Re: Newbie to xPL, downloaded all files, how to test?

[Gary]

Seems to be a few problems with Win98?
Is there a file in xPl xxx somwhere that would help you identify
better whats happening also see notes below

Thanks Gary


--- In <a
href="/group/ukha_xpl/post?postID=bgAUW8qlM_yWlYuYSa6eA1o8SUyyTwPZJ2agW-_uR75dxRi_6Pj5d0g-uFkQIYqyUGID-BrH9K17UnPky9aoeQ">ukha_xpl@xxxxxxx</a>,
"John B" <home-automation@j...>
wrote:
> Hi Gary,
>
> > I am using above, but have no idea what to do next?
> >
> > I have searched but nothing seems to explain, how you actually
> > control Winamp, for example, from xplhalmgr ?
>
> First things first...
>
> Make sure you have xPLHal running at all times - otherwise the
below won't work.
> I'll suggest to Tony that an option is added to allow xPLHal to run
as a systray icon - we are still at an early stage of testing on
Windows 98, and we still need to add some refinements, like a proper
installer as TOny says.
>
> Have you installed the WInamp plugin?
> This is detailed in the readme that comes with the xPL WInamp plug-
in.
> Basically you copy the DLL and INI file to your WInamp plugins
directory.
> Fire up winamp, and in the preferences window, under general
purpose plug-ins, you should see the xPL plug-in listed.
> Select it and click Configure.

------
This part does not work, I click on Configure and nothing happens at
all?
-------

> The settings should probably be OK left as their defaults, though
you may want to change the name from WInamp1 to something more
meaningful.
> Just make sure the "Use hub" tick box is selected, and the
address
is set to 255.255.255.255.
>
> Leave Winamp running, and fire up xPLHal Manager.
>
> Expand "xPL Devices" in the left hand window, and click
"Awaiting
Configuration".
> If you see something like xpl-xplhal.xxxxx listed in the right-hand
list view, this means you haven't configured xPLHal yet.

------
Nothing in that Window?
------

> Just double-click on the xpl-xplhal.xxxxx (where xxxxx will
probably be your computer name) to bring up the configuration dialog.
> In the list of configurable items, select "newconf", and
change the
name to something meaningful to you (you can leave it unchanged if
you wish).
> Click OK.
>
> You should now be ready to go.
>
> A nice way to test out whether things work is to use the plug-ins
that are available for xPLHal manager that allow you to control xPL
devices directly by right-clicking on them.
> To download all the latest plugins (they are only small XML files),
go to Help -> Update Plug-in Library.
> (you will need to be connected to the Internet at this point)
> A window will appear listing all available plugins (I think there
are about 4 at the moment).
> Select them all and click OK.
> Once downloaded, restart the xplhal Manager.

------
It says that they have been downloaded, but after restarting still
cannot see any of them
------------


>
> Now, you should be able to select xPL devices, and see Winamp
listed in the right-hand window.
> Right-clicking on WInamp should bring up a list of actions that you
can use to control it, like Play, Stop, Pause etc.
>
> As for running applications like notepad, xPLHal has a function
that can run executable files called sys.execute.
>
> You could put the following line in a script:
>
> sys.execute("c:\windows\notepad.exe","",False)
>
> to launch notepad.
> (assuming Notepad is in c:\windows - I don't have a WIndows 98 PC
to hand)
>
> Note though, that if you were using the service version of xPLHal
on WIndows 2000 or XP, you wouldn't be able to see Notepad, as it
would be launched by the service, and therefore wouldn't be visible
to the currently logged on user.
>
> HTH,
>
> John