XXHighEnd Model 0.9v-4 (with search for images on the internet)

[PeterSt]

This largest upgrade ever goes accompanied with the major release notes only. Possibly later the minor ones will be added in a separate post in this topic.

• The manipulation with the Embedded Explorer has been changed largely (not much visible at first glance), with the objective of a more easy navigation, also with relation to the Library Area next to it.
  
  
• Rightclick on a folder in the Embedded Explorer now shows an option "Count Subfolders", which brings back an earlier existing functionality, but now only when asked for (the counting takes some time).
  
  
• Rightclick on an item in the Library Area a.o. shows a new option "Show / Compare Tracks". This shows the tracks in a more covenient way than the "Show / Load Tracks" from before.
  When more items are selected before this option is performed, they show up along eachother (11 max).
  The form showing up may be resized more intelligently (opposed to "not" right now), but that is for later.
  
  Note : Some (nah, a lot) effort has been put in recognizing the Artist Name properly, hence differentiate properly from the Album Name, and this is not worked through the rest of the program (only where it's really needed, subject to this version). So, i.e. the data shown on the wallpaper remains as it was for now.
  
  
• Before mentioned "Show / Load Tracks" option has been renamed to "Load Individual Tracks", but works the same as before.
  
  
• Still at the rightclick on a Library Item, the function "Play Each - First selected, then per n tracks" appeared not to work at all, while it was intended to do so for a long time. This is now solved.
  
  
• Then there's the new option "Get data from the Internet". Yes, you will need an Internet connection for it to work ...
  It depends a bit on the Artist, but generally this will bring you a boat load of data and images from the album.
  Note : this may take a while, and during the process XXHighEnd can't be used (but will keep on playing if all is right), which can be seen by the CoverArt Area (the right pane of three) getting a gray background until finished.
  
  All Amazon websites are examined and as much data and images as can be found, are retrieved;
  Everything shows up in the CoverArt Area, and appears with a yellow border to let you know that that is the data which just has been retrieved (opposed to what you already had stored on disk).
  
  The "data" as such is all summarized in a file which is prefixed with "Review-" followed by the date you retrieved it, and with .html extension. It appears at the bottom with an Internet icon. It can be double clicked to open, and generally it is great to learn the history of the artist(s), and so learn about others.
  
  Issue :There may be french, german and japanese text in there, which really isn't readable because of a wrong "code page" applied. This is an Amazon problem and generally known as hard to solve. It may though in the future.
  
  The images can be opened as well to see them in full scale (e.g. double click) and note that you can open each image in a separate instance of the Vista image viewer (just double click the next one), *or* you can use the image viewer to scroll through them.
  In the end you are browsing your current XX folder, where these images are temporarily stored (you could copy paste them from there, but see below too). They go when you ask for another album (but again, see below).
  
  Important for data geeks : The images as well as the data need not to be unique, although it will be per Amazon site where they came from. Note that you can see where they came from (the data as well) by means of the prefixes US, FR, UK, CA, JP, DE (the latter is Germany). Now, each very same version of the album should have the same number following this prefix. And as you know, often various versions exist, some with an additional track, others with additional volumes (or a DVD), etc. Now, a very same number on a different Amazon site, does not need to have the very same picture. They often have, but often have not. Thus, when you are about the pictures, pick the best you see.
  
  Each picture has a name starting with XXImage follwed by a number like (500), this 500 indicating the width in pixels of the picture.
  Behind the picture width a sequence number is shown (the sequence that they were downloaded), but the sorting is on picture size (width).
  
  Important : It can happen that you get a mixture of various (really different) albums of the Artist, or even differen Artists are shown. Both are Amazon problems, but the latter is more probably caused by a wrongly interpreted Artist Name, which then is caused by  ... well, you (or an error in the program hehe). You will see for yourself whether the program was ever able to make something of your folder structure and namings, and if you can't see how, you can bet the program can't either.
  
  
• If we now step to the CoverArt Area (the right of three panes) and rightclick on one of the items there ...
  The option with the Amazon icon tells you that using that option will bring you to the exact location within the Amazon websites to buy the album. Keep in mind, when you are looking for that special version (which the cover picture could have told you, but which you can also have found in the before mentioned review file), it is not so that Amazon only sells new items. You could sell your albums just the same, and I could buy it from there. So it is really a myriad of stuff there, and quite fun to examine.
  
  
• Here too a "Show / Compare Tracks" option is available, but this time it takes the (in general) one selected album from the Library Area and compares it with the selected pictures in the CoverArt Area (now you'll understand the max of 11 somewhat better, which applies here too). Now it becomes rather useful, because it is here when you can find out the albums containing more tracks than you know easily.
  Note : The track times, sadly, are not available from items in the CoverArt Area, because they are not available from Amazon.
  
  This option may come off very handy when you see a back cover of an album, and you want to check whether it belongs to the album you have on disk (with front cover), and you like to have the appopriate back cover too.
  
  
• Underneath the previous option, is the one you were waiting for : save images to disk. As the option says "Save yellow bordered selection to disk", only the temporary retrieved images can be saved (not the others, because they already are on your disk somewhere).
  After the selection is saved, you can rename the file names if you want.
  The review file can be saved just the same, and note that a saved version is suffixed with -S right before the extension.
  
  Important : As how it is right now, you have one chance of saving, because after that the contents of the CoverArt Area is refreshed in order to show you how it is now. Did you intend to save more, then you have to retrieve the data from Amazon again.
  
  
• Important : Do not save your pictures and all (see above) into Galeries, unless you just rebuilt them with 0.9v-4 or later.
  
  From off this version (0.9v-4) the program knows to which Galeries you distributed the music, and if you now save a picture via XXHighEnd to one of the Galeries or the original location, the picture will be distributed the same.
  
  Note : In the folders concerned strangely named files will occur, which look even more strange when you look at them with Explorer (meaning : outside of XX). They show up in the Library Area as well, and in fact they tell you by there name where the album has been distributed to. Inside it is somewhat more detailed.
  
  And as important : There is no provision yet for renaming folders (from Galeries or original data) and keeping track of those changes towards the Galeries. This will be there in a next version.
  
  
• The same accounts for Renaming or Deleting, as well as the option "Rename to Folder.jpg".
  
  Please use these functions with care and some attention, meaning : check whether all comes through as you think it should, and although all was tested, you will find your ways ...
  
  
• Now up to some real fun : "Show more Albums from Artist (Internet)" which can be found within rightclick on again an item in the Library (!) area;
  You thought you'd seen much, right ? nahh ... maybe not. Try this one, but be prepared for many hundreds of pictures, depending on what is available (which is probably more than you knew) and depending on the settings (which speak for themselves) you will see when choosing this option.
  Note that this option downloads the largest pictures only.
  Of course this may take a while really, and you better start off slowly with this (one site only, or 10 results per site).
  
  Here the pictures are not sorted by size, but just at the sequence of retrieval (although upside down). This way it is more easy to choose from an Amazon site to buy (if you want), because the sorting is actually per Amazon site now.
  
  

The various new options do not show ToolTips yet.

The next version will contain logfiles for debugging the "stop playing" and other issues some of you have. This may take 2 more weeks.

[PeterSt]

This largest upgrade ever goes accompanied with the major release notes only. Possibly later the minor ones will be added in a separate post in this topic.

So here they are :

• When something is changed in the rightmost pane (CoverArt Area) that implies another Cover for the currently selected album in the middle pane (Library Area), that new Cover now shows immediately.
  
  
• The (possible) slow Renaming in general, Rename to Folder.jpg and Deleting of coverart from the CoverArt Area has been solved.
  
  
• Since it has been reported by one person that CoverArt didn't show anymore in the left pane (the album playing), the changed code as per 0.9v-3 was set back to the original as far as possible. Since actually no reason was found why CoverArt wouldn't show anymore there, it is not sure this helps.
  
  
• At encoding and decoding to/from FLAC a test is performed whether the result is "official" FLAC resp. WAV. When not, a message says so, and no output will be generated (the message abusively always talks about decoding).
  
  
• When no CoverArt is found, the left pane could (since 0.9v-3) show the "X" image, implying so. However, this was unintentional, and in that case the image in the left pane should just be blank. This is restored now.
  
  
• In the rightmost pane (CoverArt Area) now not only .jpg files are shown, but just everything except XX-recognized music files.
  This includes image files of other types than .jpg/.jpeg; all files can be opened by double clicking them.
  Note that the icons showing with the file types only show right when Fast Rendering (Settings Area) is *not* ticked.
  
  
• The collection of CoverArt -depending on the amount and size- can take a while, and therefore that collection was performed in a separate process (working parallel to other stuff). However, this created more problems and anomalies than it solved, so now all is performed in the same process (actually : "thread"). The downside obviously is that you have to wait for it (at clicking an album in the middle pane etc.).
  
  
• Following the above, showing additional CoverArt (and files) in the CoverArt Area after clicking an album in the Library Area has been made faster. This makes the above more legit.
  
  
• When files are showed in the rightmost pane because of a click on an album in the middle pane, now the first file (image) shows as soon as it is available. So not only when all were collected.
  This does not count for collecting images from the Internet; they only show when all have been collected.
  
  
• Many messages at various places have been added. Some distinct only like e.g. : 01 [message] vs. 01a [message]. IOW, please report the full message including something like the example (the 01 message obviously implies a technical other problem than the 01a message).
  Also : Don't hesitate to report errors/messages, no matter how small they are. Only then the underlaying problem can be solved.
  
  
• Added a quick "back" button to the Embedded Explorer (Library Area -> the left arrow at the right top in the Embedded Explorer which can be in the middle of the CoverArt picture), allowing for traversing one level up, where the (by itself new) process as a whole can cause the higher up folders not being visible anymore, so without the back button no traversing up wouldn't be possible.
  
  
• The Embedded Explorer now comes with a Vista Look.
  
  
• An attempt -as good as possible- has been made to make the Embedded Explorer "active" right at the moment you'd want that. More difficult to explain, but it means (for example) that if you would like to scroll through the folders with downarrow, at least one folder should have a blue background (meaning "active", gray is inactive), which before only could work after clicking one of the folders. That by itself would open the folder, which is not what you want ... if you don't want it.
  Note : It is *not* the intention that when you click on an arrow (left border) the contents of the Library Area changes; this should happen pnly when you click on a folder. However, it is the most difficult to get this to work because of a bug in the particular software, and most often at clicking the arrow, it works as clicking the folder. BUT : when you use the arrow keys (right for expanding a folder, left for closing it) this problem does not occur, and you can freely browse through the folders, without affecting the Library Area (and te waiting for it).
  
  
• The contents of the Embedded Explorer now automatically refreshes, right along with you typing in the bottom (Search Root) textbox in the Library Area. Note that refreshing actually takes places when the contents of the textbox ends with a backslash (\). Thus, this happens when you type one, and it happens when you backout (backspace) characters until you are about to backout a backslash.
  
  
• When you now (Embedded Explorer) browse down right to the folder with the music files (or Galery data), clicking on such a file doesn't give anomalies as it did before.
  
  
• It appeared that in the CoverArt Area (rightmost pane) the Thumbs.db files could show up, while this never has been the intention. The same counts for Desktop.ini;
  Both now don't show up anymore.
  
  
• At the textbox for the XXHighEnd Data Folder (Settings Area) wasn't checked for whether the entry ended at a backslash (\). It does now.
  
  
• An internal list of DAC Sample Rates and Bit Depths was found to be old, that causing some selections not to be possible in the "DAC Is" area. This has been solved now.
  Note : a.o. this didn't allow for "DAC Needs" to be set to 24 bits at certain Bit Depths. Otoh, a "DAC Needs" 24 bits so far still hasn't been found, although a topic is running about this.
  
  
• Editing a label in the Library Area (click on the name under the album picture twice) looked like being possible, but really wasn't anymore (in earlier versions it was). This always resulted in a message that Renaming failed.
  Now it is just not allowed anymore to edit the label (the CoverArt Area should be used for that now).
  
  
• Before the individual Tracks for Cue File albums could not be shown, apart from loading them in the PlayList Area;
  Now they can show by means of the Compare Tracks options (see main post of this Release Note topic).
  
  
• When the formerly called Show/Open files was used (rightclick on a Library Item) (now : Load Individual Tracks) and a selection applied to it (hence more than one album was selected), it could be very annoying to keep on pressing "Cancel", because the selection was not applied on purpose to this functionality. Now a message asks whether you really want this, and cancelling of the function itself is allowed.
  
  
• The "Play Each" functions (rightclick on a Library Item) allowed for entering a number for e.g. the track number to play from each album. This was applied rather awkwardish;
  Now "Go" options are provided, and things are more normal.
  
  
• A selection on more items in the CoverArt Area can be applied to nearly all of the options under rightclick (on one of the items there). Note that this includes the hop-over to Amazon, and when the selection implies it, to different sites at the same time.
  Please note : When only one Amazon page opens, please report this ! It was found that when the opening of web pages happens too fast, they overwrite eachother, so a wait timer of 2 seconds per page has been build in. Possibly this is not enough in all cases ...