MMM-Page-Selector: A page switcher that can set positions of modules

[rudibarani]

@veldrovive Thank you very much!

[rudibarani]

Dear @Veldrovive,

sorry for not getting back to you anytime sooner. I am still struggling to get my mirror to work again. I updated MMM-Page-Selector from a version prior the changes with the second config-layout to your development branch to try out persistent pages.

Since then, my mirror is very slow and unusable. If I try the new layout, my mirror stays black. If I try the old layout for the config file, it sometimes shows an image after a long period of time - but so slow, you can see how the site is being built up.

I will need some time, hopefully this weekend, to reduce my current config to just MMM-Page-Selector and add one module after the other to see if the problem originates from MMM-Page-Selector or the combination with another module.

[rudibarani]

Dear @Veldrovive,

I have reduced my config file to very few modules but my MagicMirror keeps restarting every few seconds. That does not happen, if I stick with the “old” style of configuring Pages within MagicMirror. It seems, I make a general mistake with the way, the second Page setup should be done.

Would you mind having a look, why this slimmed down version does not work?

/* Magic Mirror Config Sample
 *
 * By Michael Teeuw http://michaelteeuw.nl
 * MIT Licensed.
 *
 * For more information how you can configurate this file
 * See https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror#configuration
 *
 */

var config = {
  address: '0.0.0.0', // Address to listen on, can be:
  // - 'localhost', '127.0.0.1', '::1' to listen on loopback interface
  // - another specific IPv4/6 to listen on a specific interface
  // - '', '0.0.0.0', '::' to listen on any interface
  // Default, when address config is left out, is 'localhost'
  port: 8080,
  ipWhitelist: [
    '127.0.0.1',
    '::ffff:127.0.0.1',
    '::1',
    ['192.0.0.60', '192.0.0.189']
  ], // Set [] to allow all IP addresses
  // or add a specific IPv4 of 192.168.1.5 :
  // ['127.0.0.1', '::ffff:127.0.0.1', '::1', '::ffff:192.168.1.5'],
  // or IPv4 range of 192.168.3.0 --> 192.168.3.15 use CIDR format :
  // ['127.0.0.1', '::ffff:127.0.0.1', '::1', '::ffff:192.168.3.0/28'],

  language: 'de',
  timeFormat: 24,
  units: 'metric',
  customCss: 'css/custom.css',

  modules: [
    {
      module: 'MMM-Page-Selector',
      position: 'top_bar',
      config: {
        defaultPage: 'tag', // Tag
        displayTitle: true, // disable in production mode
        persistentPages: true,
        selectPageNotif: ['SELECT_PAGE'],
        incrementPageNotif: ['PAGE_UP'],
        decrementPageNotif: ['PAGE_DOWN']
      }
    },
    {
      module: 'alert',
      disabled: false,
      config: {}
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-WatchDog',
      disabled: false,
      config: {
        // See 'Configuration options' for more information.
      }
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-Remote-Control',
      disabled: false
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-Remote-Control-Repository',
      disabled: false
    },
    {
      module: 'updatenotification',
      disabled: false
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-Snow',
      disabled: true, // final: set to false, hide in Remote Control & Save
      config: {
        // See 'Configuration options' for more information.
        flakeCount: 111,
        theme: 'winter' // Possible values are winter, love, and water
      }
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-Love',
      disabled: true, // final: set to false, hide in Remote Control & Save
      config: {
        // See 'Configuration options' for more information.
        flakeCount: 111,
        theme: 'love' // Possible values are winter, love, and water
      }
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-ip',
      disabled: false,
      config: {}
    },
    {
      module: 'clock',
      disabled: false,
      config: {
        clockBold: false,
        displaySeconds: false,
        dateFormat: 'dddd, ll'
      }
    },
    {
      module: 'MMM-TextClock',
      disabled: false,
      config: {
        layout: 'Field', // options are 'Line' and 'Field'
        its24: 'ES IST', // text before hour
        to24: ' ', // text between hour and minute
        after24: 'UHR', // text after minute
        marked: 'color: white; font-weight: 400;', // css code to mark current time in Field layout
        offset: 2 // standard: 2
      }
    },
    {
      module: 'newsfeed',
      disabled: false,
      config: {
        // The config property is optional.
        // If no config is set, an example calendar is shown.
        // See 'Configuration options' for more information.
        feeds: [
          {
            title: 'Tagesschau',
            url: 'http://www.tagesschau.de/xml/rss2'
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ], // top_bar, top_left, top_center, top_right, upper_third, middle_center, lower_third, bottom_left, bottom_center, bottom_right, bottom_bar, fullscreen_above, and fullscreen_below
  pages: {
    tag: {
      'clock': 'bottom_left',
      'newsfeed': 'bottom_bar'
    },
    abend: {
      'clock': 'bottom_left',
      'newsfeed': 'bottom_bar'
    },
    nacht: {
      'MMM-TextClock': 'bottom_center' // Bottom Center nur für MMM-TextClock verwenden. CSS verändert!!!
    },
    wochenende: {
      'clock': 'bottom_left',
      'newsfeed': 'bottom_bar'
    },
    annika: {
      'clock': 'bottom_left',
      'newsfeed': 'bottom_bar'
    },
    phillip: {
      'updatenotification': 'top_bar',
      'clock': 'bottom_left',
      'newsfeed': 'bottom_bar'
    },
    kinder: {
      'clock': 'bottom_left',
      'newsfeed': 'bottom_left'
    },
    system: {
      'updatenotification': 'bottom_bar',
      'MMM-ip': 'bottom_right',
      'MMM-Remote-Control': 'bottom_right' // uncomment the following line to show the URL of the remote control on the mirror
    },
    test: {
      'updatenotification': 'bottom_bar'
    }
  },
  exclusions: {
  }
};

/** ************* DO NOT EDIT THE LINE BELOW ***************/
if (typeof module !== 'undefined') {
  module.exports = config;
}

[robiv8]

I guess it’s the MM-WatchDog module
Check that out

MMM-WatchDog module keeps an eye on your UI and quits app in case the UI crashes. If you combine this with the PM2 process manager, MM2 will automaticly restart after a UI failure.

So you said: “my MagicMirror keeps restarting every few seconds.”

[Veldrovive]

Yep, I can verify that it is in fact WatchDog.
I can also provide an explanation and a patch that you can do yourself. The way I made it possible to not include the position prop anymore is by building a temporary config, loading that one, restarting magic mirror, and then replacing the temporary with the original. I’m really sure of the underlying reason, but this process seems to trigger WatchDog to trigger an abort.
As robiv says, combined with pm2, this causes a restart loop.
The two easiest ways to get around this are:

1. Don’t use watchdog. If you don’t think that you are going to experience crashes, then that works
2. Give a position prop to every module. Including position props doesn’t change any of the visual function and that way, Page-Selector never triggers a restart and the problem doesn’t occur in the first place. The config for any given module should follow this format:

{
    module: 'MMM-module-name',
    position: 'any_position' //It doesn't matter what it is
    disabled: false,
    config: {
        ...
    }
},

I will try to find a way to make the modules play well together, but that might take a while.

[robiv8]

Hallo Veldrovive,
I just asked you a question on GitHub about Button.
Should I write this here or on GitHub? Where do you prefer it?

[Veldrovive]

Hey robiv,
I do actually prefer to have issues opened on GitHub. That way I can more easily keep track of them and also it provides a record of my work in case I want to use it in order to prove my merit.
Thanks for asking.

[robiv8]

OK Thanks.
It’s not really an issue, its a question about Button with Selector Howto ;-)

[rudibarani]

@veldrovive @robiv8 Thank you two for the quick feedback and nailing it down so quickly.
I will disable Watchdog for the time being. I was using it as I experienced crashes when using an iFrame module for video playback (ISS livestream on my night-page). But it should be OK to live without that for a while.

[rudibarani]

@veldrovive said in MMM-Page-Selector: A page switcher that can set positions of modules:

Ok, I’ve implemented persistent pages. In order to access them right now, you need to be in the development branch since I don’t have the time to do extensive testing.

Thanks again for the persistent pages feature. I have tried it all day in different scenarios and it was working reliably and as expected. :clapping_hands:

[rudibarani]

@veldrovive PS: I tried following your workaround and just wanted to let you know that it works :) Now I am able to use your new config option for pages which makes it so much easier to set them up! Great idea to implement it!

[Veldrovive]

@rudibarani
Good stuff. I’m glad everything is working out.

[rudibarani]

@veldrovive I got the second page layout working with MMM-Watchdog: added a position-value to each module as you suggested and changed the settings to a heartbeat of 5 sec and a restart interval, in case the feedback is not sufficient, of 31 sec. Maybe the default values where just to tight and interfered with your tricks to layout the pages.

How does MMM-Page-Selector decide about the order in which modules within the same location are stacked on top of each other? I have would like to move an instance of MMM-DWD-WarnWeather below MMM-MyWeather but changing the order in the “pages” part of the layout does not have an effect on the order on the screen.

[Veldrovive]

@rudibarani Good to know that’s a solution.
Right now, modules are stacked in the order that they appear in the config file. If a module is above another in the config, it will be above that other one on the page.
However, with a little work, that could be changed. Do you think that it would be helpful to be able to change that on a page to page basis?

[rudibarani]

@Veldrovive The order seems to be exactly the other way round - if module A is below module B in the config file, it will be above module B on the mirror.

I guess it would be quite intuitive if the second layout option would sort the modules on the screen in the way they are ordered in each page definition. This would also support the concept, that the module definition contains the configurations and the pages part contains all the layout.

Personally, I would also benefit from this option as I use CSS styles to e.g. show only the weather warning symbols on one page and only the text version on another page. Both would be in different positions, if it were possible.

[Veldrovive]

Oh, that’s odd that it is going in inverse order. I must have made a mistake somewhere. I’ll be looking into that and reversing it.

I have finals coming up soon which means I don’t have very much time to support this and a more intuitive way of ordering the elements will take a bit of time.

Can you clarify what you mean with your last statement? If I am interpreting it correctly, you are saying that you would like a way of specifying CSS for specific pages. If I’m not mistaken, this would be a pretty quick and easy change as I would just update the class list to include the current page name.

[rudibarani]

Thanks - including the current page into the class list would be helpful.

From the usability point of view, having all layout-options in the “pages” section would be clean and intuitive. Going in from the outside, one gets easily that the modules part contains all config elements and the pages part does the layout of the pages.

Having the order of the config-elements in the “modules” section play the central part in sorting everything seems a little odd. It is OK - once you know it - but also involves moving around the modules and risking bracket- and comma-errors every time you want to try a new layout.

[rudibarani]

Dear @Veldrovive,
I am trying to use an old MacMini to host a mirror, as I would like play BluRays and Amazon Prime Videos on my mirror as well. Everything works fine - except for the option to save the current page.
Frist, I thought this might be a permission issue - but even setting the MagicMirror folder and all its contents recursively to “chmod 777” did not solve it. The mirror always goes back to the standard page and not the current page. Setting “persistentPages” to true does not have any effect.
As you know how you store and restore the “current page” - do you have any idea how to get this going again?
Thanks a lot for your help!

[Veldrovive]

Hey @rudibarani,
If there are no errors being thrown, then I would make sure that you are on the development branch and not master as I am still not sure how stable some changes are so I am refraining from merging.
If that is not the problem, I would open up thenode_helper.js file and put console.log() statements in some places to make sure they are running correctly.

1. Line 30 should be self.restorePage(). I would put on right before that. If it never runs, then there is a problem with how the frontend is handling the config.
2. Line 38 should then be jsonObj = JSON.parse(obj);. I would print out the value of jsonObj right after that runs to see if the page key is in it.
3. Line 57 should then be reject(err);. I see that I accidentally didn’t include any debug information when this rejects so put a log that prints out the error directly before this.

If the problem isn’t immediately obvious, posting the output of those logs would go a long way to figuring this out.

[rudibarani]

Dear @Veldrovive,
oh - I have to run and hide somewhere. I did forget to clone the development branch when setting up the Mac Mini. Sorry for bothering you with this :unamused_face:

As always, if you do things right, they work :smiling_face_with_smiling_eyes:

You said you it would be a quick change to update the class list to contain the current page. If you have time to add this, it would help me a lot!