Front Panel Tab

 The Front Panel tab is a graphical representation of a product's control panel.  It gives you the ability to:

1. Configure the operations of the front panel buttons.

2. Configure the captions and functions of the control buttons that are displayed in the GlobalViewer® interface.

Functions of the Front Panel tab vary depending on what product is selected in the IP Link® Tree window and include:

• Setting a button caption

• Setting a button tool tip

• Setting a button repeat rate

• Setting button operations

• Setting button modes

• Enabe MPS 112

• Clear, reset, or auto-fill button captions

Setting a button caption

To set a button caption:

1. Select a control button.

2. Enter the top caption text in the
   Line 1 field (if desired).

3. Enter the bottom caption text in the Line 2 field (if desired).

In the example at right Line 1: "Power", and Line 2: "On" are displayed in line 1 (top) and line 2 (bottom) of the selected button.

A caption can be set for each button in the front panel display.

Setting a button tool tip

A tool tip is a descriptive line of text that is displayed in the GlobalViewer interface when the cursor is positioned over a button.

To set a tool tip:

1. Select a control button.

2. Enter the desired text in the Tool Tip field.

Setting a button repeat rate

The repeat rate is how quickly a button repeats its function if the button is held down.

Example

If you have configured a button as an increment volume button, and given it a repeat rate of 1.00 sec,  as long as you keep this button pressed (the front panel button or  the GlobalViewer button), the "increment volume" command will be sent every 1.00 second.

To set a repeat rate:

1. Select a control button.

2. Select a rate from the Repeat Rate drop-down list.

Setting button operations

The Button Operations tabs include:

• Driver

• Relay

• Time Delay

• User Defined

• Light Control

The functions of each tab are described in the paragraphs below.

Note:  Functions in the Button Operations (1) section are selected and moved to the Press (2) section or Release (3) section to be assigned to a button.  If a function is moved to the Press section, the function occurs when the selected button is pressed (either on the physical front control panel of the device, or in the GlobalViewer interface).  If a function is moved to the Release section, the function occurs as the button is released.

Note:  Because the DISPLAY power buttons are pressed down simultaneously to enter PIN mode, it is good practice to assign functionality to them on their release, (as opposed to the press) so that when you enter PIN mode, if you inadvertently press one button slightly before the other, you won't initiate its assigned function instead of entering PIN mode.

Note:  A red triangle in the top, left corner of a button indicates that it has been assigned a button operation.

Note:  Changes to the GC file do not appear in the GlobalViewer interface until the GC file has been built and uploaded to the network devices.

See Build Changed Configurations for more information.

Driver

To assign a driver function to a device button:  

1. Select a button (see below).

2. In the Button Operations section, select the Driver tab.

3. Select a device and expand its folder by clicking the + sign (example: Eiki LC-XG100).

4. Expand the desired operation folder by clicking the + sign (example: Power).

5. Select the desired function (example: On).

6. Drag the selected function (On) to the Press section or the Release section.

     - or -

Press one of the green Right Arrows (7) to move the selected function (On) to its respective Press or Release section.

     - or -

Drag the selected function (On) and drop it over the selected button (1).

Relay

The Relay tab in the Button Operations section gives you the ability to add relay functions to a selected button.

Example

If you want to power on a projector and lower a projector screen, all with one press/release of the display Power On button, you could:

• Connect the projector screen motor to a relay output of the MLC 226 device.

• Configure the display On button to send a power on command to a projector.

• Use the Relay tab of the Button Operations section to add a second function to the display On button that would drive a relay output to lower the projector screen.

To add a button function using the Relay tab:

1. Select a button.

2. In the Button Operations section, select the Relay tab.

3. Expand the Relay function (click the + sign).

4. Drag the desired relay function (On, Off, Toggle, Pulse) to either the Press or Release section.

- or -

Select the desired relay function and click one of the two green arrows (5) to move the selected relay function to the respective Press or Release section.

The example below shows the result of adding a Relay On function and a Relay Off function separated by a 10-second time delay (Wait 10 seconds), which gives the projector screen 10 seconds to reach the lowered position.

Time Delay

When you add multiple functions to a front panel button, you may want to insert a time delay between the functions.  The Time Delay tab provides the capability to add a delay period ranging from 1 second to
180 seconds to the Press or Release action of a button.

To add a time delay:

1. Select a front panel button.

2. In the Button Operations section, select the Time Delay tab.

3. Expand the Time Delay function (click the + sign).

4. Enter the desired number of seconds (1 to 180) in the Wait field.

5. Drag the Wait icon to either the Press or Release section.  

Note:  In the example below, a 10-second delay has been placed between Relay On and Relay Off functions, which allows the relay to be on for 10 seconds before turning off.

User Defined

The User Defined tab in the Button Operations section allows you to add button functionality that is not
pre-defined by entering ASCII strings or Extron Simple Instruction Set (SIS™) commands in the Command field and moving those commands to the Press or Release section.  The User Defined tab is functional only with serial ports.

For a listing of ASCII codes, select View ASCII Chart from the View menu.

To add a user-defined command:

1. Select a front panel button.

2. In the Button Operations section, select the User Defined tab.

3. Expand a serial port (click the + sign).

4. Click User Defined Command.

5. Enter your desired ASCII command string in the Command field.

6. Drag the user-defined command to either the Press or Release section.

- or -

Use the green Right Arrows (7) to move the user-defined command to the respective Press or Release section.

Light Control

The Light Control tab allows you to assign an indicator color to both the Press and Release actions of selected buttons.

Indicator Color options are:

• Off

• Green

• Red

• Amber

Indicator Blink options are:

• No Blink

• Slow Blink

• Fast Blink

To assign an indicator color to a button:

1. Select a button.

2. In the Button Operations section, select the Light Control tab.

3. Expand a No Blink, Slow Blink, or Fast Blink folder (click the + sign).

4. Drag the desired color icon (Off, Green, Red, Amber) to either the Press (4) or Release (5) section.

Note:  In the screen below, a solid Green indicator is assigned to the button when pressed.  A solid Amber indicator is assigned to the button when released.  These indicators appear on the actual device button and in the GlobalViewer graphical representation of the button.

Setting button modes

The options listed in the Button Modes drop-down list allow you to apply four different modes of operation for the Room buttons on the System 5 IP front panel.

Button modes of operation are:

• Single Switch

• Toggle

• Input

• Group (X)

Button modes of operation are described below.

Single Switch

In Single Switch mode, the push-button switch will perform the same primary function each time it is pressed.

Single Switch mode is the factory default state of the Room buttons and is indicated by a gray-colored button within GC.

Single Switch mode is the opposite of Toggle mode, which is described below.

Toggle

In Toggle mode you can assign two different actions to subsequent depressions of the same pushbutton switch.

If we apply the Toggle mode to a pushbutton switch, the initial press of the switch causes one action, and the next press of the switch causes a second action to occur.

To create a Toggle mode button:

1. Select a button.

2. Expand the desired device driver (click the + sign).

3. Expand the desired operation folder (click the + sign).

4. Select #1 as the Toggle state.

5. Drag the desired Button Operation (Video Mute On) to either the Press or Release section.

6. Select #2 as the Toggle state.

7. Drag the second desired Button Operation (Video Mute Off) to either the Press or Release section.

Toggle mode is indicated by red (top) and gold (bottom) coloring of the switch.

Toggle mode is the opposite of Single Switch mode, which is described above.

Input

An Input button mode means that when this button is activated, the audio or video input signal associated with this button is sent to the display device.

To assign an Input mode to a switch:

1. Select a switch.

2. Select Input from the Button Modes drop-down list.

Group (X)

When multiple buttons are assigned to a group:

• Only one button can be activated at a time.

• When a button is activated, it de-activates any other currently active button.

• The button label color changes to match other buttons of the same group:

• Group 1 = blue labels

• Group 2 = red labels

• Group 3 = purple labels

• Group 4 = green labels

To create a button group:

1. Select a Room button.

2. Select a Group (#) from the Button Modes drop-down list.

The selected button turns the color of the selected group (blue in the example below).

3. Select a second Room button.

4. Again, select the desired Group (#) from the Button Modes drop-down list.

The second button turns the color of the selected group, indicating that these two buttons now belong to the same group.

To return a grouped button to its original single switch state:

1. Select the desired button.

2. Select Single Switch from the Button Modes drop-down list.

The button returns to its single switch state, and its original gray color.

Enable MPS 112

The Enable MPS 112 checkbox enables you to add the MPS 112 Media Presentation Switcher control panel to a System 5 IP control panel, and configure all of the MPS 112 buttons along with the System 5 IP buttons.

The Extron MPS 112 Media Presentation Switcher merges four independent switchers in a single enclosure:

• a four input, one output VGA with stereo audio switcher;

• a four input, one output S-video with stereo audio switcher;

• a four input, one output composite video with stereo audio switcher;

• and a 12 input, one output program audio switcher.

To enable the MPS 112:

1. Click the Enable MPS 112 checkbox.

The MPS 112 front panel buttons are displayed (2) just below the System 5 IP front panel buttons.

Clear, reset, or auto-fill button captions

The Clear button is used to clear all of the front panel button caption text.

The Reset button is used to set all of the front panel button captions to their factory default text.

The Auto Fill button is not active on the Front Panel tab.  It is active on the Address tab when a Control Module is selected in the IP Link Tree window.  

See Clear, reset, or auto-fill button labels for more information.