[ALUG] Real Player

[(Ted Harding)]

On 26-Jul-07 20:57:51, Bev Nicolson wrote:
> Yes, that's exactly what happens Ted. But what's an xterm? And what's
> the alternative to a middle click? It's not an option on my mouse. (I
> am using Firefox btw.)
> Bev.

Ah, just remembered you're using Ubuntu. I think Ubuntu uses the
name "terminal" in its window menu for what's usually called an
"xterm" -- i.e. a window in the X display into which you can type
commands. [BTW, once you have one of these open, you should be
able to enter the command

  xterm &

and open another one, even in Ubuntu. The "&" detaches it from
the first terminal window so that the first is available again
for typing in more commands.]


As to "middle click" etc. Again, I'm not sure about how things
are arranged in Ubuntu, but in standard X-windows usage you
can use your three mouse-buttons[**] as follows:

[The following is not directly relevant to the BBC video and
 firefox issue -- see (b) below -- but is given as a generic
 explanation of what goes on]

Hold down left button and drag mouse pointer over a block of text
displayed somewhere, to highlight it. Release left button.

Move mouse pointer to some other window that can accept text input
[this could also be the window where you highlighted the text],
place the pointer where you want the text you have hightlighted to
start being entered.

Click the middle button: the text should be entered as if you'd
typed it.
---------------------------------------------------------------
[**] Three-button mouse. OK, some mice don't have three buttons
(though the wheel on many two-button wheel mice can be pressed
as if it were the middle button; just be careful not to rotate
the wheel, though, since this would activate the wheel function
which you probably do not want).

If your mouse has only two buttons, and the wheel (if any) does
not function as a middle button, then there is an option in
X-windows setup to "emulate three buttons", usually by pressing
the left and right buttons simultanously to generate the "middle
button" effect (can also, and a bit more reliably, be done by
pressing left button, holding it down while pressing right
button, then releasing both simultaneously). If you have a two
button mouse, you may find that Ubuntu has already set this up
for you -- it's a standard resourcem so I'd be surprised if it
didn't.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The underlying mechanism is that the act of highlighting a block
of text by "dragging the left button" over it, and then releasing
the button, writes a copy of the text into the X-windows text
buffer. Pressing the "middle" button then copies the contents of
the buffer, starting wherever the mouse pointer is at the time.
The same text can be copied as often as you like, simply by
repeatedly pressing the "middle" button.

The reason I suggested doing it this way for your problem is 2-fold:
a) The URL for the BBC video is often long, and you don't want
   to try to type it (at best you'd see it displayed at the foot
   of the BBC Player window when you mouse pointer is over the
   "Launch in stand alone player" text, and you'd probably have
   to write it down on paper; and you'd very probably type it wrong);
b) When you do the "right click on link" and then left click on
   "Copy Link location", you've already saved the URL in the
   X-windows text button (similar to "grag left button" above),
   so to get it out you need the "middle" click.

Hoping this helps. If not clear, please ask more questions!
Ted.

>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: ted.harding at nessie.mcc.ac.uk
>> To: "Bev Nicolson" <bnicolson at operamail.com>
>> Subject: RE: [ALUG] Real Player
>> Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2007 17:42:50 +0100 (BST)
>> 
>> 
>> On 26-Jul-07 16:05:58, Bev Nicolson wrote:
>> > I use Ubuntu 6.06 in case that helps. Well, I have Real Player 
>> > working fine for Listen Again and webcams but
>> > if I want to play any of the videos on the BBC news web site I
>> > can't.
>> > Any ideas why? I'm just curious to know what the reason might be.
>> > Bev.
>> 
>> I often find that when I click on the BBC link for a video clip,
>> the BBC Player (with embedded Real Player) opens, but nothing
>> further happens. Is that what's happening for you?
>> 
>> In that case, usually there is an option below the "screen":
>> 
>>    "Launch in stand alone player"
>> 
>> If I place my mouse cursor over this, and right-click (Firefox),
>> I get the option to "Copy link location". I then left-click on
>> this, to save it into the X buffer.
>> 
>> Then I go to another xterm, and enter
>> 
>> realplay
>> 
>> followed by a space, then middle-click to enter the URL saved
>> by "Copy link location". Thus I get a line like;
>> 
>> realplay http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news/world/
>> video/108000/bb/108931_16x9_bb.ram
>> 
>> [all one line, no break].
>> 
>> This comand then launches Real Player with the video clip
>> (it may be necessary to first kill the BBC Player since it
>> sometimes "locks onto" the sound).
>> 
>> I don't know why this happens, and it's not entirely systematic.
>> But when it does happen, the above work-round solves it (provided
>> you get the "Launch in stand alone player2 option).
>> 
>> Hoping this helps,
>> Ted.

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E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding at manchester.ac.uk>
Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861
Date: 26-Jul-07                                       Time: 23:18:31
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