G5 syntax vs G4 syntax
richardherman
Posts: 400
While upgrading an existing system with a G5 panel (client had a G4 panel which they dropped: stopped working...)
I noticed some inconsistencies.
When using the system keyboard, there are now 3 commands to pop -up the keyboard:
AKEYB-, @AKB and ^AKB. According to PI2, the first two are there for G4 compatibility. The return prefix (fom the TP string_event) will be AKB-, if not specified. This was an existing system that used AKEYB-, so I left it at that. The return prefix that was used in the program was also G4 style KEYB-, easily changed to -AKB. But I noticed when sending AKEYB, you get back a prefix in G4 style KEYB-, not AKB-. Not a bad idea: send a G4 command, get back a G4 reply, although I couldn't find documentation that this was suppose to happen.
But when using AKEYP-, this doesn't work: you always get back AKP-, not the G4 syle KEYP-.
Not a big deal, just change all commands to and from the panel to G5 style, just to be sure, but would have been nice to keep the codebase equal for G4 and G5 panels, so customers could swap TP's from different rooms, if neccesary.
I have not done a lot of G5 panels, but already ran into a couple of these issues. Nothing major, but the G5 platform is already a couple of years old and it does seem to lack some polish, both in execution and documentation. Never had these things with G4.
Comments
Richard,
Sorry you encountered a frustration between G4 and G5 syntax differences. If you have not already had a chance to review this whitepaper, it may answer some questions: https://trade.amx.com/assets/whitePapers/AMXG5Considerations.WhitePaper.pdf
No, that just adds to the confusion. I checked that before and it explains nothing about the remark above and the explanation about ie. the ^BMF and ^PWD commands are also wrong. I'll just have to assume It's out of date (almost 5 years old) and not very useful anymore. See also:
(https://proforums.harman.com/amx/discussion/125062/bmf-button-command-on-g5-panel#latest)
But, like I said, no real showstoppers, just make sure to test everything and don't rely on the documentation.