Snap To fails after changing Selection Toolbar units

[RichR]

I have 2 files open in separate windows. Normally, my Selection Toolbar is set to show hh:mm:ss + CDDA frames. However, in this instance, I needed to set one window to show milliseconds.

Sometime after changing the Selection Toolbar in one window to milliseconds, I went back to working in the other window, where the the Selection Toolbar is still showing (CDDA) frames and Snap To is still checked (turned on). However, I find that now, instead of snapping-to the frame boundaries, that window is acting as if its Units are also set to milliseconds.

This seems to be a bug; changing the Selection Toolbar unit of measure in one window should not affect other open windows.

[steve]

The problem is that there is only one set of "Preferences" for Audacity, so all projects that are open will share the same "Snap To" setting.
The same is true of other settings (such as the location of LAME, the Temp folder location, Keyboard and Mouse preferences and so on.

The way to work around the problem is to reselect the time units in the project that you are currently working on.

If you want the "Snap To" settings to operate on a "per Audacity window" basis, I think that would be a "Feature Request" rather than a "Bug Report".

I'm not a programmer, but that would be my take on it. If you wish to post it as a "Feature Request" you could repost here: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewforum.php?f=20
However, it may be best to wait a while to see if there others agree with you that it is a "bug" rather than a "feature".

[RichR]

The problem is that there is only one set of "Preferences" for Audacity, so all projects that are open will share the same "Snap To" setting. ... If you want the "Snap To" settings to operate on a "per Audacity window" basis, I think that would be a "Feature Request" rather than a "Bug Report".

Thanks for replying and, I agree with you. It does seem that both the Snap-To checkbox and the Selection units are global settings and, that's perfectly fine (so, I guess I'm not asking for a new feature). But, they're being handled incorrectly in the user interface. As it stands today, changing the setting in one window's Selection Toolbar without updating the other open windows' toolbars means those other windows are misleading the user by showing false information.

So, if I may be so bold (I am a programmer ), here is my suggestion for the bug fix ...

Whenever a global setting (such as the Snap-To checkbox or the Selection unit, perhaps there are others) is changed in one of multiple open windows, at least one of the following should happen:

1. All other open windows are updated to ensure they reflect the true status of these settings.
2. (alternatively or in addition) Pop-up a dialog to warn the user that the change affects all open windows (maybe with a "Don't show me this warning again" checkbox but, only if option A is also implemented).

Thanks again.

[steve]

As you're a programmer you are very welcome to fix it.
Hmm, perhaps a bit too much to expect.

Thanks for the comments. It's extremely rare that I work with more than one project open at a time, so I'd not noticed this behaviour before. I agree that the behaviour is a bit odd, so I'll raise it as a "feedback" issue.

[Gale Andrews]

The problem is that there is only one set of "Preferences" for Audacity, so all projects that are open will share the same "Snap To" setting. ... If you want the "Snap To" settings to operate on a "per Audacity window" basis, I think that would be a "Feature Request" rather than a "Bug Report".

Whenever a global setting (such as the Snap-To checkbox or the Selection unit, perhaps there are others) is changed in one of multiple open windows, at least one of the following should happen:

1. All other open windows are updated to ensure they reflect the true status of these settings.
2. (alternatively or in addition) Pop-up a dialog to warn the user that the change affects all open windows (maybe with a "Don't show me this warning again" checkbox but, only if option A is also implemented).

Thanks for the report. RichR.

Given Selection Format is per project when Snap To is off, I'm inclined to think that Snap To state and quantisation being global is a bug. It would be regressive to make the Selection Format change in all projects if you changed it in one project, even if we only did it when Snap To was on (which I think would be confusing). So I raised bug 275.

I'm not very happy about this bug now I've seen it but given the need to get 1.3.13 and then 2.0 out I'm figuring it's a P3 so not mandatory for us to fix before 2.0.




Gale

[waxcylinder]

Good catch RitchR

I'm not very happy about this bug now I've seen it but given the need to get 1.3.13 and then 2.0 out I'm figuring it's a P3 so not mandatory for us to fix before 2.0.

I agree Gale that this is indeed undesirable behaviour - but a good call to make it a P3 (especially since Rich appers to be the forst person ever to notice it - or certainly to report it).

WC