Best way of displaying channel logo based on channel number feedback....

mkleynhans

Hi again Guys,

I have setup a serial connection to a UK Sky HD box and am retrieving serial data including
Channel number, Channel Name, Programme Name and Programme Synopsis back to the
touchpanel.

I have then setup several popup pages in TPD4 and am first clearing all popus and then
calling for a popup if a particular channel number is true based on the serial feedback.
It is working very well but is incredibly cumbersome to programme. The idea is I want
to have a 25% visible channel icon PNG logo behind the area with the current channel
details being displayed as text which will change as you change channels.

Is the way that I am doing it the right way? I was hoping to be able to change just a single
buttons bitmap for this but cannot see a way of doing this under dynamic images as it only
offers IP or FTP address options.

Any ideas?

Thanks as always!

Mike

jcerecke

Few ways to do it. Check AMXPI and lookup your touch panel to see all the commands.
Off the top of my head without going into huge detail, you can change the bitmap on a standard button as long as it's loaded into the panel's resources.
Or you can make it a multistate button and use the animation command to change states.
Or you can make it a multistate level and send the level, but I've never really figured out how to do this yet. Lots of people love this method however.

Jorde_V

mkleynhans wrote: »

Hi again Guys,

I have setup a serial connection to a UK Sky HD box and am retrieving serial data including
Channel number, Channel Name, Programme Name and Programme Synopsis back to the
touchpanel.

I have then setup several popup pages in TPD4 and am first clearing all popus and then
calling for a popup if a particular channel number is true based on the serial feedback.
It is working very well but is incredibly cumbersome to programme. The idea is I want
to have a 25% visible channel icon PNG logo behind the area with the current channel
details being displayed as text which will change as you change channels.

Is the way that I am doing it the right way? I was hoping to be able to change just a single
buttons bitmap for this but cannot see a way of doing this under dynamic images as it only
offers IP or FTP address options.

Any ideas?

Thanks as always!

Mike

The way I do it is a bit different because I don't have boxes that allow RS232 connections (so I do it from the code). But I let the user make the changes, (Name and channel number). But the method for the image is virtually the same.

I load the bitmaps on the panel so flaky connections don't ruin it. I then send the command ^BMP for the bitmap see AMX-PI. Change the opacity with the ^BOP command, or just do it in the panel's design.

If you want to change the text you can use ^TXT, but because of the opacity I'd create a separate label for that so it isn't affected.

ericmedley

One little thing you might want to think about. I wouldn't tie the ID of the graphic to the channel number myself.

The same channel might have a different assignment over its lifetime.

I'd make a station array that's independent from channels.

Something along the lines of

ID 001 is always CNN Headline News.

Sat_Chan_Number[1]='202'. Sat_icon[1]='HLN.jpg'. Sat_Chan_Nane[1]='CNN Headline News'

That way if/when they change the channel lineup you just change the data in the table. You don't need to alter the code.

mkleynhans

Thanks guys, amazing help as always. Have it working beautifully, 167 channels in.....aaargh!!....im going to run out of space on the processor and panel

DHawthorne

I have yet to run out of memory in a panel, and only once in a master (and that was a full-house system on a 39K sq. ft. estate that had full music, HVAC and lighting control, plus a bunch of other goodies, like a 20-zone MAX system). 167 channels aren't even going to make it burp.

But I use a method similar to Eric's except I store my channel and image data in a CSV file on the master. The program then looks it up, and if there are any channel lineups from the provider I just update the CSV and re-load it on the master.

mkleynhans

DHawthorne wrote: »

I have yet to run out of memory in a panel, and only once in a master (and that was a full-house system on a 39K sq. ft. estate that had full music, HVAC and lighting control, plus a bunch of other goodies, like a 20-zone MAX system). 167 channels aren't even going to make it burp.

But I use a method similar to Eric's except I store my channel and image data in a CSV file on the master. The program then looks it up, and if there are any channel lineups from the provider I just update the CSV and re-load it on the master.

Whoa!, that sounds awesome!!