Releasing a new version of the web editor

[SimonORorke]

@FerdiBinger

Please, can we have a keyboard shortcut to clear then content of the debug listing windows?

That would be great. However, keyboard shortcuts are problematic in web applications, so I doubt it will be feasible. We shall see.

[markus.schloesser]

Not AFAIK, the only thing that might mess with them is screen readers.

[sadguitarius]

This preset is getting jumbled by the new editor. Looking at the preset JSON, there are no id numbers for any of the controls and the positions are showing up wrong. It’s also not possible to move the controls to the correct positions using the web editor. Is there a quick fix available or do I need to go in and edit all of the JSON by hand?

[NewIgnis]

hi Martin, getting used to the new editor. A step forward.

Some remarks:

• the filter in the controls section doesn’t seem to work. (see screenshot)
• I’m missing the json section as well. Not to edit it, but to check and search on settings, attribute names and for debugging purposes.

[SimonORorke]

@NewIgnis

I’m missing the json section as well.

On the JSON section, see this post from @martin 10 days ago:

@martin

I have temporarily removed the preset JSON view. The reason is that it was causing quite some confusion. The issue here is that the preset JSON is a JSON file exported by the editor and optimized to run in the hardware controller. The editor internally uses so-called project JSON. That means that any edit made to the preset JSON in the editor would result in conversion back to the project JSON and then to the preset JSON again so that it could be shown in the editor. That would not fly. The importance of the project JSON is even higher now. We will be introducing support for multiple layouts in one project. So, what is going to happen (most likely) is providing a documentation of the Project JSON and adding an editor for that.

[NewIgnis]

I know, that’s why I mentioned I do not need it for editing.

[martin]

I am finishing the updated version of the editor (with layouts). I am adding an option to edit both preset and project JSON and apply the changes (by clicking a button). Project JSON work ok already. PresetJson is a bit tricky because it needs to take in account layout of the controller (mk1/mk2 vs mini)

[nemesis2049]

Hi Martin,

is there any solution to fix these problem? A lot older presets doesnt work with the web editor and controller anymore. In that case both presets for the Blofeld.

How can i find the duplicate references in the editor?

Best, Nika

[kiwigrass]

Wondering if there will be an option to change a control’s type without having to reenter the info. Specifically, after setting up a bunch of non momentary toggle pads you realize that they would be better as on/off check boxes. I don’t see a way to change this without deleting the pad control and replacing it with the checkbox version and reentering the midi info. Is this doable?

[SimonORorke]

@kiwigrass

Wondering if there will be an option to change a control’s type without having to reenter the info.

That would be great.

[NewIgnis]

@SimonORorke , @kiwigrass

There is a simple trick to it, I do all the time

• Imagine you had made a Fader control with an items list in it, and now you want it to be a List control
• Step 1: add the default control type (in this case the List control), next to the control you want to change
• Step 2: click on the new (default) control, then copy it (ctrl-C on windows)
• Step 3: ckick on the old (target) control, then paste (ctrl-V on windows).

That’s it: the target control will have kept all its attributes that are still applicable to the new control type. F.i. if you change a List control in a Fader control you will allways have to manually enter the MIDI Min and MIDI Max values, because they don’t exist in List controls.

[martin]

@NewIgnis

@SimonORorke , @kiwigrass

There is a simple trick to it, I do all the time

I would certainly not recommend doing that it was not an intended behaviour. The latest version of the editor does not merge the control data on the paste action, it replaces that. I will see what I can do. The main reason why I have not done that yet is that changing the control type may lead to loosing the control type specific data. ie. I do not think that a simple selection list is enough.

although we have an undo there… I will see what I can do.

[NewIgnis]

@martin

that trick has been working well in all the previous firmwares, and so far I’ve not seen it fail in this one

It’s rather the ordinary cut/copy and paste into empty spaces that yielded problems like duplicate references.

But perhaps the reason it worked well is because I always did it one control at a time?

[kiwigrass]

Thanks @martin . In the case of check box vs toggle pad perhaps it could be as simple as making check box an option within the control data rather than as a separate control type?

[martin]

pad → checkbox is easy. I already added that to my todays todo list. Electra works with four low-level types of controls:

• proportional (fader, xy, envelopes, …)
• discrete values (lists)
• state (buttons, pads, checksboxes)
• relative

Changing the type within the same low-level group is simple thing. Migrating controls between the groups is harder as there will always be some data missing or redundant.

[NewIgnis]

Releasing a new version of the web editor

pad → checkbox is easy. I already added that to my todays todo list. Electra works with four low-level types of controls: proportional (fader, xy, envelopes, …) discrete values (lists) state (buttons, pads, checksboxes) relative Changing the type within the same low-level group is simple thing. Migrating controls between the groups is harder as there will always be some data missing or redundant.

Changing between discrete List controls and proportional Fader controls is quite intuitive as well:

• From Fader to List, only retain those values that are in the attached overlay.
• From List to Fader: keep the MIDI Min and MIDI max blank as they are now. It is straightforward enough what needs to be added afterwards.

The interesting thing about moving between those two, is that the designer can choose what control fits best, even when he first made the lesser choice. Once a list is beyond 10-20 values, a List control becomes slow in response (too many turns), and then a Fader with an Overlay becomes the better choice (even if then sometimes a bit too sensitive).

[martin]

An updated version of the editor is now on the production. I will post more info in a moment. For now, if you notice anything strange:

1. hard reload the page (clear cache)

if the issue stays

2. let me know

[martin]

First off, thank you everyone for your input. I reviewed, considered, and often immediately applied the ideas and changes. I was originally planning to release just an update that would add support for multiple layouts in a single preset, but it eventually grew into a collection of many changes. I’ll list a few highlights here; the rest will be fully described in the documentation. I must admit I was not 100% happy with the UI layout of the intermediary version released +/- two weeks ago. With your help, I have reached a point where I actually quite fancy the latest version.

Note, there there is still stuff to improve - listed below. And there will be imperfections. As always, feedback is welcomed.

Most important changes:

1. Overall cleanup of the application page layout. The previous version felt a bit cluttered:

   
   The preset-wide actions, such as “Send to electra”, “Save”, … moved to the right side of the screen. With these changes I was able to use the editor on 1280x800 screens. Three keyboard shortcuts added: CMD/CTRL+s to save project, SHIFT + CMD/CTRL+s to send project to electra, and Escape closes and terminates open popup, etc.

2. Split view improved, initial split is 50:50 if the screen resolution permits that, scaling of the controller screen graphics improved:

3. The "Layout” in each split view can display layout for different controller model (mk1/mk2 and Mini now). Controls can be dragged between the layouts to make it easier to extend existing presets with the support for the Mini. Of course, it can be used to extend Mini presets with the mk1/mk2 layouts. There will be a separate post on this.

4. Default sidebar now highlights hovered (mouse over) objects for faster feedback. Layout of the sidebar has been cleaned up:

5. Previously hidden UI actions such as Cut, Copy, Delete, close selection Sidebar have their buttons now:

6. The Project JSON is now available to edit, Apply changes button immediately updates everything. Documentation on the Project JSON format will be provided. Note, it validates JSON syntax but it does not do the Project JSON schema validation, ie. you can submit invalid project:

Preset JSON can be previewed in Read Only mode. mk1/mk2 and Mini format can be selected:

7. Controls view support searing the controls using almost any of their attributes. The built-in edit can speed up making changes to the control values:

There is still quite some work to be done on the Controls view.

Stuff to be done:

1. Provide info and page previews for all layouts in the project. Currently, it kind of reflects what controller is connected
2. Adjust Controller config pages to be in line with Mini

With this being out now, however, I will spent coming days on making changes to the controller firmware. users (@klaustrophil, @Phommed, ..) reported things that need immediate attention.

[martin]

@kiwigrass

Thanks @martin . In the case of check box vs toggle pad perhaps it could be as simple as making check box an option within the control data rather than as a separate control type?

[martin]

It is doable and fairly reliable to add the keyboard shortcuts. The issue that @SimonORorke mentioned is often related to what component has focus and how keyboard shortcuts collide with the system. There’s two important things to mention:

1. CMD/CTRL+K is used internally by the Lua editor to fire editor related commands. eg. CMD+K CMD+0 will fold your code and CMD+K CMD+j will unfold it. ie. a new shortcut needs to be carefully picked so that it does not collide with standard commands.

2. although @oldgearguy said elsewhere that he is not expecting that, but I am working on a system of breakpoints, stack and variable dumps in the editor. Users started developing very complex presets over the time and printing stuff to the log window is not sufficient any more. This does not mean that I will not add the shortcut for clearing the window, just info that this might change in the near future. current development version: