I have read the manual and am still at a loss

[mpooley]

I am having real problems trying to understand what you can do with eventghost let alone how!

Can someone answer a simple question before I waste a lot of time learning all this.

What I want to do is to get an old Tivo remote to work with GBpvr . Is this possible with eventghost?

thanks in advance

mike

[jinxdone]

EventGhost is a general purpose, easily extendable automation program.

The idea is that different input plugins generate events, such as IR remote plugins, timers, network related plugins (webserver etc.), and different kinds of software inputs like the task switcher. Anyway, it does not matter where the event originates from, when your input is working will see events like SomePlugin.SomeEvent in your log view.

To do something useful you will create macros. A macro is a collection of actions that is treated as a single runnable piece. For example you might create a macro that has actions like "Dim lights, turn on the amplifier, turn on the TV, and start your favorite media program".

To run a macro you must trigger it. You usually do so with an event which is associated with that macro. Just drag an event from the event log into a macro and then it's associated with it. Now whenever that event is triggered you it will cause the macro to run.


In my opinion EG has an easy learning curve from using the program through the UI (ie. drag&dropping events and such) to creating Python scripts, which will offer almost limitless possibilities. It's ideal if you have a knack for programming or just want to learn some in Python.


What you can use it for straight-out-of-the-box depends on the plugins and devices you are using. I'm not familiar with Tivo or GBpvr, but I know almost anything can be made to work if you are willing to spend some time on it. Keep in mind that EventGhost is not a commercial product, so the users and coders here mostly improve on the plugins and equipment they themselves own. Support for other, especially old or otherwise obscure devices probably is lacking.

-jinxdone

[aslamma]

Eventghost is a great product, but as mentioned is not a commercial product. If you want a commercial product, consider homeseer, cqc, j9ae (now elve), or others. Like you I have read the manual, but keep getting stuck and not a lot of help here unlike say homeseer forums. Don't get me wrong, I use eventghost daily but I also use other products for other things where implementation is much easier. N

[scat]

mpooley and aslamma

This might help you take a look at this
http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtop ... 344&p=7319

Scat

[aslamma]

Actually, I can do the simple things listed there. But its the more complex things where I get stumped, such as feedback.

[jinxdone]

In many places you can use little bits of python code as well as static text in the input fields. You do this by typing in something inside a pair of curly braces {}. The most common use is to bring a variable value for example {eg.result}, {eg.event.payload}. It's very easy to show things on the screen with ShowOSD or transmit over a serial port with the serial.write action this way.

As for what variables are available that you should be aware of (other than what you yourself may have created);
- The event object. It has properties such as event.string, event.payload, event.time, event.prefix, event.suffix... These are always set to the most recent event, as in, the one that triggered this macro. You can use the event and it's payload to pass data to EG from other programs, from the network, from command line etc.
- The eg.result variable. It is customary to set this variable after each command, so if you run an action like "get master volume" the value will be placed in the eg.result variable. For example the "Jump if last action successful/unsuccesful" -action actually just evaluates the eg.result.

If you want to do more complex things then the next step is to create a "Python script" action and in there you can have the full power of Python. Ofcourse the event, payload and eg.result work there as well.

[hdjii]

I am also trying to figure out the feedback of data using the Network Broadcaster plugin. Could someone provide a detailed example which shows how this works?

Howard

[jinxdone]

Could you give an example of what you are trying to do so we could help you with it. The way you do it is described on my previous post.