JP1 Remotes

[sti491]

Thanks Bruce. I figured that. I also have several key button moves, other macros and such... so I have a few more things to do.

That's the concept I was essentially following though. Appreciate it.

[sti491]

OK, I have my RCA hitting on all 8 cylinders now. I also have an Atlas extended RMI file ready to go when I get that remote.

Dave, if you reference back to page 2 in this thread, I talked about a Macro I wanted that would get me through my cable box selections to end at my Favorite Channel Guide List. I made a simple macro that works only if the circular part of the selection was last left in the right spot. Now I want to tackle making it work from whatever the last section was. I'm pretty sure that takes ToadTog(s) used in a more complex way than I did for my cable box discrete off.

Here is the detail of what I want to do:

- Dev_CBL
- Menu
- Then, left to right there are 8 choices (Home, DVR, On-Demand, HD Channels, Favorite Channels List, Search, Parental Controls, Apps). This list of 8 selections will be highlighted wherever it was used last. If you go right or left, it highlights the next selection in that direction. It keeps circling, never stoping until you stop going left or right. I want it to highlight Favorite Channels List
- OK
- OK
.... and that takes me where I want to be

DVR is another function within the 8 circular selections I may want to do as well... But I figure if I can do one, I can replicate for the other (?). I don't completely understand TodTog bits, but know I am limited to 8 of them. Not sure if I used 1 or 2 already in my CBL discrete on & off ToadTogs(?).

Dave, Bruce, anybody else who wants to chime in (?) ... I will read more on this in the morning when I am fresh. But what I have read (from your comments and link on page 2 Dave), leaves me pretty confused at the moment.

Suggestions?

[mdavej]

Before you go to all that trouble, have you tried OBC 21 for Favorites?

Otherwise, I have a few ideas. I don't think you have enough bits for a toadtog solution.

[sti491]

Hi Dave.

I have that OBC assigned to the Fav button on the RCA. It works great for cycling through the favorite channels I have created in a Favorite Cable Menu List called "Rob's Favorites".

Basically, "Rob's Favorites" is a lot of channels consisting of: Only the HD channels I pay for and actually watch.

Since it includes a relatively large number of channels, my preferred approach to selecting a channel to watch, is to select "Menu/OK (that gets me to the 8 choice circular menu)/OK when the heart icon for fav is highlighted from the preceding 8 choices, to select Rob's Favorite List, which gets me to my Favorite Channel List.

That Fav List is a Cable "guide" that shows 4 channels vertically and 3 half hour blocks of time going forward horizontally. I just page down (or up) through those screens to decide what to watch and to see what is coming on in the next hour at the same time.

That's what I am trying to get to with a single button press.

[mdavej]

It would be great if there were some command that would get that list to a certain state consistently. Try these OBCs and see if they do anything to the list:

Page+ 58
Page- 59
daydn 57
dayup 56
Help 50
payperview 24
VOD 26
skip+ 63
skip- 60
options 66
widgets 67
settings 65

And when happens of you hold down left or right for a few seconds?

[sti491]

Tried them all, No Bueno.... unfortunately. When you hold down the left or right for a few seconds it keeps cycling around indefinately.

[vickyg2003]

This is where I use recursion. The lkp keeps cycling until I let up on the button. Then the short side finishes things up.
_________________
Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.

[mdavej]

That's a great idea. I don't think we have enough bits for toadtogs.

We need details!

[sti491]

Sounds interesting! Yes, please provide details in lay person terms. I think I get the concept Vicky.

This is the task:
1. Dev_CBL
2. Menu
3. Then, left to right there are 8 choices (Home, DVR, On-Demand, HD Channels, Favorite Channels List, Search, Parental Controls, Apps). This list of 8 selections will be highlighted wherever it was used last. If you go right or left, it highlights the next selection in that direction. It keeps circling, never stoping until you stop going left or right. I want it to highlight Favorite Channels List
4. OK
5. OK
.... and that takes me where I want to be

Conceptually I make a SKP pointing to a macro that does 4 & 5, and a LKP that does 1 & 2, then I hold the button until the a move right (or left) command lands on the right screen icon.... but then how does the SKP marco initiate without me pushing another button?

Please provide as much specific guidance how to do these special function(s)/marco(s).

Thanks very much!

[sti491]

I'm also still not clear on ToadTog "Bits". I have done two ToadTogs so far, one for Cable discrete on, and one for discrete off. Does that mean I have used two of "8 bits" available? Does every ToadTog function use one bit?

I need a "Bits" for dummies explanation. Despite reading tutorials, I'm still not crystal clear on what "Test" does. I have used force on & off. I think I get what toggle does, i.e., the reverse of force on or off?!

It seems like it can do an "If in this state, do that", but I don't quite see how.... maybe I need a practical example?

[mdavej]

Your discrete on/off uses just one toadtog bit. But you'll need all 8 to do your favorites. So I don't think that's going to work. Vicky's recursion idea (a macro that calls itself) is probably the way to go, although I haven't worked out the details.

If we had enough bits, I would use this method to do your favorites. Maybe looking at that will clarify, or make you eyes glaze over.

http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=66830#66830

Another term for bit is flag, which is conceptually closer to what it actually does. When a condition is true, raise a flag, if false, lower the flag. Test just looks at whether the flag is up or down without changing it. Force on raises the flag, force off lowers it, no matter how many times you run the macro. Do a force off 3 times in a row, flag stays down. Toggle switches to the opposite state every time, just like the power button on your TV. Press once, turns on, press again turns off.

[ElizabethD]

Dave,
A macro can call itself but don't forget to shift it. So if you have a macro on TV/closeCaption then at the end of the macro say shift-closeCaption, else infinite loop.
Curiously, LKP doesn't mind really calling iself, so a TV/someKey=LKP() short: nothing; long: few buttons, someKey - will work without shift.
BTW, on 6131, I use your ToadTog version of Fav to cycle through receiver inputs. Takes up 5 ToadTogs, but works nicely.

I like this thread, because it reminds me, in one place, how to do things
_________________
Liz
Tweeking 8910, HTPro/9811, C7-7800, 6131o, 6131n, AtlasOCAP-1056B01, RCA-RCRP05B and enjoying the ride

[sti491]

Hi Elizabeth! Glad you like the thread. At times I was worried I would wear out my welcome with so many questions, or just sounding plain dumb.... But I learned a long time ago that the dumb question is the one you don't ask.

Dave and a few others have been so kind to help me get over the JP1 learning curve. I have a Harmony 900 that I have always really liked. Had to get a new TV and SoundBar recently due my old ones both dying an untimely death. Unrelated reasons, but both within a week of one another... I thought a black cloud was following me around!

That got me into reprogramming my H900, and realizing I really wanted some macros that I just couldn't do. Now, after many hours figuring out JP1 with primarily Dave's help, Bruce and a few others, I actually like using my $13 RCA JP1 remote better! While I have a lot of activities on my H900 and many soft buttons programmed, I never really liked the H900 soft button approach.

So it's been a fun journey that is far from over!

[sti491]

Elizabeth, and/or Dave, can you please clarify what you mean, where I bolded your comments:

A macro can call itself but don't forget to shift it. So if you have a macro on TV/closeCaption then at the end of the macro say shift-closeCaption, else infinite loop.
Curiously, LKP doesn't mind really calling iself, so a TV/someKey=LKP() short: nothing; long: few buttons, someKey - will work without shift.

I think this gets to my question of Vicky, that she hasn't answered yet. I still have not quite figured out how to specifically do what she and Dave were talking about, even though I think I kind of get their general idea (ref my comments/question 5 or 6 posts up).

If I could get a little more specifics how to create a combination of macros & special functions, I could start playing around trial & error to see what happens. The part I am missing is what I think you are referring to, about "calling itself"... at least I think so (?)!

Maybe I just got it writing this post (that has actually happened before!). If I have a macro called Phantom1, do you mean Phantom1 can actually be in the macro script?.... Hummmm, never thought of that until now!

I need to think about this for my application....

[vickyg2003]