Still No Merge?
Impaqt
Posts: 155
Copying pages from one project to the next is rather tiresome Most devices I use over and over are a few pages at most.. Not so bad.... Today I get a Max server in.... Ugh.. I dread having to copy 58 Pages to incorporate the AMX Template into my Project.... Someone tell me they added a merge feature sometime in the last year or so and I missed it....
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As for new jobs in the same realm, I just copy the file and rename it. It's a good starting point for now.
i really need a Merge feature.
as stated, copying and pasting over dozens of pages is painful and prone to errors.
also, when the Merge occurs, i want to be able to change the default Address port used by the pages. For example, having all the Max interface pages on Address port 1 is close to useless. my panels already have pages reserved for Address port 1, i have to move every Address port to another range.
another option i'd like to see is Replace or Rename graphics file when they get combined. otherwise you end up with various Copy of .... names in the Resourse Manager (a similar prompt does happen in TPD3).
with regards to the Graphics files... i'd also like to see a 'Usage Count' along with a table of pages that use each graphic. this would help me delete unused Graphics once all pages have been accounted for.
I can't help much with the merge other than to suggest that you copy the smaller into the bigger rather than the other way round. As for fixing your address port thing, TPD4 has a very powerful replace feature which makes this a 20 second problem.
1. copy your template project into one you won't miss if it gets fouled and open in TPD4
2. Menu: Edit -- Item: find&replace.
3. in left colomn, check "address port" and enter the port number you want to overwrite; i.e. '1'
4. in the right column, check "address port" and enter the new address port number; e.g.20.
5. make sure "search scope" is the entire panel (or current page if that's what you want).
6. Click "replace all" or "find next" if you want to approve each overwrite.
7. Have a beer.
That's it.
I can't recall which on-line training session it was -- probably the one about modules -- but Paul Bohnsack pointed out this feature during the session. Made the session more than worthwhile -- much more.
I don't think they still do online courses and I can't find the archive of sessions that used to be available online. Too bad.
Think of it this way. You have panel design for every regular device you use in all the styles you use. You also have a base design. A new project comes up, you just merge your base design with the panels for the devices used, tweak the result, and you are done.
Here's another one: you have a customer with 20 panels in the house. The core functions are the same, but each area has it's own minor differences, like a local system or something specific to the location. You make one panel with all the common features. Then you make copies of it and add the local variations. When it comes time for an update in one of the global operations, you just edit your original file, and merge it into all the local panels; no need to painstakingly make individual changes in each one manually.
That last is a scenario I run into all the time, and I grumble and moan every time a change comes up on one of those projects. Inevitably, I miss something in one of them too, and have to go back and correct it.
yes, i tend to work this way as well. in a house, the panels may all look the same, but one room may have a VCR and not a DVD (or some such). so the program will reveal the correct device to the correct room, but i only use one panel file.
to help my editing within complex panel files, i make use of 'hidden' buttons with text that prompt me to remember what things were for (comments, basically). naturally, the end-user never sees those hidden comment buttons.
and yes to DHawthorne, that's the type of panel combining i like to work with as well. glad to see you miss something from time to time also
Yeah typically my jobs have 4 or 5 display areas and then several more audio only zones. Each room knows which source selection page is appropriate for it and displays it as appropriate.