[APP] PinballX Database Manager 25.10.28.0 (supports Touch Play as well)

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.04.15 is just released

The Spaghetti Release is Here!  
We’re excited to announce the latest update, crafted by me and my brilliant collaborator, @scutters. This release marks a major step in enhancing user experience.

Typically, we name each version based on its development phase, but this time, we called it the 'Spaghetti Release', a name that reflects the tangled evolution of our codebase over the past five years. As new features piled on, some functions began duplicating tasks, leading to performance slowdowns, increased flickering, and an overall less responsive interface.

For this update, we analyzed frequently called functions to identify inefficiencies and streamline execution. By optimizing function calls and eliminating redundancies, we’ve significantly reduced flickering, improved responsiveness, and enhanced overall performance, without compromising on stability or functionality.

While the new features may seem subtle, the true achievement is the smoother, more refined user experience. This update is a testament to how careful code optimizations can untangle complexity and make a meaningful difference.

Every release gets us closer to perfection, and the Spaghetti Release proves that even messy code can be transformed into something efficient and elegant!

A huge thank you to @scutters, as always, a release without him wouldn’t be a release! 
Shoutout to @robertms for testing and providing valuable feedback that helped us fix key issues.

Just like Mario and Luigi, we cleaned up the spaghetti mess, only this time, it’s in the code instead of the Mushroom Kingdom!  

[Dacstyle]

Thanks for your work, I will try this release this Friday.

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.04.27 is just released

Just a small bug fix release this time.
Our CEO, sharp as ever, spotted two pesky bugs while working with DBM. Naturally, we couldn't let them linger, so a quick fix was in order.

And about flickering… we tackled it in the last release, but this should (hopefully) be the final step in making it a thing of the past. Your eyes deserve the best.

Here an example for drag and drop, but also with the auto adding files it will look like this
Old way :

New way :


Not the most thrilling update, but hey, smoother is better.
A big thanks to @scutters for making this release happen!

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.05.22 is just released

This version once again addressed some bugs that were identified.
Some were long-standing issues we had never noticed, while others originated from the previous Spaghetti release.

Besides cleaning up those bugs, we've also made some updates to refine the experience.

And last but not least, we’ve introduced a new way to view media audits: instead of instantly copying them to the clipboard, they now open in a dedicated dialog. Hopefully, this makes things a bit more structured.
In the next video, we demonstrated how to use the missing part of the video and how easily it is to identify missing media for a table (it is al described step by step in the documentation).


Just check the download page for the full release notes.
A massive shoutout to @scutters this release wouldn’t be the same without him!

 

[Draco1962]

So is this the Lasagna Release?

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.06.25 is just released

This version tackles a handful of pesky bugs and introduces a few subtle improvements,  but behind the scenes, it was a serious coding workout.

To kick things off with something you won’t notice: @scutters and I spent a lot of time cleaning up the performance mess we lovingly called our “spaghetti release.” The codebase is over five years old, and it took quite a bit of unwiring,  but the result? Smoother performance and a foundation that's easier for us to build on.

There was still one beast of a function left. It touched a lot of buttons, which made it too risky to touch back in the March release… but we’ve finally tamed it. Ideally, you won’t notice a thing, which, in this case, is a good thing. Under the hood, though, it’s now way more readable and easier to maintain, especially if we want to make changes to the front page in the future. 

So what will you actually notice in this release?

Let’s start with something that always bugged me: I never liked how, when using the keyboard to tab around, the buttons would get that default square highlight ,   and making the screen larger, the square lines didn't resize as well :

When a window popped up with a question, it was difficult to determine which button was selected.

 

In this version we made the square a bit smaller and 'dotted'
Small is harder to see :  but bigger, it is better to see : 
We also changed the color to a lighter shade, making it easier to see when the button is focused.

Another small change on the surface,  but a huge overhaul in the code, is how we handle the log file.

Behind the scenes, we’ve completely restructured the logging system. While it might not be obvious to most users, this is a big win for us developers. We were logging a lot of information, but it was tough to pinpoint exactly where an error originated.

So… we rolled up our sleeves and rewrote every single logging line, all 1,853 of them! That includes informational messages, warnings, debug messages, and errors. 

The Action Log output still looks the same, but now the full log file has been cleaned up and made Excel-friendly. It’s delimited by " : " (so 'space, colon, space' without the double quotes) and super easy to import for troubleshooting. The structure is simple:

datetime : log type : function : message

Messages that also appear in the Action Log are now clearly marked with an “ACTIONLOG -” prefix, and the “function” can refer to either the function name in DBBM or, occasionally, a log type. It might sound a bit confusing at first, but in practice, it's way easier for us to diagnose issues and improve things going forward.

but in your favourite spreadsheet program it can look like this :

To make the log file more accessible, the file path shown at the top of the Action Log is now clickable. If your system is set to open .txt files with a default text editor, clicking the link will open the log file directly in your favorite editor.

We also fixed a handful of bug's.
Special thanks to @scutters for his contribution and hard work to get this release to you again.

I hope you enjoy it.
for now, we take a long summer holiday break. 

[Draco1962]

Awesome job, guys! Thanks for all that you do for the PinballX community!

[Mike_da_Spike]

6 minutes ago, Draco1962 said:

Awesome job, guys! Thanks for all that you do for the PinballX community!

One happy family!

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.06.28 is just released

Thanks to our bug hunter @robertms who identified a problem within an hour of the previous release, so we still couldn't enjoy from our summer break  
When using the "select File" button and double a file, it could result in an unhandled exception (odd, because we handle all the exceptions)

But this is fixed in this release

Another thing that our own CEO @scutters noticed was that MegaLinks gave an error :

During to investigation Scutters found this is an issue that was introduced in the last couple of months with the API. Although the workarounds that people suggested on Internet didn't work with DBM.
But we found another fix/workaround.
in the Settings for Mega (click settings -> Mega folders tab), we added Email and password to provide access to MEGA


Similar to GameEX FTP, you can enter your MEGA email address and password (a subscription is free at https://mega.nz/register), and MEGA should function properly again.

 

Big thanks to @robertms to identify a bug within an hour ! 
Hereby we give you the Bug Hunter Trophy !

Also a big thanks to @scutters for noticing that MEGA was broke and found a quick solution !
And with great pride, I present this well-earned trophy to my good friend, trusted companion, and fellow developer of DBM!

[bushav]

9/2/2025 11:26:27 AM : ERROR INFO : ConvertCSVtoDataTable : ACTIONLOG - Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

 

Any help as to why I am getting this error message?  I'm suspecting it has to do with the new feature to export to a excel file.  I am thinking I need to create a file for it to export to?

DBManagerLog.txt

[Mike_da_Spike]

Not at a pc to check, but did you delete by anything the csv file we shipped with the installation ?

[scutters]

Hmm, not sure if there's work in progress happening on the virtual pinball spreadsheet at the moment or if the format of their database has been changed (hopefully not!).

@bushav for now can you unzip this file into your C:\Visual Pinball\PinballX\Database Manager\PinballX Database Manager\Resources folder overwriting the existing pinballxdatabase.csv file (which i assume is only a 1kb empty file) and then try again.

pinballxdatabase.zip

Thanks

 

[bushav]

That fixed it.  Thanks @Mike_da_Spikeand  @scutters.  My csv file was in place but it was empty of any data for some reason.

[scutters]

7 hours ago, bushav said:

That fixed it.  Thanks @Mike_da_Spikeand  @scutters.  My csv file was in place but it was empty of any data for some reason.

It's a workaround for now.. Looks like the format of the virtual pinball spreadsheet data has changed so we'll need to add a proper fix.

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.09.04 is just released
 

First off, a big thanks to @bushav for reporting a launch error (see Link to issue). The error message included:
•     “Object reference not set to an instance of an object”
•     “Conversion from type 'DBNull' to type 'String' is not valid”
@scutters initially provided a quick workaround, and we've now updated the code to prevent this issue entirely.
Background:
The problem stemmed from reformatting the JSON output from the Visual Pinball Spreadsheet (VPS) to match DBM standards. This had worked fine for a long time, but a small change in VPS seems to have broken compatibility, affecting the 'Table Versions' form as well.

As @scutters and I were still in summer holiday mode , this release includes just a few extra tweaks.
On a rainy UK afternoon (when boredom struck), @scutters tackled the tiny font issue on the settings page.
In the last release, many text labels appeared too small or were missing entirely.
This was due to a font rendering change when we moved from .NET Framework 4.8 to .NET Core 8.
Huge thanks to @scutters, fixing all those labels was a real pain in the ***!
previous verion:

new version:

We also improved logging for connections to the GameEx website.
Last month, we discovered the app couldn’t reach GameEx, which affected username checks (for FTP uploads) and version updates.
We’ve now improved the return codes, and @Tom Speirs kindly made a fix on the website side.
Thanks Tom for the quick response!

Again, a big thanks for @bushav for reporting this bug !

 

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.09.26 is just released

This release started out as a classic bugfix round… until @Thalamus threw in a rather unconventional feature request that got both @scutters and me scratching our heads.
Turns out, Thalamus has set up his system in a way that’s highly efficient for his scripting workflow:
 

• The Table Name is simply the filename (i.e. the gamename field in the XML)
• The Display Name (i.e. the description field in the XML) is used for media naming.

Now, this setup goes completely against DBM’s usual logic, but hey, we love a challenge. So we added a little undocumented “secret” feature to support it.
If you add the following lines to your DBM settings file, the description field becomes drag-and-droppable for files. It simply inserts the dropped file’s name into the description field—nothing more, nothing less:

[Secret]
DropDescription=true

Another bonus feature, yes, again for the MEGA AP :

Anonymous login had been broken for a while, so a few releases ago we added support for user credentials (MEGA userID and password). Now, thanks to an updated NuGet package (see here ), anonymous login works again!
For safety, credential-based login remains optional—you can choose whichever suits your setup best.

We’ve updated several NuGet packages to their latest versions, and squashed a number of bugs to improve overall stability and usability.

For a complete list of changes, fixes, and updates, check the Download section.
Everything is listed there.

As always, a big shoutout to @scutters for his invaluable help with this release

[Mike_da_Spike]

Hotfix version 25.09.26.1 has just been released.

During every release, we often spot something that isn't quite right. While we sometimes wait for the next release to address these issues, this was something we could fix quickly.
Please download the latest version.

[Thalamus]

What the hell guys. You finished the next version already ? That is unexpected for sure. You joked about a new release. Told me you had the next version almost done and whenI came around, just asking if it was ok to bother you about a request.

Very seldom have I experienced - if ever, that a feature like that was implemented within 2 days, and with such a nice dialog between us.

I was actually just now - starting the dbm up, and noticed it was blinking. Never seen that before.  What the hell, had a feeling it meant it was an update available. Ini file should be prepped already. So here I go. I had planned to use your tool and do it the "harder way". But, now I get to test if my request works. I'm very sure it will though, because when I explained what and why. You guys clearly understood why and how my setup was done the way it is.

I hope I meet you guys IRL some day, beers on me.

[Mike_da_Spike]

In Dutch we say: "U vraagt, wij draaien", literally meaning “You ask, we play.”
It originated in the world of radio and DJs, where listeners could request songs and the host would play them on demand.
But more loosely translated, it means: “Your wish is our command.” 😄

When you came to us with that peculiar request, we did scratch our heads for a moment. But once the POC was whipped up, complete with that animated GIF as shown in the release post above, we thought: what the heck, let’s ship it in this release!

Who knows, maybe one day we’ll tweak DBM so you can rename all media to match Description/DisplayName too. Just planting seeds…

In the meantime, I hope this shortcut speeds up your workflow a bit. And fingers crossed you’ll eventually make the leap back to PBX so you can unleash DBM’s full potential again.

And hey, if we ever cross paths in real life: make mine sugar-free, and pass that beer to Scutters 😄

[Thalamus]

WTF. I used to be one of those on radio .. well, a local radio. I did play records on requests and I even broadcasted a copy### game on air for peeps to record and put into their C64 (old tech cassette)  Got reports that it worked quite well too on air  ... yes, I did warn people NOT to listen the x next minutes.

Yes, I will make a clean install for PBX again, it is a good thing I guess if I can iron out what the differences are between PBY and PBX. I have no good reason anymore for not trying it again. It was a comparability issue first and foremost last (ages ago). So, as long as that is not a problem anymore. I do still think that people really should re-consider how they use their 'description' field.

I guess it doesn't do much harm in showing what my 'description' field looks like ...

<description>VPX__2_in_1__EM__1964__Bally</description>

All my media uses that. I've been around computers since ... forever. I'm a linux user first and foremost, windows if for gaming and vp is really now the main reason for staying there (and my ancient versions of not online abobe products). I know that there is efforts in getting vp to run on linux and it seem to work very well too. I helped update the doc a while back on how to compile that on unsupported fedora. But, still, windows, has better drivers, it seems the devs are still incorporating 'windows only' features. So, yeah.

Old as fuck now, soon 60, so I'm a perl guy, metadata is something I use to be efficient. From using the description above I don't really need much more. Double underscore means field separation. I did think though .. what if I want several version of the machine. There are a lot of releases where the machine is very well emulated from two different authors. So I ended up adding a _a, _b, _c etc if it existed already. Kind of a mistake. as it only has one _ and default has none. But, well, I'm able to handle those few cases manually quite easily.

Using that format for the media, actullay works for both PBX and PBY. so, yeah, a new version of a release is as easy as to replacing the "game name" inside the xml. Not needing to rename all the media etc. IF of course you want to keep those. These days, with VLM tables, I often just delete the backglass'es and the table recordings since vpin-workshop do release table that looks soooo much better than native vp. And, of course, Hauntfreaks is there to follow up on the db2s

Automation makes it easy, and - yes, I'm no html frontend author, to make a web-page like this https://larsson.priv.no/tables/ semi of dynamic. Cab has the images, I know their date. Newer ? update the images . I just now got an idea, dbm gave me MUCH more info on the machines themselves  ... todo ?

What I want to do next is to check if I'm able to use dbm to record my videos with. Got essential tips from @scutters on how it works. So, it is tempting to have that solution available to.

No matter, your dbm - is da bomb. My xml's went from plain to very much more usable in many ways. Extracting rom information is kind of perfect for a guy that has all the roms that vpinmame supports. I tend to extract all vbs scripts for all table release, run them through a "process" where I look for obvious mistakes, etc. Much of this is much more manageable as long as authors keep their table names separater from last name. And I bet the reason why they don't is because ...

It is too fucking hard to get a new table name that don't match their metadata. That is just the wrong way way of ding it ! Change "game name" - use 'description'.

   

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.10.15 is just released

This started as a quick fix after @scutters spotted a bug in the New Tables. The root cause turned out to be a simple typo (yes, one of the devs… and no, it wasn't scutters).
The fix was straightforward, but we felt like adding a little extra polish.

That led to a small idea we quickly built and implemented:
Whenever a popup disables its parent window, we now apply a subtle gradient overlay to the underlying form,  giving a clear visual cue that it's inactive. It fades in and out smoothly, adding just the right touch of clarity and style.

There was an issue with how statistics.ini was written by PinballX, specifically when table names contained a dash (-).
As discussed in this resolved thread, @Tom Speirs fixed PinballX and shared the cleanup logic he is using within PinballX. We've now adopted that approach in this release to ensure compatibility.

We also fixed another minor bug spotted by @scutters,   thanks again!

Not a huge release, but definitely worth updating your version.

 

As always, a big shoutout to @scutters for his invaluable help with this release

[Mike_da_Spike]

Version 25.10.28 is just released

@scutters and I are proud to present this new release!
Thanks to @Tom Speirs, PinballX now supports streaming GamePlay, Tutorial, and Promo videos directly from an http(s) link. This means you can stream large videos straight to your cabinet via your internet connection—no need to download them first.

Many of these videos are already hosted on the GameEx server, and Database Manager makes it easy to add them to your PinballX media collection with just a few clicks.

First, if you want to use streaming GamePlay, Tutorial, and Promo videos, you must enable the feature in the settings screen
 

After enabling the setting, DBM will automatically create a .URL file for you when using FTP or drag-and-drop with streamed media types.



Another feature is that you can drag and drop a file directly from a website, as long as it uses an http(s) link.


You can access the GameEx website without logging in, using this link: https://ftpbrowse.gameex.com/-PinballX-/

Just launch PinballX and enjoy your streamed videos, no downloads needed!

A huge thank you to @Tom Speirs for making streamed video support possible in PinballX, this feature opens up a whole new world of media integration for your cabinet.

And of course, endless appreciation to @scutters, who helped bring this release to life with his usual mix of wizardry, patience, and late-night troubleshooting. Without him, this update might still be stuck in the multiverse of half-working builds 😉

cheers and enjoy !

[Draco1962]

Once again, thanks for doing the community a solid! You guys are the greatest!