Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , Expression AOK :-)

cybero's picture

Put succinctly, an embedded quartz composer file that had up till yesterday, been adorning one of the pages in a website of mine, suddenly declares itself as corrupt. The file in question works AOK in QC. So do other .qtz files that I've also tested out for embedding.

I decided to output the item as an mpeg and embed that until I've decided upon another .qtz to take its place.

OK, until it turns out that the file , a refashioned version of the Math v Expression v JavaScript example posted by memo Math v Expression v JavaScript concerned won't render if set to either Math or JavaScript, though it will render when set to Expression.

Methinks these things aren't entirely unrelated.

The following are also probably pertinent - running Safari Beta, just recently updated that as well as QuickTime, iTunes & GarageBand [ latter almost totally irrelevant.

However, having found that these same files work AOK when presented locally as file://, rather than http:// I can only assume that something server side is possibly causing this problem.

Any ideas ? Seems like there's two unrelatted problems here.

One to do with structuring of compositions so that Quartz Crystal renders them faithfully.

Two - what's happening on the embedded .qtz front - is it an update related change, or is it server side corruption - possibly needs a mime type or something set.

cwright's picture
Re: Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , ...

cybero wrote:
Put succinctly...

ha :) do you have the composition/url in question, for others to test?

the garage band update doesn't matter at all -- however, quicktime and safari have pivotal roles in how QC (mis)behaves. a|x may have spotted a subtle difference in safari4 JS stuff vs. safari3, for example.

I've not really tried the latest quicktime update, but without knowing anything more I'd put most of my money on that, simply because it sounds like a safemode-esq issue.

psonice's picture
Re: Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , ...

No idea what this discussion is about, but I have a pretty related question :)

Since installing safari 4, all embedded QC stuff now plays in the quicktime player. I.e you get a small quicktime playback window in the middle of the screen, with play controls + timeline. It plays for 1 minute or so and then stops :(

It definitely used to play 'full size', i.e. as big as the browser window, without quicktime stuff, and without a time limit. Is this new set up some kind of bug, a security 'feature', or what? Is there a buried setting somewhere to put it back to how it was? :)

cybero's picture
Re: Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , ...

OK, here's a couple of URLs, filter , & grid

& a couple of attachments for local perusal, with the html code they need in Safari.

Oh and as for being corrupted, they have uploaded and downloaded and beeen overwritten, loads of times today. All work as file:// and also work AOK via MAMP , so not a specifically any web server issue as such.

I have contected my service providor and asked them if they need to set a mime type for application/x-quartzcomposer. It could all be down to that.

The matter of composition structure and Quartz Crystal, I will need to do some further investigation.

Not the first and only such Script dependent composition to 'spit it's dummy out' :-)

That could be down to a lack of patch time incorporation.

PreviewAttachmentSize
flickeringgrid.qtz15.36 KB
filter.qtz312.94 KB
grid.html172 bytes
filter.html160 bytes

cybero's picture
Re: Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , ...

psonice, I think you'll possibly find that is a .plist problem. If you go to cybero's Quartz Composer Guide, you should find that there is an embedded .mov that references a .m4v version of the .qtz that I have had to temporarily [I hope] replace. Give it a whirl and see if you get the same behaviour. I'd check to see if you haven't inadvertently jigged your mime-type and player behaviour preferences in QuickTime Player itself.

cybero's picture
Re: Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , ...

I was almost three steps away from sending in a bug report to Apple at the behest of the Safari list manager, when I received confirmation that indeed a service level block had been inadvertently placed upon .qtz assets held within my domain.

So no bug to report :-)

Just took a lot of ferreting out of the culprit[s].

Regarding your QuickTime Player problems psonice, if you haven't found that setting your quick time player and quick time system preferences solves the problem, have a look at any other application , like say Vuze , for which you might have chosen such a behaviour to be carried out for you by QTPLayer [just a shot in the dark]

cybero's picture
Re: Quartz Crystal Maths Bad :-( , JavaScript Bad :-( , ...

Just close off this thread.

The Quartz Crystal problem was more of a redundant boolean multiplexer with nil access to two of three patches it pointed to.

Or a PBCK [problem between chair and keyboard].

Got so distracted by the .qtz server generated problems that I just didn't notice I'd been using a stripped down version of the .qtz file that only had Expression available to it.

So - no Quartz Crystal problem {actually}.