I know it is possible to attach a monitor to the HDMI port on the EPIC processor. Is it possible to redirect a display screen to that port by an internal action such as a Node_RED action. I have a groov View annunciator display that I would like to display from a monitor directly connected to the EPIC so that it would essentially be up as long as the EPIC system is running.
The Epic will display on the local screen unless it detects a monitor is plugged into the HDMI port, then it will turn off the on board display and display only through the HDMI port
Thanks Justin
I believe you are referring to the ability to log into the EPIC system with a keyboard and monitor attached. I was thinking more about logging into the EPIC via HTTPS and bringing up a groov View display on the EPIC-attached monitor. Output to the monitor should stay up after logging out of the EPIC.
Hi James,
You cannot remotely control that screen. But you can certainly display a groov view screen on it by using it’s touchscreen or a mouse plugged into the Epic after logging into groov View on it.
Could the account stay signed in and use the features built into groov View such as the page navigation gadget to trigger a switch to the page? Or have you considered attempting a shell access solution?
The page navigation gadget appears to apply only to the monitor used to log into the EPIC.
I am comfortable trying the shell access, but that is last resort.
I have the EPIC on a slide-out tray installed in an equipment rack with a windows PC in that rack that connects to the EPIC via https. My monitor and keyboard are connected to the PC via long fiber optic USB and HDMI cables. I am thinking of setting up another monitor and keyboard at the rack location connected to the EPIC physical ports to give the operator the ability to log in and bring up an annunciator/matrix groov View display. I am hoping that I can continue to use the HTTPS and another log in to the EPIC system for admin or HMI activity. Seems to work with two HTTPS connections to the EPIC.
Yes, an Epic can support many https sessions for the UI. They can be either for groov view or groov manage, or both. However, you cannot have them mirror each other; each one will be on whatever page was selected in that session. Even the screen on the Epic is an https session using a built-in browser. You could however run 2 monitors on your PC in a “mirror” mode using one https session and then both screens would be the same.
Regarding the page navigation gadget (officially called auto navigator gadget), the documentation provides some information that you don’t know about.
Use the Auto Navigator gadget to automatically move all viewers of the page this gadget is on to another page in the project. Note that this gadget is invisible in groov View. When the Boolean tag it is connected to becomes true, the page automatically changes. Remember that if you need a more complex condition, you can create an Event for the condition and use the Event tag as the trigger. For more on creating and using Events, see Chapter 5: Using Events and Notifications.
You could potentially add an auto navigator gadget to every groov view page and all viewers of the page would switch on an event trigger, not just the session on the local EPIC. Of course this assumes every relevant monitor is connected to a device with groov View open in the browser, which I’m not clear meets your goals.
Please follow up!
Really appreciate all this input - some great possibilities here.
However, the capability I am seeking is analogous to a public display you might see in an airport where the display is connected to via HDMI to a dedicated device. If that device were an EPIC system you would not have the option to connect a keyboard to bring up the system.
In my case, I have an annunciator display by groov View that I want to be always up whether or not a PC is connected to the system - if the PC is down for any reason the annunciator display would stay active. What would be even more appropriate would be that groov View would be the default application to be loaded when the EPIC system is turned on.
I think one of the roadblocks here could be that groov View only works if a user is logged into the EPIC system. If this capability were possible, at the same time I would expect the EPIC system to support normal activity - HTTPS access and other typical activity.
My current approach is to provide a dedicated local keyboard to bring up the display. I should also mention that I have Ignition Vision on another EPIC system. Maybe there is a possibility with Ignition instead of groov View.
Thanks again for all your support!
Jim
I wonder if a smart HDMI switch exists, an HDMI switch that can be managed from the network to switch displays. That might be worth considering as a component of the solution.
Another idea is instead of switching displays 1) connect the keyboard and mouse to a PC and access groov EPIC over HTTPS for administration 2) Auto login or stay signed in on the local annunciator display using built in functionality to default to groov View and auto navigate to the annunciator. 3) Use groov Manage’s “unofficial” REST API to enable or disable the HDMI port. The unofficial API is subject to change and not supported by Opto 22, but it’s the same API the groov Manage client uses to communicate with the groov Manage server. All groov Manage operations flow through the REST API. You could prepare the annunciator with HDMI disabled and enable the HDMI after the annunciator is ready.
Thirdly, if you have made any progress on your own solution, you can post here for feedback, ideas, and workarounds.
Hope that gets you toward a solution!
EDIT: You can capture sample HDMI enable and HDMI disable requests by performing the operations in groov Manage and using the developer tools of a web browser such as Chrome or Firefox.
EDIT 2: Groov Manage prompts users to confirm the display mode change succeeded and reverts on a timeout. I don’t recall whether confirmation can be made remotely or if the confirmation is needed for only enabling HDMI.
Thanks jkM,
I will work on #3 first and report back.
Then i would like to explore #2 REST API possibility
Jim