Release notes for foobar2000 0.9.5

These upgrade notes extend the general upgrade notes from the FAQ.

You can install foobar2000 0.9.5 on top of an existing foobar2000 0.9.x installation.

foobar2000 0.9.5 is compatible with all components made for older version of the 0.9.x line with the following exceptions:

• It is not recommended to mix official component DLLs from 0.9.5 with those from earlier versions due to inter-component dependencies in the new version.
• foo_pqview (Playback Queue Viewer): The new version will not load foo_common as it contains a prototype for global appearance configuration that is unused but could confuse users. Users of foo_pqview should upgrade to a 0.9.5 compatible version.
• foo_utils (Utilities): The Copy & Paste functions from foo_utils have been integrated into the core. Users of foo_utils should either upgrade to a 0.9.5 compatible version or remove the component if they do not require the component's additional functions.

Updated versions of foo_pqview and foo_utils are available from here.

The media library and existing playlists are unaffected by upgrading to 0.9.5. The configuration should be unaffected except for Default User Interface settings and certain keyboard shortcuts.

The title formatting strings previously located on the Display > Title Formatting can now be found on the Advanced preferences page in the Display / Legacy title formatting settings branch. These strings are no longer used by the new Default User Interface.

In order to minimize potential interference with typing in the new Default User Interface, existing single-letter shortcuts without Alt or Control modifier keys are removed on the first run after installing 0.9.5. Manually re-adding these shortcuts, while possible, is not recommended due to the issues stated above.

The new Default User Interface allows complex layout using building blocks that are called UI Elements. 1) The Default User Interface puts a focus on instant usability and easy configuration; it deliberately does not offer total visual customization and reduces the use of title formatting. The Quick Appearance Setup window lets users choose from a set of predefined layouts, color schemes, and playlist configurations. The layout editing mode and scratchboxes allow in-place configuration of the layout with Copy & Paste functionality. The current configuration can be exported as a theme for archiving or transfer to another foobar2000 installation.

Included UI Elements by type:

• Containers: horizontal and vertical Splitter, Tabs, Playlist Tabs, Toolbar Header
• Media Library Viewers: Album List
• Playlist Renderers: Playlist View
• Selection Properties: Album Art Viewer, Selection Properties
• Utility: Console, Equalizer, Playlist Manager

The Quick Appearance Setup window can be opened from the main menu (View > Layout > Quick Setup) or from the Default User Interface preferences page (Quick Setup button in the Theme Management section).

Layouts can be created and modified WYSIWYG-style by directly modifying the main window.

The scratchbox can be used to play around with layout ideas, without touching your current layout. Scratchbox layouts can either be discarded or applied as the new current layout. Layouts can be imported or exported, as well.

Containers provide the ability to structure the main window layout. Splitters arrange two elements horizontally or vertically. Tabs allow switching between multiple elements. The Playlist Tabs element displays a tab for each playlist and hosts a single element which is normally a playlist view. The Toolbar Header element allows to position a toolbar area above or below another element.

The Album Art Viewer displays album art from image metadata embedded in the file (ID3v2, APEv2, and MP4 tags) as well as from images found in the album folder.

The Album List element allows embedding an Album List view in the main window. It is otherwise identical to the Album List popup window.

The Playlist View displays the active playlist. Users can choose from a set of predefined columns and grouping schemes, or they can define their own if desired.2)

The Playlist Manager displays a list of all loaded playlists. It offers functions to create, rename, reorder, and delete playlists. It supports transferring playlists to and from Windows Explorer using Drag & Drop or Copy & Paste.

The Selection Properties element displays information about the selected tracks similar to the Properties dialog though it does not allow tag editing. The Selection Properties element is not restricted to displaying the playlist selection: for example when the user is working in the Album List, it will display the tracks that are selected there.

The Spectrum element displays a spectrogram visualisation. By default it uses global theme colors, but it can also be configured to use custom colors.

The Toolbar Header element is a container that hosts a single element and displays a toolbar area with one or more toolbars above or below it.

The Album List has gotten a few improvements. It now updates automatically when tracks are added to or removed from the media library, or when their tags are updated. It is also possible to create an autoplaylist showing the contents of a branch of the Album List tree directly from its context menu. As in previous versions, an Album List window showing only selected tracks can be created from the playlist context menu.

The File Operations component is used to rename, copy and move files according to specified schemes. Those schemes can be saved as presets and are accessible from the context menu. This component replaces the corresponding features of the deprecated Masstagger component.

The improved Properties Dialog now integrates tagging-features which previously were part of the Masstagger.

• FLAC 1.2.1 support (decoding libraries and converter)
• Random playback mode is back. Aside from a check to prevent playing the same track twice in a row, this is true unrestricted random playback.