RMIR: Prototype IR function in RM

Post by **mathdon** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:53 am

Greg: After over 100 e-mails and a dozen intermediate versions exchanged between Vicky and me since Alpha 12a was posted, we are agreed that RM/RMIR v2.02 Beta is ready to go, with the source files currently on SourceForge.

Everyone: Although the exchange with Vicky started being about the assembler/disassembler, it grew into a wider remit and addressed the vexed issue of PID conflicts. In doing so we also discussed and resolved an irritating issue with the main RM display and the device editor in RMIR. This is that the Protocol Parameters panel grows and shrinks according to the number of parameters there are in the protocol selected. When switching from a protocol with few parameters to one with many, RM/RMIR can be left trying to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, there not being enough space in the overall window to fit all the pieces so some go missing as the window does not expand correspondingly. The Protocol Parameters panel now has a fixed size, there being spare space with few parameters and a scroll bar when there are many.

Here is a brief summary of the changes from v2.02 Alpha 12a:

* In RM and the Device Editor of RMIR, an additional field, "Alternate PID", appears when there is a PID conflict. This allows the user to provide an alternate PID to be used to avoid the conflict. Explanatory messages appear at the bottom of the panel, and also below the new field when the value provided is still in conflict.
* Greg has added "Allow Preserve Control" to the Options menus, defaulting to Off.
* There are now separate listings for assembler and disassembler, switched with radio buttons. Some errors of syntax have been corrected and additional editing buttons added, along with explanatory tooltips.
* For the S3C80, the disassembler now uses RR and WW in place of R and W for references to two-byte registers and the assembler accepts, but does not require, these forms in those contexts.
* When RM is opened from RMIR through File/New/Device Upgrade then RM and RMIR can be closed independently. Unfortunately a change in Alpha 11 inadvertently made closing either of them close the other as well. Prior to Alpha 11, RM could be closed without closing RMIR but not vice versa.
* If RMIR is minimized while the Device Editor is open, the Device Editor now minimizes as well. Previously it was not possible to minimize the Device Editor.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 8:46 am

In RM and the Device Editor of RMIR, an additional field, "Alternate PID", appears when there is a PID conflict. This allows the user to provide an alternate PID to be used to avoid the conflict. Explanatory messages appear at the bottom of the panel, and also below the new field when the value provided is still in conflict.

Wow such a low key statement for such a great improvement to RMIR. RMIR is now a lot more flexible in what it allows in the upgrade area and has the intelligence to recognize PID conflicts between upgrades in the E2 area and aids the user in fixing those errors. Great work Graham.

xnappo · Post by **xnappo** » Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:10 am

vickyg2003 wrote:
In RM and the Device Editor of RMIR, an additional field, "Alternate PID", appears when there is a PID conflict. This allows the user to provide an alternate PID to be used to avoid the conflict. Explanatory messages appear at the bottom of the panel, and also below the new field when the value provided is still in conflict.
Wow such a low key statement for such a great improvement to RMIR. RMIR is now a lot more flexible in what it allows in the upgrade area and has the intelligence to recognize PID conflicts between upgrades in the E2 area and aids the user in fixing those errors. Great work Graham.

Agreed. This is one of the bigger issues that has been plaguing us for years. Nice work!

xnappo

eferz · Post by **eferz** » Wed Jan 11, 2012 9:22 am

Feature request: A mechanism to find known extenders in the raw data tab. Something a little more reliable than using the signature to identify whether or not a particular extender is loaded. Similar to security software which uses pattern recognition to find malware.

eferz · Post by **eferz** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 6:32 am

How does one enable the "Create WAV" option in RMIR? I can enable this option in IR.exe by adding the IRToWav.class into its directory but this doesn't work with RMIR.

Post by **mathdon** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 10:39 am

eferz wrote:How does one enable the "Create WAV" option in RMIR?

It should really be hidden rather than disabled, as it is not yet implemented. Sorry, I didn't even realise it was there.

Post by **mathdon** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 11:13 am

In this post earlier in this thread, Greg gave detailed instructions for potential developers on how to check out the RemoteMaster source from SourceForge into the Eclipse IDE. SourceForge is in the process of moving all its projects to a new platform, and RemoteMaster was moved on 30 May. The effect for Greg's instructions is that the URL to use for the repository location has changed, and is now:

https://svn.code.sf.net/p/controlremote/code/trunk

xnappo · Post by **xnappo** » Wed Jun 05, 2013 7:57 pm

mathdon wrote:In this post earlier in this thread, Greg gave detailed instructions for potential developers on how to check out the RemoteMaster source from SourceForge into the Eclipse IDE. SourceForge is in the process of moving all its projects to a new platform, and RemoteMaster was moved on 30 May. The effect for Greg's instructions is that the URL to use for the repository location has changed, and is now:

https://svn.code.sf.net/p/controlremote/code/trunk

Thanks Graham. Greg - I took the liberty of editing the original post...

Chris

Post by **vickyg2003** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 8:11 am

I have a feature request for RMIR. I'd really like the Summary report from IR carried into RMIR. I use the summary report a lot. In fact when an RMIR user reports a problem, the first thing I do is save it as IR and open the summary report. I really like this feature when I'm trying to debug a problem, and I want to search for keymove/macro/special protocol confilicts.

I find the summary report to be the most useful debugging tool, and also great user documentation. I think that now that things have settled down, and that RMIR is going to be the only way to handle new remotes, that the lack of the summary report is going to be needed more, since we can't dump to IR to get a view.

Does anyone else miss the summary report?

Post by **mathdon** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 9:31 am

vickyg2003 wrote:I'd really like the Summary report from IR carried into RMIR.

This has been on my "to do" list for a very long time, but just as I started to think about it, JP1.4 came along. Then JP2, JP3 (or whatever we call the URC-7962 SmartMotion version) and two entirely different XSight communication protocols, so it went on the back burner.

Then Vyrolan came along and for a short time was adding various features of IR that were missing in RMIR. I had high hopes that he would do the Summary feature. Any chance of you coming back into our world, Vyrolan, and doing this? I am exhausted with all the XSight stuff so it will be some time before I get around to things like Summary.

Post by **vickyg2003** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:19 am

I hope someone will do it.

And on another tack, if anyone is interested in making a contribution with a standalone utility. I would REALLY like it if someone would develop a full fledged documenting app for RMIR, beyond the summary report. There is a wealth of information in RMIR. Way more than in IR.

Last Fall I followed Phil's documenting template with all my remotes. It was very time consuming, but well worth the effort. I popped open all my RDMU files and my Summary from IR and made really nice documentation.

However, while I changed equipment once again, and now its all obsolete. The task was daunting. It would be so cool if this could be at least roughed in automatically, into a word file. I included sharp black and white drawings of all the remotes, higher quality than the images used for remotemaster. (I have them for most of the US remotes).

Although if it was automated, I doubt that I would have found all the inconsistancies that I had created in having remotes for all the different venues and devices.

If someone wants a project.......

Post by **vickyg2003** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 10:47 am

Another feature that I would like to see is the ability to update the "functions list" in a RMIR device. If I converted my IR or started from a download to create an RMIR files, I'd love the ability to add the functions list from my RDMU files.

That would be real handy for merging multiple rdmu files too, When I'm on a EFC hunt for someone else and popping open one after another upgrades, it would be really nice to be able to assemble a list.

Barf · Post by **Barf** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 2:12 pm

We had this issue around one year ago, or so. I started on writing an XML based system:

(Sorry, the rest is of more technical nature)

Every major (Java-)class gets a function xmlExport which will generate an XML Element (org.w3c.dom.Element). For a simple class, say a keymove, it is just something like

<keymove button="play" target="device7" targetkey="record"/>

for more complicated classes, it of course contains its subelements (in the sense of Java) as subnodes.(in the sense of XML). Somewhat like "marshalling". So one remote (in the sense of RMIR) will generate one XML DOM-document (org.w3c.dom.Document) that can be saved to a file, or be processed internally, That can both (in the future) be used as a more intelligent save format, at some point of time making it possible to import one RMIR-remote to another hardware. From the XML DOM (a disc file or in memory), it may also be possible to export to other formats (Pronto, raw, LIRC....) possibly using IrpMaster (for rendering, as a library). The XML File/DOM can also be viewed in a browser, possibly using stylesheets (CSS and/or XSLT), which will give a good was of "browsing" the remote. Also, it is relatively easy to generate typographically high-quality text representation (this corresponds to the IR summary).

I wrote a considerable amount of code, that I can dig out.... I somehow lost motivation.

And there is also the issue of importing more, say, neutral information, see http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14736, possibly amplified by probono's data base.

Vyrolan · Post by **Vyrolan** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 3:14 pm

mathdon wrote:Then Vyrolan came along and for a short time was adding various features of IR that were missing in RMIR. I had high hopes that he would do the Summary feature. Any chance of you coming back into our world, Vyrolan, and doing this? I am exhausted with all the XSight stuff so it will be some time before I get around to things like Summary.

You rang? I haven't lost interest in working on RMIR, but I have lost the time. I was able to do a lot because we were kind of in the pre-holiday pre-baby lull. Now we have the baby and I'm busier in my real job, so I don't have nearly as much time to work on fun stuff. If I can manage to find some time though, I can look into this Summary feature.

quartermain · Post by **quartermain** » Sat Sep 07, 2013 11:01 am

If I download the memory of my URC-7555 in IR I see lots of keymoves including a "Phantom 1" for each device.

TV-Phantom1 is set for device AUD/2000 which is a Denon 1910 receiver. Hex Cmd is $B8 $73 and EFC/Name is 01974.

If I download the remote into RMIR and look at the same thing it says Raw Data 37 D0 B8 73, Hex B8 73 and Key/Name 01974.

But if I select this line and click Edit, the Key Moves dialog comes up and in the row of radio buttons near the bottom the Function button is selected. The dropdown menu shows 0 and there is a 0 in the notes section.

If I now click OK without changing anything, the data in the main panel has changed. Now it says Raw Data 37 D0 C8 83, Hex C8 83 and EFC/Name "0".

The ir and rmir files are here:
http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/dload ... e_id=12053