Method 1: Custom Message Triggers
- Setup a "Device" as manufacturer "Custom" and model "Custom". (To quickly do this, just click the "Add Custom Device" button.
-For serial, select your serial port. For UDP, select a specific UDP source port rather than leaving the default of "0" (for example 4545). This is the port that the v16pro will listen to for incoming messages.
-Enter the IP address of your external device (if you're using Hercules on your computer for testing, this is the IP address of your computer).
-Destination Port is the port that the V16Pro will send data to on your external device.
If your external device is Hercules, it can be set up this way to match what we added in the script:
Now, you save the script and run it, then send commands from Hercules, you should see the incoming messages in the Live Log (if you added your external device to the watch list).
Now, how do you start a sequence in Winscript from a custom message?
- Setup a "message" type trigger for each sequence by clicking on the "triggers" button in the sequence view. (we used "startmain\r"). When that external message is recieved, the sequence will then start.
- You can setup any response you'd like back to the other system using the "Message Out" command. In this sequence, we turned on output 1 and sent a message back to custom external device that read "Main Show Started\r"
Method 2: Alcorn ASCII Protocol
- For UDP, no device setup is required in the script!
- For serial, setup a device Make: "Alcorn McBride, Inc" and Model: "Incoming Show Control". Select the protocol format: "ASCII" on the Connection screen of the Device Wizard.
- For UDP, Have the other system send (such as Hercules) send commands to port 2637 (2638 or 2639 may also be used) of the V16Pro (or to any serial port).
Now, you can send the show controller any commands from our AMI Pioneer Protocol (detailed in the "Help Topics" section of WinScript Live)
For example, you could send the following command:
My Main ShowPL\x0D
would start the sequence "My Main Show". Do not use quotes around sequence names. You could also use a sequence number like 1PL\x0D.
Similarly, the below sets a variable named "myVar" to 1:
myVar|1VA\x0D
Note: If you are looking for your incoming messages in the Live Log, you will not see them. The Live Log filters out AMI Pioneer commands on the 2637-2641 ports.
For more details, check out the "Control" section of the manual or just look at the strings sent by AMI-Terminal when V16Pro is selected.
Method 3: Alcorn 8-bit or 9-bit
You can use the "classic" 8-bit protocol over UDP or Serial.
- Setup a device for Make: "Alcorn McBride, Inc" and Model: "Incoming Show Control".
- Select the protocol format: "8-Bit" or "9-Bit" on the Connection screen of the Device Wizard.
This method is the most limited (no setting of string variables, start sequences only by number) and not recommended unless you need it for legacy purposes.
Method 4: Custom Product File
This method is a bit more advanced, but basically uses the same idea as Method 1, but with the strings to be sent back and forth actually "hidden" in the product file. This example receives messages like "1PL" and custom responses are automatically sent back. Then, these custom messages start the sequences by selecting them as a trigger. Other incoming messages set the value of custom device variables.
See attached example file(Incoming_Msg_Example.ami) for examples of all 4 methods.
The product file, "Custom with variables.prd" is an example of how to modify the "Custom" product file to suit your needs. (Method 4)