[ardour-dev] 0.9beta17 released

[Paul Davis]

I am happy to announce the next release of the beta series of Ardour
0.9. This release is being made mostly so that packagers can update
and allow package users to catch up with the many many fixes and
improvements since 0.9beta16.1. Specifically:

    * slaving to MTC now sort-of-functional
    * slaving to JACK transport now very functional
    * new mouse bindings to split region at mouse pointer
         (s splits at mouse pointer)
    * align regions is now done using mouse pointer
         (a aligns region sync point (which is typically the start), 
	 Ctrl-a aligns region end)
    * time-constrained dragging is now done using Meta (Mod2)
         not Shift

	 [ PLEASE NOTE: this will cause issues if your numlock
	   key is set to be "mod2". you will not be able to
	   drag regions along the time axis. 
	   fix coming up in next release. for
	   now, make sure numlock is *off* ]

    * stereo panner positions now restored from state
    * slave setting restored from state
    * SMPTE FPS setting restore from state
    * runtime check for Animatics compositor
    * entering/leaving fade handles is highlighted 
    * some context menu cleanups
         - non-functioning selection options removed
	 - non-functioning play options removed
	 - "select punch range", "select loop range" added
    * context menu in bus no longer allows region insertion attempts
    * drag-copy now works for multiple selected regions, but NOT
        across tracks
    * cursor movement between region boundaries now uses track
         selection, not all tracks
    * fixes for some major issues with automation undo/redo
    * region lock status now indicated in region name
    * rec-enabled tracks now meter correctly, sort-of
    * cleaned up setting up MIDI ports
    * all MIDI ports now display in MIDI selectors of options editor
    * MMC control no longer uses an extra thread
    * MMC control now supports Step commands, and in general works
         much better than it used to.
    * MMC rec-enable works, sort-of (some track ID problems remain)
    * merge JACK transport master and JACK transport slave
       together (credits to jesse for the suggestion)
    * limit canvas polygon + line objects to gdk_screen_width()'s
     discrete points. this might address various swap storm/system
     lock up conditions
    * fix issues with display of an automation line with a single point
    * fix bad lock usage in IO::use_{input,output}_connection()
    * handle region sync points properly, or least better
    * tweak to handle sync points before a region start
    * convert all relevant string occurences of "Selection"
      into "Range"
    * (re)fix bug with switching a stereo track to a mono input
    * added support for native soundfiles larger than 2GB
       (still limited to 4GB, however, because of the
        type of jack_nframes_t)
    * fixed problem with editing automation control points
    * fixed problem with undo/redo of automation dragging
    * fix for signed-ness error in handle region sync (no visible bug,
       just a compiler error)
    * don't consider hidden tracks when dragging regions across tracks
    * correct time when we bind panners to MIDI ports for external MIDI
    control  
    * correct thread issue in GUI for handling pan value changes driven
    by MIDI
    * fix reversed meaning of "split channels" button in file/sfdb
    selector
    * fix "remove track" crash when removing track within editor window
    * close redirect (plugin/insert/send) GUIs when cutting them from
     tracks in mixer
    * catch tracks+redirect removal in mixer selection system
    * redesign splash screen a little
    * add global version (e.g. ardour 0.9beta16.1) to splash screen
    * don't hide splash screen automatically
    * center "start a new session ... " message in editor canvas
    * fix naming of fade out curves (faster, slow etc)
    * force duplicate region dialog to show up near mouse
    * don't add LADSPA plugin when VST plugin is chosen to be added
    * clear VST plugin selection when choice is finished
    * limit number of points in canvas to screen pixel width, not 2000
    * remove reference to libardour.pc{.in} in Makefile.am
    * prevent endless loop adding ports to Master bus if JACK runs out
     of ports (or for any other reason)
    * do not attempt to connect inputs or output if JACK is not running
     in duplex mode 
    * drop SCHED_FIFO warning message from MIDI thread
    * automation naming fixes -- now full names in state file are replaced with 
    standardized (relative) ones
    * partial implementation of multi-selection handling for
       soundfile import/embed/insert
    * Changed ardour/Makefile.am to include ksi in the build since it compiles
      again.
    * Changed ksi.cc to use namespace std.
    * make creation of inputs and outputs
        "atomic" when creating tracks+busses
    * call gdk_flush() to try to force the splash
        screen onto the window ASAP
    * dragging playhead no longer breaks play state
    * autoreturn sort-of-works with JACK sync, its
        just a bit slow and visually jerky
    * fix for limit on number of curve points allowed
        in a canvas object
    * fix for a nasty panning SNAFU: if a session was
       incorrectly saved with the wrong pan state
       due to a bug, it would lead to memory
       exhaustion when loading the session. Great
       thanks to Paul Symons for his help in 
       remote debugging this. Go Cornflake Girl!
    * fixed missing initial saved state in Locations
       object (undo after adding a marker removed
       all location/range markers)
    * insert + embed now obey multi-file selection
   * new "end" marker added
      - marks the nominal end of a session
      - has no effect on ability to record past this point
      - has no effect on ability to scroll past this point
      - "goto-end" command goes to this point
   * can now scroll past the current end of the session
      - this fixes problem with the playhead not being followed
        during capture, since we would effectively scroll
	past the current end of the region.
   * keyboard-driven commands like "p" (for positioning the
        playhead no longer need to be within a region to work.
   * jumping to a marker while rolling continues rolling after
        the jump is complete.