Advanced library filtering

Advanced Library Filtering is a new feature for XBMC Frodo developed for Google Summer of Code 2012. It replaces the very basic filtering option which allowed users to enter a part of a media title and get a list of matching items with a much more sophisticated filtering functionality which, depending on the media type, offers filtering by title, genre, actors and much more.



How to get to the Advanced Filtering
Same as the basic filtering option in Eden (v11.0) and earlier the advanced filtering option is located in the sidebar in any library view and replaces the old basic filtering option. The toggle button indicates whether the currently visible list is filtered or not. Click on the "Filter" button and you will get the filter dialog.

Advanced Filtering dialog
The Advanced Filtering dialog lists all the available filters for the currently listed media items. Depending on the type of the media items there are different filtering options available. Changing a filtering option will directly affect the list of items i.e. the user can see the list of filtered items in the background and therefore get direct feedback on the impact of a filtering option. Using the "Clear" button it is possible to remove all previously specified filtering options which will result in all initially available media items being listed.

Filter Types
There are different types of filters and every type comes with a different style and representation and allows different user actions.

Text Input
Text Input filters allow the user to specify a series of characters which should be contained in the filtered property of the media items. The user can type directly in the Text Input when it is focused or open the on-screen keyboard by pressing on the filter option.

Range Selector
Range Selector filters allow the user to specify a range e.g. a range of years or a range of ratings. If the selection covers the whole range no filter will be used. The user can move both range selectors to the left or right to specify the range. Moving up or down switches between the two range selectors.

Choice Spinner
Choice Spinner filters allow the user to choose between one of several choices. Every Choice Spinner filter will have a choice named "All" which disables that specific filter.

Multiple Selection
Multiple Selection filters are presented as a button. Pressing the button will open up the multi-selection dialog with a list of possible options. The user can select any number of options. To apply the selected options the dialog has to be closed by using the "OK" button. Closing the dialog with the backspace or escape key will result in ignoring the selected options.

The options that are being listed can depend on what other filters are already applied. If there are no filters applied all the available options will be listed but if there are other filters that already limit the listed items only those options are listed that match the already filtered list of items. If only one or no options are available for a list of media items the button to open the multi-selection dialog will be deactivated and therefore can't be used.

Advanced Filtering options
The following table lists which filters are available for which media type: