Local File Network
This page / section pertains to BrightAuthor Classic, our legacy app. BrightSign Author is our latest app for managing content and players.
Development of BrightAuthor Classic has largely ceased and the app will eventually be deprecated and replaced with BrightSign Author.
Local File Networking allows you to publish presentations to your BrightSign players without requiring a remote server or an Internet connection. This is convenient if you only have a small number of BrightSign players that are all on the same local network. With Local File Networking, BrightSign players do not poll a remote web server to receive updates. Instead, you select one or more BrightSign players and push content directly to them. Updates will then be sent to the BrightSign player immediately.
Local File Networking supports a maximum of 10 players on a local network. Exceeding this recommended number may cause unreliable behavior when publishing to players. For larger deployments, we recommend using the Simple File NetworkSimple File Network or BrightSign NetworkBrightSign Network publishing methods instead.
- Save the presentation you want to publish by clicking File > Save As
- Click the Publish tab.
- Click Local Network (above the Calendar).
- Choose whether you want to publish Presentations or BrightWall PresentationsBrightWall Presentations.
- Under Presentations, click Browse to navigate to and select the folder where your presentations are stored.
Add Presentations to the Schedule
Follow these steps to add presentations to the player schedule:
- Select a presentation from the list in the Presentations section.
- Drag the presentation to a time slot during which you want it to play.
- Click and drag the selection handles to adjust playing time within one day.
Alternatively, you can schedule a presentation by double-clicking a blank area on the schedule to open the Schedule Presentation window.
If you want the presentation to be a recurring event, double-click the presentation timeframe in the calendar. In the Schedule Presentation window, set the following parameters:
- Presentation: Specify which presentation you want to use in this schedule block.
- Active all day, every day: Check this box if you want the presentation to play at all times (i.e. without day parting).
- Event time: Specify a timeframe during the day when you want the presentation to play:
- Start: Use the dropdown list to select a time when the presentation should begin
- End: Use the dropdown list to select a time when the presentation should end.
- Recurring Event: Check this box to have the presentation recur during specified days. If you don't check this box, the Event time will only apply to the single day selected in the schedule.
- Recurring pattern: Specify the frequency of the recurrence.
- Daily: Specify Every day, Every weekday, or Every weekend for playback.
- Weekly: Check the boxes corresponding to the individual days of the week when you want the presentation to play.
- Range of recurrence: Use this option to limit the recurrence of the scheduled presentation.
- Start: Specify the start date of the scheduled recurrence. This date defaults to the currently selected date in the schedule.
- End: Select No end to have the presentation recur indefinitely, or select End by and specify the end date of the scheduled recurrence.
Schedule Interrupts
You can create a day-parted schedule by scheduling presentations in separate time slots of a single day (or a set of recurring days). Later on, you may need to schedule a new presentation in an occupied time slot. This is where schedule interrupts are useful.
If you would like to interrupt a scheduled presentation with another presentation, drag and drop the new presentation into an occupied time slot (you can also schedule an overlap in the Schedule Presentation window). A Schedule Conflict window will appear, providing the following options:
- Keep existing events, cancel new event: Cancels the new schedule presentation action.
- Keep existing events, adjust new event: Opens the Schedule Presentation window, allowing you to schedule the new presentation in an empty time slot. If you schedule the presentation in an occupied time slot, the Schedule Conflict window will appear again.
- Remove existing events, use new event: Completely removes the presentation currently occupying the time slot.
- Interrupt existing events with new event: Schedules an interrupt in the presentation currently occupying the time slot. The date field will be split into two columns: The left column shows the primary scheduled presentation in blue; the right column shows the interrupting presentation in green. Primary scheduled presentations can be interrupted with multiple presentations, but interrupting presentations cannot overlap with each other.
Debugging
Under Debugging, you may optionally enable the following:
- Enable serial debugging: The autorun script will output debugging information related to the presentation to the RS-232 serial port (as well as over Telnet and SSH if these features are enabled).
- Enable system log debugging: The autorun script will output debugging information related to the presentation to the Log tab in the Access the Remote DWS.
Firmware Updates
Click Specify Firmware Update to include a firmware update file with the published schedule. In the Firmware Update window, locate the section corresponding to your BrightSign model and select one of the following:
- Production Release: The current official release of BrightSign firmware
- Beta Release: The current beta release of BrightSign firmware
- Minimum Compatible Release: The minimum firmware version that supports presentations created by your version of BrightAuthor Classic. The minimum compatible firmware will likely not support all features provided by a more recent version of BrightAuthor Classic.
- Select specific file: Use the Browse button to select a .bsfw firmware update file from your hard drive. The other options will download the update file from BrightSign when the presentation schedule is published.
You can use the Update type dropdown menu to determine the behavior of the firmware update:
- Standard: The firmware update is applied, the player reboots, and the .bsfw update file deletes itself from the local storage.
- Different: The update will only be applied if the version of the .bsfw update file does not match the current firmware version of the player. The file is not deleted after the update process is completed.
- Newer: The update will only be applied if the version of the .bsfw update file is newer than the current firmware version of the player. The file is not deleted after the update process is completed.
- Save: The firmware update is applied, but the .bsfw update file is not deleted. The device will only reboot once the storage device containing the update file is removed.
Publish the Scheduled Presentation(s)
Under Publish, select a BrightSign player. You can publish to multiple players at once by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking each player.
- If Bonjour is enabled: The player should appear in the Publish list automatically. If the player does not appear, ensure that it is set up for Local File Networking and that it contains an SD card or USB flash drive. Power cycle the unit, wait a minute, and click to refresh the list. If you're still having trouble, see this page for further troubleshooting steps.
- If Bonjour is disabled: You will need to add the player manually. Click to open the Add BrightSign Unit window. Enter IP address of the new BrightSign unit, and click OK. The player will be added to the Publish list permanently (unless the player IP address changes).
Select one of the following publishing options:
- New unit: The BrightSign Unit Setup window will open when you publish the presentation schedule, allowing you to configure (or reconfigure) device properties associated with the player(s). See the Local File Network SetupLocal File Network Setup page for more details.
- Networked units: The presentation schedule will be published without modifying the device properties associated with the player(s).
Click Publish. When the Publish Complete window opens, click OK.