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LOR SDK


Tim Fischer

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I would love to see an officially-supported SDK for Lightorama, so I can write my own software that drives the LOR network.

To avoid conflict of interest, I would be perfectly fine if LOR were to require someone to have an advanced S2 license in order to use software that requires the SDK. That way even if someone wrote a competing sequencer/show control product using the SDK, LOR still gets everyone's money since they'd also have to have a valid S2 license.

I'm mainly interested in implementing some fringe features that are likely too small to ever get implemented - like a HWU lighting console that takes in a channel config and lets you control your entire display manually from one screen (without selecting physical controllers, etc).

-Tim

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I like your idea for a hwu lighting console. I don't think Dan will ever release a SDK . LOR use to be open, now S2 is locked down. CAN Only hope for a future feature.

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Donald Puryear wrote:

I like your idea for a hwu lighting console. I don't think Dan will ever release a SDK . LOR use to be open, now S2 is locked down. CAN Only hope for a future feature.

Again, I'm perfectly fine with it being "locked down" by being tied to a LOR license. That is, I could create a product based on the SDK and give it to you, but if you wanted to use it you'd have to have a valid LOR license of the appropriate level. LOR still gets their money, and everyone is happy.

The alternative is to try to reverse-engineer the protocol, which runs into legal issues, is much harder than it should be to write a simple little utility, and nobody is happy.
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Tim Fischer wrote:

I would love to see an officially-supported SDK for Lightorama, so I can write my own software that drives the LOR network.

I agree 1000%!
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Tim Fischer wrote:

I would love to see an officially-supported SDK for Lightorama, so I can write my own software that drives the LOR network.

To avoid conflict of interest, I would be perfectly fine if LOR were to require someone to have an advanced S2 license in order to use software that requires the SDK.

That sounds like a great idea!
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Donald Puryear wrote:

I like your idea for a hwu lighting console. I don't think Dan will ever release a SDK . LOR use to be open, now S2 is locked down. CAN Only hope for a future feature.


I have toyed with the idea of a SDK for many years (since day one)... We sort of had one for a short time but it was not official and fell out of date. My biggest concern is creating the documentation and keeping it up to date... and a few other things.

As far as " ...LOR used to be open but is now locked down..." I am not sure what that means. S2 is more open than the original. We have made most files XML so they are easy to interface to, much easier than the original files. Most likely I just don't understand:)...

Dan
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I'd like to see an Active X control or a simple TCP command server so that other processes could control the LOR system, such as, PLAY SHOW "C:SHOW1.lms" or SET CHANNEL (8:4) TO 80%.

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roknjohn wrote:

I'd like to see an Active X control or a simple TCP command server so that other processes could control the LOR system, such as, PLAY SHOW "C:SHOW1.lms" or SET CHANNEL (8:4) TO 80%.


What you are asking is that either the S2 software have a built in web server, or that a Show Director have a built in web server.

It would be nice to see a Show Director with a built in server so one could control it via tcp/ip.

As for the S2 software, I need to look at what can be done with it. I don't know if any of the applications take command line arguments, but if the computer running S2 is available via an Internet connection, it can always be controlled remotely. This is something I will be working on this year.

I have nbever tried it, but I will be installing S2 on ne of my servers and see if I can interface it with a web server.
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Not really a web server. I don't want to connect to it using a browser. Nor would I want the bloat of a SOAP protocol, either.

For remote operation, Remote Desktop (or VNC) already lets me take my laptop or iPad into the yard (or anywhere) while controlling the upstairs server running LOR. I'm thinking of something different.

I'm a software developer, which means I always want total control of everything. :D

Command line parameters are easy to implement but have a latency issue. They may not be suitable for everything that I would like to do. TCP (with some simple basic text commands and parser) would be better.

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roknjohn wrote:

Not really a web server. I don't want to connect to it using a browser. Nor would I want the bloat of a SOAP protocol, either.

For remote operation, Remote Desktop (or VNC) already lets me take my laptop or iPad into the yard (or anywhere) while controlling the upstairs server running LOR. I'm thinking of something different.

I'm a software developer, which means I always want total control of everything. :D

Command line parameters are easy to implement but have a latency issue. They may not be suitable for everything that I would like to do. TCP (with some simple basic text commands and parser) would be better.



You would not have to use a browser. You could use Adobe Flash or even better, Adobe AIR. Or you could write your own.

Either way, there is a client and a server involved. Something on the LOR end has to act as a server. That's either the S2 software or some hardware that does not currently exist.

I would like very much to be able to talk to the LOR hardware via one of the 802 protocols.


An API to S2 would work for me.
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  • 2 years later...

I see this thread died out in 2011.  Wanted to revive it to see anymore thought was given to an SDK.  I have a slightly different reason for asking.  While I too am a programmer and like having control and tweaking things, my Fiance and I are in the process of starting a company called ScareTronix.  We are designing some different kinds of controllers.  Some are for animatronics.  We will also have our own software to control our products but we want to be able to control other products so people can integrate with their existing hardware investment.  Perhaps there is a different consideration for people like us who want to make products and software that works with LOR controllers.

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  • 9 months later...

I'm Guessing since there hasn't been a reply from anyone including Dan in 10 months since my post that this is a dead conversation?

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  • 2 years later...

I also would like this. I would like to design an interactive interface, so the public could have some control of the show at different times through out the schedule. 

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Wow, I see this is a six year old thread.  Bob's suggestion of MIIP might be a good suggestion.  I have used VNC for years with my show computer.  works fine from either a laptop or my phone.

 

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40 minutes ago, michaelvhunter said:

I also would like this. I would like to design an interactive interface, so the public could have some control of the show at different times through out the schedule. 

Yes, I think the MIIP would be what you are looking for,

Someday I will find the time to put it in action, hopefully by this season.

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I'd like an SDK - it would solve SO many issues with a project I'm working on right now.

Though it may not be possible, there's still hope.

The fact that LOR is using XML does help for other solutions!

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