ACI (Automation Controller Interface)

There are other devices that will work as well. These are the ones that have been tested with ACI.

ACI's primary function is to provide a simple user-friendly interface to control any serial device accessible on a standard tcp/ip network. Below are a few of ACI's features:

• Transmitting commands (up to 80 per set) to a serial device over TCP/IP.
  • Listening for a reply from that device, and reporting that in the status bar, or in a popup window.
  • Two part buttons: A multi-step way to execute a command. Ex: select an item, and then select what action to do to that item. This is useful for video switchers or anything that has multiple inputs and/or outputs (Illustrated above in the screenshot)
  • Sequences: A way to chain commands together. Create up to twelve sequences of commands per command set.
  • Command Sets: Completely swap out an entire screen (commands and sequences) with up to 4 other sets. (5 total)
  • Reply Translation: If a device responds in a non-user friendly method (such as in a hexadecimal reply), translation can be used to convert that into user understandable information.
  • Send Commands in either hexadecimal (using the <hex> tag), or in standard ASCII.
  • Insert a delay into a command, (using the <d:?> tag).
  • Using the <c:?> tag, commands can call another command, where ? is another cmd button.
  • A command set editor to easily add or modify commands and sequences.
  • Graphic Overlays: A standard PNG file (with alpha transparency support) can be overlaid on the command set, for customizing/personalizing the interface.
  • Password protection from editing the command sets.
  • Button status latching, which provides a way to see if an object was recently selected. This is useful for providing an On/Off like toggle status. (Illustrated above)

ACI is compatible with Windows 2000/XP/Vista(with admin privileges), and requires a screen resolution of 1024x768. Larger resolutions will work fine, but the window will be locked at 1024x768. ACI works well with touchscreen monitors.