Highrez

OK, I have begun the next beta phase with XMBC v2.14 Beta 1.

2.14 will hopefully bring a significant new feature - button cording which many people have been pestering me about . I have finally found some time to spend on this feature (and to avoid getting depressed about the UK leaving the EU!)

If you have check for beta versions enabled, you should get notified of a new version and prompted to update in the next day or so. This is the most efficient method (bandwidth wise) as the updates are only a fraction of the size of the full install. Otherwise, you can get the full installation beta HERE. Note that this link will always get you the latest beta version!

Changes since v2.13.1:

• #390 - Added mouse button chording, allowing you to combine buttons to perform additional actions.
• #384 - Changed the default for "Load US English Keyboard layout" to false (off).
• #382 - Modified the code to launch processes from a separate, low priority thread to prevent the hook thread locking up/timing out.
• #379 - Modified the code to try and prevent crashes reported by the runtime crash reporter.

There is a new language template with some new translations for the new update features, but I don't expect this to be final in a hurry so you may want to take your time with the translations for now!

Any problems, PM me a copy of the log file (or post a snippet in a code block here).

Thanks,
Phil

I can't thank you enough for maintaining XMouse like you do. It's helped remove so many tedious task from work its incredible. Truly a life saver. If you ever require a bit of web development(html,css,js,php, etc) help let me know! Cheers mate

Oh I also see from your sig that you have some pretty decent pc hardware. Is there a fellow gamer lurking over there?!

I think Ex-gamer is more appropriate these days - I still tinker when I can find time but that's rare these days! Still, the hardware specs come in handy for general day to day for me too Oh ad that's one PC of 5 or 6 in my home hahaha...

EDIT: Never mind - I clearly cant type - missed a { .... Now its working!

Hot on the heals of 2.14 Beta 1 comes beta 2.

This one fixes a few bugs reported since 2.13.1 was released.

Changes since v2.14 Beta 1:

• #389 - Added Brightness control simulated keystrokes (for people whose computers support brightness control)
• #388 - Problem with simulated {PAUSE} in RDP. Added {CTRLBREAK} and {BREAK}
• #387 - Fixed a bug with Scroll window right action.
• #386 - Added workaround for Back/Forward not working in Edge!

There is a new language template included with some new translations for this beta.

Any problems, PM me a copy of the log file (or post a snippet in a code block here).

Thanks,
Phil

Well, that was quick

I hate to be the bearer of bad news though, but while I was testing the chord function I turned up another apparently unrelated bug. For testing purposes I used Button 4 to start the chord, and assigned button 3 to ALT-TAB. Didn't work. Turns out ALT-TAB actually sends {LCTRL}(LALT){TAB}. It does this whether it's in a chord or not. Checking against 2.13.1 i looks like ALT-TAB, so that's an independent bug.

On the plus side, {BREAK} and {CTRLBREAK} work as advertised , but {PAUSE} still sends {LCTRL} as does {VKC:19}. while {EXT:19} sends {RCTRL}

But I know how hard is to keep track of all the nits that want picking; just keep up the good work when you can find time.

ETA: I should point out that the chording did work when I switched another action; it's just the one I initially chose was a no-go.

I didnt want to change pause as I wasnt really sure what it should send. I only changed break and added ctrlbreak. What should pause actually send?? I guess not VK_PAUSE as thats what it does (wrongly) right now.

Are you saying ALT+TAB was working in 2.13.1 and not now or it wasnt working before too (because I didnt touch that one AFAIK). I'll have a look

No, I'm saying I couldn't find ALT-TAB as an action in 2.13.1 so if it's there, I can't test it.

Oh OK - odd it should have been there (its been there for years). The code is intentionally send ctrl+alt+tab to show the ALT+TAB window permanently - otherwise it just goes back and forward between the same two windows. Bringing up the window picker (at least in Windows 10, I presume its the same in 7 and 8(??)) allows you to go into the chooser and switch between them. And if you want just alt+tab you can do it in simulated keystrokes so I think I will probably leave that be for now.

Bringing up the window picker (at least in Windows 10, I presume its the same in 7 and 8

Oh well, could be why I couldn't find it in 2.13.1 :wall: I switched to an XP machine to check, so it may just not show on the UI there. FWIW though ctrl-alt-tab entered from the keyboard does nothing useful in WIN7-X64.

OK maybe I will change it to send ALT+TAB on Win 7 (and maybe 8 - will check tomorrow on my machine at work) and on 10, send ctrl+alt+tab

Well that's some great news

Just checked the Brightness function, made it like your layer for 'Volume +/-' but for brightness I hover over the clock area and it works great. And then I realized that I was still at version 2.13.1 and as I see in this thread, the Brightness function was added in 2.14 Beta 1

Maybe I dig too deep but I feel I better share this
When I use the Functional key for Brightness on my laptop starting from 0% - it goes 10, 20, 30... - 10% increment.
When I use XMBC starting from 0% - it goes 15, 25, 35... - also 10% increment except the first one (and while I'm on 15 if I scroll back once it goes down to 5%).
If I start with the 'Fn' key and make it up to lets say 20% and than continue up with XMBC it goes 30, 40, 50...
I was wondering about that 5% initial difference between the 'Fn' key and XMBC - is it intentional or it is some strange coincidence? If you can edit the increment IMO it would be better to make it 2% like the volume coz it seems to me 10% is too fast changing brightness.

And another idea for the ToDo list, in addition to mouse chording: Mouse Gestures - for example, holding down RMB moving right releasing RMB = {RIGHT}

Thank you and good luck!
Iliya

I'll have a look at the brightness and see what I can do about the increment - the problem I have is that none of my devices support brightness so its tricky to test it.

EDIT: The increment is hard coded to 10 (presumably %). I could change that or make it configurable but I don't understand why yours would jump from 0 to 15%, unless it really was at 5%... If you turn on debug logging, it should log the values it gets/sets for the brightness.

The change in 2.14 beta for brightness was to add it to simulated keystrokes. It was always there in the drop-down (well for quite a few versions now at least).

As for the gestures, that has also been on the list for many years! One thing at a time - let me get the chording working as well as possible then maybe we can think about gestures (that's a lot more involved because to do it properly requires some pattern recognition and complex maths which is a bit out of my league ).

Thanks,
Phil

Here is 2.14 Beta 3

If you have check for beta versions enabled, you should get notified of a new version and prompted to update in the next day or so. This is the most efficient method (bandwidth wise) as the updates are only a fraction of the size of the full install. Otherwise, you can get the full installation beta HERE. Note that this link will always get you the latest beta version!

Changes since v2.14 Beta 2:

• #393 - Fixed issues found when copying profiles (incorrectly changing to source profile)
• #392 - ALT-TAB sends {CTRL}{ALT}{TAB} which does nothing on XP, 7, only works on Windows 8 and 10!
• #391 - Added option to enable/disable all notifications (except for update notifications!)
• #390 - Added some additional logic to the button chording, to optionally block the source button and to fix some reported issues.

There is a new language template included with some new translations for this beta.

Any problems, PM me a copy of the log file (or post a snippet in a code block here).

Thanks,
Phil

OK, first to mention a thing about notifications till it is 'beta' time . I have separate hotkey for each layer and when I switch to say 'Layer 2' I get a notification that 'Layer 2' is activated and the XMBC icon changes accordingly, but if I switch quickly to another layer - the XMBC icon changes to that layer but the pop-up notification for 'Layer 2' still stays on and after a few seconds it disappears but there is no pop-up notification for the next activated layer. Not a pain at all but it looks like something easy to sort out so a pop-up would appear every time when the tray icon changes.

phil wrote:The increment is hard coded to 10 (presumably %). I could change that or make it configurable but I don't understand why yours would jump from 0 to 15%, unless it really was at 5%... If you turn on debug logging, it should log the values it gets/sets for the brightness.

As for the gestures, that has also been on the list for many years! One thing at a time - let me get the chording working as well as possible then maybe we can think about gestures (that's a lot more involved because to do it properly requires some pattern recognition and complex maths which is a bit out of my league ).

Thanks for the tip about the debug logging, I will surely do that and post the log.

About the gestures, glad to hear it's been maturing on the list . I have no clue about what is involved but from your words I realize that it's gonna be much more fun than I would ever expect . I've been dealing with 2D maths from time to time since I got in the university (complex numbers, formulas etc.) and I'll be more than happy to get involved when you are ready of course . IMO refining the chording may take a long time (depending on the feedback) so it would be a waste of time coz the sooner you manage to implement some gestures the sooner you'll start getting creative feedback and the users will do some of the 'headbanging' instead of you .

Greetings!
Iliya

Hi Phil, currently I have 'Check for beta versions' enabled on my 2.14 Beta 2 and 'Check for new versions' - every day, but two days have passed already since 2.14 Beta 3 was released and I don't get notification for it. Also when I press 'Check for update...' from the RMB menu of the tray icon it says that I already have the latest available version (I don't know if this works for beta versions though). I could download the full installation beta file but I'll wait if you want to check if there is something wrong about that in 2.14 Beta 2.

Greetings!
Iliya