Keyboard Action or Spoofing clarity? " CONTROL plus KEY

[Vinny Singh]

I'm trying to create an action for MCE. All it has to do is send a CONTROL+t to the window, as if it came from the keyboard. This would bring up "My TV" no matter where it is in MCE GUI.

I've tried almost every combo of keyboard action/spoofing, putting in text like

*t
<*t>
<LEFT_CTRL_t>
<LEFT_CTRL+t>
<CTRL_t>
etc etc...

I've chosen the option to "force keys", and have even picked the proper window from window picker.

If I have the syntax wrong, then maybe some examples should be in the documentation. The documentation is very well written, but at times it jumps from low level to high level stuff. I looked in both the builtin help.chm file and the PDF... but this was at 3am so I might have missed something.

I don't have any more IR emmiters, so I can't learn the command from the MCE remote, and send it from my modified driver MCE IRT back to my another unmodified MCE IRT. Plus that would be silly lol.

I'm using an ATI Remote Wonder for all MCE and home theater automation functions, not the MCE remote. EVERYTHING ELSE IS NOW WORKING! Yay! (My first post/prediction was true, it might take the entire trial period to learn it and use it the way I would want it). Thanks for the all the help so far :)

[Vinny Singh]

LOL and the post above made me an "experienced" user, up from determined! Yeee haw!

[Ron]

*t is the correct sequence. As mentioned before sometimes this keyboard spoofing doesn't work. This might have several causes.

1. The targetting is off.
2. Just not possible to target at all.

1. Try to find a different targetting parameters so you get a different -sub- window.
2. Try targetting 'foreground'. That means this will only work if that app is in the foreground.

Congratulations on your user status :-)

[Vinny Singh]

*t worked for control t, if I checked "foreground window" instead of pointing it to a window with window picker. I don't know why it didn't work at first, because I swear I tried that from the beginning. I might have not had MCE maximized however, as I needed the screen real estate for configuring/logging/testing girder.

Thanks!

[Riplaw]

Hi,

I am trying to setup Girder (upgraded from v3) but the keyboard definitions are not working as before.

I use CTRL + Numpad so that my PC can change the chanels on my Sat Receiver. I have no applications running in the background.

Is there any way I can accomplish this just like girder 3?

Thanks,

Jose

[Ron]

goto Girder 3 legacy Actions -> Keyboard (G3) action.

[Riplaw]

Thanks Ron for your reply. However, can I use the keyboard action (G3) as an event? For example [CTRL+9] Sends a command to the Ir receiver?

Another workaround that I found was to use Macro events. One event for the CTRL key then another one for the 9 key (example). But this can get tricky when in actual use.

My ultimate goal is to change the chanels on my Sat receiver through the internet. I will be playing around with the HTML sample pages but I am finding it a bit difficult to do that too. So I will stick with RDP in to my server and changing chanels through the keyboard.

Thanks,
Jose

[Vinny Singh]

Jose, have you looked into www.orb.com ? With MCE, I can stream anything from my cable set top box to any pc on the web I log into (including my slow GPRS pocket pc!). It can change channels, optimize bandwidth for your connection, and even place + time shift for you (you can schedule or record or even pause "live" tv, remotely). It's pretty neat, but I don't know if it would be an option for you. I think it uses MCE hardware, but might be able to setup with other IR emitters too.

Takes about 10 minutes to fully setup, I kid you not. FREE too.

[Riplaw]

Thanks Vinny, I will check in to it. I have considered MCE in the past, maybe it's time.

Thanks,
Jose

[bridgjr]

My ultimate goal is to change the chanels on my Sat receiver through the internet. I will be playing around with the HTML sample pages but I am finding it a bit difficult to do that too. So I will stick with RDP in to my server and changing chanels through the keyboard.

This is exactly what I'm doing using a USB-UIRT and the Girder sample pages. I've created an action e.g. a learnt remote code to change channel on the Sat receiver, and associated this with an event which I can then send from the Girder sample page.

I have plugged the sat receiver into a TV card on my PC and am using DScaler (www.dscaler.org) to take a screen capture once a second to the same file. I am then reading this file once a second from the web so I can see the results of my actions and program my sat receiver /PVR from the internet.

Only problem is my free trial runs out soon and I can't justify $99 for the program just to do this so will have to start looking at coding something myself.

Julian

[Riplaw]

Hi bridgjr,

My setup is a bit different with the same results. I am running my TV Cap card on a Windows 2003 server. Using Girder to change my satelite receiver's chanels. I broadcast my TV to the internet using Windows Media Encoder9 as well as Windows Media Server (included with Windows). I can successfully braodcast live streams.

If i use the keyboard mapper within Girder (using one key only - not CTRL+ key, as before) I can successfully change my chanels and other functions on my receiver. I just hope that I am not using keys that will affect other running apps (which is why I wanted to use CTRL+ key). I have tried using the Macro Events - one for CTRL and one for a key. Which did not work out to well.

It was suggested that I try using Girder's legacy keyboard functions (G3) but those are for actions not events. This also did not work out.

It was also suggested that i use an app found on www.orb.com but I believe my video card is out of date to use with that (also running server not XP) because I could not complete the configuration.

I could probably go out and spend alot of money on a new cap card, all new hardware, or even a media center PC, but my wife will kill me if I purchase any more computers... :-?

So, as long as I can "remote desktop" in to my server, I can change chanels using girder's keyboard mapper (one-key only), and the broadcast it.

My next step is to figure out how to use the Webserver functions to change chanels without having to remote in to my server...

Thanks everyone for all your help and suggestions,
Jose

[Vinny Singh]

This is exactly what I'm doing using a USB-UIRT and the Girder sample pages. I've created an action e.g. a learnt remote code to change channel on the Sat receiver, and associated this with an event which I can then send from the Girder sample page.

I have plugged the sat receiver into a TV card on my PC and am using DScaler (www.dscaler.org) to take a screen capture once a second to the same file. I am then reading this file once a second from the web so I can see the results of my actions and program my sat receiver /PVR from the internet.

Only problem is my free trial runs out soon and I can't justify $99 for the program just to do this so will have to start looking at coding something myself.

Julian

I just plunked down my $99 for girder, because it all works, and I got great support during the trial period. If you want, try HIP, it's free, and can do some of the easier functions (and easier learning curve). It can also interact WITH girder if you choose to expand capabilities in the future. http://www.byremote.com.au/ . It might work for both of you actually.

[bridgjr]

Thanks for this Vinny, looks like something I could use, I'll investigate and see if it does what I need.

I agree Girder is an excellent application and does exactly what I need as well as getting great support during the trial period, just can't afford it at the moment.... might have gone for the standard version but I like the integrated web server which I don't believe comes with this unfortunately.

[Riplaw]

Hi,

Okay, I have no idea how to program web pages or java scripts. You can say i'm a dumbass, because I can't even figure out the sample pages that came with Girder 4. I currently have Girder working the way I like, (keyboard event sends command to USB-IR which then changes a chanel on my receiver).

Can anyone please supply me with an easy step by step insx, on how to send a web event to my server which is running Girder (Girder's webserver plug-in)? :oops:

Thanks a bunch
Jose

[Promixis]

Hi,

Okay, I have no idea how to program web pages or java scripts. You can say i'm a dumbass, because I can't even figure out the sample pages that came with Girder 4. I currently have Girder working the way I like, (keyboard event sends command to USB-IR which then changes a chanel on my receiver).

Can anyone please supply me with an easy step by step insx, on how to send a web event to my server which is running Girder (Girder's webserver plug-in)? :oops:

Thanks a bunch
Jose

Jose, start a new thread on this.