Problem Using CODM

Has anyone tried to create a new custom organ with HW2? I copied one of the examples, "ExampleCustomOrgan1.CustomOrgan.Hauptwerk.xml" to a new file called "ExampleCustomOrgan3.CustomOrgan.Hauptwerk.xml", gave it a new <UniqueOrganID> of 80002, and changed the organ name to "Example Custom Organ 3". When I try to load the organ, the program crashes and wants to send an error message to Microsoft. What am I doing wrong?

[mdyde]

Hello Al,

What you have described should work. I just checked it myself, and it loaded with no problems. Hence I think the problem must be due to some sort of syntax error that has been introduced in your file somehow. Can you ZIP and email it to me, and I will have a look at it?

N.B. Windows Notepad can 'corrupt' XML files, depending on its settings, by saving two bytes to the start of a file which Microsoft call a 'pling code'. Those bytes are essentially instructions to Notepad to tell it what character encoding has been used, but they render the file no longer in valid XML format. That might be a possibility.

To avoid the Notepad problem, make sure that the encoding is set to 'ANSI' in the Notepad 'Save As' window.

Thanks,
Martin.

[mdyde]

Hello Al,

Although you had used UltraEdit, the problem was the 'Notepad' pling-code, which UltraEdit can write for compatibility with Notepad. In UltraEdit, go to Advanced | Configuration | General and un-tick 'Auto detect UTF-8 files'. I think that should prevent it happening in the future. For your file, open it in UE and delete the first three bytes, so that it starts with '<?xml'. You can check in the hex editor (Ctrl+H) that they have been deleted.

I've added low-priority known bug HW2-000006 (previously logged as an enhancement) since these invalid codes should not cause Hauptwerk to crash.

Martin.

Thanks Martin! I'll try that when I get home tonight.

For the benefit of those reading this thread, I am really quite thrilled with the performance of HW2. It's just that I really really want to add a Nazard to the Swell of St. Annes, and a Sesquialtera to the Great. And I'm an incurable tinkerer, so I will probably spend many happy hours learning how to customize organs in HW2.

Hello Martin,

At this point, I have spent a few happy few hours porting St. Anne's to a custom organ using CODM. I have added the Sesquialtera and Nazard, as well as a few tweaks to levels. The most noticable missing things are the Crescendo pedal, the nifty graphics, and the blower noise. The only important one is the lack of Crescendo pedal, which I think is a great addition in the Standard St. Anne's. Is there any reasonable way of adding it using the CODM?

[mdyde]

I'm afraid not. The idea behind the CODM is that it is meant to be as quick and easy as possible to create 'standard' organ features, and hence doesn't support all of the bells and whistles available in the full organ definition format, which would complicate the CODM format if included.

Martin.