Zen - 1.6 public beta

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Dear Zen'ers,

I've just uploaded a public beta of Zen 1.6 (PC, OSX version later today).

This one should fix some of the remaining issues found in 1.5.3, and also adds a bunch of new features:


* Drastic (x10) performance improvements in the search queries
  • I have completely rewritten the search queries, this time using SQLite temporary tables features. The speedup is absolutely impressive !

* Support for all, and any, vsti plugin.
  • All users can now activate any plugin locally. For designers, the first preset uploaded for a local plugin makes this plugin public.
* Added button to clear the current search criteria

* Add search results sort options: by ratings + name, by ratings + date, by name, by date
  • They are both located in the top right corner.
* Add Volume control
  • I've posted about it in the features requests thread. It is next to the current preset name, in the lower right part.
* Add presets rating
  • This should be straightforward to use - just click on a star to set your ratings. If you have set a rating for a preset, this is the one Zen displays, and uses for sorting presets. Otherwise it uses a bayesian average from ratings submitted by all other users. Bayesian average means that the average is weighted, based on the number of users who submitted ratings.

    Image
    Your own ratings are displayed with 6-branches stars, while server ratings are using 5-branches - as in the "Sync Lead 2" preset above.

    Note to designers: at the moment ratings are lost when you upload a preset. So make sure you only set ratings after uploading the preset, and not before.
* Replaced some tags with icons
  • Icon tags work just like the tags in the lists: click on the icon to add to the search, right-click (or shift-click) to search for items without the tag, and ctrl-click (or additionally, drag/drop a preset into the tag) to tag a preset. The color-coding of the icon should match the logic of the tags list as well.

    Image

    The trashcan icon replaces the "hidden" tag, and should be much more intuitive. By default, presets in the trash are not displayed. Click on the trash icon to see its contents.

    The heart icon replaces the "favorites" tag.

    Actually, for now the tags are still in the list, but they will disappear from the tags list in 1.6.0.
Last edited by Big Tick on Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Shows me "open file filed: .....\Big Tick\zen\zen.log"
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Check you don't have one running already...
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You right, but... Zen started download all over again...
What about all the presets already downloaded? i have 400 MB in "Preset" folder.
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Julian Ray wrote:You right, but... Zen started download all over again...
What about all the presets already downloaded? i have 400 MB in "Preset" folder.
ok, I just got this report:
The Zen160 makes changes to the .properties file and erases all info about
zen.homePath. Therefore it installs a new blank zendb.s3db on drive c: as it does with the other new dirs and files.
Did you change the default location of the database ? If this is the case, all your previous data is probably still here, you just need to change the settings in the properties file...
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The new installation has now completely destroyed zendb.s3db.
The database is now completely empty.
Also all settings, including the keys are gone.
I now have 7500 orphaned .zen and .fxp files in the presets folder ... :(
Last edited by asseca on Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Argh.. Yes. I found the problem. I've uploaded the full installer, instead of the updater. Damn. Unless you have a backup of your s3db file, the only thing you can do is trash your presets folder and have it download again. I'm very sorry for that... The only consolation is that downloads are much faster than they used to be, especially if you move the bandwidth control all the way up.

So anyway, I have just changed the file on the server. So, if you are just reading this, it should now be safe to run the updater.

'Tick
Last edited by Big Tick on Mon Feb 21, 2011 8:32 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Thanks, will do it now...
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Big Tick wrote:Argh.. Yes. I found the problem. I've uploaded the full installer, instead of the updater. Damn. Unless you have a backup of your s3db file, the only thing you can do is trash your presets folder and have it download again. I'm very sorry for that...
Sorry no backup. I guess I had too much trust in the installers.

The problem is I have also lost all my custom tags ... :(

Once before I accidently used a full installation instead of an update installation and also lost everything.

"To err is human", but I do find the punishment for this error a bit severe :(

So, I hereby request a download version without these horrible installers ... there is just too much risk losing data to my liking.

Also I think some recovery system is needed e.g. export the DB to a text file.
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Well, used s3db file from backup. Works well now.
Asseca, sorry to hear you have no reserve copies. I was also pretty sure this is update file.

Cheers
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asseca wrote: The problem is I have also lost all my custom tags ... :(
Ah... yes. This won't be the case once all the tags are managed online, though.

So, I hereby request a download version without these horrible installers ... there is just too much risk losing data to my liking.
.

OK. I'll package the updaters as a simple zip file. Just make sure you put everything where it belongs.
Also I think some recovery system is needed e.g. export the DB to a text file.
The db is already one single file, it should be easy to backup. I can integrate this in Zen, e.g, make a backup copy of this file every day.
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Julian Ray wrote:Well, used s3db file from backup. Works well now.
Asseca, sorry to hear you have no reserve copies. I was also pretty sure this is update file.
My fault guuys, really. I just uploaded the wrong file :( :oops:
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Thanks for "clear search" button :)

So far this my favorite version of ZEN. It's becoming a really useful tool, although I'm still missing a lot of my synths. Keep 'em coming!

Also downloading presets isn't exactly fast. Due to your little "accident" I lost all my presets too (not a problem, really) and now I'm downloading them again, but it takes ages. Bandwidth settings are at high, btw.

Concerning the star rating system: is there a way to unrate a preset? It seems once you set a rating you can't remove it anymore.

The sorting function isn't very obvious to find. It took me a few clicks until I found out that I have to right-click the clear search button. The actual sorting does work, but the checkmark stays at "Sort by name".

Cheers,
bM3w
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bM3w wrote:Concerning the star rating system: is there a way to unrate a preset? It seems once you set a rating you can't remove it anymore.
No, you can't clear it. But you can set a different rating if you want.
Also downloading presets isn't exactly fast.
Try to set Zen offline and let the command-line updater run for a while.
Also, in addition to the bandwidth settings, Zen automatically adjusts the bandwidth usage depending on the server load (averaged over the last 5 mn), so it will slow down if many users are hammering it.
The sorting function isn't very obvious to find. It took me a few clicks until I found out that I have to right-click the clear search button.
Yes, I'm not satisfied with it either. I want it to fit better within the rest of the UI.
The actual sorting does work, but the checkmark stays at "Sort by name".
Yes. Fixed for 1.6.0 beta 2 :)
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here is 1.6 beta2:

* Added option to clear the stored path for a plugin.
* Changed installer system on windows - it will ask if you want to update an existing installation, or install from scratch

Bug fixes:
* User ratings are now correctly saved when uploading a preset.
* Current sorting mode is now displayed correctly
* Removed a rogue entry in the synths list
* 'untagged' dot indicator was sometimes displayed incorrectly
* Fixed a rare bug where uploads would be stuck in a loop
* Fixed another bug where Zen would stay running indefinitely in the background (hopefully fixed for good. This one has been plaguing me since day one).


There is now one installer only - it can either update the previous version, or install from scratch. Just make sure you select the right option. In any case, it will warn before overwriting your database :)
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