tomskillman Posted October 6, 2009 Share Posted October 6, 2009 I'm planning on adding interactivity to my show this year. I was told by a fellow LOR user that he was able to implement a queued system outside of LOR. He did this by replacing the show file using the Windows Command functionality. I have been successful in doing this...if the queue is empty, it simply replaces the show file with the full show. That's where the problems start. When I start the show, it plays the first sequence in my full show as it should. When that sequence starts, it checks the queue and finds a request, so it replaces the show file (current.lss) with the requested sequence (1.lss in this case). When the first sequence from my full show finishes, LOR plays the requested sequence. That sequence calls the windows command to check the queue, and the show file is again replaced (by 2.lss this time) I have verified that current.lss is now a copy of 2.lss. When the playing sequence finishes, it should move on to the next request, but instead keeps playing the current sequence, not the newly requested one.The person who I received the tip from told me that LOR was unique in that it checked the show file every time it finished a sequence. Now perhaps something has changed in recent releases of the software, but I've gone back as far as version 2.3.4 and not been able to get this to work the way he said. I never got an email back from him regarding what version he was using. Does anyone have any insight on this?Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomskillman Posted October 7, 2009 Author Share Posted October 7, 2009 John or Dan, Can you shed some light on the situation?Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightORamaDan Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I did not think that it checked the show file between sequences. But I do believe that it checks the schedule file and if the show that should be playing is changed in the schedule file then that should be picked up. But I will defere to Bob's input on this one.Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomskillman Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 Ah....that sheds a little light on the subject...maybe I need to re-write the schedule file then to implement my queue.....I'll try that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I'm not sure that I understand the question, but it does check the show file for changes. It does not check it when a sequence ends, though. Rather, it checks it periodically (every 10 seconds or so).It does not check that the contents of the sequences in the show file have changed. So, for example, it will notice if the show changes from using sequence1.lms to sequence2.lms, but it will not notice if the show stays using sequence1.lms and sequence1.lms changed to using a twinkle instead of a shimmer.When it notices that the show file has changed, it will shut the current show down gracefully (letting any currently running musical sequence finish, and then running the shutdown section of the show) before moving on to the new show.The schedule file is also periodically checked for changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomskillman Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 If I understand Bob correctly, changing either the show file (.lss) or the schedule file (weeksched.lsc) should cause the software to finish the current sequence and play the next queued song based on the replacement of the .lss or the weeksched.lsc file...but it doesn't seem to be working replacing the .lss file....I'll try to explain what I've done....For testing, I'm using 5 sequences...1. TSO2. Blue Christmas3. Mele Kalikimaka4. What's This5. Info sequence from 2008So I then created 5 show files: 1.lss --> TSO 2.lss --> Blue Christmas 3.lss --> Mele Kalikimaka 4.lss --> What's This2009.lss --> Info Sequence onlyThen, I copied 2009.lss to current.lss. I schedule current.lss for 8 am to 5 PM, 7 days a week.Each of the sequences has a batch file that runs which checks a queue text file and replaces current.lss with the appropriate show file...which it does just fine.If I start the show, it plays my intro sequence and the batch file checks the queue, and replaces copies 1.lss over the current.lss file. I have verified this. After the intro plays, LOR correctly plays TSO. When TSO starts, the command file replaces current.lss again, this time with the second song in the queue (#2). I verified that current.lss now contains Blue Christmas. When TSO finishes playing, it starts TSO again, the batch file checks the queue and replaces current.lss with the next queued song, which happens to be Mele Kalikimaka. I've let it play about 6 times and it just keeps playing TSO.Hope that makes it clear what I'm experiencing....Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomskillman Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 I just modified my script to switch out the weeksched.lsc file instead of the .lss file and it seems to be working. I opened the status window and just after each sequence starts, it changes to show that it's waiting to finish and the appropriate replacement scheduled show is waiting to start.....we'll see if this keeps working.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Not sure why it's not working for you. I have tried it out here, and it works for me as I described.You're not also renaming sequence files, are you? For example, renaming TSO.lms to current.lms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomskillman Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 No. I was copying show files (1.lss) over the scheduled show (current.lss). I've got it working using the schedule, and as a side benefit, the status window will tell me what song is playing as a request or if the full show is currently playing....I kinda like it this way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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