IR 5.00 now available

Nils_Ekberg · Post by **Nils_Ekberg** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 8:18 am

Option one would leave the .TXT file either way.

If a save is done then save the old format as .TXT (instead of .OLD) and the new format as .IR. This way, if you add the option to "save as old format" you just save it as .TXT and overlay the one that was there from the original conversion if it still exists. So, you end up with one .TXT after the first conversion and an updated .TXT if "save as old format" is used.

If there happens to be a .OLD file there already rename it to .TXT after you save the new format as .IR

mr_d_p_gumby · Post by **mr_d_p_gumby** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 9:38 am

I have refrained from commenting on all of this up to this point because I have found myself in the position where I had nothing positive to say, and I tend to agree with John that it's more productive to not argue with those doing the work, especially when it is volunteered.

Apparently, the corporate world you work in is quite different from the one the rest of us live in. In our world, the user's needs strongly determine the developer's "prerogatives", and generally override most other concerns. Granted, adding the capability to store additional data requires that the file format be modified, but it was your arbitrary choice to implement it as an ini-style file that is at the root of the problem here. Many of us just assumed you would follow the often suggested approach of appending the additional data to the end of the existing file, which would not have caused all of the problems we are now encountering. Bottom line, it just doesn't seem reasonable that the changes you made to IR should require such a radical change to the file format.

Users have a real need to use the other JP1 tools, and some of those tools rely on being able to read the IR files. The developers of these tools are now being asked to modify them to understand two different file formats simply because you made an arbitrary decision. This will not happen overnight because all of these people are also volunteers, and such changes will have to wait until they have time to implement them. In the meantime, there will be much confusion as new users post v5 files on Yahoo, and other new users try to use the other tools with those files. At least changing the file extension will help somewhat with this problem.

All of us appreciate that you volunteered to do this, are thankful that you've stuck with it so far, and certainly hope that you will see this through to completion. But you have to remember that volunteer work can be a thankless task at times. If you were expecting instant gratification, you picked the wrong way to try and get it.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 10:46 am

Ok. The old file will remain intact. The new file has a .IR extension.

Just open a TXT file in IR does the rest (and yes it will save as .IR upon opening it).

This argument is pointless. Use IR 5.00 if you like. Seems that most new users are very happy and that works for me.

PS. It just occurred to me that no matter what format I selected the current apps would have problems. Apparently they all assumed the file would only contain buffer info. BTW, the reason I chose INI style is that it is also usedby the RDF's.

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 1:32 pm

Paul,
I have been using 5.00 and I like it, I think you've made a valuable contribution to the JP1 community and I thank you for that. However, you don't appear to be someone that listens very well and you certainly don't take critism very well, so you may need to re-think how you intend to interact with the JP1 community before you decide to volunteer to do anything else.

You may be surprised to know that several of us are also in the world of IT, so we're quite familiar with writing code to user's specifications, etc, etc. Judging from your reactions here, I'm surprised that you've managed to stay in IT, you certainly wouldn't survive very long at any of the places that I've ever worked.

If you were hoping for people to simply be so greatful that you've written some code that they just accept it without offering any critism or feedback, then I think you made a severe error in judgement.

The JP1 users here are the people who are going to use your program, so naturally they are the ones that are going to offer up opinions on it. When someone says "I'd prefer it if the program did such and such" they are offering feedback, they are not WHINING!

Just because a program is "released" doesn't mean that everyone should shut up, after all, what do you think those numbers after the period (in the version number) are for?

Bottom line, you've done some nice work with IR, but you gave alot of people a hard time while you were doing it, and that was after making a very un-gracious entrance into the JP1 world. So, I think it's time for you to step back and do some re-assessing. If your current policy of "it's my way or the highway" is just the way you work, then I think we should thank you for the work you've done but decline any further offers you may make to contribute, but if you decide that you can find a way to work with us in a non-confrontational manner, then maybe we can continue.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 1:56 pm

Let's all be friends and move on....OK

Post by **The Robman** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 2:32 pm

That's entirely up to you. Like I said, you have some decisions to make regarding how you want to interact with the members of this forum.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 3:28 pm

That's what I meant. Let's move on....check the latest version and see if it meets peoples needs.

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:30 pm

e34m5 wrote:check the latest version

I like the IR extension. That certainly distinguishes the new format from the old, and should at least help with compatibility problems.

I'm still puzzled by the fact that you're saving an .IR version everytime a .txt file is opened. If I don't explicity do a Save or Save As, no new .IR file should be created. If I open 10 files just to view the contents, I end up with 10 new .IR files as well... that just doesn't make any sense to me.

Also, if ANY non-IR file is opened (very easy to do since there's bound to be numerous .txt files on any users hard drive), a new .IR version is created. The error message isn't the same that v4.02 gives either. In 4.02, a non-IR file gives me an "Invalid character in input." message, while the same file opened in 5.00 gives "Access violation at address 77F5ABD6 in module 'ntdll.dll'. Write of address 00404CD1."

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Mon Apr 19, 2004 6:49 pm

I'll have to investigate that error. That's one I'm not familiar with. I actually had been thinking of making the old error message more explanatory. Something like "You have tried to open a non IR file"

I'll look tomorrow to change the behavior of the .IR saving as well. It made sense to me before because I was always converting. Now that is no longer the case.

No problem.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 7:57 am

Ok..I've changed the behavior to only create the .IR upon "Save" or "Save As" (Mark..please test this and make sure it works as you envisioned. We can tweak it some more).

I also added a warning message in case you try to save a TXT to a previously created .IR. I thought this necessary because such action will overwrite the .IR.

Let me know what else we can do to make this work for all....

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:45 am

e34m5 wrote:(Mark..please test this and make sure it works as you envisioned. We can tweak it some more).

The .IR files are NOT being created just by opening .txt files, so this appears to have been fixed.

I also added a warning message in case you try to save a TXT to a previously created .IR. I thought this necessary because such action will overwrite the .IR.

For starters, in the Save and Save As dialogs, you are showing the "Save As type:" as:

IR Files (*.txt)
Text files (*.txt)
All files (*.*)

I don't have time to thoroughly explain the problems I'm having right now, but saving doesn't seem to be working properly. Some of it may be tied to the incorrect "Save As type" above. Can we still save old format .txt files?

Hopefully later this afternoon I can adequately describe the problems I'm having with saving.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:56 am

Mark Pierson wrote:
e34m5 wrote:(Mark..please test this and make sure it works as you envisioned. We can tweak it some more).
The .IR files are NOT being created just by opening .txt files, so this appears to have been fixed.

Good

I also added a warning message in case you try to save a TXT to a previously created .IR. I thought this necessary because such action will overwrite the .IR
For starters, in the Save and Save As dialogs, you are showing the "Save As type:" as:

IR Files (*.txt)
Text files (*.txt)
All files (*.*)

I don't have time to thoroughly explain the problems I'm having right now, but saving doesn't seem to be working properly. Some of it may be tied to the incorrect "Save As type" above. Can we still save old format .txt files?

I think I understand what is happening here. No there is no old TXT option with v5.00 so I need to make this only .IR I thought this would be confusing because all the notes stuff would be lost.

Hopefully later this afternoon I can adequately describe the problems I'm having with saving.

Ok...I'll make the Save As change.....I'm also working on adding the notes to the Summary.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 12:45 pm

Would any one be adverse to changing the summary format a little. I am having trouble lining and fitting everything in keymoves and macros due to the length of the record when it includes long keymoves and notes.

I am thinking of writing the keymoves and macros in the vertical rather than horizontal, something like this:

#: 4
Bound Device: RCVR
Bound Key: Phantom3
Device Button: LKP
Device Type: TV
Setup Code: 1106
Hex Cmd: $41 $83 $47 $3E $63 $3E $78 $3E $55 $3E
EFC or Key Name: 195* (Use Hex)
Notes: Short = Device Power

This would repeat for each KM and Macro.

e34m5 · Post by **e34m5** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 2:41 pm

Ok...just loaded a new 5.00

Mark. I believe I fixed the save issue (don't even want to mention the stupid error I made). Try it out and report please.

I also added all the notes to the summary. I went ahead and modified the format. I can change it back if no one likes this.

I also found a way to resize the grid rows when there is more than one line of notes. Not hard, just deep in the bag of tricks.

So let me know how this one plays...TX

Mark Pierson · Post by **Mark Pierson** » Tue Apr 20, 2004 3:11 pm

e34m5 wrote:I believe I fixed the save issue (don't even want to mention the stupid error I made). Try it out and report please.

Seems to work properly now.

I went ahead and modified the format.

I vote for changing it back. Personally, I liked the tabular format. Maybe a compromise would be to have the original tablular format and then show any notes immediately below the detail line.

I also found a way to resize the grid rows when there is more than one line of notes.

Is that an auto-resize? If so, I don't think it's working properly. I get approximately 2-1/2 lines visible.

Also, I'm apparently suffering from the disappearing notes as well. I entered some notes with 3 and 4 lines (to test the row sizing). Upon closing and reopening the file, only the first line appears. The notes ARE in the saved file, they just don't display. If you're reading the file like a standard .ini file, the problem probably has to do with the way the keys are parsed.

Here's the entry from my saved file:

[KeyMoves]
VCR

Center / Exit:1162=note line 1
note line 2
note line 3
note line 4

I also have to question why you're saving so much detail for the notes entry. I see no reason to save the setup code(s). Wouldn't the Bound Dev/Bound Key combination be unique by itself? i.e:

VCR:Center / Exit=
vs.
VCR

Center / Exit:1162=