Crestron e-controlTM Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Contents Crestron e-controlTM: Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1 What is Crestron e-control Software Development Kit? ............................................. 1 How do I Choose Whether to Use HTML/Java or ActiveX Components? ................. 2 What Other System Requirements are There?............................................................. 2 Installing the Software ............................................................................................................... 4 CNX Gateway Requirements ...................................................................................... 4 Installing From the CD-ROM...................................................................................... 4 Installing the SDK (Downloaded From the Website).................................................. 4 Installing SIMPL Windows......................................................................................... 4 Running the Demos ..................................................................................................... 5 Licensing the CNX Gateway ..................................................................................................... 5 Calculating the Number of Connections...................................................................... 5 Transferring an Existing License To Another Computer ............................................ 6 Setup .......................................................................................................................................... 7 Hardware Setup of CNMSX........................................................................................ 7 Hardware Setup of CEN Series Devices ..................................................................... 8 Leading Specifications ................................................................................................ 8 Configure the CNX Gateway ...................................................................................... 9 Configure the Web Server ........................................................................................... 9 Build the Application with ActiveCNX or Java .......................................................... 9 Write the SIMPL Windows Program .......................................................................... 9 Running ................................................................................................................................... 12 Start the CNX Gateway ............................................................................................. 12 Getting Status Information from the CNX Gateway ................................................. 12 Start the Visual Basic Program or Web Page ............................................................ 12 Shutting Down the CNX Gateway........................................................................................... 12 Troubleshooting....................................................................................................................... 13 Use of Ping or Telnet to Verify Communication....................................................... 14 Use of Viewport ........................................................................................................ 14 Appendix A: Contents of the Crestron e-control SDK CD...................................................... 15 Gateway Folder: ........................................................................................................ 15 SDK Folder: .............................................................................................................. 15 New_Dll Folder:........................................................................................................ 15 Appendix B: Recommended Reading...................................................................................... 15 Glossary of Terms.................................................................................................................... 16 Software License Agreement................................................................................................... 18 Operations Guide - DOC. 5778A Contents · i Crestron e-controlTM Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Crestron e-controlTM: Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Introduction Crestron e-control consists of two separate products ­ the Software Development Kit (SDK) and the CNX Gateway. The SDK is a free download containing tools for developing demo webpages or Visual Basic programs that have the potential to communicate with Crestron CNX equipment. The CNX Gateway must be purchased and licensed from Crestron. It is a software package that performs the actual communication between the code developed by the SDK and the CNX equipment. Demos created with the SDK will not be fully functional without the CNX Gateway to "bridge" the communication gap. For convenience, the CNX Gateway software package includes all the SDK tools. What is Crestron e-control Software Development Kit? The Crestron e-control SDK is a complete software development kit, rather than a standalone product. It contains software components, examples, and directions for writing your own custom user interface to Crestron's control systems and equipment. The examples ARE finished products that actually work, but are probably too simple for typical applications. The Crestron e-control SDK encompasses two different technologies. You can choose the one which best suits your application and your development capabilities. The Crestron e-control SDK has both Web pages that contain compiled Java classes that are usable from most browsers and an ActiveX control (dubbed "ActiveCNXTM") that is usable from Visual Basic, Internet Explorer, or any other ActiveX compatible development environment such as Visual C++. Operations Guide - DOC. 5778A Crestron e-controlTM: Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway · 1 Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Crestron e-controlTM How do I Choose Whether to Use HTML/Java or ActiveX Components? Use the HTML/Java/Web page method if you need platform independence (i.e., you must run from Macintoshes as well as PCs) and you have the ability to write HTML. At this time, Crestron does not provide any method for developing Web pages. We suggest using a third-party Web page development tool such as Microsoft FrontPage '98 or Adobe Page Mill to produce great looking Web pages without having to code in HTML directly. The compiled Java classes that Crestron ships with the SDK are used within the Web page to communicate with Crestron equipment. The Web page method also means that no special software is needed to access the Crestron equipment; the act of viewing the Web page is all that is required. The latest version of VisionToolsTM Pro (VT Pro-e) is able to produce HTMLencoded Web pages, just as previous versions of VisionTools produces touchpanel displays. Use the ActiveCNX method if you want to program in Visual Basic to provide a completely custom look to your interface, or you need a background non-visual interface to Crestron control systems. What Other System Requirements are There? Refer to the diagram on the next page for a graphical representation of the required system components. 1. The Crestron e-control SDK requires that there be a Windows 95/98 or NT PC accessible on your network to run the "CNX Gateway". The Gateway is an application that routes packets from the SDK Java components or ActiveX controls to Crestron's control systems or Ethernet-enabled (CEN series) devices. If you are running the CNX Gateway and the browser on different PCs, OR if you are using Internet Explorer as your browser, you must also run a Web Server on the network, perhaps Microsoft's own Personal Web Server that is distributed free with Windows 95/98 or downloaded from their Web site. The "CNX Gateway" and Web Server must be running on the same machine to remotely access and control the system from any LAN location. The PC with CNX Gateway and all Crestron equipment must be connected to the TCP/IP network and given static IP addresses. SIMPL Windows, Crestron's graphical programming environment, must be used to program any control system that accepts commands from a virtual Touchpanel, just as it is used to program the control system to respond to wired or wireless touchpanels. A sample SIMPL Windows program has been included in this SDK. Crestron's Ethernetenabled devices (CEN series) can be controlled directly without any special programming, if there is no control system, or if multiple points of control are required. Of course, they can also be controlled through a SIMPL Windows program running on the control system. 2. 3. 4. 2 · Crestron e-controlTM: Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Operations Guide - DOC. 5778A Crestron e-controlTM e-controlTM System Architecture Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Web Browser VC++ VB IE Clients ActiveCNX Control CNX Gateway/ Web Server Server Crestron Network Any Crestron Controllable Device Operations Guide - DOC. 5778A Crestron e-controlTM: Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway · 3 Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Crestron e-controlTM Installing the Software Depending upon where you received your e-control software, installation procedures may vary. Currently, there are two ways to get a copy of the e-control SDK software. 1. 2. Purchase the CNX Gateway from Crestron (you receive a CD-ROM). Download the e-control Software Development Kit (SDK) from the Crestron website. If you have purchased the CNX Gateway from Crestron, then you should have received a CD-ROM which contains both the CNX Gateway and the SDK software necessary for doing custom programming. Using the SDK alone, you will be able to develop solutions, but you will not be able to test them by connecting to a Crestron control system. Contact Crestron for more information about licensing the CNX Gateway. CNX Gateway Requirements The minimum system requirements for the CNX Gateway are as follows. · · Pentium 200 32Mb RAM (for Windows 95) 64 Mb Ram (for Windows 98/NT) Installing From the CD-ROM To prevent installation problems, you should exit all programs prior to running the install application. Insert the CD into your drive. From the Start menu, select Run, then click on Browse. Locate the CD-ROM drive, select "setup.exe" and hit OK. Hit OK again to run it. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the software. By default, this will install both the CNX Gateway and the e-control SDK on the computer. If you want to install only one of these packages, you can simply uncheck the check-box next to the component you do not want to install. Installing the SDK (Downloaded From the Website) If you download the e-control SDK from the Crestron website, you should have a single executable file. Simply run this file by double-click on its icon. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the installation. Realize that this installation does not include the CNX Gateway. Installing SIMPL Windows If you will be programming Crestron control system processors (as opposed to controlling CEN series devices), you will need to install SIMPL Windows version 1.30.01 or later (with SIMPL Windows Library Update file, v62 or higher) and the Crestron database. They are available on the Crestron ControlCD (v6.1 or higher), that is available free for authorized Crestron dealers, or from our FTP site. The SIMPL Windows release notes detail how to enable Ethernet access to the CNMSX and how to program SIMPL Windows to respond to the SDK. 4 · Crestron e-controlTM: Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Operations Guide - DOC. 5778A Crestron e-controlTM Software Development Kit & CNX Gateway Running the Demos NOTE: Change the communication component in the HTML code of the demo. Make sure the IP address is the IP address of the control system. Also, the control system programming needs to have the IP address of the CNX Gateway. To run either of the CNMSX demo programs that are shipped with this SDK, use the Viewport to load "Net Demo.bin". This file has been written for a CNMSX-PRO. If you are using a unit without a front panel (eg., CNMSX-AV), then you should open the file "Net Demo.smw" in SIMPL Windows and change the control system type to the appropriate model. The program can then be recompiled and uploaded to the actual unit. Start the CNX Gateway running. The CNX Gateway IP Address of the computer is displayed in a dialog box. From the Viewport in SIMPL Windows, assign the same Gateway IP Address to IP ID 03. Click "Functions", then "Setup IP Table...". Click "Add". Set the IP ID to 03 and type in the IP Address. Click "Send IP Table ...