[APP] PinballX Database Manager 24.10.11.0 (supports Touch Play as well)

[Mike_da_Spike]

@scutters and I released a new version.

1 of the biggest changes is  that it also supports Touch-Play installations 
if you got only Touch-play on your system, you can launch Databasemanager and it will use you Touch-Play installation 
If you have PinbalLX and Touch-play installed, 
Go to settings 


Change "application to manage" to "Touch play"

Confirm to restart :

And Database manager is set to Touch Play

 

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Another cool options is an extra in Table Version to adjust the time/date for a table.
This is fixing false positives

Set in Table versions this radio button 

this will give you messages in the action log, when the date modified doesn't equals the release date in Dux Retro Sheet:

Example :

You see, when I press Algar table, that in the action log mentioned that that is a new release for this table.
My table is from the 11th of October 2020, so I want to see if 

I click on the "Table version" button to check

It will show me directly the table (1) and shows the date modified (2)
Top is the date modified of the file (11th of October 2020) and in the sheet the release dat is 17th of October 2020

This is caused that the table author properly had some time in-between to publish it (or get proper testing)
This gives a false result in the action, and also in this list

Clicking on the "acknowledge" button, will change the date of the table file itself (in this case "Algar (Williams 1980) 1.33.vpx")

To 

So you don't have a incorrect result anymore.
If you keep all tables with a correct date/time, you can use the table version dialog, for checking if you missed an update to any table, on on which website it can be found

If you are done with all the settings, you can press from the main screen the "Media Audit" button.
this will show a list in the action log, all the tables that are not having the correct date (according to DUX retro's sheet)

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There are also some bugfixes in this release 
check the release notes for all changes

I forgot to mention 1 small feature in the release notes that we also added.
Alternate Exe has now a file explorer dialog to point to the 'Alternate Exe' file.
Just click on the 3 dots next to the text field and an explorer will popup that will guide you to the alternate program

--------------------------

Again : Thanks to @scutterswho helped me a lot with this release. Also a big thanks to Dux Retro for maintaining his Sheet again (and that he created a sub sheet for us)
Thanks to @Tom Speirsfor all his wonderful free Gameex applications !

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

You missed a good black Friday deal??
Well, here's your Cyber Monday Deal and all is for free !
Small update with some 'internal' feature requests and 2 bug fixes (Thanks @davy33for mentioning 1 bug and we where  able to fix this just before this release)

First a request I wanted to have, as I noticed that my cab was on for a long day after I created new videos.
We added a shutdown option (including all your 'program launch' when exiting Database manager) :

Second was an option I wanted to have as well. Updating the Dux Retro sheet on demand
Click on the 'Refresh now' button, to download the latest version of the sheet and restart the program

The third request came from the co-founder of databasemanager @scutters
When he updates tables, he uses the same name for the new table.
As he needed to search for the correct table when clicking on 'Select file' to update the meta data, we made a small feature, that will directly select the correct file name (if present and no unused files are present)

You can also set 'Auto check VP and FP tables' to yes in the settings, so during launch of database manager, the meta data will be added as well

 

The last extra feature we added, came indirectly from a our download page.
Filters for all systems, instead of only selected system

For this, we added to the "Advanced Search" an option "Use filter for all systems" 
Checking this box, will use the filter for all systems (Please be aware that Databsemanager doesn't show all the systems. The result will be shown as the filter of the current selected filter)

 

A great thanks (as always) to @scuttersfor helping with code, testing and new features  !
 

[Mike_da_Spike]

I know the PinballX core edition is still a test phase, but for the people who wants to use it, we modified Database manager a bit, so you can manage your media and tables as well

Thanks to @Tom Speirsfor his great work to update and keep PinballX alive !

To change your 'application to manage', go to settings 

Select the appplication to manage to "PinballX core edition"

Confirm :

Check the title bar that you are using the correct version :

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Small bug fix release for 21.12.10.0
@davy33reported that MEGA URLS didn't work.
This was caused by the new format  of MEGA links and that we (read me) shorted the timeout of MEGA time out in a previous version.

Increasing the timeout to 20 seconds, resolved that MEGA could be working again on large files/folder structures.
@scuttersfixed the code, so that new urls (Just copy past from your browser) is working as well.

Thanks Davy to report and because this is your 2nd bug report, you will get the 3rd bug fix for free  
 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Small release update.

As @scutters and I are working on a major migration of a function in Database manager, we wanted to postpone this fix.
But because multiple users had an issue with Datababasemanager and different version of VPinballX.exe (to run Beta version as well), we wanted to get this update out to you.

Also the code for our internet functions are changed, and respond faster (So only for computers where internet is connected)

We hope in the next release to have changed a feature that will give us more and better functionality for checking updates on your Visual Pinball table files

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

After 2 year of releasing the first version, this program is still under development.
This update was more than we expected. It started to change Dux Retro googlesheet to his new VPSB.txt format.
On this Journey, we switched to  the JSON file from Fraesh, but the Dux retro file can still be used)

why do we use it ? For getting Original tables and VP theme info added to your XML (Via our IPDB button).
But also for new versions, that can show you the location of the download file (if VPU is not changing it daily, as they do the last couple of days...)

This is minor for end users, but a big part coding that @scutters and myself keep busy for the last few months.

An option that Scutters wanted to have was drag and drop feature to import/change easily the VP and FP tables.

This sounds easy, but give us headaches as well.
But with a long testplan (and all possible scenarios) we managed to add it to this release.

Adding new tables can be done by dragging file(s) from a location (can also be your table folder) to the add table button
NOTE : only the table files will be processed. any other file will be ignored

See this video :

For updating tables, we implemented 2 ways.

1.  Keep the original table name (this is the file name)
2. Replace the original file name with the new name

This can be set in the settings 

This is an example where you replace a file and keep the original file name :

 And this is a video where you use the new file name  

When using tables that are not in the tables directory, a dialog will ask if you want to delete the source file
if you don't want this question, go to settings and set your preference (Show dialog 'Delete source file' to No and select the behavior of it 'Copy file' will keep the source file, 'move file' will delete the source file)

NOTE : Any deletes that the program does, will be put into your recycle bin. If you replace a file or delete a file in the program by mistake, check your recycle bin !

I hope it all make sense

A big thanks to @scuttersfor his patience with me during this part of all the changes (and to add a lot of ideas and code into this version)
Thanks to Dux Retro and Fraesh for a great job of moving the googlesheet to a higher level !

 

 

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

@scutters and I found some small bugs that where introduced with version 22.02.16
Just download and install it to get to the latest  and let us know if you got any issue

[D4N13L]

Thank you very much for all the tutorials with images, especially the one that explains how to generate lists with filters!

[Mike_da_Spike]

33 minutes ago, D4N13L said:

Thank you very much for all the tutorials with images, especially the one that explains how to generate lists with filters!

Your welcome. I want to do more videos. But after I completed an updated version of the pinballX documentation that I'm working on for 4 months now

[PinGuy]

I'm new at this and just trying to get my PinballX database in order. I have PinballX and VpinballX working properly (enough), but after installing the Database Manager, I instantly get:

Could not find PinballX installation Directory
The message could also appear if you uninstalled a supported GameEX app that was uninstalled after the last use of this program. Rerun this program to automatically fix it otherwise install PinballX or Touchplay via the installation program

Quitting program

2/19/2022 4:13:39 PM : PinballX Database Manager (Version: 22.02.17.0)
2/19/2022 4:13:39 PM : Initialize Start : ...
2/19/2022 4:13:39 PM : Action Log Update - WARNING : Could not determine the GameEX application for managing the database(s). Checking for supported installed GameEx programs
2/19/2022 4:13:39 PM : Action Log Update - INFORMATION : Databasemanager is set to use GameEXApp [PinballX]

I have PinballX installed under E:\Pinball\PinballX\, the database Manager installed at E:\Pinball\PinballX Database Manager\, and VpinballX installed in E:\Pinball\.

My PinballXDatabaseManager.ini contains nothing but:

[Main]
GameExApp

I've tried reinstalling PinballX and the Database Manager, and I've even tried putting them both in the same directory on the C:\ drive into a directory without spaces - but it changed nothing. How is it trying to determine the location of the PinballX database? Any help is appreciated.

[Mike_da_Spike]

6 hours ago, PinGuy said:

I've tried reinstalling PinballX and the Database Manager, and I've even tried putting them both in the same directory on the C:\ drive into a directory without spaces - but it changed nothing. How is it trying to determine the location of the PinballX database? Any help is appreciated.

I'm  very sorry to hear it is not working. And definitely want to help you

What version of pinballx did you install ? The vista/xp orthe regular one ?

To determ the pinballx version, the program checks the uninstall reg keys and searches if it can find one of the 3 supported programs.  

Can you export HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall regkeys and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Wow6432\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall and attach them as a zip file? I will try to simulate your issue

[PinGuy]

It's quite possible I've picked up the wrong version.

 Here's everything related to those two reg entries:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Visual Pinball]
"DisplayName"="Visual Pinball"
"UninstallString"="E:\\Pinball\\uninstall.exe"
"DisplayIcon"="E:\\Pinball\\VPinballX.exe"
"DisplayVersion"="10.7.0.0"
"Publisher"="vpforums community"
"URLInfoAbout"="http://www.vpforums.org"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{53F4530D-803D-482A-86DD-F82D8EC7D628}_is1]
"Inno Setup: Setup Version"="5.6.1 (u)"
"Inno Setup: App Path"="E:\\PinballX"
"InstallLocation"="E:\\PinballX\\"
"Inno Setup: Icon Group"="PinballX"
"Inno Setup: User"="johnt"
"Inno Setup: Selected Tasks"=""
"Inno Setup: Deselected Tasks"="desktopicon,demo,pin2dmd"
"Inno Setup: Language"="English"
"DisplayName"="PinballX 5.40"
"DisplayIcon"="E:\\PinballX\\PinballX.exe"
"UninstallString"="\"E:\\PinballX\\unins000.exe\""
"QuietUninstallString"="\"E:\\PinballX\\unins000.exe\" /SILENT"
"DisplayVersion"="5.40"
"Publisher"="Spesoft"
"URLInfoAbout"="http://www.spesoft.com/"
"HelpLink"="http://www.spesoft.com/"
"URLUpdateInfo"="http://www.spesoft.com/"
"NoModify"=dword:00000001
"NoRepair"=dword:00000001
"InstallDate"="20220219"
"MajorVersion"=dword:00000005
"MinorVersion"=dword:00000028
"VersionMajor"=dword:00000005
"VersionMinor"=dword:00000028
"EstimatedSize"=dword:0002277b

I've PM'd you a link to the two full exported branches if you need more.

 

Thank you!
 

[PinGuy]

I'm all good now - uninstalling and reinstalling PinballX resolved my problem. After realizing the paths in the reg entries I posted were missing a folder between E:\ and PinballX it all made sense. I believe I got myself into this situation my Installing into E:\Pinball\PinballX, hitting some other problem, reinstalling into E:\PinballX (without uninstalling the first), realizing that didn't solve my problem, then deleting that and using the original. Horrible mistake, entirely my fault. Thank you so much for the help.

[Mike_da_Spike]

The issue is caused that the application guid changed from the PinballX .net Core version to the final PinballX release. The old PinballxX to Pinballx xp/Vista stillmlooks the same.

I need to check all the application guids that Tom uses, and do an update on the program.

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Due to bbd testing of myself (and a bit of @scutters), we didn't see that @Tom Speirschanged the app guid from PinballX Core .net5 to PinballX (Core .net6).
This result that you could end up with this error :


Thanks to @PinGuywho reported the issue and it is fixed in the latest release

[Denys06]

Hello, your application is awesome, I just have a problem for creating the DMD videos.

No DMD videos are created for my tables. It works fine for backglass and playfield but not for DMD.

The system only shows me the following message:
VIDEO RECORDING: Starting table recording
VIDEO RECORDING: End of table recording
VIDEO RECORDING: Apache (Taito 1978) started
VIDEO RECORDING: Apache (Taito 1978) finished

I have no other information... can you tell me what I need to check and do so that the DMD media of the tables can be created ? THX

[Mike_da_Spike]

7 minutes ago, Denys06 said:

Hello, your application is awesome, I just have a problem for creating the DMD videos.

Thank you ! 
 

7 minutes ago, Denys06 said:

No DMD videos are created for my tables. It works fine for backglass and playfield but not for DMD.

Video creation uses the API of PinballX.
Check your pinballX log file if you see anything in that log (you can also post the file here (as file, not as plain text). 
I'm using an Real DMD and recording of Real DMD's doesn't work. But I assume that recording of virtual DMD's should work.

 

[Denys06]

Thank you for your reply, I too use a real DMD
Can you tell me how to put a virtual DMD in place without it showing up on the playfield or the backglass because I don't quite understand the principle  ?
Unless I have to record the playfield+backlass together and the virtual DMD separately?

Edit : Although I'm using a real DMD, I'm attaching my log file, maybe that will help.

log.txt

[Mike_da_Spike]

1 hour ago, Denys06 said:

Can you tell me how to put a virtual DMD in place without it showing up on the playfield or the backglass because I don't quite understand the principle  ?
Unless I have to record the playfield+backlass together and the virtual DMD separately?

Well, thats within Pinmame, but you can better not go that route. 
That means you need to set it, create videos and revert it (and for every new table)

an option can also be to use the freezy's dmddevice.dll and create videos  (AVI during playing), but that needs a lot of manual stuff as well.

The thing I do : I create my own videos based on the wheel, vendor and year of the table.
Or you can download them from FTP (i think some Pinmame are there as well)

[Denys06]

Thin not obvious I wanted to use this DMD creation function to identify all the DMDs I have, see which bugs and improve those which are not yet in color.
Alright, I'll keep looking

[Mike_da_Spike]

13 minutes ago, Denys06 said:

Thin not obvious I wanted to use this DMD creation function to identify all the DMDs I have, see which bugs and improve those which are not yet in color.
Alright, I'll keep looking

Another options will be to show your Vpinmame in front end (thats not creating video's but using vpinmame to show the rom)

Set "Use Pinmame in Front End" to Yes

Edited March 23, 2022 by Mike_da_Spike
Added screenshot

[scutters]

23 minutes ago, Denys06 said:

Thin not obvious I wanted to use this DMD creation function to identify all the DMDs I have, see which bugs and improve those which are not yet in color.
Alright, I'll keep looking

Maybe @HiRez00's real dmd colour videos will help https://vpuniverse.com/files/file/8560-hirez00-custom-dmd-video-collection-for-realcolordmd-lcd-dmd/

Otherwise the FTP is the best bet as Mike suggests, unless you want to create your own but real dmd's via freezy dumps but that will need some manual effort.

Or are you looking for real dmd videos for non DMD tables? - e.g. Apache (Taito 1978) in your example. If so see https://vpuniverse.com/files/file/8778-realdmd_table_videos-2022-febzip/ or Mike's app https://forums.gameex.com/forums/topic/22280-app-creating-real-dmd-topper-videos-from-wheel-image/

[Denys06]

Thank you all for your response.
I'm going to use FTP too bad and I won't check if all my DMDs work well on the tables (thanks to the video creating I wanted to do).
The DMD video extraction procedure is not easy too bad for me because I don't want to spend more hours because of it.

[Mike_da_Spike]

The last link that scutters send, is an easy to use tool. 
You can setup this in a few minutes and the initial run will run maybe a bit longer, but every run after that will just create the video's that you don't have (on my system, it is just created in a few seconds)

 

[Denys06]

I prefer to have the real DMD of the tables that are displayed in Pinball X but thanks anyway for the information on your program