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NI Security & Programming Emulator

SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
in Tips and Tricks
Hi all,

I had a problem getting the "AMX Programming Practical Emulator" working
I have NI-3000 and made the instructed modifications and the connection green led in the emulator is blinking which means it is connected to the master, but the emulator is not listed in the online tree in Netlinx studio, and doesn't receive any response from the touchpanel emulator window...

The problem is simply the NI Security... once disabling it.. everything is fine... the emulator should appear in the online tree in the Netlinx Studio.. and your commands are received

Hope this helps for all ppl going throu ACE Programmer


Thanks

Comments

  • rfmoylerfmoyle Posts: 12
    Hey, what is this emulator you keep mentioning? I went through P2 last November in St Charles, Illinois, I'm pretty sure there was no mention of such a tool. I ended up writing modules for each of the 232 devices, with test flags, to mimic the responses I would have expected from the devices. I guess I just assumed this was the approach everyone would take. Might have saved me some evenings, but, on the other hand, I had quite a bit more confidence after getting it all working.

    Bob
  • DHawthorneDHawthorne Posts: 4,584
    There was no emulator when I took the training either. I didn't have my own master to test on, and had to just go over my code real carefully and hope it worked all right. There were a few flaws that would have been caught instantly if I could have tested it on a master, but the grader didn't hold them against me since I didn't have one available.
  • viningvining Posts: 4,368
    I used the emulator but I don't recall having any problems w/ it. I don't know where exactly those files and notes would be and the brain cells I used then have long since fried so I can't be of much help.
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Come On Guys!!

    It's not necessary that all people are smart as you ;) , besides.. in my case.. i don't have that much AMX educational resources and support in my place.. may be there is only three people - five tops - who deal with AMX control systems, so i wanna make everything perfect before submitting my answer.. and the only way is using the emulator which is - as i think - the same way they evaluate the answers.

    Cheers :)
  • BCalderwoodBCalderwood Posts: 35
    One note to mention about the emulator

    It's not a perfect tool but a very helpful one. The only glitch that I have experienced is there is no mention in the white paper that the Camera on system 100 has to be addressed differently as well as the other devices when using the emulator. It has to be 8100:1:0 to work but you can watch the notification messages when you connect the emulator and select the cameras to find that out. Just thought that I'd mention that for those of you who couldn't find the info in the note.
  • Danny CampbellDanny Campbell Posts: 311
    I took the classes back when the earth was still cooling. How do I get a copy of the emulator?
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Not for download
    Danny Campbell wrote:
    I took the classes back when the earth was still cooling. How do I get a copy of the emulator?

    Unfortunately it's not available for download, add for this after getting more into this exam, i found that this emulator, is not a worthy thing to have. Because of this i had to test my program on a real Touch panel, cause i don't know if my code is not working , or the emulator is the one which is not working

    After finishing up my exam , i'll post here in this topic a list of its bugs, that driven me MAD.
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    I am currently working on mine as well. This is why I wanted my 7500 to work.. but I guess not.

    So far the only thing I am yet to get to work is having it reply text and information I send to the variable text address on the emulator program. I am using: SEND_COMMAND dvTP,"'^TXT-53,0,'<text>" and it either displays nothing or an error. Does it need to be the old G3 style text with is the !T or whatever?
  • NMarkRobertsNMarkRoberts Posts: 455
    ryanww wrote:
    I am using: SEND_COMMAND dvTP,"'^TXT-53,0,'<text>" and it either displays nothing or an error. Does it need to be the old G3 style text with is the !T or whatever?

    Yes you have to use !T - at least that's what my code does.
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    Eh too late. I turned it in with the ^txt. They will get the point. I know it is sending the string out, so I know it works..
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Don't Worry
    ryanww wrote:
    Eh too late. I turned it in with the ^txt. They will get the point. I know it is sending the string out, so I know it works..

    It doesn't work with the ^txt command, i though like you, it will be with the ^txt command, but anyway they didn't mention which TP in project, so they won't take this into count... Don't worry .

    Thanx NMarkRoberts for this notice.

    But... ryanww, in the DVD player , did the Skipping buttons respond to the TO keywords?
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    I have them in a MEG and used the ON command and they light up, so I don't see why the TO command won't work. I know the software is not the best, and it might just be a communication issue with that software.

    Ryan
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Two more questions

    In the remote camera part, should i assume that my master is included in the other masters URL List?

    In the CD Changer part, the No. Of Tracks text field, should show the total no of tracks of the current disc, or should show the the No. of the currently playing track?
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    I assumed that the other master took care of the online event for the 2nd camera. It only had it toggle between sending the commands between the 2 cameras.

    And for the CD Changer, I would assume just the total number of tracks since theres no way to verify that it has gone from one to the next. I think they just want to make sure something ends up showing.

    Ryan
  • avi_daveavi_dave Posts: 62
    suppose to be ' @TXT ', the emulator is fine, if you dont get it to work the prog is prob wrong 9 outta 10 times, also to run it I recommend min a gig memory cause it pulls on resources or just close everything else thats going on then test your program.
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Nope, The Emulator is not fine :)
    avi_dave wrote:
    suppose to be ' @TXT ', the emulator is fine, if you dont get it to work the prog is prob wrong 9 outta 10 times, also to run it I recommend min a gig memory cause it pulls on resources or just close everything else thats going on then test your program.

    Try to use 'TEXT<variable text address 1-255>-<new text to be put in button>' and you will see a message saying "You must use either the @TXT or the !T syntax to set your var text"
    And the emulator is not fine, it has list of at least 5 bugs, and i am going to list them once i get my certificate, by the way it's a Visual Basic program with PCLinkplus OCX, uses almost 8 MB of memory, i think one of the AMX'ers has volunteered to design this program and has not been enhanced since 2002.

    I hope someone will rewrite this program and its documentation, to help the coming AMX Programmer students. Because as a student, the first thing i assume - once things are going wrong - that my code is not fine, and start to roll over it again and again.....

    I am not a thankless person, the credits of achieving my programmer certificate (i hope i pass it) go to the authors of this emulator, It was very helpful in raising our knowledge about Netlinx code. :)
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    Did you get it to display a reply from the terminal part of it? I know it was working because I was looking at the notifications, but nothing happened in that window..

    It is a god concept, just poor execution..

    With TPD4 can you emulate a tp just using a file live? I don't know much about that, just something I was wondering.

    Ryan
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Yup..

    I crawled the AMX-PI, searching for text assignment commands, then I tried these commands one by one using telnet Send_command TP,"Blah Blah" while running the TP emulator - Note : you TP should be defined in your program, or you have to send it to 8001:1:0 - , till i sent the 'TEXT<variable text address 1-255>-<new text to be put in button>' command, i saw the message in the boxes of CDChanger tracks info.

    About your question...
    With TPD4 can you emulate a tp just using a file live? I don't know much about that, just something I was wondering
    I can't understand what do you mean... :)
  • jweatherjweather Posts: 320
    ryanww wrote:
    With TPD4 can you emulate a tp just using a file live? I don't know much about that, just something I was wondering.

    The programming practical emulator isn't really emulating a G4 panel, it's just providing buttons that send push/release messages when pressed. G4 Panel Preview is the only way to emulate a G4 panel, but it only handles the graphics side, not control. G3 Web Control is the only way to run an actual TP on a PC.

    I agree that the emulator is a little crotchety, but I think it's good preparation for working with real-world devices, which also have bugs. ;) I also don't think anybody will be willing to put time into improving it since it's "good enough".

    Jeremy
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    Well maybe someone should make a touch panel that can just be placed on the master for testing. I didn't even think about that. I was going to use my 7500, but it decided to crap out right when I was going to use it. But I am sure no one will update that emulator.

    Ryan
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    Emulating Touch Panel
    ryanww wrote:
    Well maybe someone should make a touch panel that can just be placed on the master for testing. I didn't even think about that. I was going to use my 7500, but it decided to crap out right when I was going to use it. But I am sure no one will update that emulator.

    Ryan
    In speaking of touchpanel emulation, I wanted to practice, but there were no touch panels in my place, and it is too costly for me to buy a new panel, so i started [thread=2322]this thread[/thread] , to ask about emulating a touch panel using an application like the panel previewer, and they gave me a worthy info up there , i suggest to read it.... and thanks to them.
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    Yea, I have done that before just playing with it. It is apparently known to be buggy though. What else is new?

    But for this, I would imagine it would work just fine to get the project done.

    Ryan
  • SensivaSensiva Posts: 211
    No It's not
    ryanww wrote:
    Yea, I have done that before just playing with it. It is apparently known to be buggy though. What else is new?

    But for this, I would imagine it would work just fine to get the project done.

    Ryan
    The Web Touch panels is not buggy at all..... fully functioning, may be the java installed in your system is corrupted.
  • ryanwwryanww Posts: 196
    well yea, thats what I mean. But it is probably better then that emulator!

    The nice thing about that emulator is that like if you don't send it the correct online commands, it does nothing. Hence telling you that you did it wrong.
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