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Quick erase with CLI


Borax

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I'm trying to support imgburn as 'burning engine' within my dvdauthor application (GUI for dvdauthor) to get rid of the limitations (and dependency) of nerocmd. As expected it works great! :)

 

Just one problem is open:

How can I specify a quick erase from the commandline?

The /ERASE switch works as expected, but unfortunately it has no parameters for quick or full erase.

 

Another topic (more or less a 'nice to have') are some extensions for the cli switches, that would simplify my life ;)

 

/RETRIES <number> Automatically retry write/verify a number of times without user intervention

/LOG "<File Name>" to specify a log file (even if the user has not activated the 'Save the Log' event)

/INFO Just save the content of the info panel to the log file (and exit with /CLOSE)

 

ATM I try to gather this information myself... I have some success with it (Current Profile, Status, Erasable) but not yet with Formatted, Supported Write Speeds, and if the disk is 'empty' as RW disks usually report STATUS=Complete (not Empty). I think the 'empty' state can be calculated from the first/last physical sectors, but I don't know how to do it :(

 

And keep up the good work! :thumbup:

May the source be with you!

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/erase doesn't make it erase, that's automatic anyway if the program decided it needs to.

 

All it does it assume the user clicked 'yes' to the 'This disc needs to be erase / formatted before it can be written to... is that ok?' message box.

 

/retries seems overkill to me. Why not leave it on the default - 20. I don't see why your program would need to change that.

/log is do-able. I'll look into it when I get a chance.

/info - this would need another file name passed to it. I'm not going to stick it in the normal log.

 

You can only tell if a formatted +rw is empty by guess work really. You have to examine the sectors and see if you can recognise a filesystem. Otherwise, as you say, it always shows 'Status: Complete'

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THX for your quick reply!

 

>/info - this would need another file name passed to it

That would not disturb me at all :)

 

>/erase

So ImgBurn will automatically use a quick erase if possible?

 

>/retries

20 is OK! But it just had not worked for me. Within a test (extra using a bad DVD+RW) the program prompted me for each retry manually? But I will check it again...

 

>/log is do-able... That would be great! :)

 

>...tell if a formatted +rw is empty

That's a pity! But if /info would work, I could leave this hard part for you? ;)

 

One more question: As the IBG file may not be used, :( could you create a file with similar content in a 'free format'? For me as a programmer it is hard to see that this information is available, but I'm not allowed to use it...

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ok, /info and /log have been implemented.

 

Yes, ImgBurn will perform a quick erase when it needs to. The only time it does a 'full' anything is when a dvd+rw is not in the 'Formatted: Yes' state.

 

Thinking about it, the retries only applies to the writing stage.

Retrying during verify is pointless as it doesn't then give a true representation of the discs readability. That's kinda why I hadn't made a user configurable 'Retries' option for the verify stage.

 

As for the 'is +RW empty?' stuff, the info in the panel on the right won't really help you there. The only place that shows the discs read/write status (as the program detects it) is in the statusbar.

I guess this info would also therefore need to go into that info file?

 

Doesn't the IBG stuff say you can't use it without first running it by me?

I'd need to know exactly where/why you're using it. Demos/screenshots of how it'll be used etc.

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> /info and /log have been implemented.

WOW! You are really fast! :clapping:

 

>...ImgBurn will perform a quick erase...

Ok.

 

>Retrying during verify is pointless

Why? If the disk is at least 'readable' after let's say 5 retrys, the user may still decide to keep it or throw it away...

 

>As for the 'is +RW empty?' stuff, the info in the panel on the right won't really help you there.

Yes, you are right...

>I guess this info would also therefore need to go into that info file?

That would be the easiest solution for me :)

 

> IBG stuff:

I will send you some sreenies (and also a test version of the full program) as soon as I have more knowledge on this topic. ATM I have got just a glimpse about the contents of the IBG file (it is 'interpretable' ascii and contains information about the burning and verify process).

 

THX for your help!

 

 

BTW: Congratulation to your post Nr. 2000!

Edited by Borax
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I guess this info would also therefore need to go into that info file?

That would be the easiest solution for me :)

 

Ok, it shall be done!

 

Why? If the disk is at least 'readable' after let's say 5 retrys, the user may still decide to keep it or throw it away...

 

Just because my software will/can retry a read operation, it doesn't mean others will/can. Therefore, unless I can read it first time, it's not reliable enough.

Remember that the drive will probably have already performed 10 or so retries itself (therefore called hardware retries) before it returns the error to ImgBurn.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dear LIGHTNING UK,

 

I don't want to put any pressure on this, just ask when you plan to release the new version?

 

From your post above it sounds as if you have already implemented the /info in your 'development' version.

Would it be possible to get such a 'development' version? (I promise to keep it secret!)

For me, it would be nice to test the 'communication' between my program and ImgBurn with the new functionality.

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I 'plan' to get it out ASAP.

 

Trouble is, people keep finding new things for me to implement and I want to do them before I release the next version.

 

It'll be version 2 and so I want it to actually have some new / improved bits in it!

 

Although the /info stuff is indeed in there and working, it's not the only thing currently on 'test' here during the beta stages. Sorry but I cannot make it available to you in its present form.... it's just not ready!

 

Rest assured I'm working around the clock to get it done though.

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>Trouble is, people keep finding new things for me to implement...

 

That's something I know very well by own experience!

 

>I'm working around the clock to get it done though.

Don't overwork yourself!

 

If I can help you with beta testing, just send me a note.

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  • 1 month later...

Dear LIGHTNING UK!

1024 thanks for the new version. It works very well. The new build mode is wonderfull!

Also the /INFO works fine. The only thing I cannot find out: How can I use /INFO with something like /CLOSE ? I've tried a lot of combinations with /START, /CLOSE, /CLOSESUCCESS... but I've not found any way where imgburn closes its window after finish of /INFO. :(

Is there a hidden option/trick I'm not able to find out or could this 'behaviour' be added?

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hmm nope, I don't think that's possible currently.... nor will it ever be I suspect. It would be too much faffing with 'if this options set and this one isnt etc, do this, otherwise do that'. Basically it's just not worth complicating matters.

 

Best I can offer right now is to check for the file and then send the imgburn window the 'wm_close' message.

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SendMessage(testhWnd, WM_CLOSE, 0, 0) doesn't work (your programs seems to ignore it, no problem if testhWnd is \system32\calc.exe). But SendKeys "%{F4}" (Alt + F4) works!?

Edited by Borax
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You probably have to get the right window handle, I'm sure it should work... not that I've tested it of course!

 

Borland apps have hidden main windows so you may need to send it to that one - or vice versa if that's what you're doing already.

 

Also, try it with a delay after finding that the info file exists - incase it's busy with other stuff and so I'm not letting it close.

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I have used a delay (up to 10 seconds), but probably your suggestion is correct that there is some hidden main window. I've used a code like this (pseudocode here):

processid=shell imgburn /info

wait 1 second

loop check for file

wait 5 seconds

get hwnd from processid

sendmessage wm_close to hwnd

 

But as sendkeys with Alt F4 works, I will just use it. Thx!

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Ok, it might be wm_quit instead then!

 

anyway, now that you've gone to all that trouble, I've gone and added a /closeinfo cli switch that will close the app down once the info has been written to the file.

 

You are of course free to continue using the alt+f4 method if you so wish :)

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  • 5 weeks later...

Ok thanks, I've changed the priority when saving the log so the CLI stuff takes preference (as it should do).

 

It would have always worked like this (I think!) if people already auto saved the log.

 

This version made saving the log a default option - which is different to previous versions.

 

Not sure when this change will make it into another 'released' version though...sorry!

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Well I kinda wanted to get away from having 3 versions of the same version (which is what happened with 2.0.0.0 !)

 

If I was going to do it, I'd at least wait a day or two to see what other little bits I'd missed.

 

/LOG CLI switch is not core functionality and is only used by a small percentage of users. It is a GUI app after all!

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Yeah! That's what I will do for the time beeing...

Thanks for your support!

 

Another question: I'm currently working on the interpretation of the /info file. Do you know if/where I can find something like a 'list' of possible values for Current Profile, Book Type and Media Status?

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