JP1 Remotes

Here's another stupid question...Does anyone know what the HT transport, HT volume, HT channel, etc do in IR for the 15-2116? I did a search first but didn't come up with anything (probably because it's so obvious ) I don't have a clue but I feel like they might be very useful.

They determine which device controls the respective buttons when in the native (built-in) Home Theater mode.

Is the mode you're talking about the same as the device called My System?

You're right... on the 2116 it's called My System.

The "My System" button on the 15-2116 and 15-2117 is just a renamed version of the "Home Theater" button that appears on most other remotes.

Hmmm... maybe the RDF should be changed to match?

Hey, Nils... are ya listenin'?

Mark Pierson wrote:Hmmm... maybe the RDF should be changed to match?

Hey, Nils... are ya listenin'?

Yup.... I am

The convention I have been using is to name the button in the RDF the same as it appears on the remote. There is however, a second part of the convention and that is to provide the common name within [ ]'s. An example is the setup button. such as Magic[Setup], P[Setup], etc. I could easily take this approach and put in something like My_System[Home_Theather]. Unless I hear an objection I will do that in the next release.

For the purposes of the generic names in RM "Theater" is actually used but that is not visible in RM or IR unless you read the RDF.

rgiamp wrote:Does anyone know what the HT transport, HT volume, HT channel, etc do in IR for the 15-2116?

Nils, I think you're answering a question about the buttons section, when the important question concerns the settings section.

We use HT in the settings section to refer to "Home Theater" features. That's confusing for those with remotes where Home Theater is called "My System". But changing that HT (especially to something like "MS") would generate other confusion. I don't know a good answer.

There are many threads in these forums that give information about HT that is inclusive of the remotes that call it My System. There are also lots of doc and discussion about "HT" regarding the way some extenders do device selection.

I'd prefer if we could keep calling the feature "HT" regardless of model of remote and somehow display or pop up the message that "HT is called My System on this model" in the settings area when needed. Of course that would be an IR feature (help text for settings items) rather than just an RDF change.

John

I agree that there are actually two questions here. One is "is My_System and Home_Theater" the same and that was what I was addressing. Changing the button name to include the generic name does not completely answer the question but it helps if the user noticed the button name in IR and RM being My_System[Home_Theater].

As far as the HT settings section goes we could do something like the

• HT[My System] transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons

in the [Settings] section of IR to highlight it for remotes that are other than "Home_Theater". May not be perfect but it works and does not hurt IR. Atleast this way HT remains a constant in the settings.

johnsfine wrote:I'd prefer if we could keep calling the feature "HT" regardless of model of remote and somehow display or pop up the message that "HT is called My System on this model" in the settings area when needed. Of course that would be an IR feature (help text for settings items) rather than just an RDF change.

I disagree, but only because RadioShack has chosen to refer to this as My System and not Home Theater. If the remote calls it My System, then the RDF should as well. If it had, this thread probably would have never come to be. I also realize this probably only helps the newbies.

IMHO, the references to HT in the [Settings] section of the standard 2116 RDF should be changed to My System, along with the button name in [Buttons]. These changes would have no impact on IR or RM other than display labels.

Mark

Are you comfortable with my suggestion to make the entries in the non-Home_Theater RDF like the following:

RS 15-2116/2117
[Settings]
HT[My System] transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons

[Buttons]
My_System[Home_Theater]

I'm not trying to complicate things here. I just thought that with all the work that's been done to make the RDF naming match the actual remote, this type of thing would make more sense as well.

Nils_Ekberg wrote:[Settings]
HT[My System] transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons

My System transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons is less confusing IMHO.

[Buttons]
My_System[Home_Theater]

If that would show as "My System", it sounds fine to me.

Newbies are most likely to post questions. One thing that is likely to raise a question is what the user can't matchup with what he can actually see. We've seen this over and over concerning the Magic/"P"/Set/Setup/Code search Button.

This isn't about preservation of the past or making something indelible into history. If I'm not mistaken, The P-8 series first came up with the concept of a "Home Theater" mode. What other remote actually uses that? The 2104 doesn't call it "Home theater", it calls it "Theater". The 2116/7 calls it "My System". I can't remember just what the 8910/9910 actually uses. The point being, if we insist on "Generic" names based on something that was in vogue 4 years ago, we're going to be INVITING questions and posts.
I did some historical research in the old yahoo threads. Someone made a reference to "F" keys. Well, on the earliest B00's, the supermacro keys were labelled F1, F2, and F3. However, Later during the B00's that was changed by ueic to A,B, and C. How on earth could anyone imagine that an "F" key was really an "A" on his remote? At least RM has an image and the newbie can SEE that his "A" key occupies the position that's shown as "F1" in the image. IR doesn't have that image, and neither does KM, so HOPEFULLY, we're hoping that that newbie user starts with RM, makes the connection, and MAYBE he'll remember that and carry it through into KM and IR. IF he doesn't, then we'll likely get a post asking about "What the F%#@ is an "F1" key? I've looked everywhere on my remote, including taking it apart and looking at the pcb and i can't find an "F1" anywhere". Somebody is gonna think somebody else is smokin crack, either the one that made the rdf, of this poor newbie, or whomever keeps KM or IR.
I agree with Mark and Nils, whatever the remote actually has on it is what the user should see, or we're gonna guarantee getting questions about these.

Jim

Mark Pierson wrote:I'm not trying to complicate things here. I just thought that with all the work that's been done to make the RDF naming match the actual remote, this type of thing would make more sense as well.

Nils_Ekberg wrote:[Settings]
HT[My System] transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons

My System transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons is less confusing IMHO.

[Buttons]
My_System[Home_Theater]

If that would show as "My System", it sounds fine to me.

My_System[Home_Theater] is what would actually show in IR & RM.

My opinion is that the settings and the buttons should match the remote name. eg.

• Settings = My System transport=$02b.7.8.1.0 DeviceButtons
  Button name = My_System

I think this is the clean way to go and matches the standards we set.

I bet if I had changed the name in the settings to My System when I did the rest of the RDF the question would not have even come up.

Nils_Ekberg wrote:I think this is the clean way to go and matches the standards we set.

Agreed... great minds DO think alike!

I bet if I had changed the name in the settings to My System when I did the rest of the RDF the question would not have even come up.

If rgiamp had been using an RDF with the proper naming, probably not (though he probably would still have asked what they were for). That's exactly what I was referring to. It's definitely aimed at the newbies. Those of us dinosaurs that prowl around here need to remember that we're attracting new people everyday. We can't expect them to be well versed in subtleties like this.

When I first discovered JP1, I HATED the fact that KM and the RDF for my remote didn't list the same button names that were actually on it. It was very confusing, so I modified my RDF every time a new IR version came out. Finally, the JP1 world has caught up! This is just another extension of that.