Premise Automation Browser Scripting for Shortcut Custom Button

Hi All,

Are there scripts to let Automation Browser know that AV component device controls had been rendered successfully previously after a server reconnected? I have a shortcut Custom Panel Button using a Navigation Menu Item with a Target Location = Devices\CustomDevices\TV. I am connecting to a server with a web tablet via http://localhost. Every times my web tablet lost a server connection and reconnected, I had to render the device controls again through Home\Den\Den_MediaZone\TV otherwise the custom panel button will have a blank device controls.

I tried with Location Shortcut; however, it did not allow macro attachments, nor does it allow custom buttons.

Thanks,
Dap

hmmm,...Im not exactly sure I am following...You have a Navigation item under the webpref folder, which shows up under the current options menu? Upon disconnect/reconnect, the Navigation item under the webpref folder, which shows up under the current options menu, disappears? Then you need repoint it? I just threw one up on my page, disconnect/reconnect; the nav item is still there and still points to the Moto 6412 (in my case).
In the second case, I built the custom panel button under the web pref; pointed it to the Plasma object using the nav item; again, it was still there after disconnect/reconnect.
If you could stick a before/after screen shot, it might help decipher this mystery......

chucklyons said:

hmmm,...Im not exactly sure I am following...You have a Navigation item under the webpref folder, which shows up under the current options menu? Upon disconnect/reconnect, the Navigation item under the webpref folder, which shows up under the current options menu, disappears? Then you need repoint it? I just threw one up on my page, disconnect/reconnect; the nav item is still there and still points to the Moto 6412 (in my case).
In the second case, I built the custom panel button under the web pref; pointed it to the Plasma object using the nav item; again, it was still there after disconnect/reconnect.
If you could stick a before/after screen shot, it might help decipher this mystery......

Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick respond. Please see attached files. My custom panel button is in "Den_custom_button" file. These are the steps to reproduce my problem:
1. On "Den_main" (Den_main.JPG), click on "Watch TV"
2. The navigation item rendered a blank TV device controls as seen in "TV_control_blank.JPG".

To get it to work, I did the following steps:
1. On "Den_main", click on "Den" room.
2. On Den room, click on "Den_MediaZone" (Den_MediaZone.JPG).
3. On Den_MediaZone, click on "TV".
4. The navigation item rendered a TV device controls correctly (TV_controls.JPG).
5. Go back "Home" to Den room.
6. On "Den_main" (Den_main.JPG), click on "Watch TV"
7. The navigation item rendered a TV device controls correctly (TV_controls.JPG) until I lost a server connection or close the browser and launch the browser again.

Thanks.

Try this - and I'll be able to tell whether I am recreating your set-up. 1) Have your builder open 2) From your premise browser, navigate to the custom panel button 3) select it - it should take you to the blank device without gen'ing an error 4) hit F5 to refresh your browser.

If we're in sync, you should get an error in Automation Browser->GetList, due to the problem of having an AV device at the wrong level. (you'll see the break arrow point to that section of code in the editor pane. )

What is it you're trying to achieve?

Yes, we are are in sync. I have the same script error message.

I want a custom panel button on the first main page to launch my macro and show a device user control screen for a user without having to go through steps 1-6 above.

You mentioned in your first post that a Location Shortcut would've sufficed were it not for a need to run a macro. What do you want the macro to do?

My macro does the following:

Power on - TV
Power on - AV Receiver
TV Input = YPbPr
AV Receiver Input = HDTV (Surround DTS 5.1)
UI = HD ATSC Tuner

Correct me if I'm wrong but your macro is designed to put all gear into the proper mode to let you watch TV. Have you tried letting mSense do this for you?

mSense (Media Sense) is Premise's patented technique for selecting the appropriate hardware to deliver the desired media content. You select the media (DVD, CD, TV, Radio, etc) and mSense automatically selects and controls the equipment required to produce the content. That means if you want to watch "HBO", mSense knows it must turn on the TV and AV receiver, set all inputs and outputs correctly, and tell the AV receiver to change to the appropriate station.

"John in VA" recently posted a complex A/V scenario involving the use of mSense. It may be a bit difficult to follow on the first read but it is clear that his accomplishment would be difficult to achieve using traditional techniques like macros.

For more information, search Premise Help for "Controlling Media and AV Devices" and watch "Distributed Audio with mSense" and "Home Theater Control" video-tutorials.

Back to the macros:
If you export, zip, and post the MediaZone you created (and all of its child objects) I can load it up on my system and take a crack at debugging it.

123 is on target....the path for the macro object 'loses' it place. When I replicated it, I could recreate the scenario, refresh/clear cache, and the UI for that zone was blank.

mSense takes a bit of time to implement - not in actual time, but I think its because of the time it takes to get your brain to let Premise work for you. It is very cool to turn on the content, and the necessary devices turn on, switch to the appropriate source(s), and you're off to the races. I'd encourage you to put power sensors or video sensors on the IR devices you want to control, to keep everything in sync. mSense is really solid - where you'll get frustrated is when IR devices don't react as they should. Using the sensors removes that frustration.

123 - if you get the xdos from DAP for the customer devices, in addition to the macros, wouldn't you be able to configure it for mSense? (Apology....I'm writing off the cuff - of course, you can't test it, but.....)

Dap,
I forgot to mention that buried in \program files\premise\sys\schema\media are XDOs containing the channels for DirecTV and Dish. The channel numbers have changed since those lists were created but at least they provide a head start. Import DirecTV.xdo and the Media\Content folder will be populated with DirecTV channels.

Chuck,
I'd like to be able test it but when it comes to Premise and A/V all I can do is spout theory. I have no experience automating A/V gear because I have low A/V needs (Tivo remote is sufficient). Having said that, I'd like to eventually implement whole-home audio but, given recent events, money is tight and even used Nuvo/Russound/Niles/Xantech/etc gear remains a luxury item.

123 - Not to worry...The whole house audio I have been doing for a while w/ Premise for a number of folks. (if you PM, I might have just found a home for some of my prior stuff, like a Vaux AV Matrix Switcher....however, I may ask for some script help ) My scripting is painful and tedious, but it works most of the time..so, you just keep cranking out the good stuff like you've been doing...

Dap - just post the xdos (export->objects, etc) and we'll load them up and take a look.

Nutz. I bought a used Vaux switcher on eBay for $35 a half year ago. Stupidly, I believed I could quickly score a great deal on a multi-channel amp. Hasn't happened ... but I keep looking. When it does happen, I now know who turn to for help!

hahaha....well, I bought some AMP-100s(?) at cost (at my cost); eventually bought a Xantech 12 channel (for cheaper than I can buy at MY cost)...so for some scripting, I could also part ways w/ some amps

123 and Chuck,

I found a work around solution for my delimma. I created a system off macro for each UI device controller, followed my steps 1-6 above, and went through each of my device UI controllers in the MediaZone once. I instructed a user to leave the UI in the device controller screen after using a system off macro to power off the whole system. I have successfully been testing this procedure for several days.

Thanks,
Dap