My Setup to Remotely Choose A Song

[jtomason]

Oftentimes I've found myself wanting to view a song I've just sequenced or fixed a glitch in, or there's one little boy who loves Wizards in Winter, and always wants to hear it when his family drives by.  Of course, to do so means going inside, shuffling the show around, and restarting it - which modifies the playlist you've spent some time crafting.   I wanted a better way.  With the help of an older Bob-O post, I ginned something up today.

I created a web page on the local LOR computer that presents a list of sequences, and allows you to choose one that will play when the current song ends.  It's designed for a mobile device, so from my phone in the front yard, I can select a song. 

It looks like this:

 

 

So, how does this work?

First, everything you see is a show file, MINUS one special one called "show".   That is the show file that the scheduler is using.    Each show file is a copy of my master show file, but rotated so that the titular song is first up in the rotation.   The web page loads a list of all show files (*.lss, minus show.lss as mentioned) and presents it.  When you select one and click "submit", a back end PHP script copies the show file in question over show.lss, which causes it to enter shutdown mode, reload the show file (which now has your song choice up first) and play it.  

You'll also notice I have one named "Silence".   That is a simple show with one sequence of 2 seconds of silence - meant to show nothing while I prepare the crowd to be amazed - and then pick the normal show file - which immediately kicks off the show.  

The only caveat here is that if you leave one of the "chosen" show files playing, the next night, it will begin with that show again - which might not be what you want.  Failing to come up with a more elegant solution, I simply created a batch file that copies the master show file over show.lss and have that running daily at 4am using the Windows Scheduler service.  

 

If anyone would like to implement this themselves, I'll gladly give you the details and files, but there are a few caveats:

 

1. You must be computer savvy enough to edit text files and install software - namely Apache, PHP, and a Microsoft C++ redistributable.  

2. While there is no provision from someone from the outside to inject code, do cross-site-scripting, or any other nonsense, there is no sanity/security checking at all in this code right now.  I only have it open to my local network, not to the Internet, so this isn't a terrible problem, but caveat emptor.   I'm not responsible if someone is on your WiFi or you open it to the internet and it is (ab)used for evil.

3. You'll have to create your own show files, which I presume is not a problem.  

4. I formatted the page for a mobile device.  It looks pretty LARGE on a normal computer.  If it ever bothers me enough, I'll add browser detection and format it nicely for larger screens.  No promises.

5. You probably need at least a Basic Plus license of S4 for this to work.  I have advanced and am not sure how far back you can create normal shows.  This will also work for shows on demand, by the way.  

 If the above doesn't bother you, then get in touch here and I'll email you the info/files. 

 

Joe

 

 

Edited December 23, 2016 by jtomason

[BMurray]

Bob O does this already through his Miip setup if you're running through LOR.  It is very easy to use and set up and no need for someone to access your WiFi. It also has  a lot of customization and options.  He also keeps it updated quite  frequently with new stuff each year.  I like this because he runs everything on his end and monitors errors and if you encounter one he is very quick to respond and assist with any problems.  

[jtomason]

My (mis?)understanding was that MIIP was centered around public voting a'la jukebox style; this is more of an immediate play - I guess more for owners. 

 

  I haven't had a chance yet to set MIIP up, although Bob just created an account for me. 

[dibblejr]

Just now, jtomason said:

My (mis?)understanding was that MIIP was centered around public voting a'la jukebox style; this is more of an immediate play - I guess more for owners. 

 

  I haven't had a chance yet to set MIIP up, although Bob just created an account for me. 

Im in the same boat, Bob was kind enough to set me up around Halloween or so and I haven't implemented mainly because I wanted to test it first. That test will prob happen prior to taking down decorations this year.

JR