Release Notice / Change History

A number of enhancements and minor bug fixes have been made to Abel since its first release on Windows. The various changes made over time are described here.

Warning:
Option files and method collections created with any version of Abel are not necessarily compatible with previous versions, so if you go back to a saved version of Abel and use option files created with the newer program, you might get an "Invalid option file" message. If this happens, Abel will use its built-in defaults.

Changes in Version 3.6

• Added the ability to start a composition/method at any backstroke row: just double click a row in the blue line display when the bells are not ringing, then click Start/Go as usual. Good for practising those tricky bits in the middle!
• Added the ability to use keyboard keys to rotate the bell circle, and to select compositions and methods (for the benefit of those who are unable to use a mouse). Use the Ctrl+B (bell), Ctrl+T (touch) and Ctrl+M (method) keys, respectively to initiate these.
• Updated the Abel Help system. It used to be based on the old Windows help system (winhlp32.exe), which Microsoft no longer support. It is now based on compiled HTML. Users will see some presentation differences, but the facilities provided are basically similar. It requires Internet Explorer 4.0 or later (standard on Windows 98 and all later versions); a more basic HTML help system is available for the very few PCs that don't conform.
• Started using the NSIS installer for upgrades, rather than self-extracting zip files.

Changes in Version 3.5.3b

• Fixed a user-reported bug. When using a method collection containing methods with varying numbers of bells (eg, the demo collection), if the user selected a generic composition (eg, Plain Courses) AND selected a method with a different number of bells to the default method for the collection (Rutland Major in the demo collection), then if they closed Abel it would fail when they next tried to run it.

Changes in Version 3.5.3

• Added “AutoGo” option to RingingOptions: the ability to call Go automatically a number of whole pulls after Start, AutoStart (including during ringing) and Rounds.
• Added the ability to browse a microSIRIL file, within AddMethod/GetFromMSLibrary : just click the obvious Browse button in the MS method name dialog, then you can browse the library and select a method from it.
• Added to Ringing Options an option for the bell keys (usually j and f) to operate on key up/down (up for handstroke, down for backstroke), simulating ringing handbells. Also, on the first down of a bell key, if the bells aren’t already ringing (and AutoStart not clicked) Abel does a Start; aside from this, the initial down of bell keys is ignored (to allow user to get to the initial “bells down” position), and thus the user must join in at a handstroke. AutoStart works too. After the start, AutoGo, see above, could then start the method a few rounds later. NOTE: because of the way keyboards behave when you hold down several keys at once,
  (a) this feature will generally not work for more than two manual bells;
  (b) some other keys may not work if two manual bell keys are being down at the same time (eg, GHI may not work if J and F are being held down) – therefore if you want to press other keys (eg for Go), do this while at least one bell key is not pressed.
  NOTE also that auto-repeat on the keyboard may have a bad effect on performance (rhythm) on slow PCs.
• When the user presses Return while focus is in the methods list, Abel now changes method to the currently highlighted method (selected by single click, then optionally cursor up/down or typing the start of the name).
• Made the Apply button in the external delays dialog come straight back into that dialog, not into the parent external connections dialog (which isn’t even displayed again until user exits from the delays dialog).
• Allowed use of Ctrl+R to clear/reset the striking records and stats during ringing, at the next time when all bells are at handstroke (might be immediately, or not be for a while if a bell is on the wrong stroke!). Added a corresponding button on the tower control bar, and a menu item in the ringing menu.
• Allowed the user to declare in the Striking Dialog that a bell cannot be rung from an external connection, to allow a learner to practice ringing a bell simultaneously with a teacher without the learner’s bell affecting Abel. Like other controls on the dialog, it has immediate effect; and it is not persistent across Abel restarts. The Reset / Reset All buttons on the dialog do re-enable external ringing for the current/all bells respectively; but the on/off and AllOn/AllOff radio buttons do not affect it. While this facility would normally be used with the bell circle not rotated, note that (like other controls on the Dialog) it applies to a logical bell, not a physical one; thus the affected physical bell changes if the user does rotate the circle.
• Provided an option to do AutoStart without synchronising the ringing speed: added an AutoSync checkbox to the ringing options dialog.
• Added an Apply button in the Sound Options dialog, so that users can start the bells ringing then conveniently experiment with pitch, scale and bell sound.
• Added sound options to
  (a) reduce bell volume relative to the prompt volume;
  (b) reduce the volume of Abel’s bells relative to manual bells;
  (c) do half muffled ringing at hand or back (by reducing the volume of one stroke).
  These options affect live ringing but not replay of the striking buffer.
• Added an “All Calls” option for external switches, which if bells are not ringing does Start; else if method is not going does Go; and otherwise, causes successive switch presses to rotate around the available calls for the current method (bob/single/callX/callY/plain/none; Plain and None are available for all methods).
• Lifted the documented restriction on use of cut/copy/paste work in the Add Comp dialog. Abel now cuts/copies/pastes correctly within the composition, including handling of method IDs. Cut/copy also put a copy of the selected characters from the composition on the global clipboard, for use by other applications. Note that paste does NOT pick up from the global clipboard.
• Made mouse scroll wheel work in the blue line window and striking view (when the bells aren’t ringing).
• There have been a number of fixes of very obscure bugs, mostly never reported by users.

Changes in Version 3.5.2

• Some further limits have been changed so that Abel can now ring more bells (up to 24), and support more COM ports (up to 8). Many modern PCs don't have COM ports, but you can now use the commonly-available USB-to-serial converters to provide interfaces for Abel: these commonly appear as a port in the range COM5-COM8.

Changes in Version 3.5.1

• Abel can now ring longer touches - in particular, it can now ring the then-record 50400 Treble Dodging minor peal that was rung on 2nd October 2004 (RW 15/10/2004).

Changes in Version 3.5.0

• It's now much easier to see the "line" of the method on the blue line display
• It's now much easier to see the "line" of the method on the blue line display
• Abel now simulates not only bells tuned to a major scale, but also minor scales, other modes, pentatonic scale, whole tone scale and chromatic scale. And you can define your own scales too
• Abel now supports MIDI sound, either via external MIDI devices or through the PC speakers
• You've always been able to conduct spiced compositions by double clicking on the method list to change method. Now you can also use keyboard keys 1 to 8 to change to any of the first 8 methods in the list.
• In call change compositions, you can now have the composition continue to ring a change for longer than the normal interval, either because you like the sound of the change (eg, queens), or to give the ringer a rest
• After using the simulator (that is, with Abel ringing some of the bells) you've always been able to see a review of your striking. You can now do this when Abel has been used for "silent practice" too: that is, when people have been ringing all the bells. You can now use the S key as a shortcut to the striking review
• You can now replay the ringing, thus allowing ringers to listen again to their striking as well as review it on the screen
• You can save the record of your striking to a file, and can read it back into Abel later to review at your leisure
• You can also save a record of your striking in a "comma separated variable" file, which can be read by spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft Excel
• You can now configure a single footswitch to call "Stand" if the bells are in rounds, and "Rounds" if they aren't. This replaces the earlier Rounds switch.

Note that if you're using a version before 3.4.0 and want to use the call change composition facility, you must download the call change prompts as well as the latest Abel update. You will also need the extended voice prompts if you want to ring call changes on more than 12 bells.

Changes in Version 3.4

• Abel now lets you specify "Call Change Compositions" where you can describes sequences of changes. Abel will call the changes using verbal prompts, and can call either up ("two to three") or down ("three to one").
  
  Note - if you download Abel to take advantage of this new feature, don't forget to download the voice prompts as well, and the extended voice prompts if you want to ring call changes on more than 12 bells.
  
  
• A "Duplicate Composition" option has been added to copy an existing composition. This is useful where you want to base a new composition on a current one without having to retype all of it.
• Error messages have been improved.
• Abel could sometimes speak calls after "Stand" had been called. This has been fixed.
• F4 now works as documented (it is a shortcut for RESET CONNECTIONS).
• A number of other minor bugs have been fixed.

See also restrictions in the on-line documentation.

Changes in Version 3.3.1

• The stereo sound separation of the bells has been reduced: previously, on higher numbers, there was a tendency for bells to sound as though they came either from the left or from the right, with nothing in-between.
• It was previously possible to lose a newly entered composition if you changed to a different options file before saving the composition.
• The mono sound option now works properly.
• If the option file that Abel expected to use was missing, Abel would crash. This is now fixed.
• Previously, if you clicked on 'Go' and then immediately on 'Stand', Abel would say both "GO" and "STAND". This now behaves more sensibly.

Changes in Version 3.3.0

• A new print style has been added that displays just one lead of a method, with lines drawn through all the bells.
• For those of you who use one of David Bagley's multi-bell interfaces, an 'apply' button has been added to the delays dialog to make it easier to try different delay values with your sensor setup

Changes in Version 3.2.1

• You can now save any rows displayed in the blue line window as a text file. This can be useful, for example, if you want to perform a musical analysis of a touch.
• You can change the circle of bells so that Abel rings them either clockwise (as normal) or anticlockwise.
• There is now a place notation display in the status bar that shows the place notation of the current change as a method is ringing.
• You can now choose to let Abel carry on ringing rounds until 'Stand' is called after a touch has come round, instead of automatically stopping after one whole pull. This is more realistic for tower-bell use.
• Abel can now ring 'random' compositions, where calls - including method changes, if you are learning spliced - are made differently every time the touch is rung. The frequency of calls or methods can be specified, so you can ring, say, 8 spliced but with proportionately more Bristol and London than Cambridge.
• You can now specify compositions that stop automatically when rounds has come up a number of times. This means that you can enter 240s of doubles, or quarters or peals of minor, that stop automatically at the end of the composition.
• If you pause the ringing, Esc will now restart it.

Changes in Version 3.1.0

• A number of improvements have been made to printing, and some new options added: see the Options/Screen & Print Options dialog.
• A command-line option has been added to Abel which allows you to choose an option file as well as a method collection file. This means you can now set up shortcuts on the desktop to (say) 8-bell methods on tower bells, 10 bell methods on handbells, etc.
• There is a bug in Windows 95, such that sometimes changes in the RI signal are not correctly reported to Abel. This only affects you if you have externally connected bells that use the RI signal of a serial port (pin 9 on a 9-pin connector or pin 22 on a 25-pin connector). Abel has been enhanced to find a work-around for this problem, and so you can now have up to 4 externally connected bells per serial port.
• A new option has been added to the Options/External Bells dialog that allows you to set a debounce time of up to 100ms for incoming signals from externally connected bells and switches (the debounce period used to be fixed at 20ms). This is useful if you have (say) a simple handbell design that uses switches and no circuitry, and can be used to prevent multiple rings of your bells as the clapper 'bounces' against the switch contacts.