Topic: Album View: Version 2 testing (Read 2978 times)

RhinoBanga · « **on:** May 30, 2002, 10:53:50 pm »

Friends,

I have uploaded a test copy of version 2 onto my website and I would like some people to try it out and give me feedback on the following:

1) How long did it take to create the database
2) How long did it take to load the database (e.g. exiting then re-entering MJ)
3) How much quicker is the overview screen and general browsing of albums within AV

**** AGAIN THIS VERSION IS ONLY A TEST VERSION ****

It has lots and lots and lots of problems so really all I would like to know is the above (along with your machine spec, the number of albums and tracks if possible).

Once you have finished testing, uninstall V2 and reinstall v1.0.3 to get back full functionality. Also you should probably delete the "Default.avd" database file that will have been created. It resides in your installation directory.

The URL for v2 is:

http://www.zippy.eclipse.co.uk/mjav/av2.exe

Thanks for your help.

PhatPhreddy · « **Reply #1 on:** May 31, 2002, 12:24:14 am »

Damn.. I am just leaving for the weekend and now theres a new toy to play with !!!

Will beta it when I am back (sun)... Just wanted to say THANKS FOR THE HARD WORK...

Marra · « **Reply #2 on:** May 31, 2002, 12:54:10 am »

Rhino

Using version 2, following responses :
1 Database about 35-40 sec - no problem.
2 Re-entering MJ about twice as long as previous - acceptable.
3 Fantastic -instantaneous response to browsing, including selecting all albums.

Well done as I expect my library to double in size when I've finished ripping.

1700 tracks 340 albums
Media Jukebox 8.0.289
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\

CPU: AMD Athlon 1399 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 261 MB, Free - 190 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 (Build 2600)

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
wnaspi32.dll: 4.60 (1021) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1999 Adaptec, Inc.
Aspi32.sys: 4.60 (1021)

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #3 on:** May 31, 2002, 01:29:23 am »

PhatPhreddy:

Don't worry it'll still be there for you to test Next Page

Marra:

Can you tell me how long re-entering MJ was please. I expect it to be around a 3rd longer than currently, so for example with V1 say it took 4 seconds ... I would expect V2 to take around 6. Although I should point out when I (eventually) implement the Intel JPG library compression the database size (and hence saving/loading) times will decrease.

Marra · « **Reply #4 on:** May 31, 2002, 01:39:19 am »

Rhino

You're right. Re-entering MJ about a third longer. Your 4 to 6 second estimate close to the mark. The huge benefit is in browsing speed - great improvement. Thanks again.

nila · « **Reply #5 on:** May 31, 2002, 01:51:31 am »

As soon as it's starting I'm getting errors.

Runtime error 0, runtime error 440.

Wont even start for me Next Page

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #6 on:** May 31, 2002, 01:54:26 am »

Friends,

I should also add that my 3rd estimation is only for those with small databases. Those with big databases will hit the crossover mark and naturally see a decrease in loading times compares to V1.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #7 on:** May 31, 2002, 02:03:39 am »

Nila,

Can you email me the trace file please.

Also to let everyone know that in the end there will be 3 logical databases:

1) .avd ... This contains the artists/albums/tracks data
2) .avt ... This contains the pre-formatted thumbnails
3) .avx ... This contains the extended information that is not held in MJ, e.g. favourite artist/album last played/album rank

The AVT file is there so you can alter the ratio's of the thumbnails without having to do a full scan.
The AVX file is there so you can do a full scan without having to re-enter this information again.

I am still not 100% sure if I am going to physically combine them all into one file ... it would be nice but it does raise some other issues which I'd rather not deal with until V2 is working acceptably.

nila · « **Reply #8 on:** May 31, 2002, 02:15:56 am »

Hmm, how'd I make the trace file? Next Page

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #9 on:** May 31, 2002, 02:21:01 am »

Nila,

I think I know what the problem is ... it's because you have the overview screen set as default and it's trying to access data that doesn't even exist yet.

Try this:

1) Run REGEDIT
2) Go to "\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\James Dickson\MJAlbumView"
3) Delete the "StartIn" value

nila · « **Reply #10 on:** May 31, 2002, 02:37:30 am »

Straight away after I finish the scan I'm getting an error message about wrong number of tracks (sync error basically).

The scanning for thumbnails step takes quite a while.

Full scan took 2mins 15secs.

Now by re-loading the db - if I load up MJ then click on AV for the first time is that when I can start counting from?
Anyway - even after the scan AV still appears empty and doesn't show any data at all for me.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #11 on:** May 31, 2002, 03:20:03 am »

> Straight away after I finish the scan I'm getting an error message about wrong number of tracks (sync error basically).

What happens is that after the create I wipe everything in memory, open the database and compare the number of tracks in the file with the number form a fresh MJ search. The reason I do this is to make sure that the database is readable otherwise if it was corrupt you wouldn't know until you exited MJ and restarted it. I recon it's "aborted" while processing ... unfortunately there's nothing I can do here ... you're going to have to wait till this evening Next Page

> The scanning for thumbnails step takes quite a while.
> Full scan took 2mins 15secs.

It's not just scanning ... it's creating the thumbnails as well.

> Now by re-loading the db - if I load up MJ then click on AV for the first time is that when I can start counting from?

Yes.

> Anyway - even after the scan AV still appears empty and doesn't show any data at all for me.
That's because of the first problem.

nila · « **Reply #12 on:** May 31, 2002, 03:28:21 am »

Cool

Lemme know when you have a new build to test - just e-mail me (nila@britcrew.com)

Nice work Next Page

Frank · « **Reply #13 on:** June 01, 2002, 08:34:42 am »

Hey I know this release is supposed to be concerned about the three things you mentioned. But I figured I should just ask if you put in that cover art extractor, that will extract the JPEGs in their normal size, and I just can't find it. I don't mean to be annoying. I like what you have done with the reduction of memory usage and all.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #14 on:** June 01, 2002, 09:38:02 am »

Frank,

That won't be there until I get V2 stable which should be in the next few days. The delay is due to relatives visiting, the world cup and the massive consumption of beer that is/will be taking place Next Page

Ilmar · « **Reply #15 on:** June 01, 2002, 10:06:50 am »

Hi

It took 27 Minutes to complete the scan
It takes 15 Seconds to restart MJ after closing down

After restarting MJ it prompted to read database, but didn't, and came up with the prompt everytime I went to the Overview window.

After the initial load of the database, the system seemed to work, but the images were drawn in black lives ( a bit like bar codes)

Files 23,776
Albums 1,551

Media Jukebox PLUS 8.0.289
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\

CPU: AMD Athlon 1195 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 392 MB, Free - 125 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 (Build 2600)

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
wnaspi32.dll: 4.60 (1021) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-1999 Adaptec, Inc.
Aspi32.sys: 4.60 (1021)

All the best, keep up the great work

Ilmar

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #16 on:** June 01, 2002, 10:15:17 am »

Ilmar,

1) 27 minutes to build ... I take it you have internal images then? Also 15 seconds to load sounds pretty good ... how long is V1 taking to scan?

2) The overview screen problem is more than likely a bug ... I did fix a few in that section of code yesterday so I'm confident it's been fixed.

3) I have an idea what the black images issue is ... wait for the next version to see if it's still there.

Also out of curiosity how big is your .AVD file?

Ilmar · « **Reply #17 on:** June 01, 2002, 10:26:38 am »

Hi

Nope all external images! the images are read from files over a 100mbps lan.

It took approx 15 minutes to load under V1, so double the time for a database it will remember seems a good trade off.

However, when I started up gain, it didn't remember, so maybe that was the bug thing.

The default .avd file is 27.9Mb. (I confess I uninstalled after the trial) The local reading and writing was not a speed issue as I use 10,000 rpm cheetah SCSI 160 drive and it was whirring away like crazy in the final part of the scan!

Ilmar

Ilmar · « **Reply #18 on:** June 01, 2002, 11:25:14 am »

Hi

I have uninstalled AV completely, cleaning out the installation directory, and re running the trial again.

This time it only took 17-18mins and the images are all fine. Strangely the .avd file is only 21.5Mb this time, but I had the thumbnail sizes set larger in options for V1, so this had carried forward on my first try.

Reloading MJ took 3 mins 40 secs

Certainly I think V1 has to be completely removed b4 testing V2

Ilmar

Frank · « **Reply #19 on:** June 02, 2002, 11:29:01 pm »

How's it going there Banger, I can't seem to wait for your next release.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #20 on:** June 02, 2002, 11:38:20 pm »

Things are going slowly at the moment Frank.

Yesterday was wiped out as I was drunk as a skunk (we had relatives over and I was celebrating England's non-win with Sweden).

Today is going to be more of the same but I am getting some coding done as we speak.

This morning I am going to put in a database creation wizard where you can tell AV the name of the DB you want, the sizes of the thumbnails and a few other items ... this (I think) will help people get started and pave the way for the thumbnail regeneration section that is required later.

Fortunately I am off all of next week so I should get a fair bit of coding done then ... but I am planning on getting a second test version out tomorrow.

nila · « **Reply #21 on:** June 03, 2002, 01:59:00 am »

Wahooo!!

Great.
Lemme know when it's available to test cause I want it Next Page

Make sure you post a note AS SOON as it's ready.
No slacking - after all, we are paying you £0 per hour for this so I expect your best work Next Page

.

lol - Have a fun jubilee weekend dude.
Nila

Frank · « **Reply #22 on:** June 03, 2002, 04:49:45 pm »

Hey Rhino, which SDK did you use to start your endevour? I think I want to add a plugin that would allow you to look at the media library first by Letter then Artist, then album, with the same interface that MediaJukebox uses currently. Any comments, suggestions, anything would be appreciated.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #23 on:** June 03, 2002, 10:50:25 pm »

Frank,

It's all on the developers zone:

http://www.musicex.com/mediajukebox/developers.html

Check out the interface plugin sample.

nila · « **Reply #24 on:** June 05, 2002, 03:51:10 pm »

How's it coming Rhino?
Any new builds or news on v2?

Keep us updated Next Page

Hope u had a fun bankholliday.

Nila

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #25 on:** June 05, 2002, 10:54:25 pm »

Dude,

There was a delay as my machine crashed and I had to re-install everything and use up one of my MJ restore's Next Page

The wizard is up and running and I am looking at releasing the 2nd test version today.

nila · « **Reply #26 on:** June 06, 2002, 01:05:06 am »

Damn, that sucks dude.
Cant wait till the new version comes out.
You should have waited till the 30 day trial ran out before you used that restore though cause especially with fresh installs, there's always a chance it's all gonna die again straight away and then u'll have to use another one Next Page

.

I hope it doesn't so u can keep workin on the plugin instead of doing reinstalls.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #27 on:** June 06, 2002, 01:15:51 am »

Well I'm back up and running now and re-designing the UI ... here's a sneak preview:

As you can see I now allow you to create databases using your own criteria.

I should defo be on for releasing the 2nd test version today.

nila · « **Reply #28 on:** June 06, 2002, 06:50:35 am »

Definitely looks pretty sweet.

Two points both to do with the second screen shot.
1. Spelling mistake - You've writte teh instead of the.
2. Can you include an example with the text of the type of things that can be used and what they will result in Next Page

Again, like with the tooltips, it's a case of you knowing everything it does and how cause you made it but us poor users needing to know this info too.

Cant wait to try it. It looks pretty sweet.

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #29 on:** June 06, 2002, 06:56:48 am »

Nila,

The code has just been moved from the options screen to the wizard so all tooltips, etc, are still there. As far as the search criteria field is concerned I just popup a msg telling the user to reference the MJ help.

Also I fixed the spelling mistake when I created the screenshot ... I just couldn't be bothered to upload a new one Next Page

Finally I've implemented the resize thumbnails wizard bit so I am just tidying up a few things then I'll upload the 2nd test version.

nila · « **Reply #30 on:** June 06, 2002, 08:09:17 am »

It doubled posted Next Page

nila · « **Reply #31 on:** June 06, 2002, 08:09:50 am »

Wahoo!!

The fun's gonna begin Next Page

Oh yeah - and I mentioned before about adding a feature to allow to: Send to...
so I could send albums to the burner - just wondering if you'd done this at all or not?

RhinoBanga · « **Reply #32 on:** June 06, 2002, 08:15:49 am »

I haven't put in the "Send To" bit ... but it's defo on my list. I just haven't decided on how/where to do it. My gut feeling is in the new "Album Overview" screen that will eventually appear (the one where you can set the year of an album, rank an album, etc) ... but I'll have a better idea by the weekend.

Ilmar · « **Reply #33 on:** June 06, 2002, 09:08:22 am »

Hi

Waiting.... breathless
Anticipation mounts...

Ilmar

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Author Topic: Album View: Version 2 testing (Read 2978 times)

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Frank

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Frank

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