Macros

Mrs Snowman

Member
Evening all :)

Just wondering about the macro feature guys and wanted to ask you all what I might use it for as I'm not sure exactly what it does. I remember you saying that it makes one button do more than one thing or something along those lines. Could anyone give me a few examples of what you use it for yourself and/or what I might like to use it for myself?

Ta muchly ;)
 
If you mean a macro on a programmable remote control handset (eg Logitech Harmony), they have buttons they refer to as "activities" so for example you might have a button programmed to turn on the TV, turn on the DVD player, and switch the TV to the input from the DVD player. This sort of thing has been mentioned recently with regard to on/off - if the only command code available for on/off is an on/off toggle, you could end up with the TV on and the DVD off, and whatever you do they just switch round - which is why it is important to have separate command codes for "on" and "off".

As far as the WebIF IR functions are concerned, you can set up a macro for yourself on the web page. Other facilities added later for channel short-cuts have made the macro facility less useful, but before them the macro could be programmed for "1" "2" "OK" to get straight to Dave (for example), with only one click and no waiting around.

You could programme a one-click delete: "OPT+" "OK" "left" "OK" (having first put the cursor in the right place or created a group selection).
 
Thanks for detailed reply Black. So if I wanted a one click delete would it make that happen on the actual remote in my hand or the one on the web?

I'd quite fancy doing that if it did it with the real remote as I'm sure I saw an add on that said if you installed it, it could put deleted stuff in a folder so if I deleted stuff by mistake I could still find it and watch it, or am I talking rubbish here lol ?
 
I intend (someday) to make a macro to change the screen display so that letterbox films display correctly when streamed.
http://hummy.tv/forum/threads/playing-letterbox-media-files.1161/#post-14871

'I have come across this on the HDR playing back dvd rips that I have cropped the black bars off, giving a resolution of 704x432 with an ar of 2.35:1 the HDR stretches and distorts the video to fill the screen. The way I get them to display correctly is to go into
settings > preferences > video > change screen ratio to 4:3 and display format to letterbox 16:9. Then you have to change it back for normal tv which is a hassle, so I now I don't bother croping off the black bars maintaining the 720x576 16:9 resolution on any new rips.'
 
I like that idea - not that I currently have a need to screen 2.35:1.

Thanks for detailed reply Black. So if I wanted a one click delete would it make that happen on the actual remote in my hand or the one on the web?

No, what I'm talking about is the facility to add a macro button to the WebIF Remote Control page (the "Record New Macro" button at the right hand side).

If there was sufficient demand (and/or af123 felt like doing it), it would be possible to add a translation layer in the IR package so that the user could map any real button press to any command or combination of commands - you could then assign a button to perform all but the final OK in the delete sequence for example.

A nice plaything, but there is the problem of re-labelling the handset, and also the problem of "unintended consequences" - what would a particular sequence of commands do if the button was pressed while the Humax was in a different mode (eg a delete sequence when not in the media browser)? Good macro programming attempts to find a key sequence which works (or at least causes no ill effects) whatever the current machine state, but not all equipment provides the means to do that (eg commands to turn on without turning off, and a command to return to the root of the menus from anywhere). af123 hit on a way to retreat to the top of the media folders, but it only works if the Humax is in a particular mode!
 
Thanks for detailed reply Black. So if I wanted a one click delete would it make that happen on the actual remote in my hand or the one on the web?

I'd quite fancy doing that if it did it with the real remote as I'm sure I saw an add on that said if you installed it, it could put deleted stuff in a folder so if I deleted stuff by mistake I could still find it and watch it, or am I talking rubbish here lol ?
The one click delete would only work on the web version. You need to install the undelete package to create your deleted items folder.
 
Ok thanks Black, I wouldn't bother doing it with the web remote as I was just thinking it would be great to just delete something immediately after watching it with one button press. However I take your point that if this could mess up functions in other modes etc then maybe it wouldn't be worth it. Cheers anyway :)
 
As per Brian's post above, you may be interested in the undelete package - anything deleted by the remote or the WebIF gets moved instead to a recycle bin (where you can get it back), and then deleted properly after a few days.
 
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