TGActionException opening tef files

[rschader]

I have a few tef files I recently downloaded, and when I try to open them, I get an error:
org.herac.tuxguitar.action.TGActionException. Some of the other tef files I downloaded from the same site open up fine. Maybe the tef files are corrupt? They were zipped up, no errors in the zip files. I've attached the 2 tef files that cause this error.
Crazy.zip
I Never Cried.zip

[rschader]

I was able to open the problem files fine using the Tefviewer software, so it must be an issue with Tuxguitar, or maybe something wrong with my computer?

[guiv42]

@rschader : there is no problem with your computer, I confirm the issue (TuxGuitar 1.6.4, Linux openSuse tumbleweed).

I did a basic binary comparison with some .tef files I have on my machine, structure of these file is quite different. Most probably there are several versions of TablEdit out there, producing different file structures with the same .tef extension (as TuxGuitar does).

The difficult part is that, as far as I know, the tef file format is closed and proprietary.

[guiv42]

I have contacted TablEdit development team. It is confirmed the .tef file format changed in 2020, so no big surprise if TuxGuitar cannot read the new format.
TablEdit team is currently not willing to share the definition of this file format publicly. That is fully understandable for a commercial software.
So unless someone has a TablEdit license and some time to reverse-engineer the new format, this issue will not progress.

[helge17]

According to the TablEdit changelog the file format changed from V.2.78 to V.3.00. Commit ea3af74 adds a "v2" to the documentation.

[ffio1]

I'm working on a change to add TablEdit v3 support. Will post an update in a few days, hopefully with a PR.

[guiv42]

I have good news.
After some discussions with TablEdit editor, I do have a personal access to a description of tef v3 file format. I cannot share it publicly, but I have an explicit authorization to use it for an implementation of tef v3 decoding in TuxGuitar.

@ffio1 : what is the current status of #600? Did you go any further in the implementation?
Do you want me to take the lead on this feature?

[ffio1]

@guiv42 I haven't had time to make some of the changes you suggested for #600. Since you were able to get access to a description of the format, it may be best for you to take the lead on this as it will likely result in a better import flow than what I was able to find with just tinkering around with the files.

[guiv42]

@ffio1 OK I'll do this in the coming weeks, starting from your implementation. I had a quick look, it seems you've done all the difficult part. What I can probably improve is mainly the decoding of song header, and identification of file format from file content. Thanks a lot for your contribution.