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    #16
    After comparing the out-of-the-box setting.txt vs. yours I see where the cid.info was expected to contain the name information. It also illustrates how the desktop's pixel grid can be individually addressed so bits and pieces of information can be collected from various xap sources and displayed as related information. The other Kevin also illustrated that the Slimp3 did not have this degree of access freedom for its display and another xap application was needed to collect and forward to the Slimp3. In this later case the issues of timing tradeoffs need to be tweaked to know how long to wait for the name before sending the payload to the Slimp3.

    Since the UK does not have Name information in the Telco CID stream it tends to weight the architectural solution to different providers for the name. With name sometimes available in the CID stream and sometimes available in the database then the decision on how to merge the two potential sources is a little trickier. My decision was to make the CID.Incomming sender load the database of information into its local cache from all the potential database sources during its initialization. This way it has all information available in the system when the telco stream appears.

    Comment


      #17
      Originally posted by Michael McSharry
      After comparing the out-of-the-box setting.txt vs. yours I see where the cid.info was expected to contain the name information. It also illustrates how the desktop's pixel grid can be individually addressed so bits and pieces of information can be collected from various xap sources and displayed as related information. The other Kevin also illustrated that the Slimp3 did not have this degree of access freedom for its display and another xap application was needed to collect and forward to the Slimp3. In this later case the issues of timing tradeoffs need to be tweaked to know how long to wait for the name before sending the payload to the Slimp3.
      Desktop is really very flexible and a 'Display' can be built up with data that it receives from many different sources at different times so it is ideal for exactly this sort of compound display.

      The SliMP3 is more awkward as we are effectively sharing the display and 'overlaying' the text whilst another 'unaware' application displays its own information (the SlimServer displays the mp3 track information). What we actually can do is use two different lines to display the different information as it arrives, number on one line and name on another. We can also build a line to display for say 10 secs but then 2 secs later change that information, cancel the existing display timer and send a new one. This way we can have a line that initially only had the telephone number but was replaced with a line that had CID and name information. We dont have to delay to wait for secondary information to arrive.

      Originally posted by Michael McSharry
      My decision was to make the CID.Incomming sender load the database of information into its local cache from all the potential database sources during its initialization. This way it has all information available in the system when the telco stream appears.
      Thats quite a good approach as the lookups will be so quick. The cache could be largish if you had a customer database though and it's still reliant on the cache DB server being available of course. I think the nice thing is that xAP allows you to do it whatever way suits you best.

      Yes - the UK callerID system is very much only 'half implemented' - the one good thing is the CID arrives before all rings so you can block certain numbers from disturbing you or redirect calls appropriately before they ring

      Kevin

      Comment


        #18
        So michael did you get the desktop display working in the end ?

        Kevin

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          #19
          oh, yes. Once I was pointed to the settings.txt file and saw the differences it was obvious what needed to be done. It also changed my perspective that the desktop is more of a tool rather than a end point solution as I had originally envisioned.

          It looks to be an excellent way to organize information and show it in a pleasing manner. I'm certain I've just touched its surface. I'll poke at it some more in the future.

          Also the link to UltraMessage control that was requested... http://board.homeseer.com/showthread...=ultra+message

          <quote>
          It would perhaps be more approriate to use an application like xAP DBLogger ( a xAP message logger) and be able to repeat or step through a history of certain classes of messages eg OSD or CID - this would be a neater approach and more inkeeping with the distributed nature of xAP.
          </quote>

          The idea of an xap query to scroll through CID history seems like a good one. I did not look at the detail that Kevin showed on how he used the telephone icon as a button, but it seems like the implementation would be similiar. The graphic may also look something like a prev-next-clear for a typical CID console. A different widget could also use the same capability with only a change in the filter going into the DB query.

          I did not look at the details of xap DBLogger, but I got the impression that it logged all xap traffic and in my case that would become big very quickly. Most information contained within it to be of no historical value. I've taken the route of filtering prior to database storage and then built the database schema based upon the message schema content of interest. This distinction, however, is not xap-specific and no different than any other data mining tradeoff of efficiency vs flexibility.
          Last edited by Michael McSharry; December 23, 2004, 04:25 PM.

          Comment


            #20
            Good Stuff
            I am glad we are now of like mind about Desktop, its intended functionality and capability

            With the CID history thing the functionality of storing the data and supplying it is really out side of the scope of Desktop. In my case I would continue use homeseer to collect and store the data because in my environment it suits me and is the best place to do it. Others may wish to have a separate xAP application. It is not important in the great scheme of things so long as when someone(thing) asks for the data it is there.

            It is also worth saying that the xAP plugin (whichever variety you use ) is a great enabler and xAP desktop is just one of many ways which you might find it convenient to display some pertinent HA information

            In the case of the "click on the telephone" thing, what you saw on the original display was purely background. All I did on the second version was to copy the telephone from the background, edit it so as to have a transparant background and place it on top of the telephone which was, and still is, part of the background. As a seperate image, and being of limited area, it could then be made actionable

            I guess you could say there are two basic approaches to the presentation of displays. One is where you create something original and unique like the CID display and the other is where you start from a picture of the real device you are trying to emulate. I have done both successfully and it is purely a matter of taste (and artistic talent!).
            Also once you have the functionality you require, either someone elses or your own, there is no reason why you cannot change the look and feel by replacing the current images with different ones

            I would like to point out that I did not know the answer to the fade thing immediately, but once I had loaded a couple of displays into the displaydesigner program, it was much easier to identify the bits which were different and what they meant. I use a combination of displaysdesigner and notepad when I create displays.

            Kevin

            Comment


              #21
              Desktop

              Just to answer this question
              "Does a mechanism exists to restore a widget onto the desktop after it fades away in 30 or so seconds? "

              A display has an initial dim level set in the settings file. Each xAP variable that a display uses has 2 numbers asociated with it, first is a new dimlevel and second a time in seconds. When that xAP Variables changes the display will fade to the new level and stay there for the set number of seconds and then fade back to the initial dim level. In the caller ID screen the initial display dim level is 0, ie hidden. The xAP variable has a dim level of 200 and 20 seconds so when the variable is updated the display fades up, waits and fades away again. There is no direct way in Desktop of forcing a naturally hidden display to appear. You however can issue commands from scripts to make any display fade up and you can send a display.control xAP message to make a display fade up if needed. There is a direct way of making a normally visible display re-appear if it is hidden in the upcoming Desktop beta3. Kevin's LCD displays are a good example here. They startup visible but have a close icon that hides them. In the current beta, once this display was hidden there was no easy way of making it re-appear. Now options are added to the tray icon to make it easy for the display to re-appear.

              If you are wondering about the display.control messages, you can basically control any element of any display from a xap message. The message takes the same format as the settings file so to change label01 on display06 via xAP you would send (must be targetted to the relevant display):
              ..
              class=display.control
              target=mi4.desktop.pcname:display06
              }
              Control
              {
              Label01=This is the new caption
              }


              You can send as many elements with in the control block as needed and whatever is set here overrides anything set by script,settings.txt or by event.

              HTH

              James

              Comment


                #22
                Weather Display on xAP desktop?

                I have activated the xAP from Weather Display and am receiving data. Is there a way to display this information on xAP Desktop?

                SteveD

                Comment


                  #23
                  getting ther

                  I have xAP desktop displaying data from my weather station. I now need to know how to make the time display as UTC -5.

                  SteveD

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Steve,

                    There is a script and a little how on doing this on the weather-display forum. The bit you want is about 1/2 way down this page

                    http://www.weather-watch.com/smf/ind...c,4485.30.html

                    HTH

                    James

                    Comment


                      #25
                      I installed xAP Desktop on one PC and xAP Send on my HS PC. I setup xAP Desktop to display CID messages. I sent the caller id example message and only got the number. I didn't get the name or the time. I have duplicated this message format using an event in HS that is trigger On Caller ID. I'm using a HS PCI modem and HSP. I have HS sending a message with the same format but again I'm only getting the number not the name or time.

                      Here's the xAP message from the example:
                      Code:
                      xap-header
                      {
                      v=12
                      Hop=1
                      UID=FF123400
                      Class=CID.Incoming
                      Source=KCSoft.Send.Anya
                      }
                      CID.Incoming
                      {
                      Type=VOICE
                      DateTime=20030726112233
                      Phone=01234567890
                      RNNumber=AVAILABLE
                      Name=Stuart Booth
                      RNName=AVAILABLE
                      }
                      Here's my message generated from HS:
                      Code:
                      xap-header
                      {
                          v=12
                          hop=1
                          uid=FF411100
                          class=CID.incoming
                          source=mi4.homeseer.jabran1.Master
                      }
                      CID.incoming
                      {
                          name=Vandelay Art
                          rnname=Available
                          type=Voice
                          rnnumber=Available
                          phone=(202) 257-4574
                          datetime=20050627195505
                      }
                      Any ideas?

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Hi,

                        The caller display screen should show the following lines of info:
                        Incoming Call
                        **number**
                        **name****title**
                        **std****company**
                        Now of these the number is the only one to be taken from the message you are sending. In the UK all we get is the number no name or anything like that so we have to use a lookup application to convert a number to a name. xAP Switchboard is a xAP app that does this, amongst other things. When a lookup application hears an incoming or outgoing calls if sends a new message containing alot more details about the caller. The caller display in Desktop uses both of these messages to build it's display. However as you are lucky enough to get a useful name from your callerid you can tweak Desktop to use the name provided.

                        Each display in Desktop is a folder, Display 01 > 20 depending on which slot you loaded the display into. Go to Program files\xAP Desktop\DisplayXX and open a file called settings.txt. Everything that defines the callerid display is stored here.
                        Look for a section that looks like this:

                        xAPVar=number,>,cid.incoming,cid.incoming,phone,200,20
                        xAPVar=name,>,cid.lookup,cid.info,name,255,10


                        These lines define the particular bit of a xAP message to get data from.

                        Change them to:

                        xAPVar=number,>,cid.incoming,cid.incoming,phone,200,20
                        xAPVar=name,>,cid.incoming,cid.incoming,name,255,10

                        now name will be taken not from the lookup message but from the original cid message. As I mentioned earlier, the other way of doing this is to run a lookup app such as Switchboard. As well as name lookups, it does full call logging, contacts database, links to multiple Outlooks all over xAP and with a web interface as well. Also the .lookup messages that the current Desktop uses can be use to provide info to HomeSeer too.
                        http://www.mi4.biz/files/xapswitchbo...itchboard1.jpg
                        http://www.mi4.biz/files/xapswitchbo...itchboard2.jpg
                        You can download it from mi4.biz as usual.

                        HTH

                        James

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Cool that did it. I'm starting to see how this works. Pretty simple really at this level. The messages are really easy to read in structure which makes it nice. What you had me do makes sense to me so I must be getting a little bit of it.

                          Thanks,
                          Jabran

                          Comment

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