Jump to content

8 character file names - longer would be nice


longhorngator

Recommended Posts

  • 1 month later...

That may well be the origin of the limitation but given that VFAT is over twenty years old there is little justification for not using it. What is particularly annoying is that the eight-character limitation applies internally as well, even if you never store to a USB device. (Not true - see below.) If Casio didn't want to use VFAT they could have stored the long file name as another data field in the file (the formats of which are proprietary to Casio, after all).

 

Data storage shouldn't be an issue either. Assuming an increase to, say, 24 characters (and assuming ASCII, which is quite good enough for this application), we're talking less than 12Kbytes of extra memory (Flash) for every 1,000 memory locations (<24Kbytes in total). I can't believe that would make a significant dent in the internal Flash memory resources of these keyboards.   

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I stand corrected. So it is the same as the XW-P1/G1 in that regard. I should have checked directly before posting. I have corrected my misleading comments above. What mislead me is the large space allowed for name entry (of tones and whatever else), much larger than 12 characters. On the XW-P1/G1 the space provided for name entry will only fit 12 characters. 

 

Personally, I find the 12 character limit to be, well, limiting. Most names I have wanted to give tones I created (the vast majority of them so far on the XW-P1/G1) I have had to shorten by omitting letters. That shouldn't be necessary in this day and age. 

 

Needing to shorten those already shortened names to eight characters for storage on a USB stick or SD card (in the case of the XW-P1/G1) is insult upon injury, so to speak.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So then somehow Casio is using DOS in their memory scheme? You all are apparently old enough to remember the 8-character DOS filename limitation. Add 3 more characters for the filename itself, there you go. How they derived 12 characters is beyond me. But apparently some of the internal databusses must be limited to transferring data through DOS commands or 8-bit?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speculation, but is it mere coincidence that the XW-P1/G1 and PX-5S that preceded the newer touchscreen models are also restricted to 12-character names, in their cases because that's all that will fit on the LCD display in those models (using the font that Casio chose, which BTW could only be made smaller by compromising the appearance of some characters, as Casio did with some of the other text produced by that display)? If Casio engineers re-used the software routines from those models when writing the code for these newer ones, perhaps no coincidence at all.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I was hoping so much that firmware 1.14 would have fixed this issue. 

Its getting to the point where I have to put each of my "sets" on a different stick. 

Here is an example of how frustrating things are getting. 

Lets look at a number of songs

Journey- Dont stop believin

Queen- Dont stop me now

Fleetwood mac - Dont stop

Micheal Jackson - Dont stop till you get enough

 

YOu see the problem , I hope..,. Its almost impossible to find the correct song in a gigging  situation. 

I have to have a set of notes to tell me that its the 1st or 2nd etc. 

 

Casio , come on. Having a DOS type limitation ( 11 chars including ext ) isnt really cutting it for a keyboard thats as powerful  as this. 

The annoying thiing  is also that , when naming a file, you allow me the full width of the screen ( Teasing me with all those characters :-)  ) and then limit the number of chars that can be input.  :-(

I can understand the limitations on the actual tones, however , registrations ? and midi file names ? 

Why ? Why ? Why ?

 

Please can you remove this limitation in the next release of the firmware. 

 

Having used this keyboard for the last year , this is the only real major  limitation I can see., 

 

 

A few other thing. It would be really nice to be able to have the following

- preload a midi file into a cache , so that you can have songs queued ready to be played

- This would be nice so that if you are already in the middle of playing a midi song you could then load the NEXT mid track you are going to play, into either internal

  midi song storage or load into a temporary buffer cache. 

I can do a preload of a registration into a location ready to play. Why not a midi file ?

( Maybe its already there ? )

 

_ when you load a registration into a location such as 

    - say I had a registration called ABC   and I load this into area 1-1 , then Why cant you keep the name of the registration , or allow us to name the registration. 

       You use the "MAIN" label at the top of the screen, Why not allow the naming of the registration so that it uses up either the left or right hand side of the the 

       top of the screen. 

       Its really annoying having to reference numbers for registrations eg 1-4 for songX   1-8 for songY . Would be nice to just have at the top of screen "REG:SOngX"

       The more information the better. 

 

Just an idea

 

Stuart

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Any update on this ludicous limitation. ?

 

I was thinking back to some of my old gear  ( those where the days , racks of keyboards sigh ) and even then I had more space on my DX7 screen to name patches.

Im at a point where I just cant differentiate between various songs on my USB stick and have to split between multiple sticks for multiple sets. Crazy for 2018.

 

Now if I edit a file on  my PC and name it more than the 8-12 character limit , the keyboard starts showing me completely useless filenames.As you would expect from a FAT based file system. Deeply frustrating.

How this even got signed off as part of the design just beggers belief. The whole idea of the screen was to make the user interface much easier. Not restrictive.

Id rather have had longer text, upper and lower case, and edit most of the parameters on a USB PC interface. This would have been much easier since most of the parameters I have no intention of editing when playing live. And I dont think Im alone here.

 

Come on casio. Put a little thought into what is a great keyboard , let down by a pretty non consistent interface. ( large icons mixed with limited text ).

Dont come up with a great idea, then fail to deliver. We all have smart phones and tablets etc and this is where the bar has been set. You guys are well below it.

And to not release an updated front end , after approx 2 years is just a nonsense. You have had plenty of time to address the limitations your customers have been complaining about.

 

Deeply frustrated user ( who loves the sound of the 560M and thinks the interface just basically sucks )

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Music manufacturers have for decades lagged behind the computer technology built into our systems-slower cpus, less memory, older memory chips. and other hardware (ever see an SSD in any keyboards and even that has been around for years already and of course-the OS system- have to be wary of the big company's claiming copyright infringement, or costly licensing fees to even use a part of the code from well you know who. and I'm not sure, but I bet companys like Intel may even have copyrights on the data handling protocols going through the data busses! maybe this is partially why Casio still uses DOS as the basic software language for naming conventions-or it's just cheaper or easier to code in DOS.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Casio could get a few things fixed things that are annonyances more than anything else. 

eg. 

Load media,->< registration,   

you then specify the area and bank. ( numeric ). Once you load and the popup says "Loaded". you are taken back to the main page

and have to then go through the whole sequence again to load another regisration. 

Tiresome scrolling through my media to locate another registration, and then scrolling from 01-A to any of the higher banks. 

 

I dont want to jump back to the front page, unless I hit the back button. Just leave me on the same page until Ive finished loading up all my registrations into the desired banks. 

 

 

Next. 

Can you possibly just keep the name of what Ive loaded into the back. Having Area and Bank without the name of what Ive loaded is a complete pain. 

When Ive selected the bank , I have to look at what tones to ensure I have the correct settings. Rather than just show a "Text Name " of what I have in the registration. 

 

Just basic user interface fundamentals guys. 

 

The whole interface screen just doesnt seem consistent in its usability at times. 

 

( Before any one asks, yes I am a developer with many years experience) 

 

Im sure this is falling of deaf ears here. Which is a shame really. 

 

 

 

Edited by stuartr
Pressed tab and the page submitted.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Joining the whine and cheese party, one thing I miss is a numeric touchpad or even button interface for instant location of everything in the PX560 described in these posts-registrations but also tones, other data. The data wheel is nice, but without re-arranging my most needed tones in one category which I think can be done I remember reading in here somewheres-an alphanumeric touchpad might be handy. Of course the design here is in keeping with a digital piano, not a workstation but since Casio seems to be leaning in that direction-why not? if I could find one, I'd even connect a small alhanumeric midi touchpad directly to my midi in port just to see what might work.-I have no idea what kind of software messages would look like though,  since the software is there for incrementing data through the touch interface and the data wheel as well as the control knobs, I'm wondering if this would work. If anyone finds something compact hardware wise-post here, I will look myself, maybe Teenage engineering has something. I am missing instant access from one tone to another. The touchscreen interface is fast but....I have to whine about something I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Has there been any update to this issue or are casio still wearing their flared trousers as they live in the 80s with the DOS limitations.

I had hoped that casio would have carried out major improvements to the overall User Interface over time to mature the keyboard. sadly I havent seen anything .

Appears that they dont seem to employ software engineers to work on their interfaces , nor invest in enhancing a product.

 

Please casio, one thing to update would be the severe limitation on the 8 character input ( Yes I know its 21 but when you add in the file extension its 8 ) Utterly useless.

I really struggle when gigging and trying to load mid backing tracks, or registrations . Here is an example.

I want to play

Dont stop believing

Dont stop - fleetwodd mac

Dont stop me now  - queen

 

You see the issue ? I have to use a reference sheet to know which one is which. You would have been just as well showing the files in HEX code as the 8 chars is useless ( have I already mentioned that this is a major limitation ? )

 

Rant over.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.