Advanced Operation And Configuration; The Christie Act Design Concept - Christie ACT User Manual

Section 3: Operation
3.6

Advanced Operation and Configuration

To perform the more advanced operations that are documented in this section, you must have administrative
privileges to Christie ACT. Refer to

3.6.1 The Christie ACT Design Concept

Christie ACT is designed to give the application developer (or system integrator) freedom to configure the
automation as required for the installation. Christie ACT can be configured to run independently or require user
intervention to initiate actions. This is up to the design choices of the application developer.
The system integrator is given the ability to build and manage applications whether simple or complex via the
Editor tab.
The Editor: My Devices tab is where the integrator chooses which devices are to be used for a given
application. Devices are created in the Editor: Library tab.
The Editor: Library tab (Figure 3-13) encapsulates device interfaces or other concepts into objects with
simple named interfaces. The interface is designed to allow combinations of basic primitive actions and cues
into objects to build device interfaces. Device interfaces help to manage the complexity of applications.
The library definitions are open, allowing the system developer the ability to create their own objects or to
modify existing objects. These library objects can be instantiated and combined to build up solutions to
complex requirements, while allowing the developer the ability to manage and understand how the pieces fit
together. The library can define a practically unlimited number of devices. Not all devices are required for any
given application. Libraries can be exported and appended.
The Editor: Script tab (Figure 3-12) is where the mapping of input events to output actions takes place. By
choosing device library interface names and device instantiation names carefully, it is possible to design high
level scripts that are very generic yet can be applied to many applications by choosing which devices are
instantiated. The default scripts provide an example of a framework that allows this flexibility.
The Editor: Operator Buttons tab is where you create virtual buttons, which are just like another button cue.
Users can associate cue handlers (call subroutines) with these buttons. This makes Christie ACT extensible by
essentially allowing it to support more cues than it can physically.
3-8
Section 3.8 Upgrading Christie ACT Software for details.
Christie ACT User Manual
020-100129-05 Rev. 1 (02-2010)