Port flagging

There was some talk on IRC about MIDI and audio port use and workflows. It 
got me thinking.

There was the idea that with MIDI it is quite common to have one midi 
controller for performance only and want to switch it from track to track 
vs. more than one controller (kb plus drum or two kb). I am in the first 
group as even though I do have both a kb and drum controller, I have only 
one input port.

The thought was that Audio was different and really one would want to use 
all audio inputs (not true).

I think it would be nice to have some sort of Ardour setup for both audio 
and MIDI that allows the user to tell Ardour which inputs to use for what.
(not for 5.0 any of this)

MIDI:
  - this is a performing port
  - This is port 0 and channel 4 only. (filtered)
  - this is a surface port
  - this is the through that shows up automatically that I don't use ever.
The third and forth two should not ever get auto connected to a midi track 
input.
The first should should show up in Ardours "Inputs" even if it is not 
tagged as HW or Terminal. The second should show up in surface connection 
dialogs even if it is not tagged HW/Terminal as well.

Audio:
  - System input that is in use
  - System input that goes through zita_a2j
  - system input that is not in use
The first two should show up in Inputs. In fact, I feel any port (output 
of a synth or even pulse for example) should be able to be designated as 
an input. (without having to search through other)
The second should not be in other. (these are those horrible USB mics)
The third should be able to be hidden or moved to other. (ice1712 inputs 
ports that are not accessable in a D44/66 for example or adat/spdif 
channels provided that the user has no AI to plug in) Think black list.

In both cases it would also be nice to not just turn auto connect off, but 
to be able to designate a Master input that gets auto connected to any new 
track. Lots of people have one nice Mic they use for "everything" even if 
they have two or more inputs. This is in addition to a Master midi KB. An 
extra button in track creation for use master input would allow someone 
who is micing drums to create 8 tracks with all different inputs or three 
vocal tracks all with the master easily. (Having start with input_3 would 
be a bonus)

A midi filter that can take one input and provide two kinds of ports 
(surface and performance similar to push2 stuff) is another use for this 
stuff.

Some of this stuff may not be possible and that is ok. Also this is my 
personal opinion. I have been wrong enough times already to have someone 
say "no thats wrong".

--
Len Ovens
www.ovenwerks.net