[IDEA] possibility to configure ArtNet nodes

[siegmund]

Hi guys,

while I read into the ArtNet protocol I realized that also the configuration of the nodes could be done over this protocol. See the specification, page 38 (27). It's possible to program the IP, subnet mask, and the port address. This should be enough for some basic configuration. Going a bit further we could also set the ArtNet universes of every port of the node.
http://www.artisticlicence.com/WebSiteM ... rt-net.pdf

Configuring my nodes is always a pitty to me: I need to switch my OS and boot windows because there is no config tool for linux at the moment (or I didn't found it yet - I appreciate any suggestions). This was very frustrating and especially is really time-killing when preparing for a show in the location.
So maybe we could discuss, whether it's possible and a good idea to integrate some basic configuration options for ArtNet nodes in QLC+. This is just a suggestion that would be really helpful and makes QLC+ a lot more powerful and unique, I think.

The tools I'm using at the moment:
http://www.enttec.com/index.php?main_me ... s&pn=79001
For Enttec devices it is recommended to use "node management utility". This tool doesn't use the ArtNet protocol for configuring the nodes, it uses the ENTTEC protocol.

http://www.artisticlicence.com/index.ph ... uct_id=351
For my other DMX-interface I'm using DMX-Workshop, this also works for the Enttec device (DMX-Workshop unfortunately is not working with wine in linux). This tool does the whole configuration via the ArtNet protocol. The relevant packets are "ArtIpProg" for changing IP, subnet mask, port and "ArtAddress" for setting the ArtNet-universes for the ports.

If you consider that helpful too and someone is willing to give me some hints on plugin programming in QLC+ I'm definitely disposed to contribute to such a feature.

What do you mean?

[siegmund]

It would be great to know at least what you're thinking about that. I'm worrying at the moment whether it's worth putting some time into or not. So please let me know what you're thinking.

[plugz]

That's a very nice feature to have.

I have a question: would this feature be better as a stand-alone tool (like the fixture editor), or as an extension of the ArtNet plugin ?

[siegmund]

Thanks for your reply!

I have a question: would this feature be better as a stand-alone tool (like the fixture editor), or as an extension of the ArtNet plugin ?

Good question. My ulterior motive was that in QLC+ there must exist some functions for sending the UDP packets. It would be great to be able to use this existing infrastructure. I don't know how the stand-alone tool works and if it could use the internal structure of QLC+ - I'm sure you could tell me more about that... But I don't think that only these few settings are enough for a stand-alone tool like the fixture editor.
I thought about integrating this into the "configure ArtNet plugin" window. Under the nodes tree tab it would be nice to simply right-click on a node and another window with the IP settings appears.