[pulseaudio-discuss] padevchooser improvements

[Michael Gratton]

Hi,

I'd like to make padevchooser a bit easier to use.

One main use case for padevchooser seems to be providing quick access to
networked hosts with PA sources/sinks (this is what I use it for). This
is a bit cumbersome at the moment.

For example, to send audio from my notebook to my desktop, I need to
select the "Default Sink" sub-menu, find the entries for the desktop
machine, then choose the correct one out of the many available for that
host. Choosing this also sets the default server to be the desktop, but
to change both back, I need to go instead to the "Default Server" sub
menu and select "Default" or my notebook's entry, which also changes the
default sink back or else I have to do both. I have to do this manually,
even when the network sink disappears, otherwise there is a long pause
when applications try to open the no-longer-existing network sink.

This is what I'd propose:

     1. Make padevchooser revert to the local machine when avahai
        reports the currently selected network server/source/sink has
        disappeared - this fixes the last problem above
     2. Replace the three Default Server/Sink/Source sub menus with a
        radiobutton-list of available hosts and a permanently available,
        default entry for "This computer" or similar. Much like how
        Network Manager presents a list of available wifi networks.
             1. When selecting a host, all of the local default
                server/source/sink are set to the default for that host.
                This I think would be the common case and is much easier
                than having to hunt for the correct source/sink every
                time through sub menus and removes the asymmetric task
                of changing back to the local machine
             2. More advanced configuration, if required, could be set
                using a "Edit connections..." menu item, which much like
                Network Manager presents a dialog, allowing specific
                sources/sinks to be chosen for the local and networked
                hosts.

Any thoughts? If this sounds reasonable I'd like to have a go at
implementing it.

/Mike

-- 
⎊ Michael Gratton. "Mea navis aëricumbens anguillis abundat."
⎈ <http://web.vee.net/>
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