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Pinning a definition on Domino is like trying to hit a moving target. Because, with just a little imagination, the possible uses are almost endless. For example, Iris developer Tom Hoey has focused on Domino's capability to control a device from a remote location. You might remember that Hoey's first effort in this area involved using Domino to take pictures with a remote camera, and then storing them in a Notes database. The resulting tool was called Domino.Remote:CAM, which we featured in the Iris Today article, "In Focus with Domino Remote:CAM."
As a continuation of the "devices" theme, Domino Remote:DISPLAY allows you to use Domino to send messages to a remote LED display. Like the Remote:CAM, Domino Remote:DISPLAY is a server add-in that resides on a Domino server, but can be operated from the server, a Notes workstationor a Web browser. In this early Beta, you can use Remote:DISPLAY to compose messages, specifying their color and movement, and then sending them to the LED display. The Remote:DISPLAY stores the messages in its database, so you can review them later. When using Remote:DISPLAY as a background task on your Notes workstation, you get the same message-sending features -- you just can't access the server console Tell commands. Instead, from the workstation, you use Notes.ini settings for turning on and off logging.
Domino Remote:DISPLAY can help you:
- Display messages for public viewing, such as a "No Smoking" message in a public area.
- Display messages for your organization, such as a message about an upcoming 401(k) meeting.
- Display messages for server administration, such as indicating when a certain server is down in the lab.
For future versions of Domino Remote:DISPLAY, we're looking at supporting more features for the LED display, or making the tool extensible so you can implement your own features.
Domino Remote:DISPLAY Requirements
The current beta version of Domino Remote:DISPLAY, which we're providing for free downloading today, has the following requirements:
- Windows 95 or Windows NT
- Domino 4.5 or later (or when running as a workstation task, Notes 4.5 or later)
- Alpha 4120C LED display from Adaptive Micro Systems (We purchased ours from Pacesetter Communications at http://www.pace-setter.com The cost was about $2,000.)
Remote:DISPLAY -- Under the Hood
Like we discussed earlier, Remote:DISPLAY works similarly to the Domino Remote:CAM. When you tell Remote:DISPLAY to send a message, you're actually telling Domino to create a new document in the database with the necessary information, like the message to be displayed and its characteristics. More specifically, the add-in first opens the Message Display database (msgdisp.nsf), and then it opens the History view, which holds the collection of composed messages. The tool continually polls the database for any modifications with a routine called: NSFDbGetModifiedNoteTable( ). This routine executes with very little overhead.
When Remote:DISPLAY detects a modification, it knows that you want to display a new message. It opens the newly created document, extracts the message information and converts it into the LED display's protocol, and then writes the information to the LED display via the serial port. You specify the settings for the serial port, including the port's baud rate, parity, and bits, in your Preferences in the Message Display database.
You can display up to 5 messages at the same time with Remote:DISPLAY. When composing each message, you first specify the sequence number for that message, along with the message text, color, and movement style. (The movement style actually refers to how one message transitions into another. A message may rotate (scroll) on and then off the screen; it may fade in, hold and then fade out; or the message may fade in, flash several times and then fade out.)
Before composing a message, you can also check what messages are currently being displayed by clicking "View Current Messages." You'll then see the Current view, which lists each current message along with its sequence number and color. To replace just one of the messages, you simply specify its sequence number when composing the new message. To delete one of the messages altogether, specify the sequence number and then leave the Text field blank.
Remote:DISPLAY uses the standard Tell log[ ] command to keep a log of the messages that you have displayed. (This log is shown in the History view of the Message Display database.) From the server console, you can access the following commands:
- load msgdisp -- connect to the LED display
- tell msgdisp log [on] -- turn on logging
- tell msgdisp log off -- turn off logging
- tell msgdisp quit -- disconnect the LED display
Because you can't use these commands from the workstation, you can add or change the following Notes.ini setting:
$MsgDispLog=1
Now, that you know a little more about Remote:DISPLAY, we'd like for you to try it out. You can set up Domino Remote:DISPLAY by first downloading the files from the Sandbox, and then following these steps.
Note: Before downloading Remote:DISPLAY, you should already have Domino or Notes installed on your machine. You should also already have an LED display connected to your serial port.
- Copy nmsgdisp.exe to your Notes program directory.
- Copy msgdisp.nsf to your Notes data directory.
- Start the Domino server and type in load msgdisp at the server console.
To run Domino.Remote:DISPLAY on your Notes 4.5 workstation as a background task:
- Add the nmsgdisp.exe to the workstation operating the LED.
- Put the msgdisp.nsf database file on any server on your network.
- Specify within your workstation
Notes.ini file:
$MsgDispFile = servername !!MSGDISP.NSF
Once you've set up Remote:DISPLAY, you can easily begin sending messages from the server, Notes workstation or Web browser.
- Open the Message Display database,
and click Send Message on the initial splash
screen.
Figure 1. Domino Remote:DISPLAY splash screen
- The first time that you use
Remote:DISPLAY, you may need to set up the preferences for your
display. Click Edit Preferences, select the serial port to which
your LED display is connected, and then specify its baud rate,
parity and bits (you should be able to use the defaults for these
settings). When finished, click Save and then Go Back.
Note: You can currently use only the LED display model 4120C.
For more information on these settings, please see the documentation that came with your LED display.
Figure 2. Preferences screen
- In the Message field, select a
sequence number for the message. Then, in the Text field, select a
message or type a new one. Next, select the Movement style (default
is Rotate) and Color (default is red).
Figure 3. Compose Message screen
- When you're finished composing the message, click "Send To Display."
The status bar will show that the message was sent to the display device. Each message is saved according to its sequence number in the Current view in the Message Display database, as well as in the History view (which logs every message that is composed).
Although Remote:DISPLAY is easy to use, we'd like you to know why you might receive the following errors.
- Error opening
MSGDISP.NSF
You may receive this error if the Message Display database (msgdisp.nsf) isn't in your Notes data directory. Or, if you're running Remote:DISPLAY from a workstation, you may receive this error if the database is not on the server you specified in your Notes.ini file. - Error opening display
port
You may receive this error if your Preferences are not set up correctly. Make sure that you've specified the correct serial port to which your LED display is connected.
Domino Remote:DISPLAY is just one more way that you can use Domino in your workplace. In addition to cameras and LED displays, we're looking at other devices that you could control remotely. For example, we're investigating BSR X-10 interface devices typically used to automate processes like turning on and off lights, alarms, computer systems, and more. The possibilities are endless!
Copyright 1997 Iris Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tom Hoey developed Domino.Remote:DISPLAY. Tom joined Iris in 1994 from Digital and has primarily focused on back-end server projects. Tom recently implemented the administration functionality in the new Web-based administration tool in Domino 4.6. He would like to thank Thomas Gumz for designing the splash screen for Domino.Remote:DISPLAY.
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