In this series we’ll take a look at creating a Boxee app. At the end of the series, I’ll post an archive for you to use as the starting point of a Boxee application.
Boxee is an excellent OpenSource settop box platform. The history of Boxee is an interesting one, rising from XBMC which turns a hacked XBox into a full fledged media center.
If you’re reading this, then you’ve already installed the Boxee app. What should you expect at the end of this article? You will see an application icon in “My Apps”, then when you click on the app, you will see the app description. Once you open the app, you will get a blank screen. You’ll have to read Part 2 to get further.
First we’re going to activate debug logging:
Go to the path specified in this link then create a file named advancedsettings.xml with the content:
<advancedsettings>
<loglevel>0</loglevel>
</advancedsettings>
Now that we have that out of the way, go to the directory which you will create the Boxee app files. The path is similar to the path for the advancedsettings.xml file, but in
/UserData/apps/
Create a directory for your app, the directory name will also be the app id. So lets say your app directory name is “myfirstapp”.
mkdir myfirstapp
cd myfirstapp
Create a file descriptor.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<app>
<id>myfirstapp</id>
<name>My First App Title</name>
<version>1.0</version>
<description>myfirstapp description</description>
<thumb>http://path_to_your_domain/thumbnail_name.png</thumb>
<media>video</media>
<copyright>Your company</copyright>
<email>your@emailaddy</email>
<type>skin</type>
<platform>all</platform>
<minversion>0.9.20</minversion>
<startWindow>14000</startWindow>
<test-app>true</test-app>
</app>
Here are the important/poorly documented bits:
<thumb> You MUST have a valid thumbnail image path. Otherwise <name> will not work. 200px by 200px is the preferred thumbnail size
<media>video</media> This tells it that its a video app.
<copyright> Required
<type>skin</type> This tells boxee that its an app.
<miniversion>0.9.11<miniversion> 11 also tells it that its an app
<startwindow>14000</startwindow> This ID matches the main.xml window ID ( Will discuss this more in Part 2)
<test-app>true</test-app> This sets it in a testing mode so that the app shows up in “My Apps” without having to install it. Remove this tag when you are ready to submit the app to boxee.
So at this point, you should be able to browse “My Apps” and see an icon of your app with the title beneath. When you click on the app, you should see the app icon again, the description, and have the options to Start, Remove from My Apps or Add Shortcut.
That’s it for now, look for Part 2 later this week.