MPT Offline Help Manual 1.00 official release NOW AVAILABLE!

[Harbinger]

Note: This version of the manual has been superseded.

Thanks to uncloned and Jojo for hosting this download. They have both provided a stable site for uploading/downloading files for ModPlug and music, and i for one thank them for their contributions.

Now for the news...

OpenMPT Offline Help Manual 1.00 for MPT 1.18.02: Site 1
(Download size = 13.8 MB)

This release is 99% error-free, and includes all corrections and many of the suggestions offered by MPT users. There is a "beginner's" section (though veterans of MPT might find some nuggets of info or friendly reminders), a full Reference Section which details all of ModPlug's elements and functions, appendices ripe with lists of important go-to data, a glossary for new track composers, and a full index.

Here is a more detailed description of changes since the .85 beta OHM:

Pagination: Every page numbered. (When submitting posts about corrections, pls include the page number...)

Corrections/clarifications: Added small changes in wording throughout the manual.

Text: the overall readability has been augmented by increasing the line spacing, justifying the text, and reducing hyphenation -- except for the list paragraphs, and the Reference section excluding the Audio Reference. The idea is that the first section of the OHM should read like a schoolbook, while the Reference section should be more encyclopediac in structure. The FX commands list in Appendix A was also reworked for visual ease, and throughout the manual Channel FX commands were given the same font as the Appendix. All of these changes alone increased the page count by about 10%.

General Options: Altho i did not write up a section devoted entirely to the General Options ("miscellaneous" settings in the General tab of the Setup Options), throughout the manual i have mentioned them in relation to their subjects. For example, "Always Center Active Row" is mentioned in the paragraph on playback highlighting.

Tempo & Speed: Modes are now table-ized in a more compact form.

Instrument Import: After testing, i included a brief mention of importing SoundFont banks.

Instrument Panning: Included a mention of the concept of "pan swing" as it relates to Random Variations and Pitch-Pan.

Instrument Advanced Attributes: Included brief mention of resampling.

Folder Tree; Chapter inserted after Instruments but before Patterns, with info on the functionality of the Folder Tree.

Pattern - Order List: Included mention of contextual menu which can be used to assign patterns in the Order List.

Pattern - Note Events: Moved details of Note Stops to the Reference section on Channel Processing. The remaining table should suffice for beginners.

Sequences: Included mention of same song concept that Jojo brought up. Also mentioned limitations of playback vs. sequences.

Compatibility Export: Added a list of hacks that are not included in a Compat Export. These were verified by Jojo, who understands the code far better than i.

Known Issues: Added list of issues that MPT has with plugins or apps. Gleaned from my own experience as well as the Bug Report section of the forums.

Contributors: Special thanks given.

Reference: Added effect commands that can modify certain parameters (such as NNA control) in their respective paragraphs.

Reference - Samples Page: Reorganized and corrected, as GUI has been modified. Auto Vibrato also tested and written up, and corrected thanks to Jojo -- altho i found it didn't work QUITE as he suggested :wink:...

Reference - Instruments Page: Tested and wrote up Pitch-Tempo Lock. Wrote up subsection on the Status Bar for this page.

Reference - Soundcard Options: Researched and wrote up the settings for Resampling, including the waveform Finite Impulse Response algorithms. I will forget all this information as soon as possible (!).

Reference - Song Properties: Completed descriptions of the settings. Transferred the description of the IT "Old Effects" to the IT FX list in the appendix.

Reference - MIDI Map: Completed and moved for better page layout.

Reference - Keyboard Split: Included graphic for understanding how it works.

Reference - Other Contextual Menus: Added the complete list of contextual menu items from the Folder Tree.

Reference - Audio & MIDI: Finished the knowledge base of audio and MIDI as it relates to MPT. Heavy, some math, but very concise and pertinent info that i think will add to the not-quite-a-newbie user's knowledge for manipulating sound with ModPlug. Lots of research went into this....

Glossary: A decent list of terms that may come up for the reader, in which he may not be clear on, or in which distinctions have gone unspecified (such as "plugins" vs. "VSTs").

Appendix - FX commands: Corrections and updates made.

Index: A complete index of all subjects in the OHM. Regrettably, creating a hyperlinked index would take weeks more, and it will be very difficult when changes had to be made in the future. OpenOffice Writer has a nifty way of indexing in the structure i like, but there is no way to hyperlink the page numbers except MANUALLY linking every one of them. And when i would modify the index later, the hyperlinks would not be retained. So for now the PDF file will not have a linked index.

Table of Contents: I thought about a linked ToC, which can be more easily done with OpenOffice, but it would be rather superfluous (more work for little gain). As far as functionality, a good index beats a ToC -- all a ToC does is prepare the reader with an outline of what he's about to read; he wouldn't use it to look for detailed info. For now i will opt out on that for this release.

Printable Pages
Here is a list of page ranges in case you'd like to print up only certain information from the OHM .pdf file to keep on the side as a handy reference. Remember this only applies to the OHM 1.0 -- future editions may change these pages.

Code Select Expand

Channel FX (IT/MPTM)..........140-146
Channel FX (MOD)....................130-132
Channel FX (S3M)....................137-140
Channel FX (XM).....................133-136
Clipboard (copy & paste), Reference 105-106
Compatibility Mode tables...........
Envelope Loop table.................23
General page, Reference.............60-63
Hexadecimal, interpreting...........1
Index...............................159-168
Instruments page, Reference.........73-77
Keyboard shortcuts, definitions.....151-158
Macros, Reference...................95-96
Macros, using.......................36-41
MIDI CC#s, standard.................149-150
MIDI Input, enabling................128
MIDI Output, enabling...............129
Note FX.............................148
Note Stop descriptions..............122-123
Note Stop table.....................31
Order List, using...................28-29
Pattern page, Reference.............64-65
Samples page, Reference.............69-72
Tempo Modes.........................11
Tunings, Reference..................92-93
Tunings, using......................54-56
VSTs (plugins)......................49-53

Releasing your own version of the OHM

Over at the ModPlug page at sourceforge.net, the source files for the OHM can be found here. Included in the source archive file (at the link above) are the original OpenOffice document (.odt), the Master File and its subdocuments, images used (most in .jpg format), and other files related to my research for this manual (usually encapsulated html files). If you have no use for anything other than the PDF, you can delete all the other files. I have not attempted to save the file in any format except the one in which i worked. If you don't have OpenOffice and need to access the .odt, you can download the full package at openoffice.org. It is free (it's the open-source version of Microsoft Office) but it's a hefty download.

Undoubtedly some of you may wish to translate the OHM, convert to another format, or just simply present it a different way. YOU ARE FREE TO DO SO -- this manual and all files in the archive file at the link above is open to the public to do with whatever they wish. However, i ask that, if you make changes to your copy of the archive, you rename it so as not to confuse either Googlers or future users of MPT. Also, when uploading changes to the source, DO NOT DELETE THE SOURCE IMAGES. You may, however, update them for your own version in case of chages to the GUI or if you have a better graphic to clarify the concept even more. For the devs and admin, any changes to MPT should be recorded in the SUBDOCS of the master file (not my completed version), and of course these changes should be included in the changelog for MPT as well, so authors of other versions of the OHM can easily keep up with updates and new features. When the OHM is updated for a coinciding release of a new MPT build, change the first line of the first subdoc to the current build version (e.g. 1.18.10 or whatever), then save the master document (OHM Master.odm) as a .pdf or .html.

Which brings us to alternate versions of the OHM. I'm sure no one in these forums minds if you release your own version, but let us agree to a naming format so everyone knows which does what.

>>When providing a link to your own version of the OHM, title the file something distinctive and perhaps a bit "proprietary", such as "MPT OHM - Rakib v1.1" or "Uncloned OHM 1.2b - Professional Edition".
>>If it's a translation, make that clear also in the file name: "MPTOHM 1.0 (Espanol)" or "MPTOHM_Deutsch_jojo_v1.5" or the like.
>>If you are converting it to another format, changing the extension isn't enough. Use "ModPlug_HELPFILE_1.18" or "OHM_WindowsCHM."[/list]
The object is to differentiate other versions from the "original", "official" PDF, and if possible, to help googlers or users know what they're downloading.

I would also like to ask that if you make your release available, make it AS EASY AS POSSIBLE to download. Avoid DL sites where you have to register or which are not trustworthy (y'know, like FILEPLANET!).


For now, this brings to an end a 2-year-long project. I intend to keep up with corrections and updates, just not as often. I have devoted hundreds of hours (and fortunately no money) to its writing, and i hope it helps for years to come. I think i can see that the help manual, even the beta versions, has helped to attract a few young (or at least new) trackers to ModPlug. This was the goal -- to make using MPT as easy as possible to learn. I had about 2 years between finding MPT, and composing good tracks with it. That's WAY too long. Hopefully this manual will shorten that learning time for new composers.

I intend, however, for there to be an OHM 2.0 several months down the road, which will include:

1. A Quick-Start section, for those who'd rather not read before trying it out!!
2. A fully LINKED index (somehow!).
3. Addenda on using some of the more complex plugins with MPT (still waiting on those write-ups!).
4. Hopefully many new features that our devs have introduced.
5. Sound examples for Channel FX.

You are still free to critique this edition, but if it's really nitpicky, you might wanna do your own release of the OHM. Correctional observations are always welcome, as is praise i guess (altho i wonder how much that accomplishes! :LOL:).

Now to get back to writing MUSIC!

[LPChip]

Stickied and unstickied.

[Harbinger]

Thanks LP!

As a reminder to everyone, corrections should be requested in this thread. If i or someone else makes the correction (or any we find), we'll let you know in the FIRST post, and update the link when necessary...

[Rakib]

Wow! What a great work, have really seen that you have put on a great work to make this manual. And it turned out really great. Im impressed by the result.

My question is, is there any plans to include this help file in the official Modplug package? It sure would help many new (and old) users.

One error that I've found is that OpenMPT is now licensed under BSD and not GNU.

And when It's out I very much would like to improve the help file.

[jmkz]

I have found another error (page 125, Frequency Rate Calculation)

Code Select Expand

[...] the actual pitch may be 440 Hz (A-5)[...]

That would be A-4

[Saga Musix]

I'd never dare to call OpenMPT "99% bug-free" and the same applies to any other program or documentation as well, including yours. There are still some major and minor errors which need to be fixed.

And for the sake of making the manual look professional and for preserving it for a long time, some person could convert it to TeX.

[Relabsoluness]

Impressive work and the first ever(?) more or complete English OpenMPT manual. Yes there are many things that need improvements in the OpenMPT documentation as whole, but hopefully this acts as a stepping stone for further improvements.

Here's some notes found on quick look:

Page 57, "When using portamento commands when...."

Incorrect. Portamentos are tick-based also when using custom tuning.

Page 96, section 5: Tuning type:
"Group Geometric: (not functional)"

Where does that come from? As far I see it works as planned; it's a different question how useful it is.

Page 96, section 8: Finetune steps:
"If this value is 0, it will use MPT's default algorithm for determining portamento."

Incorrect. If value is zero, then there's no finesteps between notes and one portamento step while increase note by one. In general: to change one whole note, there has to be (finesteps + 1) portamento steps.

Page 97, section 2: Capture
"2. Capture: Checking this box allows you to enter the MIDI controller automatically by physically manipulating it"

I don't understand what that means. What capture does is that it prevents the MIDI event from being forwarded to the further MIDI mapping directives(if any). For example if there are three directives mapped to single MIDI event and the first one(highest in the list) of these has capture enabled, the two others won't get the MIDI event.

Page 97, section 3: Pattern record
"3. Pattern record: Checking this box allows you to enter the plugin controller automatically by manipulating its GUI item with the mouse."

Incorrect. Pattern record causes the MIDI mapping directive to write the corresponding action to pattern as PC notes (given that pattern record is enabled in pattern tab).

Page 97, section 9: MIDI message
"A non-editable field probably interesting only to programmers and MIDI experts. It shows the message that is sent to the plugin to be controlled."

Not really the message sent; just a string representation of the settings aimed to give quick overview of the directive.

[Saga Musix]

Page 3:
"A Windows-compatible, 32-bit computer, the newer the better" - OpenMPT works on 64-bit machines as well, it's just a 32-bit application. As far as I know, it also runs on Win95.

"You are also prompted if you wish to keep the previous settings you had saved with the older version of MPT." - Not sur who told you that, but it's wrong.

"NOTE: As with all open-source software" - as if that was only the case with OSS! Note that the installer automatically backs up all settings when upgrading.

Page 6:
I'm still not content with your description of the buffer length. Especially since you try describe how good DirectSound is, however since DirectSound is only emulated in Windows Vista/7, meaning that hardware-accelerated DirectSound is not possible anymore without using special drivers. It doesn't really matter if you choose WaveOut or DirectSound on a Vista/7 system. I'm not even sure if WaveOut would be better.
Generally, I'd try to rewrite this as follows:
- The lower the buffer size (latency), the better
- However, not all systems can cope with low buffer sizes
- If available, choose a low-latency ASIO driver. This also gives much better visual/audio synchronization
- If not, choose DirectSound or WaveOut.
- DirectSound might be the better choice especially on old systems, while it doesn't make much of a difference on more recent systems.

Same goes for the polyphony description. You're talking about "high-end" and "low-end", and again I can say: A gamer with the latest hardware will most definitely consider my laptop as "low-end", however it can handle 256 channels of polyphony.

Page 12/13: somehow doubles the reference on the sample tab. I'd remove the redundant information, especially since it's incomplete and the chance is high that this will get even more incomplete with future versions of OpenMPT.

Page 14: Typo. "mutlisample"

Page 22: "The Release Node is available only to IT and IT-type tracks" is not true anymore for OpenMPT 1.18.03. The release node is only available in MPTM.

Page 29: Concerning the picture, I have got only one thing to say. Same goes for "Pump Demi" or "Bauhaus 93" or whatever the font on page 61 is called on your computer. (Generally I'd say you're too many type faces and bullets icons anyway).

Page 48: "With MPT, you can use up to 32 tracks (the default is " - Wrong. The default is 4.

Page 49: "MPT may be able to translate the data into a track format, but it  will only use General MIDI Instrument 00 (Piano) as its sole sound source" - Wrong. You can specify the instrument by either using the MIDI export dialog or by specifying the correct bank/patch parameters in the instrument editor.

Page 50: I'd like to generally exclude MOD and S3M from the VST stuff. Yes, it cannot be loaded, but who cares about the usage then? Simply mention it once at the beginning of the chapter or so that MOD and S3M don't support plugins.

Page 71: I wonder if a more complicated definition of "convert sample sign" can be found, and if it's correct at all. I'd simply say it "treats the sample data as signed or unsigned data", much like in the RAW import dialog.

Page 103: " This option converts the track to IT format and resets all settings to the IT default. This is useful for updating older modules for editing." - Given that it resets default tempo, speed and other things: No, it doesnt help with updating older modules. However, it does help if you want to write a new module based on the samples of an older module.

Page 105: "Negative numbers do not have any effect." - Wrong. The sample and pitch envelopes (when not in filter mode) can be inverted by using negative amplification.

Page 107: " There seems to be an unlimited number of Undo's but it is based on available RAM." - There are 100 pattern undo steps and 100 undo steps for each sample.

Page 123: Again, a wrong description of sign conversion. If an unsigned sample would only fill the upper half of the editor, it would be a 7-bit sample. A signed sample is saved as a 2's-complement number, an unsigned sample simply as a binary number. But I don't think the reader should be bored with technical details which a programmer is supposed to know.

My question is, is there any plans to include this help file in the official Modplug package? It sure would help many new (and old) users.

In its current state not at least. It's far too big, however that can "easily" be fixed by exchanging all WinXP Luna screenshots by screenshots using the Win2k theme and saving them in PNG instead of JPEG. Yes, it's multiple times smaller and looks 100 times better.

[Saga Musix]

Page 86: Description of "apply octave transpose" is misleading. All it does is applying MPT's octave transpose the same it's apply for entering notes via the computer keyboard, i.e. if base octave is set to 3, all notes are transposed down by an octave.

Page 88: Description of when to apply "Fast Volume Slides" is also misleading. Simply go for something like "When enabled, volume slides will work like in early versions of Scream Tracker. Normally you would not want to enable this. It's automatically set for old files which need it." - The "unless you are updating an older S3M track" part is very wrong, because doing so would break the tune.
Again, you tried to add too many details in the sentence "For MODs assembled with ProTracker 1.0 - 1.9" - why didn't you just write "ProTracker 1.x" like the flag says? ProTracker 1.9 does not exist. And even worse: "this box will already be checked, but you can also enable it" - there is absolutely no way to determine whether a MOD was made with ProTracker or not, and it's not possible to determine the version of PT used as well. This flag is never set automatically, and can only be enabled by the user, if wanted.

Page 120: MOD/XM don't have channel volume, so "using Cxx  for MOD tracks, plus Axy for XM tracks" is wrong. Also, I wonder about the separation here, because MOD also has the Axy command.

Page 124: " but is different in that Tremolo acts upon the sample output,  
while Tremor acts upon the channel output." where did you get that from? both commands modify the sample output.
"Tremor is also controlled in a different way than Tremolo" - well duh, it's two different effects, so obviously they are controlled differently. A slightly more informative description would be that Tremor rapidly toggles the sample volume.

Page 152: Talking of "continued notes" is a bit confusing, I think, especially since it might be confused with the NNA action "Continue". "Background notes" might be a better term.

Talking of a "third envelope" is also a bad idea, since there's natural way to order envelopes. But since the S7D/S7E description is wrong anyway, here's a new one:
S7D - "Enables the pitch envelope and forces it to be treated as pitch control"
S7E - "Enables the pitch envelope and forces it to be treated as cutoff control"

Page 153: "Plugin designations go from 01-00 (100)." as said before, 100 is not displayed as "00" or anything else weird, but simply "100". Yes, it can be that simple.

Page 154: The velocity command does not exist anymore.

[Harbinger]

Thanks to everybody for the eagle eyes! I will save this page and make corrections in the next version, soon to be released both at the sourceforge site and as a PDF.

Thanks also for all of your praise and support too. Now that i'm practically finished, there's a void left. Fortunately i've been helping Tassel of Blue out with her music and she's about to release her 4th album, so i'm not left bored.

Remember, if you ever spot any corrections that need to be made for this document, don't hesitate to bring it to my attention in this thread...

SPECIFIC COMMENTS:

I'd never dare to call OpenMPT "99% bug-free" and the same applies to any other program or documentation as well, including yours.

:lol: True enough!! Altho 18.03 is rather stable, when i first started writing this manual, i RARELY had any problems with "normal" use -- sample-based tracks mostly in the IT format. I will use a different wording, and try not to be such a shill!

Page 29: Concerning the picture, I have got only one thing to say. Same goes for "Pump Demi" or "Bauhaus 93" or whatever the font on page 61 is called on your computer. (Generally I'd say you're too many type faces and bullets icons anyway).

Frankly, for me, it's still too boring. I wanted to make the "visuality" of the text interesting, and not so rigid. You are free to industrialize your version when the docs are made available...
:wink:

"Group Geometric: (not functional)"

Where does that come from? As far I see it works as planned; it's a different question how useful it is.

Then you'll have to let us know what it does and how to use it. When i initially wrote the post on Tunings (before the OHM was started), i could not get this to work, and didn't seem to be any different than "Geometric". BTW, if you could, can you post your reply to this in the old Tuning post i wrote (so the info for online searchers stays in one place)?

And also Relabs, thanks for your help on the MIDI Mapping dialog. There was no documentation on it, and i couldn't access my MIDI keyboard (when i had it), so i was making educated guesses at all that.

[Saga Musix]

Now that i'm practically finished, there's a void left.

Well, there's always plenty of stuff to be done, be it finding errors in the text or keeping the manual up-to-date. It's not like the developers do have to do all of this just because they know their code - we seriously have better things to do than reading the manual all night long.

Frankly, for me, it's still too boring. I wanted to make the "visuality" of the text interesting, and not so rigid. You are free to industrialize your version when the docs are made available...

You call it industrialized, I call it professional.

[Harbinger]

You call it industrialized, I call it professional.

I've seen very technical "professional" manuals with a very eye-catching approach to its text and syntax.

[Saga Musix]

Yeah, but overused fonts like really Pump Demi don't contribute to that... A professional manual does not have to look boring, but it also shouldn't look like something I've pulled of in Photo Impact five years ago.

[Relabsoluness]

Then you'll have to let us know what it does and how to use it. When i initially wrote the post on Tunings (before the OHM was started), i could not get this to work, and didn't seem to be any different than "Geometric". BTW, if you could, can you post your reply to this in the old Tuning post i wrote (so the info for online searchers stays in one place)?

In groupgeometric, ratios in range [0, group size - 1] are independent ratios and all others are determined by the following relation:
for all i, ratioAt(i + groupSize) / ratioAt(i) == groupratio.
To see example of groupgeometric, see "debug crab" in the the compo entries (search for "Get the votepack here!").

[Harbinger]

Page 3: ...
"You are also prompted if you wish to keep the previous settings you had saved with the older
version of MPT."
Not sur who told you that, but it's wrong.

This came from you. I quote:

Installer/release package
[Imp] <Jojo> User is asked if they want to keep personal settings.

And there was nothing in the 18.03 notes to say it had been revised.

I don't just make this stuff up.

Page 50: I'd like to generally exclude MOD and S3M from the VST stuff. Yes, it cannot be loaded, but who cares about the usage then? Simply mention it once at the beginning of the chapter or so that MOD and S3M don't support plugins.

I thought about simply excluding these references, but a MOD track with a plugin can serve a purpose: since MPT has the ability to Render by Channel or Pattern, a MOD composer can use plugins to create his own VST-altered samples. This info should stay....

Page 71: I wonder if a more complicated definition of "convert sample sign" can be found, and if it's correct at all. I'd simply say it "treats the sample data as signed or unsigned data", much like in the RAW import dialog.

There is a more complicated definition -- yours. You have a terrible habit of assuming users know what you know, or understand something just because of the terms used. It took me forever to understand WHAT an unsigned sample was, HOW it could be used, and WHY someone would want a sample unsigned. After looking at the waveform of one (in which all of the values occupied the upper half of the Sample Display), i got it. Now i need to help others without "high-end" computer knowledge understand it. With that said, you may have misunderstood MY definition because i left out an important number; it should now read, "Subtracts 128 from each sample point, which shifts the waveform to the opposite phase, but without inverting it, which is necessary for .raw samples." Perhaps you'd like me to define "phase" for the young ones?

Page 123: Again, a wrong description of sign conversion. If an unsigned sample would only fill the upper half of the editor, it would be a 7-bit sample. A signed sample is saved as a 2's-complement number, an unsigned sample simply as a binary number. But I don't think the reader should be bored with technical details which a programmer is supposed to know.

That may be true of a sample (a point in a waveform), but it is not true of the whole waveform. I did some tests with unsigned waveforms, determined what was being done, and wrote it in such a way that users who know nothing about unsigned waveforms can understand. Fortunately, i understand what you mean by two's-complement binary number, but i can't throw that term around in a manual designed for trackers. It has to be explained in a way that can be backed up visually. Perhaps i need pix to help...

Page 86: Description of "apply octave transpose" is misleading. All it does is applying MPT's octave transpose the same it's apply for entering notes via the computer keyboard, i.e. if base octave is set to 3, all notes are transposed down by an octave.

Your explanation was even more confusing. But i did clarify a little better...

you tried to add too many details in the sentence "For MODs assembled with ProTracker 1.0 - 1.9" - why didn't you just write "ProTracker 1.x" like the flag says? ProTracker 1.9 does not exist. And even worse: "this box will already be checked, but you can also enable it" - there is absolutely no way to determine whether a MOD was made with ProTracker or not, and it's not possible to determine the version of PT used as well. This flag is never set automatically, and can only be enabled by the user, if wanted.

That was no affirmation that 1.9 existed, but rather that any ProTracker version that fell within this range was the subject. Nitpicky, Jojo. Plus, i wrote the OHM as if English is not the best language of the MPT user; "1.x" can be confusing if you didn't pass or never took algebra.
Concerning the automatic setting of ProTracker MODs: since i don't work with MODs of any kind, i assumed that MPT could tell, in the same way other module flags are read, that an opened MOD was a ProTracker 1 MOD. Perhaps when you made this feature available, you could have mentioned the fact that MODs are not saved with this flag.

Page 152: Talking of "continued notes" is a bit confusing, I think, especially since it might be confused with the NNA action "Continue". "Background notes" might be a better term.

I can agree on your opinion of the term "continued notes," but "background notes" is even more confusing. Another term should be sought, perhaps "trailing notes" or "fading notes".

Talking of a "third envelope" is also a bad idea, since there's [no] natural way to order envelopes. But since the S7D/S7E description is wrong anyway, here's a new one:
S7D - "Enables the pitch envelope and forces it to be treated as pitch control"
S7E - "Enables the pitch envelope and forces it to be treated as cutoff control"

Well it's not a pitch envelope if it can used for filtering, now is it? It's best to keep referring to it as an ancillary, as-needed envelope, so i will continue to refer to it as the 3rd envelope, but taking your point into consideration, i will properly quantify it in other paragraphs discussing the envelope usage.


All other points are valid and have been adjusted for the source release docs.