Macros And Macro Control; Rear Panel Control - Hardware - Lectrosonics DM84 Reference Manual

Macros and Macro Control

The DM84 can be remotely controlled using commands
sent over USB, a serial port, or a network connection.
An extensive text-based command language is defined
for the DM84. Touch panel controllers, for instance, use
this command interface.
NOTE: Refer to the Online Help for details of using
Macros as a powerful remote control option.
Macros are predefined groups of commands that are
stored internally by the DM84. All of the commands
contained in the macro can then be executed by issuing
a single Run command to the DM84. There are two
advantages to this approach:
Efficiency - only one command needs to be sent to
the DM to execute complex actions, which may
involve dozens of individual commands.
Modularity - frequently executed sequences can
be implemented as a macro which can be reused in
other control designs, or combined with other
macros to form complex actions.
Macros are stored in the DM84 nonvolatile memory. 128
macros are available, each are global in scope, mean-
ing that they are not associated with any particular
preset.
Macros may be given a descriptive title which is stored
along with the command list.
It is important to know that when a macro is run, the
response messages normally returned when the
commands are executed individually are discarded.
This means that ill-formed or unsuccessful commands
fail silently, as the error message is discarded.
Queries, commands which request information from
the DM, make no sense within a macro.
Macros can be chained if necessary, meaning that one
macro can call another macro by virtue of containing a
run command. It is important to know that a run com-
mand issued from within a macro will be delayed until
after the first macro has finished running. In other
words, macros aren't nested, they always run sequen-
tially (chaining). The best practice when chaining
macros is to make the run command the last command
in a macro.
The control panel contains a Macro Editor which is
used to create new macros or edit existing ones when
the PC is connected to a DM. Macros may also be
opened and saved as files, making it possible to work
with them in offline mode as well.
The control panel also contains a Macro Recorder
which allows a sequence of commands to be captured
as a macro without typing them into the Macro Editor.
The Macro Recorder works by capturing the commands
generated by the control panel when the mouse and
keyboard are used to make changes to the DM84
settings. The macro recorder can be run while con-
nected to a DM or used in offline mode to create
command sets in advance of the installation.
Rear Panel Control with
Hardware
The DM84 processor has programmable inputs which
can be used to control a wide variety of functions.
Depending on the function assigned to them, these
programmable inputs may be connected to momentary
contact switches, toggle switches, or potentiometers.
When used with a switch, the inputs are activated by by
connecting them to ground through the switch contacts,
called a "contact closure". When used with a variable
resistor, the inputs respond to the applied voltage in the
range 0 to 5 VDC.
Another feature of the rear panel control interface are a
set of programmable outputs which can be set up to
indicate either audio input channel activity or program-
mable input status. Programmable outputs act as an
electronic "contact closure" to ground. When the output
is active, the contact is closed (conducting to ground).
When the output is inactive, the contact is open (not
conducting to ground).
An important application of the rear panel control
interface is to manage what is called the rear panel
gain for input and output audio channels. This is an
additional gain value that is added to the "main" gain
value for a channel to give the total gain applied. Rear
panel gain is limited to the range -30dB to 0dB, and
therefore is actually intended to function as a variable
attenuator for the audio channel. The purpose is to
allow some amount of gain or level control by the end
user in a safe manner, using one of the programmable
inputs.
A typical application of rear panel gain is to allow
adjustment of the level of an audio output (driving a
speaker) downward from some maximum by means of
turning a potentiometer connected to a programmable
input which has been set up to use the Analog Output
RP Gain Control function.
Complete details on the use of Rear Panel control is
provided in the Installation Guide and in the Control
Panel GUI provided with the unit.