Arosamp_alpha_0.24

AROSAmp - MP3 Player for AROS - Alpha version 0.24 (29.07.2018)
Created by: Mithrandir - post()trilabs.one

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--- REQUIREMENTS ---

	Operating System: 	Amiga Research Operating System (AROS) http://www.aros.org
	Additional Software: 
				AHI - Retargetable Audio for AmigaOS et 				al. http://arp2.berlios.de/ahi/

				Mpega library (LibMad) 
				http://archives.aros-exec.org	

	Recommended use with:   Icaros V2.2 - http://vmwaros.blogspot.com/		

--- INSTALLATION NOTES ---

The included .info file to put in your /Prefs/Env-Archive/SYS drawer assumes
that AROSAmp is located at System:mpeg3/

Other than that. Copy the files, and enjoy. :)

--- RELEASE NOTES ---

	29.07.18	Alpha version 0.24 binary released for testing purposes.

        27.07.18        Alpha version 0.23 binary released for testing purposes.

	25.07.18	Alpha version 0.22 binary released for testing purposes.

	21.12.08	Alpha version 0.21 binary released for testing purposes.

	26.04.07	Alpha version 0.20 binary released for testing purposes.

	31.12.06	Alpha version 0.18 binary released for testing purposes
	
	14.12.06	Alpha version 0.11 binary released for testing purposes.


--- ADDITIONAL NOTES ---

29.07.18

Thank you all for the suggestions and feedback for the new alpha releases. This
release should fix up any bugs regarding 'close on exit', remembers the last
drawer you opened files in while the program is running, and auto plays tracks
on open. Before I start adding more features, the next step is to refactor the
code for release. I will start this process after this release. 

25.07.18

Returning to a code you wrote 10 years ago (yes it's actually been that long,
and yes I had to search through my old harddrives to find the original code), no
longer compatible with the inteded OS, realizing it requires serious refactoring
is a dauting experience. Just making the system work again has been a 2 week
crunch period of testing and failing. 

Before 0.3 I will need to refactor the code, making it humanly readable again
(believe me, it seems like the 'growth' of the code was simply too much for a 10
year younger me to take into account when writing it. When something is
'logical' in your head, you tend to ignore anything else, only assuming you'll
'clean it up later'. Well, I always intended the source to be released, and if
that promise is to be held, it needs to be readable. So, that's next on the
agenda before anything else is done.) It currently is compiled, and tested to
work on Icaros 2.2 - hosted with the supplied mpega.library. I've had various
luck opening the software from the drawer (in Icaros it seems to prefer WB run),
but of course running it from the shell works perfectly. This may be because the
code made to 'load' the theme preferences and code 'assumes' you to be in the
'software directory' of AROSAmp, and not somewhere else. Will have to add a
reader that takes into account the 'full' path for next release. Should solve
any issues with loading the software.

BE AWARE! THIS CODE IS ALPHA. Various features are unstable / not working.
Forgive me for that :)

26.04.07 - Dawn of a new age.

AROSAmp has undergone alot of changes since the last release.

Changes include:
	- Full menu system (right click AROSAmp for access to full menu)
	- Skinnable GUI
	- Settings for buffer, frequency, and offset are saved to file.


Known Bugs/Issues:
	- ID3 Tag may be unstable (doesn't always load correctly). 
	Most often a quick pause/resume of the file will correct the issue. 
	(Although I have tested alot of things, I have no idea why it happens atm.)
	- AROSAmp may at various times use a couple of seconds to open a new file,
	this is to ensure that the application does not crash when opening/closing MP3
streams.
	- After the current playlist has finished, the player does not always register
new 
	actions. (This is a bug in the handling after finishing a playlist. After
testing, it does 
	not seem to occur very often, and I have yet to find it's origin. Simply
pressing Stop,
	and Play often corrects this. Worst case scenario, restart application, and it
will work.)
	- After some pondering as to why AROSAmp stopped working with the new updates
on AROS, I have had to 
	disable to theme selection utility for now. It will be 'reinstated' at a later
time. :)
	
To-Do list:
	- Refactoring code for source code release.
	- Moving ID3 character check-list out to a seperate file (Localization of ID3
tags)
	- Improving shuffle feature. (Currently AROSAMP simply plays a random song with
no regard 
	to what	has previously been played.)
	- Additional bugfixing.

Creating your own skin:

Creating your own skin is a simple affair. Simply make buttons in accordance
with the existing "standard" theme. Filenames need to stay the same. In
addition, you need to copy, and modify the theme.sd file for your own skin
folder. For information regarding modifying the file, see the theme.sd.example
file located in the "themes/standard" theme folder. It contains information for
every value in the file which needs to be set for AROSAmp to understand the
file. 

Last, but not least, you need to enable the theme for the theme selection
utility. Modify the "themes/themes.list" with the theme name, creator, and
location of the theme.

Additional notes:

This release is a long overdue 10 year update to 0.21 Alpha. Some oddities will
occur. It now compiles, but various features are unstable / not working. Forgive
me for that :)

Hope you all enjoy AROSAmp 0.22 Alpha. Remember, it is still alpha software,
intended for testing purposes. It may crash horribly on you. Be warned!
Comments, questions, and more? Leave a message at http://www.aros-exec.org !

THANKS TO:

	m0ns00n - For getting me to attempt this application, moral support, testing, 
etc. - Try out Lunapaint - http://www.sub-ether.org/lunapaint
	XMission - More cat ASCII art can be found at:
http://www.xmission.com/~emailbox/ascii_cats.htm 
	redblue - For constant nagging about additional decoders that should be
included in the future. I'm looking into it. I promise!
	Olivier - For many suggestions and ideas. Some are added in this release, more
to come. Thank you for the suggestions.
	wawa - For replying to my questions regarding libmad and AROS 64 bit. Seems
this will need to wait, since there are some incompatibility issues in the
library and ABIV1. The library does compile under 64 bit, but errors out with
some dos.library errors.
	
	And thanks to everyone else that should've been mentioned.
	Let's take on the world!