I have been working over the past month and a half learning and understanding the Pronto PRO and two way TCPIP communications. It is not easy. Here is where I am:

1) I have a Home activity that puts up a splash screen and monitors for a WiFi connection.

2) I have a full activity to control my Home Theater which is controlled by a PC that receives IR from an iPronto. (My version of AMX or Crestron.) The PC now accepts TCPIP in lieu of IR and the Pronto PRO sends TCPIP bursts (very short, very fast, very reliable) to the PC. Gets Ack/Nak feedback and can retransmit. I had to write about 200 lines of VB code for the PC to handle the IR data (Device Code, Key Code).

3) I have an activity to fully control SlimServer players. There is a startup mode where it discovers the players (up to 5, an arbitrary decision), allows selection of player, turns on audio system if required (Remember the Theater IR); a full display of what is playing (title, album, elapsed time, genre) and the same info for what is up next, the Play queue, and system status. No cover art because of Pronto PRO limitations. There is a Browse screen that allows you to browse the music library by artist, album, genre and playlist. you can then add to the playing que from these items in a sensible manner. Updates are dynamic and automatic as the music playing changes.

4) I am about to start on a full two way interface to Homeseer (Home Automation system) with the appropriate plugin using a modified version of the xAP protocol. Should take me about a month to do. I currently have this functionality all done on in wall touchscreens that use UDP instead of TCPIP.

5) I wrote a tool that parses the ProntoPro XCF files, and organizes all scripts in a point and click interface. As soon as you start heavy Pronto Scrip programming, you will see why! Double clicking brings up the editor that you have registered to handle files with the extension "js" on the selected script. You can update, syntax check, print, etc. limited only by what the editor can do. It will then write back (Save, Save As) an updated version of the xcf file.

6) I will make available this tool (5) and a full tutorial document on the IR emulation activity and the paradigm I use for building TCPIP based applications on the Pronto PRO. The tutorial has lots of code snippets with explanations. I will do the same for the SlimServer activity package and the Homeseer system. The first two items should be posted at my web site (www.the-gordons.net) by this weekend. I have company coming in a few hours for a week, hence the delay.

My goal is to have evrything in the house controlled by the Pronto Pro. Questions and comments may be sent to me at [email protected]. I am off to the airport.

I'm looking forward to see what you're working on

WJ

Me too. I'd love to have full control of SlimServer players with my TSU9600 for instance. I could really care less about the cover art. Feel like I wasted my money on the PadOne software already which is needed for the Windows Media Center device to work. Already have a list of things I'm hoping will be corrected/updated with the Windows Media Center device to make it even worth the bother.

Re SlimServer on Pronto PRO:
Coming along nicely. I am just working out the bugs with selecting items and showing menus as you descend through the selection tree. The information display is working nicely. I should have something by this weekend or mid next week at the latest.

This could be enough to start me seriously thinking about getting one of these!!

As long as you are a reasonably competent programmer or are willing to invest a lot of time climbing that hill.....

I have the IR emulation and the SlimServer all done except for some fine tuning and regression testing. The SlimServer activity has been set up in a mode where I believe it can just be provided as a single xcf of one activity. As soon as the house guests leave on Monday I should be able to devote the time needed to setting up an area on my web site and putting the stuff up there with a reasonable explanation of the code methodolgy used to do the TCPIP for both the simple IR case and the much more complex SlimServer case. I have two slim server players and it seems to be working equally well with either one. It finds all the players by itself as long as slim server is up and running, and allows you to have a default or choose one.

What surprised me is that there does not seem to be that much interest in the Pronto PRO's TCPIP capablity, yet it holds the key to the future control of everything!

I am pretty much interested in it. I'd like to have some more info on variables, ports, structure, etc.

No docs yet, or decent examples we could build upon.

Can not download - gives a file not found message currently.

Yes I know. I just started to lay out the web area. There will be stuff there by the weekend. A lot of tutorial information and sample scripts. I did some revamping of the code to try and make it easier to understand. Just be patient I think it will be worth waiting for.

I have just posted some stuff on my web site and am looking for feedback. Most of the material is tutorial, I have not posted any complete activities. There are code snippets and explanations. In addition I posted my Script management tool which some of you may find convenient after dealing with Pronto PRO edit and Pronto Scripts. I now maintail all my scripts in that tool and use Pronto PRO editor mainly to download to the Pronto PRO

I have posted my Pronto Script tool at my website along with a lot of information on programming TCPIP to control other systems. The information includes sample code. I am having very good success. I should have available an xcf file for the Slim Server music system by this weekend. The question is how to post it and at the same time retain the distribution control I want. I do not intend to charge for it but I do want to retain control. The pack and go system appears to be for full implementations and does not seem to have the ability to merge a new activity into an existing Pronto or did I miss something?

Any Suggestions?

My web site (www.the-gordons.net) now has a complete system for controlling Slim devices Music systems and their players. There is a documentation package and a PackandGo file that can be downloaded. The system is working for me with my two players, and has the functionality I use. I am willing to add functionality as time permits. At the current time it is tailored for playing back ripped music. It has a selection mechanism modeled after the Slim Server Web selection mechanism, and a Display page showing what is playing, what is up next, and the Now Playing Queue.

Flexibility is provided to move to any song in the playing queue, to control volume, and handle the normal functions of the Slim Device players.

At the current time it does not handle Internet radio, The squeeze network, or Playlist construction. However it will load and play a prestored playlist.

I am interested in feedback. I am also intested if any one knows how to deliver just an activity in a protected manner (i.e not an xcf file). The PackandGo mechanism seems to do this but only for a complete Pronto configuration. There does not seem to be the ability for the Pronto to accept multiple PackandGo files, merging them into the current configuration. That would be nice!!

[Link: pronto.philips.com]

Publicly available source code for the RFX9400 and RFX9600 can be downloaded here.

Publicly available source code for the TSU9600 can be downloaded here.

Might make some things easier.

Not really, but thanks. I have had that suff for a while. For Beta it is not bad, but there is a lot more to it epecially with TCPIP.

Barry,

what I want to build is a better (and opensource) version of the PadOne crap. So a VB.net written server app that communicates with the Pronto. Besides the music part it should add the MyTV (+ guide), MyMovies (+ DVD control), MyRadio, MyPictures, MyWeather and MyNews. All bi-directional. Is there anything you could share besides the documents on your site that might be usefull?