Quick Start Guide. Basic Concepts. DemoPad Designer - Quick Start Guide

Transcription

1 Quick Start Guide This guide will explain the prcess f installing & using the DemPad Designer sftware fr PC, which allws yu t create a custmised Graphical User Interface (GUI) fr an iphne / ipad & embed cmmands which can be sent t almst any TCP/IP cmpliant device. This can then be upladed t an ipad / iphne running the DemCntrlHD app frm itunes. The end result is a pwerful hme autmatin applicatin which, with additinal hardware, will allw cntrl ver almst any audi & visual device, lighting, heating etc. Basic Cncepts The prjects which yu will create have 2 basic elements t them, cnfigured within the PC sftware these are : Devices which are the physical TCP/IP units with which the ipad / iphne will cmmunicate with t accmplish the varius hme autmatin tasks. Fr example, a device may be a Glbal Cache IP t Infra-Red mdule, r a Lutrn Hmewrks prcessr. Please nte, a device wuld NOT be a particular TV, r DVD player, unless it can be cntrlled directly thrugh TCP/IP. In the case f an IP t Infra-Red mdule, this single device in the sftware culd cntrl many pieces f end user equipment, such as TVs, DVD players, Amplifiers etc. Only ne device wuld be needed in the sftware fr this situatin. A device has the fllwing prperties: IP Address the static IP address f the device, eg Prt the cmmunicatin prt used by the device, eg 4998 Cmmand Suffix which is amended t each cmmand sent by the device (usually \x0d\x0a which is a hexadecimal representatin f a carriage return & line feed character) Remte IP address / prt which is used instead f the nrmal IP address when the user sets the Remte Access ptin n the ipad / iphne. Used fr accessing the devices frm a remte lcatin. Pages the ipad / iphne GUI will cnsist f at least 1 page. A page has bth a prtrait & landscape view, which may r may nt have the same page bjects displayed n it. A page view can have any number f the fllwing bjects placed n it: Buttns a buttn is a pressable image, which can have actins assciated with the push and/r release events. A typical buttn wuld, fr example, send a cmmand t turn a TV ff, r cause a page jump t anther GUI page. Images images are nn-pressable bjects used fr design purpses. Text a nn-pressable bject, eg Hme Screen - used fr design purpses Sub Page a sub page is a smaller versin f a page which can be placed within a main page, ptinally in respnse t a flag cnditin.

2 Gauge A gauge displays a value frm 0-100% as a bar, and in the case f Lutrn/Rak systems, prvides a way f adjusting a lighting channel by sliding yur finger up & dwn the gauge. Gauges can als be used t cntrl amplifier vlumes etc, r perfrm any actin based n the user sliding their finger up and dwn the gauge. Web View which is an embedded web brwser running within the GUI in a smaller windw. Web views are useful fr displaying IP camera feeds, r cntrlling devices which have a web interface. Installatin This sftware requires a PC running Micrsft Windws XP r later, with Micrsft.NET 3.5 installed. It is als recmmended that the cmputer be fully updated with the latest Micrsft updates refer t yur PC dcumentatin. T install the sftware, duble click n DemDesignerSetup.msi & fllw the nscreen instructins. It is recmmended t install the sftware t the default lcatin f c:\prgram Files\Dempad Sftware Ltd\Dempad Designer which will hencefrth be referred t as <prgram dir>. Once installed, there shuld be an entry in the start menu under prgrams\dempad, and a shrtcut icn n the desktp called DemPad Designer. Duble click the shrtcut t launch the sftware. Applicatin Windw Elements The applicatin windw cnsists f 3 main areas: the tp menu bar, the left side navigatin area & the right prject windw area. The tp menu bar changes dynamically, depending n the task yu are perfrming, and prvides all the relevant menu ptins necessary at the time. Sme menu buttns expand by clicking n the square/arrw in the bttm right t reveal mre ptins. The side navigatin area cnsists f 3 views: Prject Navigatin (press F3 t shw) which displays all the prjects, devices & pages in the prject Prperties (press F4 t shw) which displays the bject prperties fr the selected bject Objects (press F2 t shw) which allws yu t navigate t a selectin f images t use fr page buttns / images

3 Example Prject 1 Please fllw the steps belw t create yur first simple prject & uplad t yur ipad. T d this, yu will need t have the DemCntrlHD app installed n yur ipad / iphne. Step 1 Create a new prject Frm the hme screen f the sftware chse Create Prject, r click n the menu circle in the tp left f the windw & chse New. Yu will then see the fllwing screen: Click n Chse Flder & select, r create a flder n yur cmputer which will cntain all f the prject files. Chse the size f the pages (either iphne r ipad size) and give the prject a name. The prject name shuld be kept shrt. Click Create Prject t cntinue. Yu will then be taken t the main windw and a new prject will have been created, with n devices and a single default page, Hme Page. Step 2 Add a device All prjects must have at least 1 device. Click n New Device n the menu bar & type in a device name, eg Gate Relay, which represents a Glbal Cache IP t Cntact Clsure device. Yu can change the name by single clicking the device in the prject tree. With the device highlighted, enter an IP address in the field abve, eg , leave the default prt f 4998 (which is the prt used by Glbal Cache itach units), and leave the cmmand suffix f \x0d\x0a. Step 3 Add pre-defined cmmands t the device Pre-defined cmmands are the pssible cmmands that can be sent frm the ipad / iphne t the device. In ur example, we are ging t set up cmmands t turn n/ff a cntact clsure n a glbal cache itach IP2CC. The cmmand (taken frm Glbal Cache s dcumentatin at is in the frmat setstate,1:1,x where x=0 r 1 fr clse/pen.

4 With the device highlighted, click n Edit in the pre-defined cmmands tab. Enter 2 new cmmands, called RELAY1_ON and RELAY1_OFF, with Cmmand Data setstate,1:1,1 and setstate,1:1,0 (withut the marks). The names are nt imprtant, but the Cmmand Data must exactly match the abve cmmands! T add each cmmand, click the Add buttn. The name prefix is ptinal. Step 4 Add a buttn t the Hme Page Frm the prject navigatin tree, click the Prtrait view f the Hme Page. This will bring up the prtrait design screen n the right hand side, t which yu can add page bjects. Click n the Buttn menu ptin t highlight it, and bring up the Object Navigatin tree. This will allw yu t drag an image nt the page, as a buttn. If yu were t click the Image buttn first, any bject yu dragged n wuld be a nn-pressable image nly. Always ensure the crrect type f bject is highlighted befre yu drag an bject nt a page. Expand the User Directry tree by clicking the + symbl. This reveals the directry structure lcated at <prgram dir>\images n yur cmputer. Yu are free t add flders, sub flders & images t this lcatin manually, t use yur wn graphics in yur prjects. There is a refresh buttn at the tp f the tree view. Click n the Buttns flder & mve yur muse ver a particular image, eg buttn2.png. Yu will see a raised preview f the image. Mve yur muse ver the image preview & then drag and drp the image nt the prtrait page n the right & then release the muse buttn. Step 5 adjust the buttn prperties Yu can then change add a text label t the buttn by expanding the Text menu & typing sme text int the Text field. Yu may want t change the text size t 16 & the clr t, say, red t make it mre visible. Next, we want t instruct the system t send a cmmand t the Gate Relay device we added earlier. Chse the Actins menu & click n Actins when released (r just duble click the buttn t get t the same screen).

5 Here, we are able t assciate ne r mre actins with the buttn release event. These actins will ccur when the user takes their finger ff the buttn. Similarly, Edit n Press frm the actin drp dwn list wuld allw yu t implement actins which ccur when the user puts their finger dwn n the buttn. It is recmmend that yu use the release events unless there is a specific reasn nt t, as it allws the user t change their minds and take their finger ff a buttn withut any actins ccurring. In this case, we want t Send a cmmand t the device Gate Relay, and the cmmand we wish t send is ne f the pre-defined cmmands we entered earlier, RELAY1_ON. Yu culd als chse t enter the setstate,1:1,1 cmmand manually in this screen if yu wish. Press Cntrl-A, r click Add t add this actin. Yu can als assign pre-defined actins t buttns by hvering ver the listed cmmands in the device tree view & dragging the cmmand icn n tp f the buttn. Yu culd add several actins if yu wish, with an ptinal delay in secnds (nte the delay is nt cumulative, each delay value represents the time frm the start - in ther wrds if yu add 5 actins ne after the ther, each with a delay f 10 secnds, then all the actins will ccur at the same time 10 secnds after the buttn was pressed). Click Dne t clse the actin editr. Step 6 cpy the buttn & adjust Nw that we have the relay n buttn, we want t create a relay ff buttn. The easiest way t d this is by cpying / pasting. Single click the buttn s that it is highlighted, and press Cntrl-C (cpy). Nw press Cntrl-V (paste). Drag & drp the new buttn smewhere belw the riginal. Adjust the text t say RELAY OFF Duble click the new buttn t bring up the actin editr, and click n the first (and nly) actin in the list. Change the cmmand t RELAY1_OFF and click n Update Actin t apply the changes. Step 7 grup peratins It is ften desirable t select multiple bjects n a page & adjust their psitins relative t each ther. T d this, left click the muse n the page backgrund & drag dwn & t the right t create a bx arund the bjects in questin. Yu must entirely cver the bjects in the bx befre releasing the muse. Once dne, the selected bjects will becme highlighted & yu will see a grup peratins menu. Yu can als select bjects using Cntrl-A (select all), r by cntrl-clicking individual bjects. Yu can align the bjects left, right, centrally etc, as well as spacing bjects ut evenly

6 hrizntally r vertically (with respect t each ther). Align the tw buttns t the left, then drag ne f the buttns (which will mve all highlighted bjects) s that the buttns are n the center f the view, r mve the bjects manually with the arrw keys. Step 8 Mirrr t ther rientatin Nw that we have ur buttns n the prtrait view, we als want them n the landscape view, s that when the user rtates the ipad / iphne, they see the same cntrls. It is pssible t add entirely different bjects t each rientatin, and it is als pssible t create identical buttns frm scratch n the ther rientatin. Hwever, in cases where the bjects will always be identical, it is far better t Mirrr the bjects t the ther rientatin. Mirrred bjects are always identical if yu change the prperties f ne, the ther is changed als (with the exceptin f the bject s psitin n the page). Click n the backgrund f the page & click n Mirrr > Cpy. After cnfirming, a mirrred cpy f all the page bjects will be placed n the landscape rientatin. Click the landscape page frm the prject navigatin tree t bring this page up. Yu can then mve the psitin f the landscape buttns t the center f the page. Ntice hw the new page lads up as a tab n the right, with the ld page tab still visible. Yu can drag the tabs t create views with multiple pages as shwn. Step 9 Prepare fr uplad t ipad / iphne At this pint, save the prject (press Cntrl-S r click the tp left menu > Save). Yu are nw ready t uplad the prject t yur ipad / iphne which must have the DemCntrlHD app installed frm itunes, and be cnnected n the same wireless netwrk as yur cmputer. Press F5, r click Uplad t device frm the tp menu bar. Yu will then see the fllwing screen, which cntains the infrmatin yu need t enter in the settings fr DemCntrlHD n the ipad / iphne. Nte the uplad prcess uses prt by default, please ensure that this is allwed by any security sftware / firewall yu may have running n yur cmputer.

7 Step 10 uplad prject t ipad / iphne Uplading the prject frm the PC t the ipad / iphne is a ne-time peratin. Yu enter the settings fr the prject uplad & then launch the app itself. Once upladed, the prject & all the image files reside n the ipad / iphne. Multiple prjects can exist n the device at the same time, and yu can switch between then by altering the Prject File Name belw. G int the general Settings app n yur ipad / iphne & scrll dwn t DemCntrlHD. Navigate t Prject Setup & set the fllwing: Relad next time: ON (d this each time yu want t refresh the prject, and set t NO nce the prject has been upladed crrectly) Relad images: ON (nly needs t be dne initially, r when there have been image changes set t NO when the prject has been upladed crrectly) Prject Lcatin: Cpy frm the PC uplad screen, eg Prject Passwrd: leave blank, unless yu have prtected the prject Prject File Name: Cpy frm the PC uplad screen, eg prject1 Nw exit the Settings app & launch the DemCntrlHD app. Nte - if running ios 4 r later, yu may want t check that the app is nt already running in the backgrund & clse it duble-tap the hme buttn n the ipad / iphne and search fr the DemCntrlHD app in the list f running applicatins. If it is there, press & hld it & then tap n the Cancel symbl t clse it dwn. When the app launches with the relad ptin set, it will attempt t dwnlad the prject frm the entered lcatin. If it fails t dwnlad, it will display an errr message & lad up the last gd prject. Once the prject has been dwnladed & tested, set the relad ptins t NO s that it des nt try t dwnlad the prject each time the app is launched. DemCntrlHD Settings In additin t the prject setup ptins in the ipad / iphne settings app, there are several ther app ptins, namely: Remte Access if set t ON, the prject will use the remte IP address & prt settings frm the prject file. This setting is used t access the app functins when away frm the lcal wireless netwrk, but still cnnected t the internet.

8 Remember Last Page if set t ON, the app will lad up the last page it displayed when yu launch the app. Multitasking if supprted n yur device, setting this t ON will send the app t the backgrund tasks n the ipad / iphne when yu exit the app. It is recmmended nly t use this ptin when the size f yur prject images results in a slw launch time, which can be avided with the multitasking ptin. Key Clicks enables / disables a click sund when pressing buttns Disable Pinch Zm enables / disables the ability t zm in n the GUI interface by pinching Startup Message: which is displayed while the app starts up

9 Further Infrmatin Sftware Supprt Supprt questins may be submitted t supprt@dempad.cm Supprt packages fr A/V prfessinals are available n request, including pririty supprt, live nline chat services, and access t advanced sftware training. Cntact inf@dempad.cm fr further infrmatin. Feedback We welcme yur feedback, and suggestins fr sftware imprvements please supprt@dempad.cm with these, as we are cnstantly wrking t imprve the DemCntrl slutin.