Karaoke Forums

...there's a new version out with a couple of new features. IMO it's worth updating!

Just FYI

What are the important ones, if I can ask? My hosts love the 1.76 version -- by far the most popular addition on that one was the "search as you type".

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[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

This is copied from their announcement:

FEATURE ADDITIONS/ENHANCEMENTS


* Inactive Performers are now designated with a YELLOW background for greater visibility.
* The oncreen position of the Scroller is now definable, TOP or BOTTOM. Click "File->System Devices and Options->Scroller Rotation Setup" to configure.
* Option to automatically Inactivate a Performer w/No Further Requests in Queue. Select "Options" from the Main Menu to Activate.
* Onscreen "Current Performer" display is now "Selected Performer". The fields displayed are now the "Currently Selected" Performance, allowing the User to view additional information pertaining to the "Selected" request.
* New Safeguard Added - If a VideoBit Image is displayed when a Karaoke Performance is launched, the VideoBit Image will automatically turn off. This prevents the accidental launching of a Karaoke Performance while a VideoBit is onscreen, preventing the Performer from viewing the lyrics.
* The "Active Buttons" have been optimized in the SongList Search dialog. The "Default Button" (The one activated when pressing the ENTER Key) is now automatically mapped back to the "Search All" button when entering a new "Search Text". This should provide for more fluid searches by allowing the user to enter the SearchText and simply press the ENTER key to perform the search.
* New Global HotKeys Added - The "Karaoke Play" and "Karaoke Stop" buttons/functions, both found under the Host's Onscreen Lyrics display are now configurable as Global Hotkeys.
IMPORTANT! For existing installations the following TWO lines MUST be manually added to the "globalkeys.ini" found in the CompuHost Program Folder!
To do so,

o Locate the "globalkeys.ini" file in the CompuHost Program Folder (default:\Program Files\CompuHost)
o Open the file in a Text Editor (ex:Notepad)
o Between the lines "AutoPlayPause=" and "Instatune1=" insert the following TWO lines...
KaraokePlayButton=
KaraokeStopButton=
o When finished it should appear as follows..
...
AutoPlayPause=
KaraokePlayButton=
KaraokeStopButton=
Instatune1=
...
o Save the file to the original location and filename, overwriting the original.
o The new functions may now be mapped to Global Hotkeys as are the other functions listed.


BUG FIXES


* When importing listings, if the LAST entry in the SongList database was "flagged", "offensive" etc., all newly imported listings would be added with the same flag activated. - FIXED
* When browsing for files using the embedded Windows Filedialog API, CompuHost would disappear at times. This was isolated as an erratic conflict between some mouse drivers and the embedded Windows Filedialog. The embedded Windows Filedialog is no longer used. - FIXED

And don't forget when you export your song list that you export using the CompuHost song ID and not the manufacturer ID..

This way it's just a simple click to quickly update your Karaoke SongFinder kiosk for your singers with your most current list...


('cause you didn't get all this fancy computer stuff just to keep using printed paper books did you?)

(sorry, coiuldn't resist....)

This single item has caused me more grief than anything else. Glad they got it working right, I'll upgrade tonight

I soooo love compuhost!! They really listen to their users when it comes to updates too!

Serevin, where do I have to go to update my Compuhost. Updated on my other computer, but now re-installed on new computer with 1.75, i think, forgot where to go to update, so many things going on. If Serevin's not around, ANYBODY who can help will be appreciated.

Rosario

You should have been given a username/password for the forum when you purchased. The download is on the forum at kjtools.com.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

You don't have to be registered on the Forums, just to download the newest version. It is recommended though, because most parts of their forum is not visible to guests.

Here ya go:
http://www.karaokeware.com/forums/index ... 895f24c5f7

OMG! I love that feature! That has speeded up song location so fast. You can take all the other gingerbread...

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Good music, good friends, howling good times!

This ain't gingerbread:

• The "Active Buttons" have been optimized in the SongList Search dialog. The "Default Button" (The one activated when pressing the ENTER Key) is now automatically mapped back to the "Search All" button when entering a new "Search Text". This should provide for more fluid searches by allowing the user to enter the SearchText and simply press the ENTER key to perform the search.

That's just fixing something they frigging broke. Default button behavior should never change performing the same operation within a dialog box. That's UI Design 101.

Well you're WRONG, and you abviously know NOTHING about what you're talking about! Active buttons DO change default behaviour based on what the application "thinks" you wish to do next. In CH's case, when searching for a song, the "Search All" button is default, allowing you to provide the search text and press "enter" to display the list of matching songs. Then the default button changes to the "Add Songs" button so you can select the desired listing and press enter again to close the dialog. What they did was allow the "default" button to change back to the "Search All" button whenever you provide a new search text, again assuming you wish to perform a new search.

Active buttons are nothing new, and ANYONE that new ANYTHING about what they are talking about would know about them, obviously you do not, yet feel compelled to post as you do!

Oh by the way, that's ADVANCED UI Design, maybe you should enroll???

I think the user forums are voluntary and require you to register for user access separately from your purchase, at least that was the way it was when i enrolled for forum access. As long as you own one of their products you're in. Just visit their forums to register for access.

Tbreen: If indeed it were acceptable behavior they wouldn't have changed the functionality. As for advanced UI design that's wonderful you seem to know all about it. I have one overworked UI implementer in my division and I need another one who can do Scaleform integration in Unreal3. We had two but we transferred my illustrator/designer to character art.

I'd love to see your resume since you claim to be expert in the subject and I have a project that needs a UI designer to start tackling it. Please stop by here:

http://gearboxsoftware.com/jobs/listing/3/

and send your resume in. If we can even get your expert opinion for a seminar or something akin to that I'd love to have it. Where do I enroll in this advanced UI design class you speak of? I've been to all the opportunities Gamefest, GDC and Siggraph offer but none that I can see working the magic you claim.

Everyone else: Sorry to if this sounds pissy, I'm just looking for a more expert opinion in my field than mine.

So are you saying that with your "immense" experience you have never heard of active buttons?

Immense experience? Hardly. UI design changes rapidly as technology changes. They used procedural logic when they changed that search screen. They admit the change was a mistake, shouldn't have made it and have returned to the better implementation for the dialog box.

In the dialog box in question the default behavior should not change until a selection is made from the search list. That *might* have been acceptable. However when the focus is put back into the text entry box the default button should be the 'Search All' button, not the 'Select and Return'. The way they had implemented it had the 'Select and Return' a procedural rather than active decision based on user inputs.

User intent can be gleaned from contextual cues and misreading them leads to very sloppy interface. I wasn't making a statement that buttons don't change behavior or that modal behavior shouldn't be used. I was saying the logic Invincion used to implement their changes was improper, not the method used.

Context is everything. In UI and reading BBS posts.

Isn't this totally contradictory to your initial post?



The whole purpose of my rebuttal was your comment above! As for CH doing it wrong, it was obviously a bug that they fixed very quickly, as they try to do with every bug reported. And yes, EVERY software application contains bugs, some reported, some not.

He said "performing the same operation". He is correct. If the operation changes, then you may change the default button behavior. Once you have tabbed or moused to the next destination, you are no longer performing the same operation and the modal behavior can logically change.

This type of thing is my biggest problem with MTU Hoster and their other software, as they pay absolutely no attention to this stuff like Compuhost does. You can be selecting a song using the mouse wheel to scroll, then you Play. At that point, you have to click into the song list again -- it will no longer scroll with the mouse wheel. This is plainly wrong, as so many of MTUs UI decisions are. And sad to say, if you try and bring up the issue on the forum, someone springs vehemently to their defense and instead of discussion you have impassioned flaming. Sort of like you did.

When I reported this bug, Compuhost just replied and said it had been fixed. That's what I like to see.

_________________
[color=#ffff55]Mickey J.[/color]
Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them.
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Mcky addressed the UI issue. This wasn't a bug, it was a direct change in funtionality thinking this might be best in some capacity. Turns out the hue and cry decided otherwise. My hats off to them for fixing it but they have done these types of things in the past. It took them 3 revs to fix so I am certain it wasn't a bug but a feature improvement.

I know when I read bug reports regarding any title I release we compare them against known issues that we decided not to fix. Thus far it's in the 98% range of bugs found by users are already known, reported and deemed too insignificant to the experience to dedicate resources to fix. My pedigree through the ranks starts in QA as a lowly tester to Director of QA and then beyond. I've written up a lot of bugs in my day