ExtenderCodeCalc.xls question/request

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Mon Dec 22, 2003 8:30 am

Having relatively recently jumped into the extender world, with ToadTogs and LKPs, I have found this tool EXCEPTIONALLY helpful (as are IR, KM and RM - but we all know THAT!). Has anybody suggested or tried to include in the ExtenderCodeCalc a capability to build the "Custom" special protocol keymoves? i.e. to have the user type in the text he/she wants to display on the LCD screen and have the spreadsheet determine the 'keycode" to enter?

Just an idea - it might be too hard and too infrequently used to be worth the effort.

Thanks.

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Wed Jun 29, 2005 11:50 pm

Bump of this question.

Is it possible to include the Custom Protocol in either the CodeCalc spreadsheet or built-in to IR on its Special Protocol Tab?

Typing in the desired Custom Mode Name right there in IR would be, like, TOTALLY AWESOME, Dude!

mtakahar · Post by **mtakahar** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 1:34 am

Ok, not IR.exe, but I kluged Costom Mode Name support into the ExtenderCodeCalc.

Add the following line under the [Extender] section in the RDF, choose this setup code on the KeyMove/Macro Calc sheet, enter the double quoted text in the Key Strokes column and click on the Key Strokes to HexCmd conversion button.

Code: Select all

DeviceSetup=MISC/1107,ModeName

I fixed a few bugs related to the regular macro calculation feature (it wasn't working for me in v3.00.) and also incorporated a bug fix done by Liz (ElizabethD) in this version. (Her notes support hasn't been included yet.)

Hal

Capn Trips · Post by **Capn Trips** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 8:52 am

Thanks. It seems to work pretty well.

A bit cumbersome, but effective.

Thanks again.

Nils_Ekberg · Post by **Nils_Ekberg** » Thu Jun 30, 2005 9:09 am

I added this change to the RDF's to include with the next release of RDF's

Post by **ElizabethD** » Tue Jul 05, 2005 8:58 pm

Nice feature. I like the idea. Works as advertised. Thanks to all of you.

Hal, I never finished the notes other than making space and refs. For bulk mode (which months ago I didn't know how to use), it needs a clipboard rewrite or something to take care of that "|" to remove/add as the sequence dictates, and ECC was supposed to be dead due to IR getting so fancy.

Long live ECC

I'd like to suggest one addition to the readme file. In the 'Keymove/Macro sheet' section, a reminder between (1) and (2) about shutting off wordwrap in IR would be neat.

And one about the EFC column on the Keymove/Macro sheet: various numbers got a funny format, $ up front, space at the end. It's currency format. So says Excel. I don't think it's dragged in from any other Excel open at that time. I did nothing other than paste the keymoves in from IR.

Question: for the special protocol keymoves to be included, we should shut off SPs in the RDF, right? But then what in IR? Will IR see the import as edit so that it arranges things as per the 6.10-6.15 version?

mtakahar · Post by **mtakahar** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 12:41 am

ElizabethD wrote:I'd like to suggest one addition to the readme file. In the 'Keymove/Macro sheet' section, a reminder between (1) and (2) about shutting off wordwrap in IR would be neat.

I didn't know about that feature - just did a search and found Mark added that feature for you... I wish I knew it a few weeks ago, when I picked up a 6131nw at a WalMart for $12 and converted my config from TiVo remote to play with it.

And one about the EFC column on the Keymove/Macro sheet: various numbers got a funny format, $ up front, space at the end. It's currency format. So says Excel. I don't think it's dragged in from any other Excel open at that time. I did nothing other than paste the keymoves in from IR.

This is a typical example of something intelligent causes more confusions when it is not intelligent enough. Don't worry about it, that column is just a place holder and not really used. (I understand it doesn't look right, though.)

Question: for the special protocol keymoves to be included, we should shut off SPs in the RDF, right? But then what in IR? Will IR see the import as edit so that it arranges things as per the 6.10-6.15 version?

The import part on IR works fine even with the SP section disabled. On the pasting part, it is possible to edit the contents from the clipboard on the ECC side accordingly, but perhaps even better idea is to add a capability of direct import from a .IR or .txt file.

Then, it makes me think if I should keep enhancing this spreadsheet or write it from scratch as a standalone program. It's the easiest for me to write the internal logics in C, but perhaps the GUI part would be easier. If I write it in java, it could be integrated into RM later. Anyway, I'll think about it.

Hal

Post by **ElizabethD** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 3:45 pm

While you're thinking and not editing it, I can take the Notes issue to the end (including previous changes), so we can do global jobs (sorts, replacements...) on the keymoves. It would apply to the SP section as well, but only if included as standard keymoves.

IR is not complaining about few lines from Excel it got, so I'd need to fit it into the scheme of things, preferably just once. The only space i need is room for a button and one column. Re clipboard rewrite for the delimiters: I thought I did, but don't have to; Excel and few lines of VBA can do it in a simpler way than messing with the clipboard.

SP and general issue of integration: I'd think it's a good idea. SP has a different clipboard format, so it's kinda out now. And if you edit a bunch of keymoves in ECC, it requires you to delete in IR before pasting which is a bit of apain. At least that's what I see. Something is different when KM or RM format imports, I think IR asks if to replace or am I imagining it?

mtakahar · Post by **mtakahar** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 5:30 pm

ElizabethD wrote:And if you edit a bunch of keymoves in ECC, it requires you to delete in IR before pasting which is a bit of apain. At least that's what I see. Something is different when KM or RM format imports, I think IR asks if to replace or am I imagining it?

IR asks if there are conflicts. It's working for me at least.

Hal

Post by **ElizabethD** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 7:51 pm

mtakahar wrote: IR asks if there are conflicts. It's working for me at least.

Hal

I'm retracting my comment.
I guess I was asleep watching a bucketfull of keymoves going from ECC to IR

IR, without integration with ECC, has no way of knowing about some editing in ECC. For instance, when a bound key ischanged, IR sees it as a new keymove. No reason for any alerts. But when stuff like the setup code or any hex value changes, the promts are there, just as Hal says.

Post by **ElizabethD** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 8:16 pm

I made some changes to ECC in order to accomodate the Notes column from/to IR.
ExtenderCodeCalc-v3.12
The base for these changes is Hal's update to ECC v3.10 dated 6/30/05.

Instructions are in the Keymove sheet section of the README file and additional notes at the end. The key one is related to special protocols - a temporary tweek of the RDF file is need in order to include them. It does require a different scheme than is currently in ECC.

If the small handful of ECC addicts could take a peek, I'd appreciate it.
My key concern is that what existed before isn't broken.

mtakahar · Post by **mtakahar** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:53 pm

I've just tried it with 120 or so keymoves and macros in my main remote, and it looks working fine to me so far.

Just a few comments:

You previously said IR was ignoring the changes, and now I see what you were talking about. IR doesn't catch any changes to the notes when it imports keymoves/macros and just ignores them if anything else didn't change. This is the same when you made some changes to the notes in RM or KM and reimport the keymoves (doesn't matter whether they are embedded in a device upgrade or not.) I would call this a bug in IR.
The "disable wordwrap" feature in IR (which you asked Mark to add) works really great. One minor thing inconvenience is that IR doesn't remember the settings...
You could have just modified the formula in the keymove column and included the notes there instead of introducing the Copy column, and it might have been easier?

Hal

Post by **ElizabethD** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:11 pm

Re #1: I thought it was a feature, I swear, with some profound reason. Perhaps you can piggy back onto Rob's IR request thread to keep it in one place. And #2: yup, it's a nuisance.

mtakahar wrote:You could have just modified the formula in the keymove column and included the notes there instead of introducing the Copy column, and it might have been easier?

You mean to tell me Rob allows doing nothing?

Yes, good idea and simplest to do, of course. I considered it.
Several excuses for not taking this path:
1. Ownership. I don't own ECC. Mike, Mark and you do. I don't know how you use it. I didn't want to mess with the only column that matters, for an issue of not that much significance really.
2. Selections. Most of the time, I just want to do some replace or editing of few keymoves, like change setup code from 1111 to 2222. I didn't want to add recalculation of all the keymoves all the time when I can just calculate and use the ones I want. Yeah, that's fussing, I know.
3. Feedback. When the phone rings, people bother me or something, I want to get back and see what I did last without having to figure out what changed last in IR. ECC tells me what I did last.

Does this make sense? It's convenient for me. What's convenient for you? I know that real estate is an issue but you can hide columns (make a view). Oh, and thanks for letting me play with it