S2 Version 2.9.4 Released

[bob]

Version 2.9.4 of the software has been released. A brief summary of the changes will be listed later in this post, but first:

For the complete change log, please refer to the help file's "What's New" page, which you can see online at:

http://www.lightorama.com/help/index.html?whats_new.htm

You can get the installer for the new version from the software download page:

http://www.lightorama.com/SoftwareDownloadPage.html

If that page says a version number other than 2.9.4, please try hitting your browser's "refresh" button.

Now, a brief summary of the changes:

• More LOR networks: Up to sixteen Light-O-Rama networks can now be used.
• Old MC-P only affects the Regular network: "Old MC-P compatibility mode" is required if you have certain old LOR controllers, but it causes significant overhead on the comm lines. It now only affects the Regular LOR network, so that you can put the controllers which need it on that network, and your newer controllers on other networks, without the newer networks being affected by the extra comm overhead.
• Feedback for attempting to copy or cut to a locked clipboard: If you try to copy to a locked clipboard, it wasn't necessarily evident that the copy didn't take affect until you later tried to paste. Now, the Sequence Editor will beep at you to let you know that something is amiss.
• Vary color of channel button fonts: When you tell the Sequence Editor to vary the color of channel buttons during play, the colors of the text on those buttons would also vary, flipping between black and white, depending upon which is more readable at the moment. Some people found this distracting, and so you can now also control whether or not the text will change color.
• Unqualified file name used on Sequence Editor tabs: The tabs for each sequence on the Sequence Editor show the filename of the sequence. If a sequence was not in the standard sequences directory, the displayed filename would include its directory name, too. This could make for some very large tabs. The directory name is no longer displayed.
• Standalone sequences no longer download commands for auxiliary networks: Previously, if you downloaded a sequence for standalone mode, the download would include all LOR channels, no matter what network they were on. This could lead to strange behavior, and so a warning message would occur telling you so. Now, instead, only channels that are set up to use the Regular LOR network will be in the download.
• Bug fix: Old MC-P in the Hardware Utility: The Hardware Utility was using Old MC-P compatibility mode when it should not have been, and was not using it when it should have been.
• Bug fix: Speed of downloading sequences: Downloading sequences for controllers was much slower than it should have been.
• Bug fix: LOR Control Panel launching programs: Depending upon how Windows is configured, the LOR Control Panel may have been unable to launch other applications (such as the Show Player).
• Bug fix: Only MP3 files can be downloaded to the MP3 Director: The MP3 Director only supports MP3 files, but the Hardware Utility and the Simple Show Builder would allow you to download any type of media file. If it wasn't an MP3, it then wouldn't work. They now disallow you from downloading anything but an MP3.