Redirect_string

Joe Hebert

Netlinx Help File wrote:

REDIRECT_STRING
This command is used to pass all strings from device 1 to device 2 and all strings from device 2 to device 1. This is called a redirection and you can assign up to eight of them at one time. The syntax is:

REDIRECT_STRING (Number, Device1, Device2)

The parameter Number identifies the particular redirection (1-8). To cancel a redirection, pass zero for Device1 and Device2. Redirections are lost if system power is turned off.

Has anyone used this command? I?m wondering what kind of situations where this command would come in handy.

Thanks.

Danny Campbell

I have a module for a Polycom Vortex EF2280 (and others). I set up an IP server in the module and can then use the Conference Composer program on my laptop over the network to program the Vortex. Currently I do it the hard way - in my Data Event for the IP server, in the String section I pass the information in the buffer to the Vortex. In the Data Event for the Vortex's String section I pass the data in the buffer to the IP server. I do use this so I don't need to pull the rack out of a credenza, plug in a serial connection to the Vortex, update the config, remove my cable, forget to reconnect the cable to the NI Master, then push the rack back in only to find that I can no longer communicate with the Vortex because I forgot to reconnect.......

(It also comes in handy for making changes to the Vortex configuration at a remote location).

If I'm reading this correctly, I could eliminate that process and just use the REDIRECT_STRING function whenever the IP connection is established between my laptop and the IP Server.

I'll try it in the next few days and see what happens.

Hedberg

I experimented with REDIRECT_STRING some time ago and was not able to get it to do what I wanted it to do, but it was strictly experimentation without a need, so I didn't try too hard to figure out what I was doing wrong. At about the same time, I was experimenting with a couple IP (Telnet) to RS232 interfaces (one by Extron and another by NetMedia) to see if I could get Studio and Open Axcess to communicate with an Axcent3 over ethernet. Also tried to get the IRIS and the Cre$tron Ir capture device to work over ethernet. None of this worked. In each case I was trying to use client software (Studio, Open Axcess, etc) to communicate through a virtual RS232 port (on the PC running the client software) to Telnet to a Telnet to RS232 device and then to the RS232 port on the Axcent 3, IR Learner, etc. My guess is that there are timing issues in all these cases that may not be a problem if trying to program (for example) an XAP800 with Gware. In fact, I've been told that it is possible to program a Clear One device with GWare and the same virtual RS232 port software that I was trying to use. Instead of the Telnet to Rs232 device, I'm told that Netlinx was used -- just as Danny Campbell described.

My question about the Polycom Conference Composer program. I've never used it, but looking at the documentation on the Polycom website, it appears that the software (on the PC) wants to communicate to the Polycom hardware via RS232. What virtual RS232 device is being used to link the Conference Composer program to the Ethernet? Or, is TCP/IP an available option for the software?

[Deleted User]

Shared Codec

Joe Hebert wrote:

Has anyone used this command? I?m wondering what kind of situations where this command would come in handy.

Thanks.

If you were sharing a single Video Codec with multiple rooms, Redirect_String could be used for camera control. The camera control com port on the codec would be redirected to the room where the codec is assigned.

You would need one NetLinx com port for the codec and another for each remote room camera. So one codec to three rooms would require 4 com ports plus the com that controls the codec.

Danny Campbell

If you go into the preferences in Conference Composer, there is a checkbox that allows you to connect via TCP/IP. What I do is uncheck all of the Comm ports and have it autoscan using an IP address that I have set in the addressbook.

Polycom sells a hardware box that has an ethernet connection and a serial connection. You connect it to your network and the serial cable to the Vortex and can use CC over the network.

Basically I have emulated this box in the NetLinx by opening an IP server that listens for a specific port number. When the connection is established, any data that comes from the IP connection gets redirected to the serial port running the Vortex. Any data received from the Vortex gets redirected back to the IP connection.

Like the Polycom hardware solution, I can not update firmware on the Vortex through this process. That requires a serial connection.

Hedberg

Danny Campbell wrote:

If you go into the preferences in Conference Composer, there is a checkbox that allows you to connect via TCP/IP. What I do is uncheck all of the Comm ports and have it autoscan using an IP address that I have set in the addressbook.

Polycom sells a hardware box that has an ethernet connection and a serial connection. You connect it to your network and the serial cable to the Vortex and can use CC over the network.

Ok, that explains it. The Extron device (IPL T S2) and the NetMedia device are both devices that bridge RS232 to TCP/IP and, maybe, either could replace the Polycom Serial to TCP/IP device. The NetMedia device, for anyone interested in such a thing, is quite inexpensive and pretty stable and well-supported.

We've a job coming up that has a Polycom audio conferencing system -- I'll try the REDIRECT_STRING again and see what happens.

rolo

The help File States :

"The REDIRECT_STRING(entry#,dev1,dev2) function will pass all strings from dev1 to dev2, and all strings from dev2 to dev1. Entry# specifies which of the 8 possible redirections.

Examples:

REDIRECT_STRING(1,RS232_1,RS232_2)

Enables passing of strings from device RS232_1 to RS232_2.

REDIRECT_STRING(1,0,0)

Disables passing of strings from device RS232_1 to RS232_2.
"


What does "Entry# specifies which of the 8 possible redirections.
" ?

I Dont Get It

rolo

Sorry to Double Post...

I have a situation where a tuner feeds and audio controller metadata via 232...but there is only one 232 port on each device, which i must use to talk with my AMX...would theis REDIRECT_STRING Command automatically send ALL of the data between the 2 units before I parse the string in the DATA_EVENT?