Feature request related to interaction between Button Groups and IA Link

[JimGtr]

...unless there's a way to do this now that I'm not seeing. Here's a step-by-step scenario:

Let's say I have one MIDI device and I want to create an IA Button to access a preset on that device. Also let's say that the device is in an audio loop, say loop 8.

Button 1:
. . IA Link: checked
. . IA Actions:
. . . . Audio / Loop #8 off:OFF, on:ON
. . . . [Device] / PC off:none, on:[any_value]

This works. It enables loop 8 and recalls the preset on the device. If I press this button and navigate to the default Loops button page the Loop 8 LED would be lit as it should.

Then I add a second button, the only difference is the PC On value:

Button 2:
. . IA Link: checked
. . IA Actions:
. . . . Audio / Loop #8 off:OFF, on:ON
. . . . [Device] / PC off:none, on:[different_value]

This also works but since it's the same device I need those two buttons to toggle, so I put them in a group:

Button 1:
. . Group: 1
. . IA Link: checked
. . IA Actions:
. . . . Audio / Loop #8 off:OFF, on:ON
. . . . [Device] / PC off:none, on:[any_value]

Button 2:
. . Group: 1
. . IA Link: checked
. . IA Actions:
. . . . Audio / Loop #8 off:OFF, on:ON
. . . . [Device] / PC off:none, on:[different_value]

Now I have a conflict between IA Link and the Group. The actions toggle, but the LEDs don't -- when I press Button 1 the LED for Button 2 lights up as well.

I can solve that problem by disabling IA Link in one of three ways:
1. unchecking the IA Link checkboxes, or
2. making "Audio / Loop" the second action, or
3. moving those "Audio / Loop" actions into Global tab for the group...

But when I do that the LEDs on the Loops page of course no longer reflects the correct state of the loop. And because of that it takes two button presses to get it back in sync. These are the problems I'm hoping to solve.

So one idea is having button groups override IA Link so that the buttons that belong to a group won't be linked but buttons outside the group would be. That would solve this problem as long as the "Audio / Loop" action is the first in the list.

But I'm also wondering if the system could be aware of the actual state of the loop without requiring IA Link. In that case maybe a new button type, called Loop or whatever, that we could use on the Loops page. That would be great for me because I have most of my "Audio / Loop" actions in the Global tab for the groups which gets ignored by IA Link.

I think the best solution if possible would be both because button groups overriding IA Link could be used in other ways as well, and a "smart" button type would be it's own thing and wouldn't be tied to the order of IA Actions or their location.

 

[rjmmusic]

Thanks for the detailed post, I will look this over and see what I can do - I know it would be helpful to have an improved linking system.

 

[boyce89976]

If I'm understanding your request correctly, I think you can do this. I used to do this with my delay pedal, but it may have been without the loop activation function which was tied to the preset, so I wasn't toggling the loop on/off. I'll look through some old preset files and see if I can find it.

 

[boyce89976]

Found it. Check out preset #201. The top two buttons on the right controlled three different delay presets. Is this what you're trying to do.

 

[rjmmusic]

I read this a little more carefully, and I would think that moving the Audio / Loop actions down one slot or turning off IA Link on the grouped buttons should do the job. Buttons with Audio actions link to the actual state of the loop, not to other buttons. But, you say that's not working... Are you using the latest firmware?

 

[JimGtr]

Thanks Ron, and thank you for the file @boyce89976!

Ok I think I see what's happening here. It is true that the buttons with Audio actions link to the actual state of the loop, so that is fine . The problem seems to be this: when I select buttons in the Presets tab of the editor, the group IA Actions are ignored.

Here are the steps:

1. IA button with one PC action and is part of group 2 (see attached image "1_button_settings.png").

2. Group 2 has an IA action that turns a loop on/off. In the attached images it's loop 8 (see "2_button_group_settings.png").

3. Load a preset and select the IA button using the Presets tab of the editor (not the pedal). In the attached images it's preset 21 and the "Analog" button ("3_presets_buttons.png). In my case that should open up loop 8 because of the group IA Action, but...

4. If you look at the Presets>Buttons tab (or the screen of the PBC) you should see that the loop (in my case loop 8) did not come on.

If I do the same on the pedal directly (using the footswitches) and not the editor, it's fine.

So now I'm not sure it's a bug, I just assumed that the Presets>Buttons tab acts as if you are pressing buttons on the pedal. If that's true, then it's a bug. If not then I'd just have to manually open the loops as well on that screen. Thanks!

Edit: If Audio Loop action is on the button itself, then it works.