Serial Input
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.
The Serial Input event specifies the action that occurs when the BrightSign player receives input from a device connected to a serial port.
- Specify port: Enter the port number of the input device. Most standard RS-232 serial devices enumerate on port 0. If you are connecting a USB-serial device, it will enumerate on port 2. To configure the serial port, navigate to File > Presentation Properties > InteractiveFile > Presentation Properties > Interactive.
- Specify serial input: Enter the serial input string that will trigger the event. You can also use the <*> wildcard to match some or all of the serial input (i.e. entering "<*>" in this field will match any input, while entering "mycommand_<*>" will match any input message that begins with "mycommand_").
Modify User Variables
You can use the Serial Input event to modify the values of User Variables. To enable these options, click the Advanced tab:
- Assign input to variable?: Check this box to assign the content of the serial input to a User Variable.
- Input specifies variable: The serial input string will dynamically specify which User Variable to modify. The serial input string must be sent in the form of <variable name> : <variable value>.
- Specify fixed variable: The serial input string will modify a fixed User Variable. Use the dropdown list to choose which User Variable the serial input will modify. The serial input string must be sent in the form of <variable value>.
You can use the Input specifies variable option to modify more than one User Variable with a single event. Use the following serial input string: <variable name> : <variable value> !! <variable name> : <variable value>
- Assign wildcard to variable?: Check this box to specify the value of a User Variable using the <*> wildcard. Select the User Variable to modify using the dropdown menu to the right. The Specify serial input field must contain the <*> wildcard, either by itself or with additional text (e.g. "message_<*>").
Wildcards are only supported when the serial port is using the ASCII protocolprotocol, not when using the Binary protocol.
It is possible to check both Assign input to variable and Input specifies variable boxes for more complex functionality. For example, you can use Specify fixed variable to assign the entire serial input string to one variable, while at the same time using Assign wildcard to variable to assign a subset of that string to another variable.