Why Does Install Banner Close?

[Jim Fogle]

22 hours ago, John Vere said:

Actually this is the problem. The first time I did the in app update it did not close Cakewalk and got all screwed up. I learned my lesson and now I make sure to close Cakewalk before I  run the install program. 
This is not abnormal at all most software works this way. 
 

I returned to Cakewalk to discover the installer was not accessible once I selected the Open Folder banner option, I navigated to "Help" > "Check for Updates".  I downloaded the installer a second time and the "Open Folder" / "Install Now" banner appeared again.  This time I selected "Install Now".  Cakewalk updated just fine with the installer  running from inside Cakewalk.

Interesting side note, even though the percentage numbers indicated the installer file downloaded a second time, the download folder only has one copy of the file.  What happened to the second download file?

My thoughts are:

The banner should not close when the Open Folder option is selected.  I interpret "Open Folder" to imply the selection is a view only selection.  In this instance a user should be able to change focus from Cakewalk to the download folder, return to Cakewalk and the banner remain in place.

The Install Now option should be removed if that option is known to cause problems.

[User 905133]

First of all, there are several distinct processes here.  None of my observations pertain to the Open Folder option. 

As for the Download Now / Install Now option, FWIW I ran through a number of partial in-app update cycles on my laptop this morning.  I got consistent results. When a project was not changed and I used the in-app update process, after after doing download and then install from the blue toaster message dialog, Cakewalk closed itself and started to update.  (Note: to do several test runs, I said "No," to the UAC dialog.)

However, when a project was changed,** Cakewalk did not close itself, but instead gave me the "close app" dialog. [**for this test, I added an audio track]

I can see where there can be some confusion though if users don't pay attention to what they are doing.  I only did it twice, but when I switched Workspaces, that did not cause the project to change (i.e., no asterisk denoting a change after the name of the file) and I did not get the "close app" dialog.  Since the Workspace currently used when Cakewalk closes gets saved (but not as part of the project), that could confuse someone into thinking that a project was messed up.

Again, I am not claiming any of this is a bug. The choices made by what I consider to be a smart algorithm make sense to me. However, it might not be "newbie proof."

Edited July 15, 2021 by User 905133
to add a reference to the change state being the addition of an audio track

[User 905133]

1 hour ago, Jim Fogle said:

The Install Now option should be removed if that option is known to cause problems.

I have used the Install Now option, it works for me, and it works consistently for me.  There are many things in Cakewalk that can be a problem if people don't pay attention to what they are doing (e.g., pressing buttons with hands on auto pilot--brain not engaged). 

If the goal is to make Cakewalk "newbie-proof," maybe instead of getting rid of the "Install Now" option, there could be an overt warning that the project has been changed instead of relying users' keen power of observations (the asterisk).

[John Vere]

In my Download folder is a sub folder Called Cakewalk. Inside that folder will be all the versions I downloaded seems starting in March with what might be an early access version. I never created this folder. The Cakewalk download must have. Does anybody else have this sub folder? 

  There were also 2 versions ( 147 and 155) that were not in this folder. Any way if you open your download folder and go to views and select "details" you will see the dates. I'm using Chrome. 

I can easily roll back to a prior version using any of these installers ( I suppose ) 

Myself I would never update software while I have a work in progress open. I would at least close the project first. 

 

[Jim Fogle]

@User 905133, The Install Banner operation has been consistent for me.  I mention if there are issues because another user mentioned he has experienced issues.

The Install Banner first displays before the Start Screen displays (I have the Start Screen display turned on in Preferences).  So I clicked on the Open Folder button before any project was loaded.  The second time I went through the process the Start Screen was displayed when I selected the Install Now button.

My chief complaint is I don't think the Install banner should disappear if a user selects the Open Folder button, the File Explorer window opens (which changes focus away from the Cakewalk GUI), the File Explorer window is closed (which changes the focus back to the Cakewalk GUI) and the Install Banner is gone.

My contention is a new user may not know which file is the newest when the folder is opened; especially if they do not have the detailed view selected in File Explorer so the file dates show.  A new user may not realize the files in the folder are update files.  A new user may not know they need to manually run one of the files in the folder to update.  Finally, a new user may think, I goofed and need to go back.  But when the user returns to the Cakewalk GUI the Install Banner and Install Now choice is gone!

It's easy to panic anyhow; why make it easier to panic than it needs to be?