Global Image Cache maintains actual lifetime of textures via AddRef() and Release() calls.
All CImageCource need do is call Global Image Cache's CreateTexture() routine




PUBLISHER		GAME
0000 Homebrew	 0000 RemoteX
0000 Homebrew    0002 MedialayerName
0fac Homebrew	 e007 Box Media Player
4143 Acclaim	 0003 Legends Of Wrestling
4143 Acclaim	 0004 Turok Evolution
4143 Acclaim	 0006 Burnout
4143 Acclaim	 0007 Aggressive Inline
4143 Acclaim	 000e BMX XXX
4156 Activision	 0004 Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3
4156 Activision	 0005 Blade II
4156 Activision	 0006 Spider-Man
4156 Activision	 0007 X-Men: Next Dimension
4156 Activision	 0009 Rally Fusion : Race Of Champions
4156 Activision	 000a WRECKLESS
4156 Activision	 000b Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2
4156 Activision	 000c WRECKLESS
4156 Activision	 0014 Minority Report
4156 Activision	 0017 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4
424d Bam         0001 Chase
424d Bam         0002 Reign Of Fire
4253 Bethesda	 0001 Morrowind
4257 BBC         0001 Robot Wars Extreme Destruction
4343 Capcom      0007 MARVEL VS. CAPCOM2
434d Codemasters 0003 Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing
434d Codemasters 0008 Prisoner Of War
4356 Crave	 0001 Kabuki Warriors
4356 Crave	 0002 UFC Tapout
4541 EA		 0001 Madden NFL 2002
4541 EA		 0002 Nascar Thunder 2002
4541 EA		 0003 NBA Live 2002
4541 EA		 0004 SSX Tricky
4541 EA		 000d 007 : Agent Under Fire
4541 EA		 000e Harry Potter CoS
4541 EA		 0011 Cel Damage
4541 EA		 0012 Buffy: The Vampire Slayer
4541 EA		 0013 Simpsons Road Rage
4541 EA		 0015 Pirates : Legend Of Black Kat
4541 EA		 001a Medal Of Honor Frontline
4541 EA		 001b NASCAR Thunder
4541 EA		 0026 007: NightFire
4541 EA		 0028 NFS Hot Pursuit 2
4541 EA		 0029 TY the Tasmanian Tiger
4543 Encore	 0001 Circus Maximus
4553 Eidos	 0002 Championship Manager
4553 Eidos	 0006 Blood Omen 2
4553 Eidos	 0009 Hitman2: Silent Assassin
4553 Eidos	 000a TimeSplitters 2
4947 Infogrames	 0001 Test Drive Off-Road: Wide Open
4947 Infogrames	 0005 Transworld Surf
4947 Infogrames	 0006 Loons - The Fight For Fame
4947 Infogrames	 0007 Test Drive
4947 Infogrames	 0009 NASCAR Heat 2002
4947 Infogrames	 000d TAZ: WANTED
4947 Infogrames	 000f Monopoly Party
4947 Infogrames	 0012 Zapper
4947 Infogrames	 0016 Superman: The Man of Steel
4947 Infogrames	 001b Splashdown
4947 Infogrames	 0024 Unreal Championship
4947 Infogrames	 0026 The Terminator: Dawn of Fate
4947 Infogrames	 0028 Nickelodeon Party Blast
494c CrapJap     0002 Braveknight
494d Imagine     0008 OXM Disc 9
494d Imagine     0009 OXM Disc 10
494d Imagine     000a OXM Disc 11
494d Imagine     000b OXM Disc 12
4b42 Kemco            0002 Egg Mania
4b4e Konami      0002 Airforce Delta Storm
4b4e Konami      0004 SILENT HILL 2
4c41 LucasArts   0001 Star Wars Obi-Wan
4c41 LucasArts   0002 Starfighter SE
4c41 LucasArts   0005 Star Wars Jedi Starfighter
4c41 LucasArts   0009 Jedi Knight II
4d41 Complex     5800 MenuX
4d41 Complex     5801 MenuX
4d4a Majesco     0001 BloodRayne
4d4a Majesco     0002 Totaled
4d4a Majesco     0003 Gun Metal
4d53 Microsoft	 0001 Oddworld
4d53 Microsoft	 0002 Fuzion Frenzy
4d53 Microsoft	 0003 Project Gotham Racing
4d53 Microsoft	 0004 Halo
4d53 Microsoft	 0005 Amped
4d53 Microsoft	 0007 Azurik
4d53 Microsoft	 0008 Nightcaster
4d53 Microsoft	 000f Rallisport Challenge
4d53 Microsoft	 0010 Blood Wake
4d53 Microsoft	 0013 BLiNX: the time sweeper
4d53 Microsoft	 0015 Quantum Redshift
4d53 Microsoft	 0017 MechAssault
4d53 Microsoft	 0023 Sneakers
4d53 Microsoft	 002e MAXIMUM CHASE
4d53 Microsoft	 0030 Jockey's Road
4d53 Microsoft	 0032 Shenmue II
4d57 Midway	 0002 Arctic Thunder
4d57 Midway	 0003 NHL Hitz 20-02
4d57 Midway	 0004 Spy Hunter
4d57 Midway	 0006 Defender
4d57 Midway	 0008 Slugfest
4d57 Midway	 000b NHL Hitz 2003
4d57 Midway	 000c MK Deadly Alliance
4d57 Midway	 000e Gauntlet Dark Legacy
4d57 Midway	 0011 Dr. Muto
4d57 Midway	 0012 Fireblade
4e4d Namco	 0001 Smashing Drive
4e4d Namco	 0005 Dead To Rights
4e4d Namco	 0006 Pac-Man World 2
4e4d Namco	 0007 NamcoMuseum
5345 Sega        0003 segaGT 2002
5345 Sega        0004 CRAZY TAXI 3 High Roller
5345 Sega        0008 House of the Dead 3
5345 Sega        000a Jet Set Radio Future
5345 Sega        000b GUNVALKYRIE
5345 Sega        000f ToeJam & Earl III
5345 Sega        0011 NFL2K3
5443 Tecmo	 0001 Dead Or Alive 3
5443 Tecmo	 0004 FATAL FRAME
544d TDK         0001 Shrek
544d TDK         0002 Robotech: Battlecry
544d TDK         0004 Shrek Super Party
5451 THQ         0003 MX 2002 with Ricky Carmichael
5451 THQ         0004 Dark Summit
5451 THQ         0007 Toxic Grind
5451 THQ         0008 MotoGP: Ultimate Racing Technology
5451 THQ         000a Tetris Worlds
5454 God Games   0001 4X4 EVO 2
5454 Rockstar    0003 Max Payne
5454 Gotham      0004 Serious Sam
5553 Ubi Soft    0001 BATMAN VENGEANCE
5553 Ubi Soft    0004 Deathrow
5553 Ubi Soft    0006 Ghost Recon
5655 Interplay	 0003 Crash Bandicoot
5655 Interplay	 0004 The Fellowship of the Ring
5655 Interplay	 0007 Hunter: The Reckoning
5655 Interplay	 000d The Thing
5655 Interplay	 0010 OUTLAW GOLF
5655 Interplay	 0016 Bruce Lee: QOD
5655 Interplay	 0017 Seablade
7867 GotMod      656e neXgen Dashboard
abba Port        fff0 Quake 2X
f000 Evo-X       002d Attribute Fixer v0.2
ffad TeamXecutor f32f DVD-X2 DongleFree DVD-Player
ffff Development 0000 Blinx the time sweeper
ffff Development 051f Boxplorer
ffff Development 7701 Handy Lynx Emulator



Skinning overview

There are several things the skin concerns itself with:

1. Sound
   The skin configures various sounds used in the application. When the event is fired, the sound is played. This is pretty simple... 
   one sound for each event.  See the Sound Section for more information regarding what events may be accompanied by sounds. 
   In addition, there is support for playback of sound by videos, and those settings are dealt with by the LayoutElement type "Image"

2. Music
   Music is provided by soundtracks. The skin may define a local soundtrack, and overrides all other settings selectively using
   parameters that the skin designer sets.

3. Configuration
   This involves specific things like delays used by the title, screen saver, and loading screens and other miscellaneous items.

4. Resources
   Sounds, Fonts and Images are resources. The skin designer has flexibility in how the images are defined, but fonts and sounds are 
   simple name loaded resources (loaded in this manner to cache commonly used resources). You'll want to define resources at the start
   of the skin definition file, before layouts and sound events.
   
5. Layouts
   This is the nuts and bolts of the skins... Layouts are where the skin designer determines the placement and content of various
   elements of the screens. Currently, there are specific screens and specific behaviors for each.
   
   Title: Displays the layout and awaits an event to end the title screen (key hit, video end, or time delay)
   Loading: Displays the layout and can delay until time expires, video playback ends, or keystroke
   Help: Displays global help screens. User can select screens horizontally (Left and Right) and back out of help.
     Help has multiple screens.
   GameHelp: Displays game help screens. User can elect screens horizontally (Left and Right) and back out of help or
     launch the game from this screen. Multiple screens here... also launching a game can bypass the Loading screen, leaving
     the help screen up as long as possible before the game runs.
   PassCode: User enters the passcode here to enter secured areas (game entries or sub menus). The passcode gadget is required here
     (one will default if it's not defined).
   Menu: Classical preview menu screen. Now it may be defined as horizontally or vertically (default) oriented, giving skin designers
     the ability to define radically different screens. A menu block will be required here, and there are several options available,
     including two vertically-oriented menu blocks (MenuX and MXM), and a horizontally-oriented block. Many resources can be defined
     as game-current here.
   Thumbnail: Displays multiple selections in a grid. (Not implemented in 0.9i)
   
   Layouts are comprised of a variety of LayoutElements. These are defined later in the guide, but they are highly configurable items
   that can be displayed on the screen, including text fields (dynamic and static) that support scaling, fonts, justification and image
   elements. There are even conditional modifiers and some limited animation parameters.  Text elements can pull information from
   various parts of the skin definition or the currently selected item entries (meaning you can extend these item entries to include 
   new information, such as publisher, dates, or ratings). The images can also be dynamic, meaning the resource can be defined to pull
   an image filename dynamically from the item entry, for example.
   
   
   What does this mean? More Power! Skinners will be able to have virtually complete control over the look and feel of MXM. Combined 
   with the fact that MXM can retrofit these new skins and still work with the old MenuX "XDI" files to grab game entry information, 
   provides the best of all possibilities.
   
   
      

