The XML-based Ribbon layout could be very helpful for developing simple panels with custom scripts, without the need of assigning keyboard shortcuts for each script we use often. Those panels will allow custom images and on-the-fly resizability.

The question is, is it possible to implement it? I guess I'll take a long time before I'm all used to developing compoents for foobar, but I'm not in a hurry. I just need to know if here are no known complications (like dependencies, conflicts or anything else).

By having all the info stored in the XML, it would be a lot easier to make great GUI's.

Thanks for your time!

I think you're going to run into 2 problems with this idea.

1. Too many people dislike the ribbon interface.

2. Microsoft thinks it has patents on Ribbon. While I'm sure we all scoff at the very idea, something tells me that the foobar devs aren't going to throw chum in the waters by using it.


The best you can hope for is someone creating a pseudo-ribbon interface with a third-party UI. Panels is the best bet, although now that it's a dead project, I'm guessing the chances are slim.

Thanks for your response, but what I thought was not asking for any other developer to add this to foobar2000, but to know if I could use the ribbon by adding the references to a project, building it and then be considered like another UI element or panel.
The question is a lot more ribbon oriented than foobar, but my first post wasn't clear enough, now that I've read it again.

Of course you could do it. There's just not much point for foobar. The ribbon is very, very useful for resolving the issue of cluttered menus like Office had before 2007. If you aren't dealing with that level of complexity, it isn't very useful.

You could of course implement any other UI elements that use XML though.

You will also have to solve the problem how to deal with the fact that the available main menu commands depends on the components the user has installed, and thus you don't know them in advance.