PgcEdit v9.2 released! (16 February 2009)

[r0lZ]

Ah, OK, I understand.

The fact that a bad command (such as a jump to nowhere) is highlighted doesn't mean that it is selected. The highlight is a warning, and nothing else. So, yes, to pop the context menu up and use its Edit function (or the Edit button in the bottom part of the main window), you have to select the command you want to modify first. The command will be highlighted too, but in a different way, to show that it is selected.

When a PGC is opened (also immediately after having loaded a DVD), the first line with the "*** pre commands" label is automatically selected, but of course it doesn't make sense to edit it.

I can't change that behaviour easily, so you will have to live with that little annoyance.

[mikenadia]

With PGCedit 9.2 and 9.1 , I have this error message when loading the DVD and it seems to loop afterwards (the application is still running according to Windows Task Manager but nothing happens). Probably, bad rip or bad authoring.
With PGCedit 8.6 , I am able to load the DVD.
[HTML]can't read "but": variable is array
can't read "but": variable is array
while executing
"set but"
(file "C:/U PANA BOGA W OGRODKU D4/VIDEO_TS/PgcEdit_backup/menubuttons.but" line 26970)
invoked from within
"source $butfilename"
(procedure "::menued::get_all_menu_buttons_from_butfile" line 14)
invoked from within
"::menued::get_all_menu_buttons_from_butfile $directoryname"
(procedure "readdvd" line 201)
invoked from within
"readdvd $dvddir ::raw_sectors :gcs ::menus ::ttns"
(procedure "::main::Read_New_DVD" line 64)
invoked from within
"::main::Read_New_DVD {C:/U PANA BOGA W OGRODKU D4/VIDEO_TS}"
(menu invoke)[/HTML]
The question is , even if one variable is not declared , is it that bad that it cannot and should not load in v9.x. What can I do in v8.6 either to fix the problem or to make it loadable in v 9.2.

Thanks in advance.

[r0lZ]

Seems your menubuttons.but file is damaged. Quit PgcEdit, then manually remove the PgcEdit_backup folder (located within your DVD folder), and relaunch PgcEdit v9.2. Do NOT open the DVD immediately at startup. Then go to the File Menu, and open the DVD from there. (Do NOT use the toolbar.) This way, if PgcEdit crashes when the DVD is loaded, you should see an error message. If it's the case, please copy it and paste it here. Otherwise, your menubuttons.but file should be recreated from scratch, and you should be able to load the DVD without problem the next time you start PgcEdit.

If that doesn't work, please post or send me your menubuttons.but file.

[mikenadia]

Cosmetics.
From r0lZ: PgcEdit is an IFO editor (though there are some functions related to the VOB files.)
I had to delete a VOB that was a " Warnings".
Then I loaded the DVD in PGCedit and wanted to kill Playback on tht PGC linked to the missing VOB.
I had a message that PGCedit cannot blank the cell because the VOB is missing or empty.
Because PGCedit trust the IFO, is it possible to allow this operation with a warning (or create an empty VOB). The reason is that the only way I found to recreate an empty VOB was to use VOBblanker . VoBblanker ask for a full scan because of the missing VOB but if I proceed without blanking the new VOB , I have an error message and an Abort because the info in the IFO file is wrong ( I was not able to kill Playback that PGC in PGCedit).
I hope that this is not too confusing.

[r0lZ]

You should NEVER touch or delete a VOB file manually!

There are two functions to get rid of unnecessary cells with PgcEdit. You can blank a single cell at a time, or blank a whole domain.

When you blank a single cell, PgcEdit appends a new cell to the existing VOB file and it fixes the reference of the current cell to point to the new one. Note that it leaves the original cell in the VOB. To remove it, you should use FixVTS (or simply process the DVD with VobBlanker). Of course, the VOB file must be present to use that option, as otherwise PgcEdit will be unable to place the new cell at its correct location.

In the other hand, when you use "Domain > Blank Out All Cells in Domain" (or the corresponding function in the context menu), PgcEdit blanks all cells of the current domain at the same time, and it is sure that none of them are still necessary. Therefore, it can replace the whole VOB with a tiny cell, or even, if the current domain is a menu domain, it can convert all menu PGCs to dummies and remove completely the VOB. Of course, the disc space is regained immediately, and it is not necessary to run FixVTS.

So, to repair the IFOs of the domain with the missing VOB, you should use that function. Usually, for a menu domain, I prefer to remove completely the VOB file (but in some rare cases, that's not possible without breaking the navigation). For a title domain, I use the option to also Kill Playback of the PGCs whenever possible, so that the tiny cell is not played. Anyway, in your case, the IFO will be repaired, and the VOB file (if any), will be correctly referenced.

[Plutox]

...probably Windows 7 related.

I have just come back to messing around with DVD structures after a year doing more important stuff and in that time I've moved to Windows 7 (not that bad an experience). I'm a paid-up user of PGCEdit.

Essentially, "automatically start preview playback" does not work. This is clearly not a low level problem as preview does everything it ought when it is started manually (by any available method); it simply does not start automatically. I've tried the usual compatibility options to no effect.

Thoughts please.

[r0lZ]

Hum, I've just installed Win7 some weeks ago, and I haven't tested yet PgcEdit fully. I'll have a look next year , as I don't have much time right now.

Thanks for the report, Plutox!

[Plutox]

Originally Posted by r0lZ

Hum, I've just installed Win7 some weeks ago, and I haven't tested yet PgcEdit fully. I'll have a look next year , as I don't have much time right now.

Many thanks. I haven't found any other anomalies - yet

[Mike89]

Lately with some movies when I'm using RipIt4Me, I rip then use the Tool option in RipIt4Me to open the rip with PgcEdit and get this message.



I don't know why I'm getting this message now with some movie rips (only using RipIt4Me) when I never got this message before until recently. I don't know quite what to do after the message. Any comments?

[r0lZ]

RipIt4Me is outdated, and cannot handle the new advanced protections.

According to the error message, RI4M has not finished the job, and some titlesets are missing. You can try to accept the dialog, but I doubt your DVD will work. It might work if all missing material is fake and never called really. Use Info -> Calls Cross References to verify if there is really something missing, and anyway, test the DVD carefully.

I haven't written RI4M and I don't use it, so I can't help much more. And BTW, this is the thread dedicated to PgcEdit, and not to RI4M.

[Mike89]

I know this is not a RipIt4Me thread but it was an error message in PgcEdit, that's why I posted it here.

I had more comments about this message and subsequent results from button decisions and DVD behavior afterwards but I guess this is not the thread to post it (I thought I was at the right place, now I don't know where to post it).

[blutach]

It's most likely a bad rip Mike. Use an up to date ripper.

If you still experience issues, then post here.

Regards

[r0lZ]

Originally Posted by Mike89

I had more comments about this message and subsequent results from button decisions and DVD behavior afterwards but I guess this is not the thread to post it (I thought I was at the right place, now I don't know where to post it).

Well, I can explain (here!) what this message implies and how to handle it, but I cannot know the origin of the problem that causes it to pops up. Anyway, when that message is displayed, it is usually due to a bad rip. It can also be caused by big human errors, for instance when he has manually deleted some files in the DVD folder. But you haven't do that, of course. So, obviously, RI4M cannot handle the DVD. Follow blutach's advice...

[Mike89]

I do use another ripper (dvdfab) if I can't get a successful rip but to tell the truth, still prefer RipIt4Me if it will rip the movie (so I try to make it work if I can, if not then on to DVDFab). As I said, this issue just started happening recently to some movies. And they were movies that didn't seem to have much copy protection (RipIt4Me displayed DVD Shrink in the beginning menu meaning DVD Shrink would rip it. Rip would go fine and then opening it in PgcEdit would give this error. Then no matter which options I would choose in the succeeding button choices, the end result was always a successful rip (did have to use RipIt4Me "Clean the Vobs" option).

Posted about it here cause I thought it was interesting what PgcEdit did with that error message and all the other error messages it would generate after that (by either clicking yes or no with the options) and then still getting a playable rip at the end.

Anyway, I won't take up anymore time in this thread about this as it seems RipIt4Me is now a dead issue (long live RipIt4Me, it was a damn fine program while it lasted).

[mikenadia]

Happy new year to all.
An issue with deleting simultaneously multiples lines with Goto.

Before deleting
[20 D4 00 09 00 32 00 07]   1  if ( gprm(9) > 50 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 7 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 28 00 56]   2  if ( gprm(9) > 40 ) then { Goto line 86 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 1E 00 42]   3  if ( gprm(9) > 30 ) then { Goto line 66 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 14 00 2E]   4  if ( gprm(9) > 20 ) then { Goto line 46 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 0A 00 1A]   5  if ( gprm(9) > 10 ) then { Goto line 26 } 
[00 B1 00 09 00 01 00 08]   6  if ( gprm(9) != 1 ) then { Goto line 8 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00]   7  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1 
[00 B1 00 09 00 02 00 0A]   8  if ( gprm(9) != 2 ) then { Goto line 10 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00]   9  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2 
[00 B1 00 09 00 03 00 0C]  10  if ( gprm(9) != 3 ) then { Goto line 12 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 03 00 00]  11  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 3 

[00 B1 00 09 00 31 00 68] 102  if ( gprm(9) != 49 ) then { Goto line 104 } 
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 103  NOP 
[00 B1 00 09 00 32 00 6A] 104  if ( gprm(9) != 50 ) then { Goto line 106 } 
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 105  NOP 
[20 04 00 00 00 00 00 03] 106  LinkPGCN PGC 3 

After deleting lines 32 to 75 one at a time ( "Jump to Nowhere").
This looks correct.

[00 D1 00 09 00 28 00 2A]   2  if ( gprm(9) > 40 ) then { Goto line 42 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 1E 00 20]   3  if ( gprm(9) > 30 ) then { Goto line 32 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 14 00 20]   4  if ( gprm(9) > 20 ) then { Goto line 32 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 0A 00 1A]   5  if ( gprm(9) > 10 ) then { Goto line 26 } 
[00 B1 00 09 00 01 00 08]   6  if ( gprm(9) != 1 ) then { Goto line 8 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00]   7  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1 
[00 B1 00 09 00 02 00 0A]   8  if ( gprm(9) != 2 ) then { Goto line 10 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00]   9  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2 
[00 B1 00 09 00 03 00 0C]  10  if ( gprm(9) != 3 ) then { Goto line 12 } 

After deleting lines 32 to 75 simltaneously (multiple select with the "Shift"key and then Delete.
This looks incorrect (lines 3 and 4)

[00 D1 00 09 00 28 00 2A]   2  if ( gprm(9) > 40 ) then { Goto line 42 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 1E 00 42]   3  if ( gprm(9) > 30 ) then { Goto line 66 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 14 00 2E]   4  if ( gprm(9) > 20 ) then { Goto line 46 } 
[00 D1 00 09 00 0A 00 1A]   5  if ( gprm(9) > 10 ) then { Goto line 26 } 
[00 B1 00 09 00 01 00 08]   6  if ( gprm(9) != 1 ) then { Goto line 8 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00]   7  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1 
[00 B1 00 09 00 02 00 0A]   8  if ( gprm(9) != 2 ) then { Goto line 10 } 
[30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00]   9  (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2 
[00 B1 00 09 00 03 00 0C]  10  if ( gprm(9) != 3 ) then { Goto line 12 }

[blutach]

In these types of PGCs, it is easiest to do the following:

1. Change the JumpTTs of the unwanted titles to NOPs (or just delete those lines).
2. Do a Remove Useless Stuff.

Regards

[mikenadia]

Thanks, blutach.
Probably a nice feature of 9.3 because 9.2 Remove useless stuff do not affect those lines.
But that "simultaneous Delete" can lead to unexpected results and I will not use it.

Original:
[00 A2 00 00 00 01 00 00]  12  if ( gprm(0) == 1 ) then { Break } 
[20 A6 00 00 00 02 00 02]  13  if ( gprm(0) == 2 ) then { LinkPGN Program 2 } 
********** post commands:
[71 00 00 04 00 01 00 00]   1  Set gprm(4) =(mov) 1 
[71 00 00 01 00 01 00 00]   2  Set gprm(1) =(mov) 1 
[30 08 00 04 01 C0 00 00]   3  (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 4, resume cell 1 

After " Killing Playback"
[00 A1 00 00 00 01 00 0E]  12  if ( gprm(0) == 1 ) then { Goto line 14 } 
[00 A1 00 00 00 02 00 0E]  13  if ( gprm(0) == 2 ) then { Goto line 14 } 
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]  14  NOP 
[71 00 00 04 00 01 00 00]  15  Set gprm(4) =(mov) 1 
[71 00 00 01 00 01 00 00]  16  Set gprm(1) =(mov) 1 
[30 08 00 04 01 C0 00 00]  17  (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 4, resume cell 1 

After deleting simultaneously lines 13 and 14
(line 13 (former line 15) may be bypassed)
[00 A1 00 00 00 01 00 0E]  12  if ( gprm(0) == 1 ) then { Goto line 14 } 
[71 00 00 04 00 01 00 00]  13  Set gprm(4) =(mov) 1 
[71 00 00 01 00 01 00 00]  14  Set gprm(1) =(mov) 1 
[30 08 00 04 01 C0 00 00]  15  (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 4, resume cell 1

It will be nice if "remove useless stuff" could remove, when it is safe:
Line X: if"" then Goto Line X+1. (lines 12 and 13 in the "Killing Playback" above subsection).
or Line X: Goto Line X+1

Edit: I do not know if it makes sense or not but in Trace mode, when running the program ("Step"," Next PB" "Run") after having selected FP-PGC, assume that the user wanted to "insert DVD" (resetting of GPRM...). I am using the "Insert DVD" button.

Line 5 in "After Killing Playback" might be difficult to delete, but just in case.
Might be easier to deal with during the "Killing Playback"subroutine.

[20 B4 00 00 00 01 00 02]   5  if ( gprm(0) != 1 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 2 } 
[00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]   6  Break 
********** post commands:
[20 04 00 00 00 00 00 02]   1  LinkPGCN PGC 2 

After Killing Playback
[20 B4 00 00 00 01 00 02]   5  if ( gprm(0) != 1 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 2 } 
[00 01 00 00 00 00 00 07]   6  Goto line 7 
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]   7  NOP 
[20 04 00 00 00 00 00 02]   8  LinkPGCN PGC 2

In the last example, it seems that the duration of the PGC does not go back to 0.00 or 0.01 , the reason being probably that the VOB is used in PGC2, whose command lines are.
********** pre commands:
********** post commands:
[30 08 00 00 01 83 00 00] 1 (CallSS) Call the VTSM Root menu of the current VTS, resume cell 1

PGC2 is a "child" of PGC1 (can only be called from PGC1). They share the same VOB.
As a user, Killing Playback on PGC1 implies "Killing Playback on PGC2" but I agree it can be misleading.
But if If I kill Playback on PGC2 first, the duration of PGC2 is changed to 0.00.
In this case, Blanking all VTST would have put all durations to 0.00.
Also, Killing Playback on PGC1 only will require a Full scan in VOBblanker and "Final Size" will be bigger than "Initial size" on that VOB.
Thanks in advance.

[M_Knox]

9.3 will have a nice feature that will do that (remove "uncalled" commands).

Furthermore, in your example, after deleting lines 13 and 14 at once, the Goto in line 12 should point to line 13, not 14. This is a PgcEdit bug, that will be fixed in version 9.3.

(I hope I haven't spoiled the surprise, r0lZ )

[r0lZ]

I confirm that the bug when multi-deleting some GoTo target lines is fixed in 9.3.

There are so many changes in 9.3 in Remove Useless Stuff that I can't say for sure if it will do exactly what you want with your DVD, but it is true that the useless lines are now automatically removed. The GoTo to the next line (and to the next non-NOP and non-target line) are removed, and the commands that cannot be executed due to jumps or GoTos are automatically removed. (In fact, they are first converted to NOP, and another part of the cleanup function removes the useless NOPs. You can opt to keep them if you wish.)

When the pre-commands contain some links inside the PGC (for example a link to cell 2), it is not safe to completely kill playback, especially if there are cell commands, as the cell pointed to by the command can lead to a different PGC via its cell command. PgcEdit refuses to kill that PGC, and instead, it offers to blank the cells. Blank All PGCs has an option to kill only when it's safe (the default), or to kill anyway (dangerous).

Not sure what happens in your last example when you kill PGC 1. PgcEdit cannot kill it completely due to the links, but it should offer to blank the cells. If you accept, the total duration of the PGC should drop to approx 0.5 seconds * the number of cells.
Of course, since the VOB cells are reused in PGC 2, VobBlanker or FixVTS will not remove them, unless you kill also PGC 2.
Note also that when you kill PGC 1, you will end up with exactly the same commands than in your example. But if you run Remove Useless Stuff, the useless GoTo and NOP are removed. Currently, the function is not smart enough to detect that the conditional link is useless too, so you end up with:

[20 B4 00 00 00 01 00 02]   1  if ( gprm(0) != 1 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 2 } 
[20 04 00 00 00 00 00 02]   2  LinkPGCN PGC 2

[r0lZ]

Originally Posted by mikenadia

Edit: I do not know if it makes sense or not but in Trace mode, when running the program ("Step"," Next PB" "Run") after having selected FP-PGC, assume that the user wanted to "insert DVD" (resetting of GPRM...). I am using the "Insert DVD" button.

I don't understand your edit. Clicking on the Insert DVD button does what a player should do when a DVD is inserted: it resets everything, and begins the navigation at the FP-PGC.

But note that you can right-click on that button to simulate what a player should do when a DVD is restarted after having pressed the Stop button twice (but not removed the DVD). The player is now in the so called "exit state" and it displays its logo. In that case, it is supposed to do a partial reset of the GPRMs and SPRMs and to begin the navigation at Title 1 instead of the FP-PGC.

Some players can even restart the DVD at a specific title if the user presses a number key on the remote. This is not directly supported by PgcEdit, but it's easy to simulate: right-click on the Insert DVD button, then click on the first pre-command of the title you want to play, and finally run the trace.