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Author Topic: More flexibility in commands in MC  (Read 2891 times)

flac.rules

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More flexibility in commands in MC
« on: February 14, 2015, 08:21:48 am »
MC already has remote commands, basically built like this "on remote command A - blast command B" or "on remote command A - do action B (like volume up). It would be great if this system could be improved to be a more flexible command system.

I would like the following inputs to be possible in addition to remote commands

Any key-press combo (set by user)
Conditions (like "if video is playing")

And I would also like the following outputs to be possible:

Any core command, instead of just some presets
Ideally, the possibility so send a rs232-command.

It could be expanded almost infinitely, but I think this might be the most universally useful, and also reasonable to implement(?)
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flac.rules

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Re: More flexibility in commands in MC
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2015, 08:07:41 am »
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glynor

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Re: More flexibility in commands in MC
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2015, 10:48:26 am »
I don't know that MC's remote control system is designed to be a full-featured automation system for you computer.  I think the goal is to provide basic functionality, and if you want more advanced things, you'd use something actually designed for that purpose. These tools are complex systems in their own right, and I'd say it is a bit out-of-scope for MC to include this stuff itself.

Of course, MC has all kinds of automation capabilities, so it absolutely can be scripted to accomplish almost anything you can imagine.

I use Promixis Girder to accomplish these sorts of tasks. You may also want to check out EventGhost, which is an open-source application that does basically the same thing.
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flac.rules

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Re: More flexibility in commands in MC
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2015, 11:16:00 am »
Quote from: glynor on June 14, 2015, 10:48:26 am
I don't know that MC's remote control system is designed to be a full-featured automation system for you computer.  I think the goal is to provide basic functionality, and if you want more advanced things, you'd use something actually designed for that purpose. These tools are complex systems in their own right, and I'd say it is a bit out-of-scope for MC to include this stuff itself.

Of course, MC has all kinds of automation capabilities, so it absolutely can be scripted to accomplish almost anything you can imagine.

I use Promixis Girder to accomplish these sorts of tasks. You may also want to check out EventGhost, which is an open-source application that does basically the same thing.

Well, I did ask about the ability to send core commands in the first place, a pretty far cry from a fully featured automation system :) I think restricting it to "internal commands" in the program is fine, as a first step or as the only step eventually. The core commands are already in the program, and most of the condition-framework as well (like "if video is playing".

I can of course (i think at least, I haven't tried), use girder to send MCC-commands, and probably also use girder to check the conditions, however it seems like quite a bit more of hassle (and cost), I think the kind of "internal" functionality i am talking about is pretty well suited to the remote-part of the program.
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glynor

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Re: More flexibility in commands in MC
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2015, 11:24:50 am »
You can already execute any MCC command, MCWS URL, or script with the built-in system.

1. Open Tools > Options > Remote Control and open up the Remote Control Commands Manager (click the Commands link near the bottom of the dialog).
2. Add a new Custom type command.
3. Give the Command a friendly name.
4. Click Add Run in the Command Actions section.
5. Execute whatever you want.

To run MCC commands, call the MC Command Line launcher (mc##.exe) with the /MCC flag. You can also call any MCWS command using the /MCWS flag, which will work on the local machine even if Media Network is turned off. If you want to do fancy conditionals and stuff, call a VB script or something similar.

I was referring to your requests to have built-in conditionals and other advanced logic. You can do this with what MC provides now by executing scripts, of course. Or, if you don't want to write everything yourself, using a tool suited to the task (like Girder or EventGhost). Similarly, getting even one of those kinds of tools to handle RS232 commands can be a major undertaking. I don't know that it makes sense to include this in MC itself.

It is, after all, a Player and library manager, not a home-automation utility. It has some capabilities, but I don't know that integrating something like Lua and RS232 drivers or whatever is where they should spend precious resources.
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flac.rules

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Re: More flexibility in commands in MC
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2015, 11:47:08 am »
Quote from: glynor on June 14, 2015, 11:24:50 am
You can already execute any MCC command, MCWS URL, or script with the built-in system.

1.Open Tools > Options > Remote Control and open up the Remote Control Commands Manager (click the Commands link near the bottom of the dialog).
2. Add a new Custom type command.
3. Give the Command a friendly name.
4. Click Add Run in the Command Actions section.
5. Execute whatever you want.

To run MCC commands, call the MC Command Line launcher (mc##.exe) with the /MCC flag. You can also call any MCWS command using the /MCWS flag, which will work on the local machine even if Media Network is turned off. If you want to do fancy conditionals and stuff, call a VB script or something similar.

I was referring to your requests to have built-in conditionals and other advanced logic. You can do this with what MC provides now by executing scripts, of course. Or, if you don't want to write everything yourself, using a tool suited to the task (like Girder or EventGhost). Similarly, getting even one of those kinds of tools to handle RS232 commands can be a major undertaking. I don't know that it makes sense to include this in MC itself.

It is, after all, a Player and library manager, not a home-automation utility. It has some capabilities, but I don't know that integrating something like Lua and RS232 drivers or whatever is where they should spend precious resources.

Thanks, that is good advice, I do think it would be easier to have MCC-commands as an own type of command though, you never know, other users might be as stupid as me, and not thinking about invoking it as an external exe. :)

I don't know how much work it is, but it seems to be pretty little, MC already has a pretty large sets of inbuilt conditionals, and it is already used in other features, like the zoneswitch. Beeing able to use the rules in the remote-part seems pretty useful.
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DoubtingThomas

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Re: More flexibility in commands in MC
« Reply #6 on: June 14, 2015, 10:22:34 pm »
While I always want more... the automation capabilities of MediaCenter are awesome.

Between MC20.exe and MCWS... I can do most of what I want/need.

The programming staff at MC has added many automation features at my request.  Thanks.
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