Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
#493686 10/01/18 03:51 AM
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Enthusiast
OP Offline
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Hi

First off, thanks for the new on-line manual for BIAB MAC 2018. It looks great...

BUT

PLEASE PLEASE put a search facility on it. Without a search it is near useless when it comes to a quick 'how do I do this'.

Just a thought....
Cheers
Mark


If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all...
BIAB 2019 Mac on a MacBook Pro. All paks & Styles.
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,099
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,099
I can't speak about the online manual but PG Music was able to quickly add hyperlinks to the
Windows Band-in-a-Box pdf file. All items in the Table of Contents (TOC) and Index are hyperlinked which makes it very easy to search.

I downloaded and opened the Mac BiaB manual and the TOC and Index do not have hyperlinks as the Windows manual do. Luckily all pdf creation programs I've seen have hyperlink capability and obviously the program PG Music uses does. I'm sure the oversight will be quickly corrected once they realize it was made.

Also I'll point out to you that the Adobe PDF Reader program has a built-in search feature. You can use the search bar at the top of the reader window or activate a pop-up search bar by using Command + F (I think).

Again, I have bare bones knowledge of building webpages so I'm not sure what it will take to add search to the online manual.


Jim Fogle - 2024 BiaB (1109) RB (Build 3) Ultra+ PAK
Cakewalk - Zoom MRS-8 recorder
Desktop: i7 Win 10 build 2004, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Laptop: i3 64bit Win 10 build 21H2, 8GB ram 500GB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,192
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,192
Originally Posted By: Jim Fogle
Also I'll point out to you that the Adobe PDF Reader program has a built-in search feature. You can use the search bar at the top of the reader window or activate a pop-up search bar by using Command + F (I think).


Nearly all web pages can be searched using Command F. This includes pdf files with embedded text (those that are picture snapshots of pages will not work this way—done so that you can't copy the text either).


One should look at the Finale 25 help files. This is the best example I know of how not to do this. It is ridiculous. They refuse to upload a searchable pdf.


BIAB 2023 Audiophile, 24/60 Core M2 Mac Studio Ultra/8TB/192GB Sonoma, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer 11, LogicPro
Finale27.4, Dorico5, Encore5, SmartScorePro64, Notion6, Overture5
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Enthusiast
OP Offline
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Originally Posted By: Mike Halloran
Originally Posted By: Jim Fogle
Also I'll point out to you that the Adobe PDF Reader program has a built-in search feature. You can use the search bar at the top of the reader window or activate a pop-up search bar by using Command + F (I think).


Nearly all web pages can be searched using Command F. This includes pdf files with embedded text (those that are picture snapshots of pages will not work this way—done so that you can't copy the text either).


One should look at the Finale 25 help files. This is the best example I know of how not to do this. It is ridiculous. They refuse to upload a searchable pdf.


Hi
Thanks for the info. Yes I realise you can search a web page but that only searches the page you are on. If what you need is on another linked page it won't find anything. Thats why a proper search of the whole file is needed.
For example, I was looking to try and find how the various 'Bar Settings' options work, in particular the volume adjustments. It is not in the index and not searchable form the index page. So I simple could not find it.

I agree that not having a fully fleshed out help system is pretty poor for a product that has been around longer than Windows! (Yes I do still have my original 51/4 floppy discs with Band in a Box for Dos on them.) The world has moved on but we dont have a searchable Help file.... hmmmmmm.

(stands back and waits for the flames to come in shocked )


Cheers
Mark


If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all...
BIAB 2019 Mac on a MacBook Pro. All paks & Styles.
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,099
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,099
I'm not going to flame you. I'm just trying to help so I try to ignore flaming comments and keep on subject.

It appears the online manual stretches across many web pages so the online manual will be restricted to one page. That is why they added the navigation bar on the left side of the webpage.

I believe the best way to overcome this search restriction is to download the pdf file so Command-F and the Adobe Reader built-in search feature can search the complete manual.

I'm guessing PG Music limited the online manual search feature to one page to minimize bandwidth. I've seen multiple forum members post comments that their website access is limited due to bandwidth constraints.


Jim Fogle - 2024 BiaB (1109) RB (Build 3) Ultra+ PAK
Cakewalk - Zoom MRS-8 recorder
Desktop: i7 Win 10 build 2004, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Laptop: i3 64bit Win 10 build 21H2, 8GB ram 500GB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,192
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,192
Has anyone here actually tried this or is everyone just guessing?

Click on the pdf manual for Mac.

Mac PFD Manual 2018

In the Chrome browser (my default) it opens up 438 pages—not quickly but it does. Command f lets you search all 438 pages just like it's supposed to.

I click Print (to pdf) and it saves the manual to my folder of choice. You may have to right-click and Save As depending on your browser and preferences. Ok... I open it up—it defaults to Preview. Type in the search term and it will display all pages on the right.

It behaves exactly like every PDF file I know.


I work with, download and/or generate 10–50 .pdf files a day. The 2018 BIAB manual for the Mac behaves no differently. The reason I use Chrome is because, in the past, I could search 800 page pdf files from a certain state web site in the time it took to type in the search term. While Chrome took a few seconds, with FireFox, the same file could take a half hour or more. Safari and Internet Explorer were ridiculously slow.

Just for kicks, I tried downloading the manual in Safari and FireFox. Much, much better than the old days but still slower than Chrome.


BIAB 2023 Audiophile, 24/60 Core M2 Mac Studio Ultra/8TB/192GB Sonoma, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer 11, LogicPro
Finale27.4, Dorico5, Encore5, SmartScorePro64, Notion6, Overture5
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,192
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 1,192
On my 2010 iMac i7 running High Sierra 10.13.3, from clicking on the manual till the full 438 document loads:

Chrome: 2 seconds

FireFox: 10 seconds

Safari: 12 seconds

Once you have done it the first time, subsequent attempts will load faster due to browser caching. Chrome is now under 2 seconds while Safari and FireFox are 3–4.

I like downloading a pdf manual and exporting it to my iPad or have it displayed on one of my monitors when trying to figure something out. I dislike accessing Help files from inside an application.


BIAB 2023 Audiophile, 24/60 Core M2 Mac Studio Ultra/8TB/192GB Sonoma, M1 MBAir, 2012 MBP
Digital Performer 11, LogicPro
Finale27.4, Dorico5, Encore5, SmartScorePro64, Notion6, Overture5
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Enthusiast
OP Offline
Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 71
Hey Mike

Thanks for the info, all good. Yes I did use the PDF in the end. Th only issue with PDF files, especially large ones like this, is that they get out of date and can be cumbersome for the developer to update. On-line HTML is so much easier to manage and update. As an owner of a software development company for 20 years I can vouch for that. And there are plenty of readily available authoring tools for HTML based help files that allow the generation of search indexes. But for now, searching the PDF is OK.

Cheers
Mark


If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all...
BIAB 2019 Mac on a MacBook Pro. All paks & Styles.
Band-in-a-Box for Macintosh
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,099
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,099
Mike,

It still surprises me how different the times are for different browsers to perform the same task. There are a lot of tasks where Chrome handily beats the competition. Thanks for running that test and providing the results.

The search feature does not work as well with the online manual as it does with the pdf file as the online manual is divided into many small segments. That was why my first post suggested downloading the pdf file and using the Command + F or Adobe Reader search feature.

However the original comment in the initial post is correct that TOC and Index hyperlinks are not available in the Mac online manual. After checking I confirmed the same was true for both the Mac and Windows online manuals. However, the Windows pdf file does include hyperlinks in the TOC and index.

Hopefully this message thread will highlight the discrepancy enough for the issue to be resolved.


Jim Fogle - 2024 BiaB (1109) RB (Build 3) Ultra+ PAK
Cakewalk - Zoom MRS-8 recorder
Desktop: i7 Win 10 build 2004, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD
Laptop: i3 64bit Win 10 build 21H2, 8GB ram 500GB HDD
Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Convenient Ways to Listen to Band-in-a-Box® Songs Created by Program Users!

The User Showcase Forum is an excellent place to share your Band-in-a-Box® songs and listen to songs other program users are creating!

There are other places you can listen to these songs too! Visit our User Showcase page to sort by genre, artist (forum name), song title, and date - each listing will direct you to the forum post for that song.

If you'd rather listen to these songs in one place, head to our Band-in-a-Box® Radio, where you'll have the option to select the genre playlist for your listening pleasure. This page has SoundCloud built in, so it won't redirect you. We've also added the link to the Artists SoundCloud page here, and a link to their forum post.

We hope you find some inspiration from this amazing collection of User Showcase Songs!

Congratulations to the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

We've just announced the 2023 User Showcase Award Winners!

There are 45 winners, each receiving a Band-in-a-Box 2024 UltraPAK! Read the official announcement to see if you've won.

Our User Showcase Forum receives more than 50 posts per day, with people sharing their Band-in-a-Box songs and providing feedback for other songs posted.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed!

Video: Volume Automation in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created a video to help you learn more about the Volume Automation options in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows.

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Volume Automation

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#volume-automation

Video: Audio Input Monitoring with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®

We've created this short video to explain Audio Input Monitoring within Band-in-a-Box® 2024, and included some tips & troubleshooting details too!

Band-in-a-Box® 2024: Audio Input Monitoring

3:17: Tips
5:10: Troubleshooting

www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024full/chapter11.htm#audio-input-monitoring

Video: Enhanced Melodists in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows®!

We've enhanced the Melodists feature included in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows!

Access the Melodist feature by pressing F7 in the program to open the new MultiPicker Library and locate the [Melodist] tab.

You can now generate a melody on any track in the program - very handy! Plus, you select how much of the melody you want generated - specify a range, or apply it to the whole track.

See the Melodist in action with our video, Band-in-a-Box® 2024: The Melodist Window.

Learn even more about the enhancements to the Melodist feature in Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows at www.pgmusic.com/manuals/bbw2024upgrade/chapter3.htm#enhanced-melodist

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Specifically for Reaper®

New with the DAW Plugin Version 6.0, released with Band-in-a-Box® 2024 for Windows: the Reaper® Panel!

This new panel offers built-in specific support for the Reaper® DAW API allowing direct transfer of Band-in-a-Box® files to/from Reaper® tracks!

When you run the Plugin from Reaper®, there is a panel to set the following options:
-BB Track(s) to send: This allows you to select the Plugin tracks that will be sent Reaper.
-Destination Reaper Track: This lets you select the destination Reaper track to receive media content from the Plugin.
-At Bar: You can select a bar in Reaper where the Plugin tracks should be placed.
-Start Below Selected Track: This allows you to place the Plugin tracks below the destination Reaper track.
-Overwrite Reaper Track: You can overwrite previous content on the destination Reaper track.
-Move to Project Folder: With this option, you can move the Plugin tracks to the Reaper project folder.
-Send Reaper Instructions Enable this option to send the Reaper Instructions instead of rendering audio tracks, which is faster.
-Render Audio & Instructions: Enable this option to generate audio files and the Reaper instructions.
-Send Tracks After Generating: This allows the Plugin to automatically send tracks to Reaper after generating.
-Send Audio for MIDI Track: Enable this option to send rendered audio for MIDI tracks.
-Send RealCharts with Audio: If this option is enabled, Enable this option to send RealCharts with audio.

Check out this video highlighting the new Reaper®-specific features: Band-in-a-Box® DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Specifically for Reaper®

Band-in-a-Box® 2024 DAW Plugin Version 6: New Features Video

The new Band-in-a-Box VST DAW Plugin Verion 6 adds over 20 new features!

Watch the new features video to learn more: Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2024 - DAW Plugin Version 6 New Features

We also list these new features at www.pgmusic.com/bbwin.plugin.htm.

Forum Statistics
Forums66
Topics81,394
Posts732,489
Members38,441
Most Online2,537
Jan 19th, 2020
Newest Members
zagrajbarke, Ernest J, Izzy, BenChaz, Csofi
38,440 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 195
Al-David 124
DC Ron 112
dcuny 87
rsdean 82
Today's Birthdays
CeeDee, SethMould
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5