Topic: new xACT for os x

[scb]

added a few more things tonight before sending over to etree, so hopefully i didn't introduce any new bugs.  they should have the new version posted by tomorrow

changes in v1.2:
   
   --added .ape encoding.  xACT will convert aiff files to wav before encoding to .ape.  After the .ape file is created, the temp .wav file will be deleted.
   --added .ape verification.
   -upgraded sox to 12.17.4
   -fixed a bug in encode so invalid file formats are now caught correctly
   -added support for checking multiple md5 files or multiple flac fingerprint files at one time.  note: checking a flac fingerprint file and md5 file at the same time doesn't work yet.
   -changed so encode, decode and checksum lists are now sorted
   -fixed a bug I was having on 10.3.1 and 10.3.2 where the app would unexpectedly quit when files were dropped onto the dock with certain tabs open.
   -added support for a blank user password (on installation)
   -24 bit ape to aiff and 24 bit aiff to ape attempts are caught and stopped correctly.
   -changed the way ape decode is handled.  I now call monkey's audio directly instead of telling shntool to convert  to wav or aiff.  if converting .ape to aiff, it will extract to a temporary wav first, then convert to aiff.
   -added monkey's audio error codes.
   -the main window can no longer be closed
   -changed the layout of the encode tab to be less cluttered with the addition of .ape encoding
   -parsed the output from both .flac and .ape verification to give a shorter, more concise message.  xACT also parses the .ape error messages.  Hopefully I didn't screw any messages up

[kennedy]

thanks scott  
jk

[Chris K]

scott...available at etree or still at laptop tapers?

i'll give it a whirl as soon as i get it

what's with all the ape stuff...is there that much demand for another lossy format?

[scb]

i put it up on laptop-tapers and mac-tapers, but they haven't changed the link on etree yet.  

even though i don't like .ape (had horrible experiences with it), the command line prorgam has been ported to mac os x, and enough people use it where i thought I'd include support.  At first I just included decode support so if you ever found a show in .ape format you'd be able to convert it.  But i got an email from someone on a classical newsgroup that said those guys would like encode support, so I figured what the hell

[RRobar]

scott...available at etree or still at laptop tapers?

i'll give it a whirl as soon as i get it

what's with all the ape stuff...is there that much demand for another lossy format?

I though .ape was lossless?

Thanks again scott

[John Kelly]

.ape is lossless, but it sucks ass.

Scott, this app really does rule.  +t

[scb]

oh, and yeah, ape is lossless

[scb]

i created a yahoogroup where i'll announce updates, new features, etc.  you can also discuss stuff there.   it's pretty bare for now, but as i do new builds i'll post them there.  

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xACT-users/

i'm going to change the shn > aiff conversion code tomorrow to speed it up by as much as 50%.  the build of the 1.3dev version will be there

[John Kelly]

Damn, there are yahoo groups for everything now.

[greenone]

Yeah, come join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xACT-users-who-disapprove-of-ape-support soon!

[Chris K]

just wanted to again give thanks to scott for this great, great program. used it last night for a coupla hours

its a audio compression utility-knife jack-of-all-trades one-thing-does-all program

any chance we can get an audio PLAYER out of you scott to replace my aging macamplite

or do you know of any plugings for iTunes that'll let me play my flacs/shns? or other player alternatives?

thanks

chris k

[geoff piper]

just wanted to again give thanks to scott for this great, great program. used it last night for a coupla hours

its a audio compression utility-knife jack-of-all-trades one-thing-does-all program

any chance we can get an audio PLAYER out of you scott to replace my aging macamplite

or do you know of any plugings for iTunes that'll let me play my flacs/shns? or other player alternatives?

thanks

chris k

i second that about an audio play. Scott how did you write this?

[scb]

>>or do you know of any plugings for iTunes that'll let me play my flacs/shns? or other player alternatives<<

I don't know of any, and I don't know enough about either format to know where to begin writing one myself.  I've been looking a little at the examples that come with the developer tools though,and one is an audio codec.  But I don't even know where to begin writing one for flac or shn...


>>Scott how did you write this?<<

AppleScript Studio.  It's a great little language for this stuff.  If you're interested in it at all, check out the source code i now bundle with v1.2.  It's a pretty simple language and doesn't require much programming experience.  If you know a little programming, you should be able to figure this out.

What may be a pain is if i rewrite this to Objective C...

[geoff piper]

>>or do you know of any plugings for iTunes that'll let me play my flacs/shns? or other player alternatives<<

I don't know of any, and I don't know enough about either format to know where to begin writing one myself.  I've been looking a little at the examples that come with the developer tools though,and one is an audio codec.  But I don't even know where to begin writing one for flac or shn...


>>Scott how did you write this?<<

AppleScript Studio.  It's a great little language for this stuff.  If you're interested in it at all, check out the source code i now bundle with v1.2.  It's a pretty simple language and doesn't require much programming experience.  If you know a little programming, you should be able to figure this out.

What may be a pain is if i rewrite this to Objective C...

problem i dont have a mac, yeah i know i know I need one, I took a look at xact when i was home, a friend has a powerbook, so I cant take a look at the code now. Shitty PC. And all they teach here at school is shitty(boring nothing interesting) languages. VB.net, C++, Java, Scheme, Prolog.

[John Kelly]

Scott, why not start a sourceforge project on it?  I'm sure there will be people with programming experience that would help an Obj-C rewrite.