Serge NOEL
133 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
133 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
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<title>JMRI Hardware Support - JMRIClient and SimpleServer</title>
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<h1>Hardware Support: JMRIClient Connection</h1>
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<p>The JMRIClient Connection provides a method of remotely connecting one JMRI program to
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another. It can be used to build a Panel on one computer, which is connected to the layout
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directly, but actually operate the Panel on a computer without a physical connection to the
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layout.</p>
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<p>The JMRIClient Connection can also be used to share information between two adjacent
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operators without completely replicating the information on each computer. This configuration
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is particularly useful on modular layouts where multiple module builders are involved.</p>
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<h2 id="connecting">Connecting</h2>
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<h3>The JMRI Simple Server</h3>
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<p>"Simple" in this case actually refers to the protocol, not the server itself. It uses
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pretty simple commands that include the device name (except for the power command) to send
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information bi-directionally. The protocol itself limits the actions that can be taken, so it
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will eventually be replaced with a more complete (and complicated) protocol.</p>
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<p>The server currently supports throwing Turnouts, turning Lights on and off, Sensor
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feedback, Reporter feedback and controlling Power. You can start the server through a
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configuration action. It uses TCP port 2048. The port is set in a Preference, so you can
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change it if needed.</p>
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<h3>The JMRIClient</h3>
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<p>The JMRIClient works with the server to allow remote control of turnouts, lights, and
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power, and remote feedback from sensors and reporters.</p>
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<p>To configure the JMRIClient, you can select the "JMRI (Network)" option in the systems
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manufacturer list. Under this option is "JMRI Network Connection". You may have multiple
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"JMRI Network Connection" interfaces configured.</p>
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<p>The client currently uses the system prefix to determine what to send to the server. If
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your server has a connection with a prefix "XYZ", you need to configure your client with the
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prefix "XYZ" to be able to access the named devices on the server.</p>
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<p>If you have more than one system connected to the server, you need to configure more than
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one client connection. NOTE: There currently is a warning when you configure more than one
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client, because all of the port information is the same. You can safely ignore this for a
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network connection.</p>
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<p>Once the client has sent a request to the server about an object, any state changes are
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shown on both the client and the server.</p>
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<h2>Operational Examples</h2>
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<h3>Simple Connection Replication</h3>
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<p>The simplest operational use of the JMRIClient and the simple server is having one
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computer connected directly to the layout (the server computer) and a second computer ( the
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client computer) connected to the first via a computer network where you would like to
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operate a panel.</p>
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<p>For this example, we will assume the server computer has a LocoNet connection with the
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prefix 'L'.</p>
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<p>On the server computer, open the Preferences, and select the Start Up group. click the
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"Add ▾" button, select "Perform action..." and select "Start JMRI Simple Server" from the
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list of options. Save the preferences and restart the program.</p>
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<p><img src="images/simpleserver-autostart.png" alt=
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"Action added to automatically start the JMRI SimpleServer" width="452" height="213">
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</p>
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<p>On the client machine, add a "JMRI (Network)" connection. Change the system connection
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prefix to "L". and set the IP address to the IP address of the server. Save the preferences
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and restart the program.</p>
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<p><img src="images/jmriclient-base-configuration.png" alt=
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"JMRIClient Configuration screen (configured for LocoNet with a server on localhost)" width=
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"452" height="213">
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</p>
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<p>Once both computers have restarted JMRI, you will be able to load a panel file on the
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client computer which was created on the server computer.</p>
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<p>Each machine will have its own set of tables and ( optionally) panel files loaded, if the
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client causes an action, information will be transferred to the server, and the server will
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trigger an action on the layout. If an action occurs on the server, the server will transmit
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an indication of the action to the client if the client has indicated it is interested in the
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device.</p>
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<h3>Operational Notes</h3>
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<ol>
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<li>If you have any Logix or Routes, you probably only want those running on one of the two
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machines.</li>
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<li>In order for any information about a light/turnout/sensor to be returned to the client,
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it must be defined on the client.</li>
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<li>
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<p>Invert is defined for both sensors and turnouts. If invert is enabled on both the
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client and server, the actual device will have normal behavior when the client uses
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it.</p>
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<p>This one is interesting, because it can be a bug or not a bug depending on your use
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case.</p>
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<p>If your use case is that both the client and server machines have panels running, then
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you might consider this a bug. There are two work arounds in this case 1) load a panel
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without inverted set on the client or 2) Run the panel on the server through a second
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instance of JMRI which is acting as a client to the first instance.</p>
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<p>If your use case is that the server just provides connections, but doesn't do any
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logic, then this is not a bug.</p>
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</li>
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</ol>
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