Xion Community

WARNING:
This is a Beta Build. That means it has fixes and features that are NEW. It is also possible it has bugs that are NEW! If you are looking for stability, please don't expect this build to be perfectly stable. It may have issues. If on the other hand you are happy to try this build out and post any bugs back in this thread, then please do!

Download Installer Version:
r2 Studios Server -> http://www.r2.com.au/downloads/files/beta/qa-xion_v1.0b88.exe
OR
Xion Server -> http://xion.r2.com.au/download/beta/qa-xion_v1.0b88.exe

Changelist:

• Optimize BlendTo function, reduce from 107 down to 7.
  
• Fix Visualisation object performing an update when it wasn't necessary
  
• Modify scrolling text updates so that they are less frequent and only cause dirtyness when properly scrolled
  
• Fix BlendTo routine when optimized blend route was taken
  
• Remove final alpha multiplication for windows Update function as its now done in the optimized BlendTo
  
• Remove </Layer set> and </Layer group> from layer list
  
• Fix GUIAnimation so that it doesn't cause a refresh when the current frame hasn't actually changed. This only occured on special types such as the Network buffer
  
• Add the ability for Animation layer sets to be activated by indi_play, etc and other indicators
  
• Remove Zorder param from XionWindow
  
• Don't call SetWindowPos if the window handle isn't valid yet
  
• Ensure that the Zorder flag isn't used for the XionConfigWindow
  
• Fix OnTop of Shimmer window so that it works again
  
• Ensure that shimmer window activation code is synched properly at the start and that the shimmer window is set to the foreground window
  
• Fix Playlist Edit->Delete command so that it works
  
• Modify Loading... text colour to use Disable text colour
  
• Temporarily disable the settings of the Title text until a later build
  
• Modify internal messaging so that some messages such as Next, Prev, etc are sent to generic components instead of a specific, such as 'simpleplaylist'
  
• If another command such as next is executed while a song is fading to stop, then reset fade to stop
  
• Fix threading issue when playing a net stream and attempting to play another thereafter
  
• Fix BitRate not working for Radio streams
  
• Fixed netbuffer flickering when using local file
  
• Modified netbuffer to use correct range, instead of range+1
  
• Fix .pls reading so that it reads as an .ini file instead of a standard text file, using win32 .ini functions

If you find bugs specifically related to this build, please post them here instead of the Bug reporting forum. Any feedback positive or negative should also go in here, no new threads. This way all feedback, etc related to this build will be in the one place.


ABOUT THIS BUILD:

I've had some time to do some more optimizing and a slew of bug fixing. Let me know if you find any bugs in this build! If all goes well, I'm looking to do another public release very soon now!

Enjoy!

Cliff

so far so good on this version Cliff

couple of things I noticed but have not had a deep look yet

layer image names text file has not been updated for some time, neither has the layer ref on help page
alignment issue of genre on tag window not in line with right hand end

pretty minor points really, seems stable so far, will checkout cds later, radio seems to be fixed now too

great work

Don´t know if optimization of CPU load was a focus of this build, I still experience much higher CPU loads (build 86-88 ) compared to build 84!

It seems it dramatically rises when text layers need scrolling (long song names).

I even experience it on my "faster" laptop. It´s an IntelCore2 (2x 1.73 GHz), 2 GB RAM and Vista 32bit. On this system I always had CPU loads of 0 or 1 % with build 84 even with complex skins.

In detail: I test it with a skin I didn´t submit yet, can send it to you, Cliff, if you want.
It has several track layers not too big in dimension, besides that nothing extraordinary.

In build 84 I have 0% CPU when no scrolling is needed and 0-1 % when track layer scrolls.
In build 88 it is 9% and ~34 % (!) CPU load respectively.

Maybe it is important to mention, that I don´t use a graphic card with special hardware acceleration.

very likely on the gfx card front

using an 8800 oc'd(factory) 320mb gts here

ALAS Wrote:Don´t know if optimization of CPU load was a focus of this build, I still experience much higher CPU loads (build 86-88 ) compared to build 84!

It seems it dramatically rises when text layers need scrolling (long song names).

I even experience it on my "faster" laptop. It´s an IntelCore2 (2x 1.73 GHz), 2 GB RAM and Vista 32bit. On this system I always had CPU loads of 0 or 1 % with build 84 even with complex skins.

In detail: I test it with a skin I didn´t submit yet, can send it to you, Cliff, if you want.
It has several track layers not too big in dimension, besides that nothing extraordinary.

In build 84 I have 0% CPU when no scrolling is needed and 0-1 % when track layer scrolls.
In build 88 it is 9% and ~34 % (!) CPU load respectively.

Maybe it is important to mention, that I don´t use a graphic card with special hardware acceleration.

Haha ok I found out what the issue was

Soo here goes, ready?

Basically I now update the timer every 5ms, instead of every 25ms! So that's 5 times more often that in build 84!

I was wondering why even with my major optimizations, some skins would still be quite slow on my Quad core. So basically, the reason it was slow, was Xion was trying to pump out 200fps!

I've now changed it to 30ms updates, which means its aiming once again for 33fps, which will help on slower systems as well.

Now when I run skins and compare them to build 84, you'll see that the CPU has actually gone down like it should have!

Cliff

SLoB Wrote:so far so good on this version Cliff

Sweet

SLoB Wrote:layer image names text file has not been updated for some time, neither has the layer ref on help page

Yeah, I haven't updated the text file, but what's out of date on the help page?

SLoB Wrote:alignment issue of genre on tag window not in line with right hand end

Ah so it is, thanks I'll fix that too

SLoB Wrote:pretty minor points really, seems stable so far, will checkout cds later, radio seems to be fixed now too

Awesome, yeah I managed to reproduce it finally after first thinking you guys were crazy

SLoB Wrote:great work

Thanks!

Cliff

Cliff Cawley Wrote:Haha ok I found out what the issue was

Soo here goes, ready?

Basically I now update the timer every 5ms, instead of every 25ms! So that's 5 times more often that in build 84!

I was wondering why even with my major optimizations, some skins would still be quite slow on my Quad core. So basically, the reason it was slow, was Xion was trying to pump out 200fps!

I've now changed it to 30ms ...

Cliff

sounds promising

ForceField Wrote:I have also a problem with the radio.It won't start.It displays connecting and stays like that.We must also have an indicator for the radio-mp3 so that we can display it in the inteface when using the radio.

always thought it is due to radio stations changing their url sometimes, never checked if they really changed well, nice would be to have a way to display the station name (don´t know if this information is transmitted) or alternatively to display the playlist name representing the staion name

... and some message "could not connect.." if they really changed their url

just wanted to use the idea icon...

ALAS Wrote:... and some message "could not connect.." if they really changed their url

just wanted to use the idea icon...

<- Just wanted to use that one

They only broadcast the name when you actually get to connect, so if you can't connect it won't display at all. I'll have to check to make sure error messages are displaying correctly

Cliff

Cliff Cawley Wrote:
<- Just wanted to use that one

lol

I think it's a bug. If you have a button (e.g. playback, playlist,...) layer, and you put another layer contain graphics above it, you can still click to activate the button under like its passtrough.

I am working on my new skin and it needs to hide buttons under another graphic

One more thing, the equalizer tool tip doesn't show up.

lanang jagad Wrote:I think it's a bug. If you have a button (e.g. playback, playlist,...) layer, and you put another layer contain graphics above it, you can still click to activate the button under like its passtrough.

I am working on my new skin and it needs to hide buttons under another graphic

Ah, great pickup, I'll fix this!

lanang jagad Wrote:One more thing, the equalizer tool tip doesn't show up.

Thanks, I'll fix this too!

Cliff

hmm eq tooltip working here
and hiding sliders under other layers works, not checked buttons

skin snap point though is not taking windows toolbar into account on dual monitors on the screen that has the toolbar, not really a problem and neither have i tried adding a snaprectangle but it used to snap to toolbar in previous builds

lanang jagad Wrote:I think it's a bug. If you have a button (e.g. playback, playlist,...) layer, and you put another layer contain graphics above it, you can still click to activate the button under like its passtrough

...

One more thing, the equalizer tool tip doesn't show up.

These have now both been fixed for build 89!

Cliff