[Verse-dev] About a_block_clear

[Emil Brink]

On Wed, 26 Jan 2005 17:02:17 +0100 (CET)
"Eskil Steenberg" <eskil at obsession.se> wrote:

[a_block_clear semantics]
> Well the idea is that audio blocks are stored a bit differently then say
> vertices. in the case of vertices, a hole is an array is just a non
> existing vertex, a polygon referencing to that vertex is a non-valid
> polygon. But when it comes to audio, a non set block is a silent portion
> of the audio track. It can be played and used, you just wont hear it. so
> if you habe a audio layer with 3 blocks set and clear the middle one, the
> layer doesnt get shorter, it just gets a silent portion in the middle.

I see.

One related question: the block number parameter is called only "id". In
all other commands, similar parameters are called something a little more
descriptive, such as "node_id", "layer_id", "buffer_id" and so on. I am
not very comfortable with such a vague name, and think it needs to be
improved a bit.

What would be a good choice? Just block_id is perhaps the simplest. Or we
could call it "index" (and drop the ID, since it is not an ID but an
absolute position in time), that makes even more sense. "IDs" in Verse
are typically a bit more dynamic than in this case, where it simply
denotes one block in the infinitely long (in theory) sound.

> Actiually, the layer always have infinit length its just that most of it
> is silent.
> 
> Does the naming make more sence now?

Absolutely, but see above. Also, it it makes the question of how a
program knows what the *valid length* is even more interesting.
Is this going to be through tags?

Regards,

/Emil