Web "API" to check for new versions (etc.)
I'm about ready to release add-ins for both WHS and WHS 2011 (really just waiting on the GA release of 0.6.1 and an install script for 2011). However, I was wondering if you would think about adding a feature to your web site. I'd like to be able to notify users of updates to both Serviio and the add-ins. I can probably kludge a way to do it with CodePlex and my add-in. However, I don't know of a way to do this with Serviio itself.
Ideally, I'd like to be able to make an HTTP request with a parameter specifying the API version and have it return back the latest "compatible" version of Serviio. So, say I request "http://www.serviio.org/upgradeCheck.php?current-version=0.6.1", you would return a JSON object with the latest version number that will still work (i.e., doesn't break, though may lack new functionality) against that API version and a URL to the download. You might also have a latestVersion.php script that doesn't require a parameter that simply returns a JSON object with the latest version number and the URL.
As an aside, I've been stung a number of times with errors related to passing 0.6.1 XML elements in my REST calls to a 0.6.0 server (I'm attempting to support this use case for those not wishing to upgrade their server version when they install the new add-in). It bombs out with an HTTP 500 error. This is quite odd, IMO. I'd think you'd just ignore the extra elements. It's not a huge deal as I've put in some conditional logic to exclude these extra elements if the server version isn't at least 0.6.1, but it definitely handles things less "gracefully" than I'd expect.
Thanks,
Paul