My contribution: An HTML based remote control.

[argofanatic]

Hi all.

First off I would like to thank everyone involved in developing EG. Amazingly flexible and expandable. Not to mention open source!

Background.
Like everyone else here my coffee table is cluttered with a zillion remote controls for all my A/V toys. First this creates a clutter problem and causes SHMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed) to complain about the complexity of operating the equipment.

Heck turning on the projector, selecting the DVD input on the matrix switch, turning on the amplifier, selecting DVD input on the amp, then pushing the play button on the DVD remote to watch a movie. What's so hard about that ?
That only used up 4 of the 8 available remotes!

Drum roll please ...
This is where EG comes to the rescue !

I purchased a USB-UIRT and got EG to learn all my codes. Now I needed a means of simplifying the operation of the equipment. Next purchase a touch screen monitor. Next an IR distribution system (Xantech)
Final purchase a cool little device called a Powermate by Griffin Technology.

Philosophy; KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)!
A web interface to access the basic functions my A/V system. The main menu presents top level options like: Watch a DVD, Listen to Sirius, etc. These top level options then present the basic controls required to operate. DVD has play, stop, fwd, reverse, pause. Advanced functions (for tweaking) are accessed via an advanced button on the page. This philosophy is applied to all the devices to be controlled.
The Powermate is a nifty little USB device that I'm using as a volume control. Turn the know one way the volume goes up, down the other way. Push down on it and it mutes the system. The Powermate can emulate keystrokes, so thanks to EG's flexibility it was a piece of cake to get them to work together.

I should mention that this is a work in progress and that I will post updates as I implement changes.

This is also my first foray into HTML and web based apps (I'm a C/C++ guy) so don't be too harsh on my methods and techniques, I'm just starting out.

This first post includes my HTML and HTA pages as they stand right now. I've just figured out how to get everything working so it's just a matter of finalizing the EG events and macros as well as plugging in the appropriate event calls from the HTML pages. I'm also including my EG configuration (only IR codes right now).

Simply unzip anywhere and launch one of two files.

EGStateTest.hta demonstrates the application sending events to EG. You can use it try stuff out. This works with the Example.xml configuration that ships with EG.

AVControl.hta is the start page for my AV control.

Any enhancements or recommendations are welcome.
You may do as you wish with the contents.

Cheers,
Marc.

Hmmmm. I can't seem to find a means of attaching my zip file.
Moderator perhaps ?

[Bitmonster]

The forum supports no attachments till now. If you don't have a webspace were you could upload it, you can mail me the files. Use this address:
[EDIT: email removed]

[Bitmonster]

And here it is:
(EDIT: Since the new forum supports attachments, I have removed the old link)

[argofanatic]

I have uploaded (thanks to Bitmonster) version 1.1 of my Home IR Config.xml

This is my customized EG configuration to work with the HTML screens. The file demonstrates how easy it is to manage equipment states using EG functionality. I haven't had a chance yet to update the associate HTML files, but it will be straitforward.

EG's folder hierachy allows everything to be neatly organized by logical function.

I will probably finalize the HTML files this weekend, but in the mean time, you can play with this configuration file. To manually experiment with the EG config, simply load the XML file then try out a macro or two.

For example open the General Purpose Macros folder, then open the Operations folder, finally open the Watch ExpressVu folder. Select the Watch ExpressVu macro and execute it. EG does it's thing. Next you can try out some of the other macros. Finally try out the "Turn Everything Off" macro.

Everything is simple and elegant thanks to EG!

Cheers,
Marc.

[Bitmonster]

Archive above updated...

[bolets]

argofanatic fantastic ! Really cool to play around with. Thanks for your great work.

Would like a full screen of buttons for total home controll in one screen.
//bolets

[argofanatic]

Hi everyone.
Just popping in to say hi. A big HELLO to everyone for contributing to great software.

My touchscreen remote has been working without mods (thought it could use some) for almost a year now. This would not have been possible without Event Ghost (thanks BitMonster et al.)

My wife and mother-in-law love the fact that they can just touch a button on the screen to watch a movie, or listen to music without looking for remotes or which buttons to press in the correct sequence.

I'm glad to see that there is still interest in this excellent project !

Cheers,
Argofanatic.

[hyper]

thanks for that html based remote.


i had to adjust it a little, http://www.eventghost.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=787

[killervette]

Sorry, im lost. I extracted the files to the webserver. I click the buttons, but it doesnt look like event ghost is picking up anything. sorry, noob