Edit: i just came across a problem with the filers not corresponding to the correct action so release will be delayed until I figure out what I did to break it.
Ok I have gotten to a point of refining and adding new features that I want to release a new build as 1.1. I realize I got all distracted with music visualizers and many other things that were not discussed to be in 1.1 and as such many of the things I said I was going to include in 1.1 will be pushed to 1.2, but I am moving fairly quickly and some of the ground work for things like the global control has been laid in 1.1 so it is quite trivial to finish.
right now I am waiting for some graphics for some of the new features as well as a few updated ones, but as soon as those are ready I will release 1.1 RC 1 for testing.
so here are the major changes/additions to 1.1
1. 1.1 is A LOT less resource hungry even with the new features. 1.0 was leaking memory like a sieve, but most of that has been patched in 1.1 as well as some other optimizations that let it use less memory in general. on average 1.1 uses 20% less memory than 1.0, but some of that savings was reclaimed by new features.
2. 1.1 now exclusively uses apples Quartz composer visualizer format and as such is now compatible with apples QC itunes visualizers and I have hard coded links to them in the music module so that they can be used without having to install them in the NBB bundle.
on a side note the volume controller in the music module controls the gain on the audio track and will have an effect on visualizations. If somebody has a good handle on math I would like to be able to factor the gain out of the peak power level so that the visualizers are consistent no matter what the gain is set to. PM or email me if you think you can help.
3. the visualizers can now receive keyboard events in order to control them. since most of you don't have keyboards in your car a added a small section at the bottom of the visualizer window that can be used to send some common keys to the visualizer as well as a button to go entirely full screen. clicking the full screen visualizer will display these controls while clicking it when the controls are visible will exit the visualizer. (basically a double click will exit the visualizer)
4. the preference window now supports multiple pages since I ran out of room. It is resolution independent so the preference window no longer tries to scale things on higher resolutions but instead will display multiple pages at a time if they will fit on screen.
while I'm on the subject of preferences, I have added a slider to control the screen brightness, but have not yet programmed it to auto set throughout the day. my plan is to use the arduino unit that is being driven by the music module to pulse neon lights to the music and add an ambient light sensor to that and have it control screen brightness.
5. changed the way the theming engine works to make it not only more efficient , but can also tweak the control colors even better than before. the theming engine now works telling the application the new them which will in turn theme its controls and then notify each module that the theme has been updated, but the modules do NOT immediately update; they only apply the theme once they are launched. this behavior makes NBB much less memory and processor hungry during a theme change.
additionally the theming engine will allow you to set the font color and save up to 7 theme presets (tho these 2 things won't be active in RC 1 due to some on going issues)
6. enhanced the music and movie modules to be more efficient while browsing the library by fixing several memory leaks and using a set of retained sort descriptors instead of instantiating them each time a sort needs to run. Also sorts are improved to multiple levels so for example instead of simply sorting the songs by artist they are sorted artist->album->track number. as such NBB now only needs to sort the tracks one time instead of the potential 3 times.
7. new slider controls. a bezel stye for bezel windows and a different bar style for the 2 playback sliders. looks much sharper IMO. pictures will be put up on the site following the release.
List for post 1.1. obviously I want to finish what I said was going to be in 1.1 but was pushed back. (global controller, new radio module build with XM direct support, etc)
we also desperately need to finish our web site so here is my plan.
1. finish 1.1 squash all bugs and finish the additions to the theming engine
2. build a new radio module to be released between 1.1 and 1.2
3. while working on the radio work on the website to get it finished prior to 1.2
4. finish and release NBB 1.2
hopefully I'll somewhat stick to my plan this time
Linear Mode
