Release Notes

Selecting the 'About' button from the 'Help' menu of Playout or Playout Manager will display the version number. To simplify matters, from version 3, both applications will have the same number, more recent versions of Playout also display the release number on the main title bar.

*OAS Playout v3.22 is the last supported release for these platforms.

**There are a few issues which can occur which are specific to Windows Vista/7, this page covers the issues which are known about when using Playout under Vista.

Bugs, Improvements

Please send bugs, improvement suggestions to:

beta@onasticksoftware.co.uk

Development status & latest bug fixes are being maintained here.

OAS Playout v3.2 is the minimum version currently supported. If you are using a version older than this we strongly suggest you upgrade. We will still accept any problem reports/bugs etc. in these legacy versions however any changes made will not be flowed back into these baselines. Our intent generally is to apply any fixes to the current version however if you have a desire to continue using a specific baseline we will look to apply the fix to that baseline.

The following tables list all known problems outstanding and fixed against all supported releases of Playout. They are grouped by version. The Version column indicates in which version of Playout the problem is known to occur. If it is set to "All", that applies to every version, including legacy releases. A number with a '+' next to it indicates a specific release and newer eg. 3.3+ "all versions since v3.3".

The current minimum supported release is v3.2. It is likely then than that issues marked at versions of "3.2+" will also apply to older, legacy releases.

current (13 matches)

Ticket	Description	Component	Version	Status	Resolution	Type	Priority
#98	When running in 1024x768 mode with XP themes, Playout Manager window does not occupy the entire height of the screen. As such the bottom of the dialog is hidden from view and can only be accessed by scrolling the window in the Y axis.	Playout Mgr	All	new		defect	minor
#99	Installers from v3.43 onwards do not update the AudioCore to the latest version. This may cause issues including one or more components failing to start or not behaving as expected. Workaround is to uninstall then reinstall the software OR download the latest audio core from the website. Extract the oas-audio.dll file into your installation folder (normally C:\Program Files\OAS Playout).	Installer	3.43+	new		defect	minor
#3	ShoutCast? Track Lister may populate the 'last 10 tracks played' with the current track. This can occur if your communication with the Shoutcast server goes through a proxy or web cache (since v2.5, Playout utilities Internet Explorer's proxy/connection settings). At least one version of the Squid web cache has exhibited this problem. Workaround: If possible, set IE to bypass any proxy or cache for Shoutcast servers.	TrackLister	All	accepted		defect	minor
#4	Launching a second instance of Playout or Playout Manager (on the same computer) generates the error message 'File Damaged'	Playout	All	accepted		defect	minor
#5	Search of RuleList? will always be performed in the original rulelist order such that if the order is changed (by clicking on a column eg. "Title" the search will jump all over the list still following the original sequence) on each consecutive pressing of the 'Next' button	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		defect	minor
#6	When adding tracks to a rulelist, if the default sort order is changed they appear to be added randomly in the list. This is because insertions are made according to the original sort order, restoring the sort will show the tracks in their "correct" order.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		defect	minor
#7	Cue points editor may not allow track/cue position to be set at or near the very end of a track. The track duration for audio is rounded _down_ to the nearest second ie. if a track is 34.8s it will be displayed as 38s. This is in line with many other popular MP3 players and should not pose a real problem in normal usage. Whether track durations should be rounded up is pending investigation.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		investigate	minor
#8	Component Editor: You may find after performing a series of updates on a page that attempting to delete "core components" with the editor - invoked by pressing the 'e' button next to items such as Playlist Names, Artists - will fail when you update the database. Workaround: Either use the 'Revert' button to refresh the page, then perform the delete or toggle to another tab then back again.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		defect	minor
#10	The 'Revert' button on the Playlist Management page does not discard all edits & reload from the database - specifically any PlayList? name modifications or deletions remain. Workaround: Select another tab & switch back to the Playlist tab to ensure database settings are reloaded.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		defect	minor
#15	When a playlist is deleted, it needs to remove all references to it from the system, notably references from the Music Log. We have however had instances where this process is not occurring correctly, leaving "orphaned" playlist entries in the log. Fixes have been applied to v3.31 and v3.52 to prevent the crash from occuring if this condition arises however the root cause of why it occurs in the first place is still unknown. A further utility is available on request to clean the music logs of any of these "orphaned" playlist entries - this will prevent the crash occuring on earlier releases of Playout Manager.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		investigate	minor
#51	In automation (or just "auto" mode), in rare occassions the following may occur: A track begins playback, then within 5-20 seconds the next track cue'd up starts playback effectively fading out the initial track early.	Playout	All	accepted		defect	minor
#2	If Artist/Title? search box has focus, the next time a selection is made on the listview, the box is not updated with the new contents.	Playout	All	accepted		defect	trivial
#56	Batch operation 'Path Update' can sometimes introduce an extra backslash at the start of the pathname eg. 'c: music' (instead of 'c:\music'). Has no functional impact.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		investigate	trivial
#1	Short sound bursts may be heard when a track is paused, cued elsewhere then resumed. Occuring on the main player and cue points dialog. The same bursts can aslo be heard by using MS Media Player by moving the seek bar and resuming playback hence it is a fault of DirectX itself not Playout. This problem does not occur if using the ASIO drivers. The DirectSound? component of DirectX is utilised for audio playback by OAS Playout. DirectSound? is the Windows sound system utilised for audio playback by OAS Playout. This affect appears to be OS/DirectX/hardware dependent - in short a given combination of all three may alleviate the problem. DX can be freely downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com. An alternative is to utilise the ASIO driver if your soundcard supports it. See the online help for more information.	DirectX	All	closed	wontfix	defect	minor
#11	Import of non-ASCII (US-English) filenames does not work properly. The import appears to succeed however the file will not play and the system reports 'file inaccessible'. On closer inspection, the non english characters will have been replaced. Support for non ASCII filenames (or metadata) ie. Unicode is not available in Playout. You will need to rename the file to include only ASCII characters.	Playout Mgr	All	closed	wontfix	enhancement	minor

3.5x (7 matches)
Ticket	Description	Component	Version	Status	Resolution	Type	Priority
#28	"Reassign" function does not work in Core Editor if you use the edit box to search for the replacement item. Fixed in v3.5, however this has disabled the search facility for some functions. A further enhancement to restore this functionality is planned.	Playout Mgr	All	accepted		defect	minor
#24	Keyboard start keys ('1' and '2') are still enabled during automatic modes and will disrupt automation and voicetrack modes of operation if pressed. Fixed in v3.5	Playout	All	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#21	Pressing 'Start' on an empty jingle console will cause any currently playing jingle to stop Fixed in v3.5	Playout	All	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#17	In the event of a re-occurring error, excessive message dialogs may be generated which are impossible to "ok" requiring a forcible termination of the application via the Task Manager or other means. Fixed in v3.5	Playout	All	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#14	Playout Manager will crash when you hit the Update button, if you attempt to delete a playlist when either no playlist is selected in the Current Playlist dropdown OR the playlist you are deleting is selected in the Current Playlist dropdown. Workaround: ensure a playlist is selected in the Current Playlist dropdown before you hit the Update button. Fixed in v3.52	Playout Mgr	All	closed	fixed	defect	major
#13	Filenames which end with a dash ('-') character may fail to import properly. For example "hey jude-.mp3". This condition will only arise if there is no metadata (audio tag) present in the file. The track will appear in the Music Import list with an empty title. Workaround is to either enter the title manually during the import stage or rename the file. Fixed in v3.51	Playout Mgr	All	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#12	Program crash may occur after many hours left running in automation mode. This problem only occurs if you have used the "Advanced" settings in the Playlist Sequencer and are scheduling adverts into the sequence. Fixed in v3.52	Playout	3.51	closed	fixed	defect	major
3.4x (13 matches)
Ticket	Description	Component	Version	Status	Resolution	Type	Priority
#65	Windows Vista can erroneously indicate Playout Manager has stopped responding during periods of intensive activity eg. a large music import. Fixed in v3.4	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#61	If a jingle/advert list is defined as part of the automation sequencer "advanced" settings which has no entries defined, during playback Playout will inject "garbage" entries into the playlist possibly leading to a program crash. Fixed in v3.4	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#60	The 'Enter Automation on completion of a voicetrack programme' may not be actioned correctly eg. automation may be entered when it is not required and vice-versa. Fixed in v3.4	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	major
#59	'beep' from PC speaker when selecting a track in Playout. This is a known Vista issue, the cause and workaround is here. Fixed in v3.4	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#27	The cue start point calculated during import a track import appears incorrect, either truncating the start of the audio or leaving a noticable gap at the start of the track. In addition, if the cue points editor is used to attempt to manually set the start cue, the graphical waveform does not appear to be correct with regard to audio playback eg. for the cue to be actioned correctly it is nowhere near the start of the waveform. Fixed in v3.42 - also see the section on Variable Bit Rate (VBR) files	Playout Mgr	All	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#26	When you install Playout on a new machine, on first run the package attempts to perform an update which fails. The package then terminates. A patch is available via the registered users download area to address this issue. Fixed in v3.41	Playout	3.4	closed	fixed	defect	major
#25	Music Import can crash or not parse data correctly when application is running on a multiprocessor PC. To check if you have a multiprocessor capable machine proceed as follows: Whilst logged in, press Ctrl-Alt-Del. Choose the 'Task Manager' option. When the dialog appears, select the 'Performance' tab. If you have more than 1 graph under the 'CPU Usage History' box then you have a multiprocessor PC. A patch is available via the registered users download area to address this issue. Fixed in v3.41	Playout Mgr	3.4	closed	fixed	defect	major
#23	Voicetrack programmes will always attempt to enter automation mode on completion. Fixed in v3.44	Playout	3.4+	closed	fixed	defect	major
#22	Voicetrack programmes may not execute properly Fixed in v3.44	Playout	3.4+	closed	fixed	defect	major
#19	You may experience an application crash when Playout is exiting if a Failover playlist is not defined. Workaround: Set an existing playlist as a Failover list in the Playlists, Setup menu. Fixed in v3.43	Playout	3.4+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#20	You may experience an application crash when exiting from automation mode. Fixed in v3.43	Playout	3.4+	closed	fixed	defect	major
#18	If the station logo bitmap is not exactly 300x140 pixels, the displayed image may appear to be badly stretched in one axis. Workaround: Use a bitmap editor to ensure your image is exactly 300x140 pixels Fixed in v3.43	Playout	3.42	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#16	Sporadic program crash may occur when exiting Playout if using ASIO drivers Fixed in v3.41	asio	All	closed	fixed	defect	minor
3.3x (13 matches)
Ticket	Description	Component	Version	Status	Resolution	Type	Priority
#79	The OAS Playout Change Monitor fails to start in the v3.3x release of Playout. An updated version is available via the registered users download link.	Change Monitor	3.3+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#78	Playout Manager may crash on completion of a voicetrack segue edit session. The symptoms appear to be that on pressing 'OK' on the Segue Editor, the dialog is removed and the Playlist Edits page redisplayed but it 'hangs' for around 5s before crashing with an exception. Fixed in v3.3	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	major
#77	A Music/Jingle? import may fail with an error or crash when importing directory structures & filenames in excessive of 128 characters. Fixed in v3.3	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#76	When viewing Music/Ad? logs with 'Filter Duplicates' checked, some items meeting the filter criteria are not displayed Fixed in v3.3	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#75	MP4 encoding information is always marked as Variable Bit Rate (VBR). Fixed in v3.3	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	trivial
#74	Search (by Artist) on Music Edits and Playlist Management can fail to select an entry matching the search criteria if the initial matching artist held in the database has no track currently by said artist 'in view'. In most cases this means that the artist has no associated track in the database however when applying Playlist filters this becomes more noticeable and may well not function at all. Fixed in v3.3	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#73	ID3v2 tags may not update correctly, resulting in duplicate fields being stored in the file - this seems to be isolated to the 'Track Duration' field only and causes ID3 comparison checks to always fail. Fixed in v3.3 This problem occurred within the 'id3lib' tagging library which is no longer used in v3.3 and later.	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#72	Tracks of a sample format other than 44khz used with the ASIO driver are played in mono and may distort Fixed in v3.3	asio	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#71	End cue points may trigger 1 second earlier than required Fixed in v3.3	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#64	Potential crash when searching for albums in Music Edits or Playlist Management pages Fixed in v3.32	Playout Mgr	3.3+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#63	Potential deadlock (program freeze) when searching for artist/album/genre in Music Edits page. Fixed in v3.31	Playout Mgr	3.3	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#62	Import from another Playout database truncates the first part of the filename of tracks being imported resulting in a corrupt import. Fixed in v3.31	Playout Mgr	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#58	Enhanced screen mode (1280x1024) not working properly with standard the default XP/Vista display schemes or the new "aero" profile. In this mode, the message alert section is permanently scrolled off screen - see the information on Vista issues. A workaround is to revert to Windows 'classic' colour scheme. Fixed in v3.31	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
3.2x (5 matches)
Ticket	Description	Component	Version	Status	Resolution	Type	Priority
#70	Volume/speed controls not updating if scrolled with arrow keys	Playout	3.2	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#69	'Help' buttons do not work if a Playout database/error warning dialog is displayed when the package is first activated. Fixed in v3.21	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#68	You may experience the following issues: First few entries in an automation sequence keep being played. and/or Playlist, button wall changes & profile changes all fail with an error message. The root cause of this behaviour is that the Playout database can only be accessed as 'read only'. As such all updates (required for the functionality that fails) will not work properly. This condition normally arises if the database has been located onto a network server but the file permissions have not been setup to support writes in the network share HOWEVER Playout does not report this in a user friendly manner. Fixed in v3.21	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor
#66	When loading tracks into a Player from a playlist/jingle list, the next time the 'Load' button is pressed, the original playlist may not be re-displayed, instead another one is displayed in it's place. Fixed in v3.22	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	major
#67	If a button wall file is not accessible, Playout gets stuck repeatedly generating "Audio File Not Available" messages. Fixed in v3.22	Playout	3.2+	closed	fixed	defect	minor

Seeking within VBR MP3 files can be troublesome as there are issues in determing accurately where to begin playback within the file. This manifests itself notably with the setting of the automatic Cue Start points but also when manually using the seek bar in Playout (and Playout Manager). The problem may also be noticeable when using the Cue Points and Voicetrack editors in Playout Manager where a graphical waveform is displayed which does not appear to line up with actual audio playback. For example, the start cue appears to be correct on the waveform but when the track is played, the track either has silence at the start or more likely clips the beginning of the track.

You can assertain if you are dealing with a VBR file by examining the Encoder Info column in Playout Manager (scroll the listview to the right to bring this column into view). It will say something like 44.1khz, VBR stereo.

The root cause of this problem is that there is no standard mechanism in place for seeking within VBR files. To date, there are several optional headers which may be included in VBR files - the most prevelant being the Xing VBR header which is fully supported by Playout (the less common VBRI header is also supported). These include tables which assist in the seeking process however even these are not that accurate (for a 3min track, expect an accuracy of >1 second). If you encounter a file which has no header, the accuracy is likely to be significantly worse.

OAS Playout v3.42 and newer has significantly improved the seek accuracy of Xing VBR files (the most prevalent). Any auto detected cue points will now be correct in this release however if you have manually adjusted the cue to compensate for seek issues in earlier releases, the cue will now be wrong. You will need to use Playout Manager's Cue Pointer to reset the cue back to it's "correct" position.

In the future we may include further updates within Playout to improve on this issue particularly as VBR tracks become more prevelant.

Support is available within Playout to utilise two alternative database platforms (MySQL & PostgreSQL) over the stock MS-Access based solution. Hosting on one of these offers a number of advantages & disavantages, for more information see the 'readme' files under in the relevant 'Engines' sub-folder of the Playout
installation folder.

Development is considered to be at a late 'beta' state of testing, notably having been successfully used on the recent Hastings Rock RSLs.

The following are known issues/problems using Playout with MySQL:

current (2 matches)

Work is significantly less advanced than the MySQL variant and has not been used in anger - deemed more at an 'alpha' stage of development and tends to lag the current Playout builds in terms of releases.

current (4 matches)

This section provides a summary of all the changes & bug fixes made to Playout since the version 3.0 release. You can find a copy of this, including all changes since the original v1.0 release by viewing the "Changes" file held with your installation of Playout.

Current Release/Bug Lists

Freeware release

Retail Release

Beta/Test release

current (13 matches)

3.5x (7 matches)

3.4x (13 matches)

3.3x (13 matches)

3.2x (5 matches)

current (2 matches)

3.4x (1 match)

3.3x (2 matches)

current (4 matches)