Author Topic: NANY 2011 Release: Ethervane Radio 0.2.4 (Read 97132 times)

epopuI · « **Reply #25 on:** January 02, 2011, 04:50 PM »

Works well as a simple radio player - it would be nice to have a very low memory radio player without all the cosmetics - good luck with the coding

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #26 on:** January 02, 2011, 05:44 PM »

I was thinking something tiny (but with basic buttons) to tuck away somewhere: (see attachment in previous post)
-Perry Mowbray (January 02, 2011, 01:18 AM)

I like that! There is some tricker involved in making a Delphi application that has multiple, switchable "main" windows, but I think I know how to make it work.
-tranglos (January 02, 2011, 06:37 AM)

I like the existing window... it's just got more information in it than I'd like when I'm listening to the radio and working on something else

(What did you use to design this screenshot?)
-tranglos (January 02, 2011, 06:37 AM)

Knowing Perry, he probably just made the form (none-working ofc) lol - I know thats what I would have done....easiest way haha
-Stephen66515 (January 02, 2011, 02:05 PM)

Not quite, recently I've been playing with Cacoo:

As it offers the ability to collaborate on interface...

Link to drawing: https://cacoo.com/di...ams/TYBg7dVsuVybmBla

KynloStephen66515 · « **Reply #27 on:** January 02, 2011, 06:17 PM »

Not quite, recently I've been playing with Cacoo:
(see attachment in previous post)

As it offers the ability to collaborate on interface...

Link to drawing: https://cacoo.com/di...ams/TYBg7dVsuVybmBla
-Perry Mowbray (January 02, 2011, 05:44 PM)

Ah, that looks really good, ill have to signup to it later

mouser · « **Reply #28 on:** January 05, 2011, 09:05 PM »

one thing i would like is that the search box seems to only search for a string -- it would really be nice to be able to search for multiple words anywhere, for i could type: england,jazz to find entries that have the word england somewhere AND the word jazz somewhere. obviously one could get more fancy but basic AND / OR would be nice.

tranglos · « **Reply #29 on:** January 05, 2011, 09:27 PM »

Mouser, I think this is one of the "goes without saying" things

It's totally on the list, and it's important, but the list is crowded at the top.

I've already implemented a few critical features since the initial release, so there will be a new release in a few days. Right now I'm trying to find out if there's a Delphi implementation of ISimpleAudioVolume interface - and there doesn't seem to be. I expected volume control was going to be easy...

On edit: There is of course a lot more to be improved in the search window. Right now it doesn't display match count, and afer you hit enter you can't easily get back to the search input box - plenty of basic stuff like this. No history, no clearing, no notification on "match not found", etc. I should ahve waited for NANY 2012!

And I'll need to add some kind of synonym substitution as well. For example, for stations in the US, the database contains "United States". If you type "USA" instead, you won't get what you expect.

dantheman · « **Reply #30 on:** January 10, 2011, 04:00 PM »

Where can i vote on this one?

Excellent!

Perry Mowbray · « **Reply #31 on:** January 10, 2011, 04:15 PM »

Where can i vote on this one?

Excellent!

-dantheman (January 10, 2011, 04:00 PM)

There is no voting (in NANY): except with your usage and donations...

You can also "spread the word" about it: they are all votes for the application.

superboyac · « **Reply #32 on:** January 10, 2011, 04:34 PM »

Ah! Always great to see tranglos developing new software. One of the best!

tranglos · « **Reply #33 on:** January 10, 2011, 05:01 PM »

<blush!>

Ah! Always great to see tranglos developing new software. One of the best!
-superboyac (January 10, 2011, 04:34 PM)

mouser · « **Reply #34 on:** January 10, 2011, 05:24 PM »

Ah! Always great to see tranglos developing new software. One of the best!

agreed -- we are lucky to have kidnapped him first so we get to see his creations.

tranglos · « **Reply #35 on:** January 10, 2011, 07:38 PM »

New release: version 0.1.2. Uploaded 2011-01-11

Download: please use the attachment link in the top message in this thread.

Changes in this version:

1. A number of new features regarding volume control:

- By default, the volume slider controls only the radio player's internal volume, not the global Windows volume as before. Previous installations will keep the earlier behavior. Delete the configuration file to enable the new default.

- Mute function is now implemented (press 'M' or Backspace to toggle). The mute setting affects only the radio player. Global Windows volume is not muted.

- Added an option to set global volume on startup to a predefined value. Disabled by default. (Can be enabled in the configuration file)

- Added an option to save and restore last-used volume for each station played. Enabled by default. (Can be disabled in the configuration file). Please note: when restoring a station's volume, both the global (system-wide) volume level and the radio player's internal volume level are updated. This is the only way to ensure consistency. It makes little sense to save and restore only the radio player's internal volume, since the global volume level may be set differently each time.

- Volume slider is updated when system volume changes (with a slight delay; only when global volume control is enabled)

2. Added a simple VU meter. (Can be disabled in the configuration file)

3. Favicon is displayed for currently playing station, if the station's website has one.

4. Station playback history is now stored: date and time the station was last played, number of times the station has been played, total time the station has been played, and the station's volume (see above). This information will be used more heavily in the future, but for now it is used to sort the Favorites menu (default: most often played stations first) and the History menu (default: most recently played stations first). Likewise, connection errors are now stored for each playback source; in the future this data may be used to prioritize sources.

5. The player's state and the name of the station being played are shown in the title bar.

6. Added navigation functions: Back (Alt+Left arrow) plays the previous station; Forward (Alt+Right arrow) plays the next station. This sequence of stations is only maintained during a single program session, similar to Back and Forward buttons in a web browser.

7. Added a feature to play a random station (press 'R'). It tries to select stations that have never been played yet. (Still needs some fine-tuning).

8. Debugging log slightly improved; shows more details and uses color-coded severity levels.

9. Lots of minor fixes and improvements.

Known issues: Nothing major yet. Playback of some stations stutters once at the beginning. This affects only some stations and other players exhibit it too, but I hate it, so I'm listing it as a bug

Next up: More detailed display (playback timer, current track information); search improvements (I know the search window is really weak right now); hotkeys; UI to configure settings.

happygrandad · « **Reply #36 on:** January 11, 2011, 03:09 AM »

A great APP, nice & minimal. Suits me just fine. Keep up the good work!

mouser · « **Reply #37 on:** January 11, 2011, 03:34 AM »

one of my very favorite things on dc is when new people are inspired to make their first post saying that they like something made by someone on the site.

welcome to the site happygrandad, and please make yourself at home.

tranglos · « **Reply #38 on:** January 11, 2011, 05:35 AM »

Thank you, happygrandad, it's great to have you with us!

bob99 · « **Reply #39 on:** January 11, 2011, 09:48 AM »

This is great. Added it to my LBC to find it quick.
I'm seeing an occasional glitch with it on my machine. I'm running XP Pro sp2.
From the menu, Radio > Random Station.
Most times it selects a station and starts playing fine. Occasionally after selecting random Ethervane just shuts down. Immediately on the screen and a few seconds later in the task bar.
Anything else I can provide to help figure out why this happens? When I restart it and go to the debug log it's empty.

tranglos · « **Reply #40 on:** January 11, 2011, 05:04 PM »

Most times it selects a station and starts playing fine. Occasionally after selecting random Ethervane just shuts down. Immediately on the screen and a few seconds later in the task bar.
Anything else I can provide to help figure out why this happens? When I restart it and go to the debug log it's empty.
-bob99 (January 11, 2011, 09:48 AM)

Thanks for the report, Bob. The log is cleared when the program restarts. You'll need to find the log file and make a copy before you restart the player. On XP, the log file is located in:

c:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Ethervane\ethervaneradio\log\

It would help to know the stations which cause this error, and if it happens consistently. Feel free to email me the log file.

(This worries me a little, because the behavior you describe indicates the error may not be coming from my Delphi code. It is very rare for a Delphi app to just crash and disappear. Usually even the worst problem should end up as a message in a dialog box. A crash like you've described is much more likely to be caused by the bass dll, the library I'm using for streaming audio. It would be great to see a log file!)

...and since I'm now temporarily back on XP, my emergency laptop, I may be seeing the crash myself. Will try!

tranglos · « **Reply #41 on:** January 11, 2011, 05:09 PM »

Just wanted to say it's a good thing I released version .2 last night, because today in the morning my Tagan power supply fried... barely a month after its 36-month warranty expired. Isn't it just cute. Blew all the breakers in my apartment, too.

Since the design of my case requires a power supply with the motherboard cable at least 55 cm long, and such are hard to come by (most are thirty-something cm), I'm now on my emergency laptop, back to XP, with no coding tools at all.

Looks like a dry week or two, until I find a suitable power supply and get it delivered.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #42 on:** January 11, 2011, 06:14 PM »

I can confirm bob99's report but i am afraid there's not much in the log file to help with debugging.

All initialization stages completed
SEARCHING : 1 Search : 251 ms Load: 0 ms Populate : 10 ms
Session 1 abandoned

Started ER, Esc, search for a station, double-clicled on the entry in the 'Find Radio Station' window... ER just crashed after a sec.

tranglos · « **Reply #43 on:** January 11, 2011, 06:44 PM »

All initialization stages completed
SEARCHING : 1 Search : 251 ms Load: 0 ms Populate : 10 ms
Session 1 abandoned

Started ER, Esc, search for a station, double-clicled on the entry in the 'Find Radio Station' window... ER just crashed after a sec.
-PhilB66 link=topic=25068.msg231420#msg231420

Looks like it's crashing as soon as it's trying to load a station from the database, but this is extremely unlikely. More likely, the log file hasn't had a chance to flush. As soon as I have access to Delphi again, I will enable flushing the log after each and every line - that should preserve more inforomation. Too bad I can't do it right now (my main 'puter pretty much went up in smoke today, from too much exertion no doubt :-) )

Do you recall what station it was you that you tried to play? Are you running XP too? Can you play other stations successfully, or does it always crash this way?

tranglos · « **Reply #44 on:** January 11, 2011, 06:53 PM »

Got it! Isn't it just a lucky happenstance that my power supply blew up today, forcing me to switch to an old, old XP laptop? I've seen the crash and yes, ER just puff and disappears. The log did have the name of the station that caused this, and I can confirm it crashes every time I try to play the station.

For the curious: search for "CJFH". This will produce one station. Play it, and ER will just die on the spot. Now if someone could try and see if the same thing happens on Windows 7 as well, I'd appreciate.

Sorry I can't do anything about it at the moment. As soon as my coding machine is back up, I will investigate further. Meanwhile, I'll try playing the same station using other BASS-based players (aimp, screamer).

DavidtheChristianguy · « **Reply #45 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:16 PM »

I have tried for several minutes but can't find the download button for the Ethervane Radio.
I love oldies and christian radio and would love to be a supporter but can't find where to start.
Yes, I did watch your help video.
DavidtheChristianguy

tranglos · « **Reply #46 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:18 PM »

I have tried for several minutes but can't find the download button for the Ethervane Radio.
I love oldies and christian radio and would love to be a supporter but can't find where to start.
Yes, I did watch your help video.
DavidtheChristianguy
-DavidtheChristianguy (January 11, 2011, 07:16 PM)

Hi David,

The program doesn't yet have its own web site - that will happen eventually. The download link is in my first message, at the top of this thread. The file is an attachment to the message. Try this link:

https://www.donation...25068.0;attach=54522

Or try clicking here

PhilB66 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:22 PM »

@tranglos

The radio station was 'Afterhours'. No problem playing this station with RadioSure (also Baas based).

PhilB66 · « **Reply #48 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:28 PM »

BTW, there is a newer version of the Baas library (2.4.7.1).

mouser · « **Reply #49 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:32 PM »

The program doesn't yet have its own web site - that will happen eventually.

if you want some space on our member server just ask!