Hello, as XG Manager is capable of sending all its current parameter data via sysex to an XG synth, is it also capable of saving the same system exclusive data directly to a .syx file, and if not would it be possible to implement this feature?
Thanks!
XG Manager allows you to save and load parameter setups in its native ".xg" file format.
This file format is very close to the syx file format, but more economical, since each SysEx message's 9 prefix bytes (F0 43 etc.) and 1 suffix byte (F7) don't have to be included.
Therefore I have never bothered to implement exporting to (or importing from) syx files.
In fact, I'm not quite sure what the benefit of exporting to a syx file would be: in the end XG Manager is (hopefully) the best agent to edit the XG setup and to send it to an XG synth (e.g. it inserts the proper delays between messages). In my experience these big lumps of SysEx data usually don't sit well with DAWs, at least not the ones I've used...
I've just taken a look at XG Manager's source code to see if I could implement "export to syx" quickly, but it will be quite a bit of work to do it well: the current "send to MIDI device" operation needs to be generalized, so that it can either send the setup to a MIDI device or save it to a file. So I've added your request to my (already very long) to-do list...
Until I implement this, if you're desperate you could do the following: set up a virtual MIDI device (e.g. loopMIDI) on your computer (alternatively: connect a cable from a USB-to-MIDI device's OUT socket to its IN socket), then send XG Manager's setup to the output of this device, capture the messages from the input of this device in MIDI Tools' "MIDI input messages" window or "MIDI System Exclusive messages" window, and from that window save the messages to a syx file.
Mark.
Hi Mark and thanks so much for the response. I had already come up with a similar workaround but wrote with the hope of maybe saving a step or two. My use case is so singular, so kludgy, and so Rube Goldberg-esque that I won't bother you with the details of it, but I agree I am probably one of maybe one or so people that would find this feature useful. I hoped it it might be a quick and easy addition, but since it would not be, I don't believe it would be worth the trouble since there is a suitable workaround - I'll just go with that. :)
Once again I really appreciate the response and the suggestion, and thanks so much for this great and useful program.
I've managed to implement an "export to syx" operation after all.
For the record: it took me two hours, plus an hour to update the manual, publish the package etc.
I also took the opportunity to correct a tiny bug concerning "Send XG System On message" in the MIDI pull-down menu of the main window.
These changes are part of XG Manager 1.7.0 Alpha 1, which you can download via the links below:
XG Manager 1.7.0 Alpha 1 Installer
XG Manager 1.7.0 Alpha 1 Portable 32-bit
XG Manager 1.7.0 Alpha 1 Portable 64-bit
See section 6 of the included manual for some caveats concerning the "export to syx" operation.
Wow, amazing work, thank you so much for looking at this!
I will give this a try, and again, I truly appreciate you taking the time to implement this feature.