March 22, 2016
CSE's recently added MIDI Tuning Standard (MTS) sysex file (.syx) export feature has been updated with the ability to select a tuning table number to be saved in the .syx file. CSE user Warren Lee had requested the MTS export feature some months ago and paid me to do it, but I had overlooked this important detail in my implementation. There is no tuning table number intrinsic in a CSE file, so adding the ability to control that in the MTS export involved adding a new UI component as part of the export procedure. That may not seem like such a big deal, but it actually was rather time-consuming work.
Any time I update a piece of software, after doing the actual programming and testing, I must also recompile the software for both platforms, upload the packages to the website, update the XML files for software auto updating on the website, update the software product page, write an announcement (this), and share it on social media. In all, even for something relatively minor like this update, with no need for beta testing from users, that amounts to half a day of work. Had I done all the work at once (when the feature was initially implemented), the amount of time needed to complete the work would have been considerably less, because all the tasks associated with a release would only have to happen once.
It is a problem for me that I receive way too many emails and cannot possibly keep track of all the details. This is why I added a menu item to all my softwares specifically for the purpose of requesting features for that software, from within the software. All users of my software can request features by using the menu option 'Request a Feature …' which opens a special window in which a request can be described with an initial offer to begin payment negotiations. This way all the information is stored in a database and other users of the software can also see what is happening when they log into their accounts through the website. Some dialog the takes place over email, but is also stored in the database system. I made this system for myself so that I could keep everything in order and not miss details, and for users of the software to make it clear how this process works. In this case, the feature request was handled only through email.
Sometimes requests are very specific and not something that users other than the person requesting would need. Some requested features may have a broader appeal. In the future I plan for users to be able to work together with their requests to combine their ideas as well as their payments for the work I do, so that multiple users can benefit from sharing their use-cases and individual users don't have to bear the entire burden of paying for features that other users might also be interested in. I have yet to add that functionality to the system; it is a planned future improvement. The more the system gets used, the more incentive I have to improve it. I invite everyone with ideas for improving the software to please use the internal system to make all feature requests. Hopefully then details will not be missed, and everything can be done properly the first time!
Please login to download the update from the CSE software page.
Regards,
Aaron
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