Menu Button Removal

[notec]

Just started using 9.3 from 9.2 and now I get this message when removing the non-english button(s) for subtitles in the editor. It looks like an ominous error message but by clicking YES will I really have an issue when navigating with the remote?

[r0lZ]

That message means that button 3 cannot be used when playing the DVD on a standalone, as it cannot be selected with the remote. (It should be possible however to activate it by pressing the "3" key, but some players do not implement that possibility, and anyway that's not very user friendly.)

If you want to be able to use that button "normally", you should modify the adjacent links of (at least) one other button so that it can be accessed from the other buttons. In the menu editor, check with the cursor keys if you can go from any button to button 3.

Button 3 can also be a button that has been hid by another program. (PgcEdit tries to recognises the hidden buttons automatically, but it's not always possible.)

Sometimes, there are also fake buttons added to confuse the rippers, but usually they are in a short blank cell that is never used as a real menu. The fake buttons link usually to protected stuff that you should remove anyway. They are really useless and can be removed safely. (PgcEdit tries to remove them when you apply "DVD -> Remove Useless Stuff".) In your case, to check if button 3 is really a fake button, use the trace mode, and select button 3. If it goes nowhere and returns to the menu almost immediately, you can ignore the warning, or hide the button.

[Ghitulescu]

... now I get this message when removing the non-english button(s) for subtitles in the editor.

... you should modify the adjacent links of (at least) one other button so that it can be accessed from the other buttons. In the menu editor, check with the cursor keys if you can go from any button to button 3.

When you eliminated the buttons selecting Afrikaans, Chinese and Hindi :) subtitles, make sure you set the links , both with SetHL_BTN (pre) and in the Button Editor (or whatever is called) as r0lZ said, or your EN button will never be automatically called. I think SetHL_BTN can be optional, but the internal links should be there. Before removing buttons it's always a good idea to have a look on their links first, to see how they work.

In your case, if you have buttons 1,2 and 3 for EN, FR and DE, and want DE out, remove button 3 but change the DOWN slider of button 2 to point to button 1 instead of 3 (which doesn't exist anymore). If no SetHL_BTN and no internal link then pgcedit might complain and some if not all players might have problems, r0lZ knows better.

[r0lZ]

When you delete (or hide) a button, PgcEdit does its best to rebuild the adjacent links automatically. For example, if the right link of button 1 points to b2, and the right link of b2 points to b3, when you hide b2, the right link of b1 will point to b3. However, it is not always possible to rebuild the links correctly in some cases (in particular when there are auto-activating buttons in the way). Therefore, PgcEdit checks if all non-hidden buttons can be accessed, and when it's not the case, it issues a warning like the one in post #1.

BTW, instead of removing (deleting) a button, it is recommended to hide it, unless you know exactly what you are doing. Deleting a button changes the numbers of the next buttons, and if the navigation selects a button automatically, a wrong button might be highlighted, or, even worse, a button that doesn't exist any more can be selected and some players do not like that at all!
Of course, an hidden button does not need to be accessible with the remote, and PgcEdit recognises the buttons it has hid. (Do not change the position and size of the hidden buttons, or PgcEdit will not recognise them as hidden any more, and may issue incorrect warnings.)

[notec]

Actually, I am hiding the buttons not removing - sorry for the confusion - by selecting "Jump to non-deleted button." Looks like v9.3 is alot more verbose about doing this now. The "All" tick box warning is confusing (see Menu Editor_All.jpg). Most recently I've run across several new warning dialog boxes (screenshot below).

Posted are the latest set of popups that really let you know whats what. I believe PgcEdit is really just saying "if you hide this button you wont be able to get to it from anywhere." I do want to do this however. I'm not doing anything different that I did with 9.2. So again, I'm thinking the new version is just more in your face about tasks it's given. Posting this just to make sure...

I've not had a playback issue in my player even tho PgcEdit complains about hiding the foreign Audio/Subtitle buttons - but this latest round of messages I have not played back yet in my set top.

[r0lZ]

It is true that I have modified the menu editor, and now it checks some things that were not checked before. The behaviour of the "All" checkbox has changed too, because now, when you edit something in one group, all modifications are applied to all groups by default. (This includes the positions and sizes of the buttons, that were modified in the current group only before v9.3. Now, the positions for all groups are computed automatically according to your edits. But in some rare cases, that might not be what you want, so if the positions or sizes of a button are very different in each group, the All flag is turned off, and the relevant controls are highlighted in yellow. In that case, you have to verify yourself if you can safely work in "All" mode.)

What button number have you hid? If it's button 3 and you have not modified its position and size (they should be all 1) and Auto Active flag (on), then the warning is abnormal, and you have found a bug. (Sorry if the images you have posted contain the response to my question. They are not available at the time I write this.)

[notec]

It is true that I have modified the menu editor, and now it checks some things that were not checked before. The behaviour of the "All" checkbox has changed too, because now, when you edit something in one group, all modifications are applied to all groups by default. (This includes the positions and sizes of the buttons, that were modified in the current group only before v9.3. Now, the positions for all groups are computed automatically according to your edits.

Got it. I like this new addition actually - as there have been occasions where I've missed the other groupings when hiding buttons.


But in some rare cases, that might not be what you want, so if the positions or sizes of a button are very different in each group, the All flag is turned off, and the relevant controls are highlighted in yellow. In that case, you have to verify yourself if you can safely work in "All" mode.)

Thankfully, I've never run into a rare case (all buttons have always been the same size), so this is a nice touch! Thanks for explaining.

What button number have you hid? If it's button 3 and you have not modified its position and size (they should be all 1) and Auto Active flag (on), then the warning is abnormal, and you have found a bug. (Sorry if the images you have posted contain the response to my question. They are not available at the time I write this.)

I've hid buttons 2,3 and 5 in that order. When I hid 3; I didn't mod position or size. They were all set to 1.

When I hid 5 The "Edit all buttons at once" tick box was red - I think I should have ticked it but didn't.

[r0lZ]

When I hid 5 The "Edit all buttons at once" tick box was red - I think I should have ticked it but didn't.
Yes, I see than in your screenshots now. That was the cause of the problem. You can easily fix it by hiding the button again with All ticked, or by going to the other group.

BTW, the All button is pink when there are differences in at least one button in the groups, but not in the current button. It is red when the current button has differences in the groups. The positions sliders are all yellow in your image, as obviously there are major position and size differences between the hidden button and the non-hidden one in the other group.

I'm glad to see that it's not a PgcEdit bug. But sorry if the editor seems complicated. It is not easy to do a simple editor that can act on all groups at once but still permits to edit each group individually.

[notec]

It's a welcome addition to a fine app! Just taking me a while to understand and adjust.

BTW - I played the DVD in my set top and despite all the warnings above it played and navigated just fine.

Thanks again for taking the time to explain things...

[r0lZ]

BTW - I played the DVD in my set top and despite all the warnings above it played and navigated just fine.
It's probably because your player is configured in such a way that the group that was correctly edited was shown during the playback of the menu. Try to change the player settings to display the other group (you might have to change the 16:9/4:3 mode and/or the letterbox/pan&scan preference) and have a look at the menu. Some hidden buttons may still be accessible and visible. But that's not necessarily a big problem. You can also check that with PgcEdit's trace mode, but again you may have to change the virtual player configuration.

If you have removed the stuff that was played via the buttons, I recommend to check Info -> Find Jumps To Nowhere. A button might still jump to removed stuff, and in that case, if you activate it, the player may hang.