Change Frames, like HTMLs: Target="frame"

[Aaron]

Ben,
Can you incorporate that will allow changes to a frame so you can, upon command (button click) will change the frame's contents?
Simular to HTML where you can set a target frame.

This way, we could embed panels within panels thus emilinating the need to "rebuild" each panel for a screen change. We could target a specific part of the current panel to change, like tv channels, status readouts, etc.

[Ben S]

If Stewart and I are able to support Popup panels, would that work for what you're trying to do, Aaron?

I'm unsure how you'd design the pages if only parts of the panel showed. I suppose you could have invisible frames, and hide and show frames that contain other buttons. I think it would be very difficult to design with Tonto support, though.

[Aaron]

Pop-ups would not work for this idea. I think this could be implimented in NetRemote alone (using INI) and would not need to have Tonto involved, though it would make things easier.

Situation:

entire CCF screen size = 640x480

Xpanel (panel that changes) screen size = 320x240

The Xpanel turns into the DVD controls, or TV controls, or ... depending on the device button chosen.

This way you do not need to rebuild the entire screen when only some of the controls need to change

This is the opposite of how a regular remote works...
when you change the device being controlled on a regular remote, the button functions change not the display.
Since this would be more difficult to impliment with NetRemote (would need to add 'if-then' like functions to each button), 'partial' screen changes would be a good substitute for this functionality.

What does everyone think?

[Ben S]

Hi Aaron,
I think that's a need idea. So basically it's a ccf embedded in a panel of another ccf. The way I've changed the architecture around would allow for two or more ccfs to be loaded at the same time, I'm just wondering how the event loop would work. I suppose you could add all of the children of a panel to the main panel at the specified point.

Let me think about this for a bit. In the meantime I recommend copying the panel to a new panel and just changing the bits that change. A little overhead, but doable without code changes.

[Aaron]

Ben,
Have you given any more thought to this feature? I think it would be VERY useful and save much design time and reduce file size.

I think I know how your could impliment this without any changes in Tonto required. You could use the ID tag for the button and a starting key word like Path or Redirect.

Example:

'Frame X' will be the "redirected" frame.

set ID Tag for Button to...
Path:"Frame X"="Devices\DTV Channels\News Panel\News Channels"

Format for above is...
"Device Name\Panel Name\Frame Name\frame name"

what do you think?

[JcMarin]

Actually you can create a layout with everything that does not change and put that as a master template in Tonto.

This template will automatically be included in every new screen you create and will not use the resources or space to duplicate this in every screen.

I'm creating a new CCF this way, which has a toolbar at top and background that does not change and this has considerably recudec de CCF size. When I need a button on the toolbar to change in a specific screen (instead of the master layout function) I just create a transparen button on top of the specifric btn in the tollbar in that screen.

Anyway the CCF within the CCF sounds like a very nice idea :-)

[Aaron]

My idea really was not to use separate CCFs within the same display, just be able to redirect what a frame displays to another frame on a different panel. Simular to how buttons and frames work on a web page. This way, build one CCF with a single (or a few) main pages and use buttons to swap specific panels at will.

One example I'd use it for...
It would allow me to have a large frame be my browser for the internet and still allow me to switch a side frame to control different equipment on my system. This way, I'd never "lose" my browser and can still control the entire HT system.

cool eh!?

Ben, do you think you could put this in pretty easily? I think it would be simular to how you do the browser stuff.

This, in my opinion, would make NetRemote the killer app!!!

[Ben S]

I don't think it would be easy to do, but I can see the benefit. The real problem I see is in the configuration within Tonto. It would be difficult to get the right sizes setup, etc.

I'd like to hold this one off until post 1.0 release, but I will revisit it once 1.0 is out the door.

Thanks guys!

[Aaron]

I did not think it would take a mod to Tonto... I was thinking you could do it soley in the Netremote code. Isn't that how you did the http:// stuff?
I was thinking something like path:// or redirect:// would work?

[Ben S]

I'm thinking in terms of design in Tonto. But I'll mull over this for a bit and see. Thanks Aaron!