Winamp command line options

[cmdLine]

Hi,

would it be possible to have more information on the command line options for winamp.exe?

'winamp.exe /?' lists several that are undocumented, such as '/RETURN=', '/REG=', and '/WATCHER'.

I have looked at many posts on this site and external links, but found nothing which documents the above commands.

Thanks.

[DJ Egg]

Yeah, this is the main thread:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=180297

But you're right, there's no mention of those three switches in it.

/REG=AVCNDL

Registers everything: Audio filetypes; Video filetypes; CD player; Needreg=0 (in winamp.ini); Dir contextmenus; playList associations
(ie. it makes Winamp the default player and shows Explorer menus etc).

We mainly use it for:
Default Programs > Set Program Access and Computer Defaults > Custom > Choose a default media player > Winamp > Enable access to this program.


/WATCHER is dead. It was for an old component which we removed a few years back.
I'll check through the code to see if there's still any references/functions remaining, but I think it was all totally removed,
in which case we should also remove it from the list/documentation.


Hmm, I'm not sure what /RETURN= does. I'll look into it....

[Aminifu]

Hi,

Why are the command line options not mentioned in the Help pages?

Is there a date scheduled for a new update of the Winamp Preferences Guide
and can it indicate all the defaults (only some are listed now)?

I know its not easy, but imo documentation is just as important as the product.

[DrO]

having relevant documentation is better than just documenting everything, especially for things which are basically only used internally / as part of a specific action which isn't of use for most users.

-daz

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by DrO

having relevant documentation is better than just documenting everything, especially for things which are basically only used internally / as part of a specific action which isn't of use for most users.

-daz

Hi,

That's understandable, but 'relevant' depends on who is judging. I was thinking about
cutting down on posting questions for stuff I could otherwise find on the help pages
and saving considerable time searching through existing posts.

Maybe I'm not the usual user. I like reading documentation. The more I know up-front
about an app, the better I am at using it to the fullest and working around issues when
possible.

It's fun 'discovering' old WA features and exploring new ones. But sometimes it's
frustrating to come across stuff that I could have been using if I knew it was there.

Now that I have time to be active in the forums, I'll just post questions on stuff I don't
find the answer to.

Thank you for the feedback.

[MrSinatra]

as an aside, i've advocated for winamp to create a second "users wiki" which would have links from their "official" wiki users guide to it.

the second wiki would be written by users and much more indepth.

i've also asked that the prefs include small "w" links to relevant sections in the wiki. that way you could tie prefs and functions to documentation.

[DrO]

if you want to write something for the wiki then you can do so - that's never been something that has been stopped.

as for the other thing, as i think i mentioned some time back, i'd looked to do something like a gen_help that would allow for tooltips / better information to be shown for all of the config options, but something like that is a hell of a lot of work even if done officially. and really most of the options i thought are covered by the official help which Egg did most of the work on - if there's issues then it should be mentioned so it can be rectified.

i'm not trying to disuade people but it's a load of work when most users never rtm and just want instant answers, etc.

-daz

[MrSinatra]

hmmm...

i think we might be talking past each other? i don't really understand your response to be honest:

Originally Posted by DrO

if you want to write something for the wiki then you can do so - that's never been something that has been stopped.

this is the wiki i am talking about:

http://www.winamp.com/help/Main_Page

thats the "winamp manual" is it not? thats the one linked on the main site most users find easily. can i edit that one? does your link have anything to do with that one?

Originally Posted by DrO

as for the other thing, as i think i mentioned some time back, i'd looked to do something like a gen_help that would allow for tooltips / better information to be shown for all of the config options, but something like that is a hell of a lot of work even if done officially. and really most of the options i thought are covered by the official help which Egg did most of the work on - if there's issues then it should be mentioned so it can be rectified.

i'm not trying to disuade people but it's a load of work when most users never rtm and just want instant answers, etc.

-daz

maybe i don't understand, but here is what i would suggest:

leave the "official" wiki by egg as is.
create a skeleton "users" wiki, that is not "official."
don't create any plugins or anything like that. forget tooltips and such for now.
instead, as articles in the users wiki are written, and only AFTER they are written, add a lowercase w in the prefs that is simply a hyperlink to the relevant section.

so for instance, prefs > general prefs > video has 3 sections on it. each one would have a "w" so 3 w's. and each one would link to a user written section, so 3 sections in the wiki.

the w could go in the upper right corner of the section, so for section two it would be across from "fullscreen video playback"

also, in bento, you could have tabs for the official wiki, and the users wiki. that space is there, just wasted. so ML, Video, Visualiztion, Browser, Help (wiki), Pref docs (users wiki)

is adding a w hyperlink to pref sections hard to do?

[DrO]

the 'manual' wiki won't get non-team access as far as i'm aware and i'm not even sure how many on the team have access to it. the one i linked to is the best of a lack of options, it is more for the developer stuff but it's an option since the pages could be not directly referenced when viewed but would allow it all to be used.

the big issue is that leaving users to edit it is likely to see abuse happen (have had to protect all of the pages on the dev wiki to try to prevent malicious changes as keeps happening).

also if it were to be done, it needs to be rolled out completely in one go, just adding a 'w' at the time will cause more issues especially when trying to keep it updated in all of the language packs (which the authors don't get anything for maintaining).

adding little 'w' all over the place could be done but it wouldn't look very good imho (and the whole of the prefs needs to be overhauled / streamlined with a lot of superfluous options removed / relocated), hence using the tooltip approach or something else would be better as having to go out to a web page just doesn't make it streamlined enough.

however, it comes back to resources, management agreement and is it actually worth the investment in doing it when most users don't rtm, it'd probably be deemed as pointless.

(is probably a grumpy reply but i'm annoyed due to the crap that 'pools' has caused me over the last 2 days)

-daz

[MrSinatra]

i understand the Pools frustration. i think he must still suck his mothers teat.

however, this is a worthy cause, and one that i believe ABSOLUTELY will pay off, IF there are obvious and direct links between my proposed wiki and the app.

work with me, and i will work with you. you and egg don't need to write any content, just help facilitate it.

to start:

can you make me a blank dev wiki page which is connected somehow to the larger existing framework? call it 'MrSinatras albatross' or something like that. once the blank slate is there and i can find it via your dev wiki link, i will write the prefs skeleton, and do so such that the entire preferences of winamp is in editable sections, and i will add some other sections that aren't about prefs.

once you see it laid out, and i get some content in it from guys like aminifu and batter pudding, i think its worthiness will be clear. for now, no harm in at least creating the page for me is there?

more below:

Originally Posted by DrO

the 'manual' wiki won't get non-team access as far as i'm aware and i'm not even sure how many on the team have access to it. the one i linked to is the best of a lack of options, it is more for the developer stuff but it's an option since the pages could be not directly referenced when viewed but would allow it all to be used.

i agree the official manual wiki should NOT have user access. this is why i say a second, unofficial, user wiki is needed. it can fill the gaps, be more detailed, while at the same be updated by non-staff. yes, it will be more "wild west" and possibly even be wrong, but if so that will be exposed in the forums, and over time it will reflect the best possible info.

in that way, its really no different from the actual wikipedia.

Originally Posted by DrO

the big issue is that leaving users to edit it is likely to see abuse happen (have had to protect all of the pages on the dev wiki to try to prevent malicious changes as keeps happening).

i def agree users should have to register and verify their emails before being allowed to edit.

Originally Posted by DrO

also if it were to be done, it needs to be rolled out completely in one go, just adding a 'w' at the time will cause more issues especially when trying to keep it updated in all of the language packs (which the authors don't get anything for maintaining).

ok, so we will start with the blank page and work from there, so that at least everything is represented. once done, we can discuss how to link. eg. maybe instead of 3 w's for the video prefs 3 sections, one w would cover the whole dialog (all 3 sections).

also, if you hate the w's, (which i like and think make a lot of sense!) you could instead turn the dialog names into the hyperlinks. (and btw, the links could open the winamp browser, instead of the OS browser). language shouldn't be an issue, as the link itself shouldn't need to change over time, and the wiki will be english.

Originally Posted by DrO

adding little 'w' all over the place could be done but it wouldn't look very good imho (and the whole of the prefs needs to be overhauled / streamlined with a lot of superfluous options removed / relocated), hence using the tooltip approach or something else would be better as having to go out to a web page just doesn't make it streamlined enough.

however, it comes back to resources, management agreement and is it actually worth the investment in doing it when most users don't rtm, it'd probably be deemed as pointless.

so my way is wrong, but your way, while right, doesn't have the time to be done. lets do something rather than doing nothing, given that its probably a real long time before what you think should happen would ever, if ever, occur.

Originally Posted by DrO

(is probably a grumpy reply but i'm annoyed due to the crap that 'pools' has caused me over the last 2 days)

-daz

i refrained from ending all my sentnces with ", okay?"