Native Android control client

[davidsetton]

The powerlinc Modem is an Insteon Device. The software is "free" for personal use as a component of Girder. More information on the interface can be found in this very long thread (the first post from the developer has the most recent build of the component):

Insteon Powerlinc Modem Component

David

Hi David,

I'm working on examples and documentation right now actually, along with some substantial clean-up and the last new feature before the release candidate is built (the feature being some on-device layout and entity editing to make tweaking things much easier than hand-editing XML). My examples so far are fairly server-agnostic (demoing how to do things like web service calls and updating controls against 'fake' services that reside on andreapp.com so you can see what's going on without having to worry about the server end) with the exception of a more robust example for Girder.

However I very much want to have support for as many devices/servers as I can find and have a growing list of ideas to implement. I'll put ZoomPlayer JRiver MC examples at the top of that list and put some effort into it for the next example release which I am hoping to have by the end of the week.

It actually sounds like rgouyet might be working on something for JRiver already, perhaps he'll share some snippets as well. I am hoping to build a gallery and forums and tools to allow for very active community cross-sharing of implementations to promote sharing, but those will be built up after the first release candidate is out.

I'm not familiar with the Powerlinc Modem interface you're referring to (I know the hardware, but I assume you're talking about a software controller for it?) can you point me to more info on it?

[rgouyet]

andreCommands.setEntityAttribute( 'pg_musique', 'slider_PositionMS', 'maxValue', value);

and

<Slider id="slider_PositionMS" width="300" height="50" startValue="0" changeVar="Jriver.PositionMS"/>

I have no chance tonight. None of the hint are working for me. I will wait the slider sample to make them working...
In the Edit entity Value, my slider value remains to 100.

But i'm happy to discover new functions or way of doing things with Andre (For example, setEntityAttribute functions was never describe before !)

You are right, I'm trying to implement interaction with Girder and Jriver Media Center. I'm working on the technical side as I'm not a graphics the result is not as dreamed...
But full interaction with Jriver need to work with Andre List functionalities. It's an other story !!
The Jriver "Gizmo" client is already great but if I can replace it in my Andre Project, it could be amazing!

[rgouyet]

My slider is working !
I have to convert my "value" to int (decimal value were not working)

value = String(parseFloat(associativeArray['PositionMS'])*100/parseFloat(associativeArray['DurationMS']));
andreCommands.setEntityValue( 'pg_musique', 'slider_PositionMS',parseInt(value) );

My maxValue for slider is 100.

The direct use of the DurationMS (to set maxValue) and PositionMS (to set the slider position) from Jriver was not working...

[HTLuke]

My slider is working !
I have to convert my "value" to int (decimal value were not working)

value = String(parseFloat(associativeArray['PositionMS'])*100/parseFloat(associativeArray['DurationMS']));
andreCommands.setEntityValue( 'pg_musique', 'slider_PositionMS',parseInt(value) );

My maxValue for slider is 100.

The direct use of the DurationMS (to set maxValue) and PositionMS (to set the slider position) from Jriver was not working...

That's great news, I'll take a peek at the code and see if I can make it more tolerant of decimals, even though the actual call to set the sliders are integers.

By the way, I'm fixing one bug right now and packaging up a release. The current beta version expires tomorrow and I don't want people to be without a working version. I enabled HTTPS as well as a bunch of smaller fixes. It should be available in an hour or so, assuming I can fix the bug I'm encountering.

[rgouyet]

Bêta already expired in France (it's 10 past midnight!!)
It's time to sleep...

[HTLuke]

New in version 1.9.6b:

Beta Expiration Now Set To October 15th, 2011

+ New: Set Entity Attribute Parameter (partial)
+ BUG: andreArgs only works the first time scripts are initialized
+ Added more parsing error messages
+ Small attempt to fix orientation issues for honeycomb
+ Enable Button entities to optionally have a background container
+ New: page creation/editing
+ New: SSL communication support (https)

http://www.andreapp.com/downloads/Andre-1.9.6b.zip


Details:

New: Set Entity Attribute Parameter (partial)

Moving further toward every value and attribute being assignable dynamically (largely to allow for on-device configuration), a new Parameter 'setEntityAttribute' allows for changing of Entity attributes from within Andre. Attributes are the values defined as part of an Entity tag, be it a common value (alignParentLeft, borderWidth, etc.) or Entity-specific (Browser zoomCtrls or Text textSize).

The format is: <pageId>|<entityId>|<attributeName>|<newValue>

Where attributeName is the exact name as it is used inside the entity's tag definition.

Example:

<Text id="text_introduction" textSize="18" bgColor="ffff0000">Welcome!</Text>
<Button id="btn_changeTextColor">
   <Parameter name="setEntityAttribute">pg_welcome|text_introduction|bgColor|ff00ff00</Parameter>
</Button>

This is not fully implemented for every single attribute yet, but most are in place. Next release will have this completed. For scripts there is also andreCommands.setEntityAttribute( String pageId, String entityId, String attributeName, String newValue ).

BUG: andreArgs only works the first time scripts are initialized

andreArgs was only properly initialized during the first run of a script. This is now fixed.


Added more parsing error messages

There were lots of places that did not report errors parsing or executing attributes and Parameters, so I added a bunch, and will continue to add more.


Small attempt to fix orientation issues for honeycomb

While I've not done everything I want to, I've tried to reduce the orientation issues for Honeycomb users. I need to focus on this a bit more to get the full solution, and there may be side effects on orientation in general in the meantime.


Enable Button entities to optionally have a background container

Buttons to date have been a fairly unique Entity type, since they have Parameters and other unique settings. As such, and to manage memory consumption and remote speed I had refrained from adding extra features otherwise common to all other Entities like background fills or borders.

With this release, I've merged some code and set an optional flag on Buttons that enable these features for Buttons. Simply add 'enableBgContainer="true"' to a Button tag definition and then all the background and border attributes are respected for that Button.

Example:

<Button id="btn_bgButton" enableBgContainer="true" bgFillColor="ffff00ff" borderWidth="3">
   ...
</Button>

Add page creation/editing

Another step toward on-device layout creation/editing, under Settings->Tools you can now create new pages or edit existing ones. This only refers to the Page attributes themselves and DOES NOT yet do any editing/creation of entities on the new page (so it has limited actual use right now). The attributes include orientation, displayName and the Button Trigger that happens when the page gets displayed.


SSL communication support (https)

HTTPS is now supported. To use it for config/asset download, check the appropriate Use HTTPS box(es) in Settings->Server and set the port to the proper value (usually 443). For web service calls, there is a new Parameter, 'serviceUseHttps' which you can set to 'true' before the serviceParams call is made (also make sure to properly set the servicePort Parameter as necessary).

Since home servers usually do not have properly signed certificates, there is a new setting (Settings->Server->Accept All SSL Certs) that allows you to ignore server certificate validity errors.


I've actually got several things under construction in this release as well, and haven't had as much time to test it as I normally like, but I wanted to release a new version with an update Beta expiration so people wouldn't be left without a remote. I'm aiming to have a more stable release by the end of the week.

I am still focusing a large portion of my efforts on examples and documentation, but my time availability overall has been short the last few weeks so it's going a bit slower than I'd like. Thanks for being patient.

[rkirmeier]

Thanks for the update Luke! I'll give the Honeycomb orientation fix a run tonight. I probably need to go through and read all the posts from the last few weeks cause I have been too busy to keep up on things but wonder if you ever implemented the overlays you had mentioned? Also, any luck with a option to assign the Home button in Andre to a different launcher when Andre is the system default launcher?

[HTLuke]

Thanks for the update Luke! I'll give the Honeycomb orientation fix a run tonight. I probably need to go through and read all the posts from the last few weeks cause I have been too busy to keep up on things but wonder if you ever implemented the overlays you had mentioned? Also, any luck with a option to assign the Home button in Andre to a different launcher when Andre is the system default launcher?

Definitely a good idea to catch up, as I believe there may have been a few syntactical changes you'll need to be aware of at the very least.

I did work on implementing overlays and have a demo half-finished, but essentially I just added a visibility attribute to core Entities and then allowed it (and all other attributes) to be changeable by Parameter or script. This lets you create a ButtonGroup filled with your overlay content which you simply toggle on and off by switching its visibility as desired. I also added a new attribute specifically to ButtonGroups that optionally let you catch any clicks you make from being passed down to the layer below (so your overlay can be 'modal' and prevent presses on the interface underneath).

The only thing that is not optimal with this implementation is that the overlay will still be an entity child of a specific page, so if its something you want available everywhere, you have to copy or inherit it onto all pages. The paradigm of the Page being an encapsulated entity itself is strong in the architecture, so having global layout items that span pages isn't something that is likely to happen soon, as I'll need to reconsider some core structure.

The demo I was working on (when I got side-tracked with other stuff) was to pop up a slider overlay for adjusting light levels when I tap on a lamp icon on a page that looks like a blueprint of a house. I'm aiming to finish that as the example config for overlays but might not get back to it until after this weekend.

I haven't yet gone back to the Home button issue, but I've been kicking around another option that wouldn't take long to implement that may at least temporarily ease the problem, and that is in Home mode to add a new Menu item that launches into the Settings panel directly. The intent for that is trivial, so the only work is to optionally add and remove that Menu item when the Home screen is enabled/disabled. Would that be useful? I'd still do the Home button solution too, but it's one of those things that I don't have as clear a vision on (or full understanding of my options) so I'm avoiding diverting away from getting an RC built and docs/examples prepared.

[rgouyet]

Thanks a lot for this last update !

Https works with my webservice.

Questions :

1) Is there any action that can be associate with button that allow to close Andre ?

2) I have a button with a picture. This picture is not refreshed even if I use the redisplay="true" in button parameters and action="display" with imageUrl parameter.

My URL is http://..... because outsite of my andre image folder. Is there an other way to force the refresh ?


3) Does the 1.9.6b release include the new way to parse XML that you give en example a few days ago ? (parseXmlWithE4X)
I tried to use it. I get no errror but no result too...

Thanks

[HTLuke]

Https works with my webservice.

Excellent, I had limited HTTPS services to test against, so I'm glad to hear it is working for you.

1) Is there any action that can be associate with button that allow to close Andre ?

No, there isn't yet a Parameter to trigger a Quit, I've added it to my to-do list.

2) I have a button with a picture. This picture is not refreshed even if I use the redisplay="true" in button parameters and action="display" with imageUrl parameter.

That's a great use-case I totally missed. Right now, an imageUrl only fetches the image once and caches it locally forever. If it's cached in RAM or on the device memory it won't re-fetch. You could hack this right now by adding a random query string variable to it using an in-line script, because the image caching happens based on a hash code of the entire URL. But that's ugly and would cause your images cache to get bloated with images.

I will figure out a way to make this work. One question though; does this need to be a Button or could you use the Image entity? I'm guessing this is some kind of webcam snapshot or something you're wanting to update and may not need it to be clickable.

3) Does the 1.9.6b release include the new way to parse XML that you give en example a few days ago ? (parseXmlWithE4X)
I tried to use it. I get no errror but no result too...

It should, but I will test it again and make sure I didn't mess anything up at the last minute.