florian
2014-10-30 11:30:06
A user wrote:
1) What is a port alias?
Bome MIDI Translator Pro (MT) lets you work with any MIDI ports that exist on your system (plus its own virtual MIDI ports). Additionally, you can create port aliases: inside MT, these aliases appear like any other MIDI port, but they just point to a real MIDI port. If you use an alias in your project, it will be stored in the project. When opening the project on a computer without that alias, it is created and the user is prompted to assign the alias to a real MIDI port.
2) You're not forced
You can use the MIDI ports directly in your project without a problem. In some scenarios it makes a lot of sense, too.
3) Verbosity
If using port aliases wisely, your MIDI Translator Projects will be much easier to understand. Instead of "UM-1" (a USB MIDI cable), your project will use the alias "Drum Computer", because you've attached your old faithful MIDI drum computer to the UM-1. Whenever you edit the project in MIDI Translator (MT), you'll work with the "Drum Computer" port alias and you'll know what it's used for. Even years from now...
4) Flexibility
Now assume your UM-1 MIDI interface breaks right before your gig (of course) and you need to get a new USB MIDI cable asap. Now that one is not a UM-1 but a MIDISPORT. If you had not used an alias, you'd need to manually change all your MIDI Translator projects and change the UM-1 port to MIDISPORT. With the alias, however, upon opening your project, MT will prompt you to choose the real MIDI port for "Drum Computer". Even in a hectic situation you'll not loose track and you select MIDISPORT for that alias. From now on, all projects with a Drum Computer alias automatically use the MIDISPORT interface.
5) Portability
Now we know that your Drum Computer project is so awesome that everybody else should have it, too. So you'll publish it in this forum. For every user, the same will happen: when they open the project in MT, they'll be asked to assign the port "Drum Computer" and they're done. Without the alias, they would have had no clue what "UM-1" means in the project and they'd get back to you that the project doesn't work
I hope this sheds some light on those aliases!
Florian
I guess this deserves a topic on its ownAm I forced to use aliases too? what's the real benefit of them?
1) What is a port alias?
Bome MIDI Translator Pro (MT) lets you work with any MIDI ports that exist on your system (plus its own virtual MIDI ports). Additionally, you can create port aliases: inside MT, these aliases appear like any other MIDI port, but they just point to a real MIDI port. If you use an alias in your project, it will be stored in the project. When opening the project on a computer without that alias, it is created and the user is prompted to assign the alias to a real MIDI port.
2) You're not forced
You can use the MIDI ports directly in your project without a problem. In some scenarios it makes a lot of sense, too.
3) Verbosity
If using port aliases wisely, your MIDI Translator Projects will be much easier to understand. Instead of "UM-1" (a USB MIDI cable), your project will use the alias "Drum Computer", because you've attached your old faithful MIDI drum computer to the UM-1. Whenever you edit the project in MIDI Translator (MT), you'll work with the "Drum Computer" port alias and you'll know what it's used for. Even years from now...
4) Flexibility
Now assume your UM-1 MIDI interface breaks right before your gig (of course) and you need to get a new USB MIDI cable asap. Now that one is not a UM-1 but a MIDISPORT. If you had not used an alias, you'd need to manually change all your MIDI Translator projects and change the UM-1 port to MIDISPORT. With the alias, however, upon opening your project, MT will prompt you to choose the real MIDI port for "Drum Computer". Even in a hectic situation you'll not loose track and you select MIDISPORT for that alias. From now on, all projects with a Drum Computer alias automatically use the MIDISPORT interface.
5) Portability
Now we know that your Drum Computer project is so awesome that everybody else should have it, too. So you'll publish it in this forum. For every user, the same will happen: when they open the project in MT, they'll be asked to assign the port "Drum Computer" and they're done. Without the alias, they would have had no clue what "UM-1" means in the project and they'd get back to you that the project doesn't work
I hope this sheds some light on those aliases!
Florian