Modifier System

Modifier System

The modifier system will be an easy to use system for controlling and configuring behaviours for novice users.

Summary and Rationale

Allow configuration of behaviours like shift buttons and deck changes through a UI.

Use Cases

This is mostly intended for novice users who do not program

• map the shift button to delete hotcues.
• map the deck A/C and/or deck B/D buttons.
• progress through through a combo.

Design

Four new optional settings are added for controls.

• modifier name to set.
• modifier value to set.
• modifier name to activatated on.
• modifier value to be activated on.

Modifiers can be of three types:

• Boolean: switch shift on/off
• Integer: change to deck 1..N or combostep=3
• String: turn on mode=Psycho, combo=sidewinder, deck="DeckA" or deck="DeckC"

Internal functioning

These settings then generate Javascript functions which are generated, evaluated and bound directly to the MIDI mappings. An API in Javascript will be made specifically for this functionality. Mixing and matching scripting and modifiers is not yet contemplated.

Javascript API (thoughts)

Note: we could just set the values with Qt. The modifier variable then would just be for use from javascript, mostly...

Modifiers will be handled by a simple Hash map as such:

  modifier['shift'] = false;
  modifier['deck'] = 0;
  modifier['combostep'] = 0;
  modifier['combo'] = null;

The mapping for the shift key would like this:

  /* Map the control with option button in the UI */
  /* assuming for now note on status = true, note off status = false ... */
  Controller.shift_key = function(channel, control, value, status, group) {
      modifier['shift'] = status ? true : false;
  }

The engine internally checks the value of the modifiers before triggering the MIDI mapping, we also check each MIDI mapping to see if it has modifier version if it does not have on set (doing it this way is because of how the format is defined). Generate a mapping internally that accounts for this more efficiently? We can map these MIDI mappings to controls or javascript functions, nothing stopping anyone.

Ideas

• The UI could highlight modifiers and their reactors in a certain color when one or the other is highlighted.
• Do we create the modifiers externally to set their type or just let people free form it? Javascript can handle it. We could also make an extra setting that gets synced between all the relevant rows.
• We could expose C++ objects to the JS engines named after a script's function prefix (and some unique ID or something) that link all the MIDI devices together. ie: you could access the modifiers for your MIDI Fighter from another controller via MIDIFighter1.Shift.