DanT: Purfenator

Plugins & Modules
123

I don’t have a solution yet, but can say the following:

I usually run occasional local backups of most of my VCV files and also did so yesterday (July 8) at 12:22 PM.

This backup shows different settings from the current DanTNuMetal.json, so for some reason the file was unintentionally replaced (likely with the default .json).

I do not know what caused the replacement and where the values came from, but I am sure I did not actively delete or manipulate the file.

If I understand you correctly, the Purfenator settings are not saved ‘per patch’, but are global, so if colors are changed by the user in a particular patch to match e.g. the background, the color in all historical patches is changed accordingly.

If this is true, maybe it would be good for a user to choose the Purfenator front panel settings independently for each patch and then save them with the .vcv file?

As I know almost nothing about coding, I really have no idea though whether this makes any sense and would be useful to the user.

I’m on WIN10 Home, VCV Rack Pro 2.6.6. I’ll keep an eye on it.

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124

OK this is a positive step, with your backup of the file, you can reinstate the previous values easily.

To clarify, the DanTNuMetal.json saves the global DanTModules plugin settings, not Purfenator specific settings. If you change the colour of the panel on one module (or anything under the Plugin Settings menu) this will affect all modules and patches, you can verify this by changing the module panel colour and then opening the module browser and seeing that other modules in the plugin all have the same colour panel.

Purfenator specific settings, such as background colours, gradients, images and skiffs should all be saved per patch and maintained when a patch is loaded.

The only thing I can think of from my side that might have an effect is the minRackVersion which is currently set at 2.6.6, I don’t know exactly what would happen if you were to update my plugin when your Rack version is lower than this, I had previously assumed that it would just not show the modules.

On your side, I believe that if Rack is unable to load or read any particular settings file (due to corruption or temporary disc access issues) then it would possibly use default values, and these would overwrite any previous values on autosave.

I don’t know if this is likely or not, but potentially if you have Rack installed in a non standard location, or if you have moved the directory to some external media or drive, or if you have specific backup software, maybe one of those could cause the settings file to be unavailable?

Thats about all I can think of, sorry I can’t help out anymore if this doesn’t solve the issue.

If you don’t make any progress and are still seeing Purfenator resets, let me know, a last resort might be for me to make you a custom build of my plugin with a couple of DEBUG statements whenever the settings are changed. It might be helpful…

125

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply!

Yes, fortunately it is not difficult to reinstate previous values by substituting the DanTNuMetal.json. Your explanations regarding this file are very clear, thank you!

No non-standard locations, no installations on external media.

Your offer for custom builds is very kind. However, at this point it’s probably not worth it to go down that road. I view the issue as being mostly cosmetic, so wouldn’t spend too much time on it.

I’ll keep observing and see whether I can find any more clues as to when the resets happen.

Thanks again — Really love your modules!