IDS Server Manual 4.

10
Part of DISplay Studio

www.dzine.be
Content

Copyright 5

Chapter 1 7 Introduction

7 What is IDS Server

8 Using this Guide

9 What is New in IDS Server 4.10

Chapter 2 11 Installing DISplay Studio

11 IDS System Architecture

13 System Requirements

14 About the Setup CD

15 DISplay Studio Installation

Chapter 3 27 The User Interface

27 Starting IDS Server UI

28 Getting Familiar with the Work Area

30 Menu & Toolbar

Chapter 4 43 IDS Tree

43 Layout

45 Objects

1
 46 My Computer

54 IDS Network

67 DISplayer

78 Group

Chapter 5 85 Local File Explorer

85 Terminology

87 File Management

89 Layout

92 Actions

Chapter 6 95 Scheduler

95 Layout

99 Properties

103 Schedules

Chapter 7 117 Remote File Explorer

117 Layout

118 Actions

Chapter 8 123 Logs

123 Layout

125 Actions

Chapter 9 127 Advanced: DISplayer Setup

127 DISplayer Setup in IDS Server

129 DISplayer Setup in Browser

Chapter 10 131 Advanced: Connection Manager

131 Introduction

132 IDS Server

Content 2
 135 IDS Server UI

Chapter 11 141 Advanced: Security Manager

141 Introduction

143 Step 1: Enable the Security Manager

145 Step 2: Create an Administrator Account

149 Step 3: Add Other User Accounts

Chapter 12 151 Advanced: Synchronisation

151 Introduction

Chapter 13 153 Advanced: Scripts & Commands

153 User Commands

156 Script Files

3 Content
Content 4
Copyright

Adobe Systems Incorporated

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Copyright (c) 2005-2009, Jochen Kalmbach All rights reserved.

5
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Chapter 1 6
Introduction
1
What is IDS Server
IDS Server (Information Display System Server) is the heart of dZine’s DISplay Studio. With this ap-
plication you can manage and control all DISplayers in your network. You can send/schedule new
content, turn screens (attached to the DISplayer) on and off, perform updates, etc. In other words:
IDS Server is the remote control of your digital signage network.

This manual shows how to install/upgrade and configure IDS Server. Can’t wait to get started?
Go ahead and fast forward to chapter Installing DISplay Studio on page 11.

Although DISplay Studio 4.10 is backwards compatible with older versions of the DISplayer
GT2 software (GT2 version 3.04 and newer), you need at least GT2 version 4.8 to be able to
use all features.

Other DISplay Studio Applications

Page Editor
Page Editor is the creative part of DISplay Studio and enables you to create content for your DIS-
players in no time. Please refer to the separate Page Editor manual for more information.

API Editor
API Editor is an advanced code editor with syntax highlighting for dZine’s proper API.

XML Plugin
XML Plugin is an optional (separately licensed) tool that converts an XML file into a database. It is
mostly used to add live RSS feed information to your content.

7
Using this Guide
Conventions

In this document a number of conventions are used to make things easier:

ƒ Bold text indicates a reference to a button in the application, e.g. Click OK, etc.
ƒ Italic text indicates a name or term used in DISplay Studio or a reference to another part of the
manual, e.g. IDS Network, etc.
ƒ Default parameters are indicated between parentheses next to the name of the setting, e.g.
(Enabled), (500 Sec), etc.

Text boxes give warnings and information or offer a number of alternative ways to perform an ac-
tion. There are 3 icons:

Information: Important information in the spotlight.

Warning: Remarks that require extra attention.

Alternative: Some actions can be performed in various ways.

IDS Server can be used in small environments (Simple Installation on page 18) as well as in
large networks (Advanced Installation on page 19). Due to access restrictions and security
policies, you may not be able to install this application yourself. Please contact your local net-
work administrator for help.

If You are New to IDS Server

Please read chapter Installing DISplay Studio on page 11 for instructions on how to install IDS
Server.

If You are an Experienced User

IDS Server 4.10 features some interesting novelties. You find the complete list and more informa-
tion in What is New in IDS Server 4.10 on page 9.

Chapter 1 Using this Guide 8

What is New in IDS Server 4.10
Features and Optimizations

Page include with effects from datasource

When creating a carousel with a dynamic page collection from datasource, an effect can now be
added from datasource as well. Effects are predefined and in accordance with the effect list availa-
ble in Page Editor (API Definition).

Database blobs (image/flash/video)

Images, flashes and video can now be loaded from database as binary large objects.

Added column types in IDS tree

The IDS tree has been extended with columns for processor type and graphical processor type.

Extended configuration download options

The download of configuration files and/or other files from the DISplayer can be done more easily
by means of an auto-zip function allowing to select multiple files at once and retrieving them in
one zip.

Presending schedule related files

On an IDS Network and DISplayer (group) level, it is now possible to activate a presend function to
allow files, present in the schedule to be send to a DISplayer, to be present within and for a cer-
tain period of time. This way, the IDS Server gives greater flexibility for offline scheduling and se-
curity of filel availability upon playback by the DISplayer.

Extensions for SDK

Carousel screendumps: it is possible to have a page by page screendump of an active carousel by
means of a SDK call.

Intermediate multi-response parts: it is possible to get intermediate multi-response parts in the

semi-sync case (using GetNextResponseParts).

Database features
Database read fail is now intercepted by the IDS logic by means of intelligent retries of the data-
base queries. Together with an internal rework of the database handling, this mechanism provides
extended security when dealing with database information.

Added support for %$NAME$, $NAME$% and %$NAME$% to be used in the SQL LIKE queries.

Refactoring of database query code to allow combined SQL queries in Page Editor.

Extended DISplayer connection

Each IDS Network can now deal with a maximum of up to 450 connected DISplayers.

9 Chapter 1 What is New in IDS Server 4.10

Support for remote (virtual) IDS license dongle (software & hardware)
When using a remote (virtual) OS, the dongle verification will no longer fail because of lack of re-
mote USB (hardware and virtual) support by Sentinel Dongle Driver.

Modifications

Screendump history from IDS Service

Screendumps are now handled bu the IDS core logic in order to have the screendumps available
for all clients (logged on users). The handling of the screendumps does no longer put a load on
the UI side (user dependent configuration).

Extended logs
Added logs for: gtMonitor_BacklightInterVoltage_OK, gtMonitor_DisplayLogicVoltage_OK,
gtReplyFan_OK and gtMonitor_Display_OK.

Chapter 1 What is New in IDS Server 4.10 10

Installing DISplay Studio
2
IDS System Architecture
Let’s see how IDS Server fits in your network:

IDS Server PC: The heart of your IDS network is IDS Server. This computer is responsible for all
communication to and from your DISplayers.

IDS Client PC (optional): For simple and small networks, the IDS Client PC and the IDS Server PC
are often one and the same machine. In this case there is no need for a separate IDS Client PC.
However, for larger networks, you may want to use a dedicated IDS Server PC, located in a safe en-

11
vironment. In this case you cannot reach the IDS Server PC physically. Fortunately, the DISplay Stu-
dio setup CD also contains IDS Server UI (User Interface), an RPC (remote procedure call)
application that allows you to remotely control IDS Server from any PC in your network.

DISplayers: DISplayers are dedicated digital signage computers. They come in 2 flavours:

1 Stand-alone: A stand-alone DISplayer is connected to your network (Ethernet, WiFi, etc.) on the
one hand and to an output device (in most cases a monitor) on the other hand.
2 Integrated: An integrated DISplayer is mounted inside a monitor. This saves space and simpli-
fies installation.

Chapter 2 IDS System Architecture 12

System Requirements
Before you start installing the software, please take a look at the following table:

Recommended System Requirements

Intel® Pentium® IV processor or equivalent

1024 / 2048* MB RAM (* for Vista)

Monitor: 1280×1024 (True Colour)

Network card

CD-ROM drive

Microsoft® Windows® 2000, XP, Vista, 7, Server 2003, Server 2008

150 MB of free hard disk space (Project space not included)

DISplay Studio’s system requirements mainly depend on the number of DISplayers it needs to
control and the tasks it needs to perform. A rule of thumb is that the more DISplayers IDS Server
needs to control and the more actions (e.g. database updates, file transfers, logging, etc.) it needs
to perform, the higher the system requirements will be.

For normal usage, any PC available on the market today will suffice.

13 Chapter 2 System Requirements

About the Setup CD
The setup CD can be used to:

ƒ Install DISplay Studio for the first time.

ƒ Upgrade from an older version.

Next to IDS Server, the DISplay Studio setup CD also contains following programs:

ƒ Page Editor: A easy-to-use GUI (graphical user interface) to create your content. Please check
the Page Editor manual for more information.
ƒ API Editor: A text editor with GT API syntax highlighting. You can use this program to see and
modify API code.
ƒ XML Plugin: An optional program to translate an XML file (RSS, Media RSS, custom XML) to a
database. The content of this database can then be displayed on your monitors.

Chapter 2 About the Setup CD 14

DISplay Studio Installation
Installing IDS Server is fast and easy. Deciding how to integrate it, however, is not. For large net-
works it is very important to think about how IDS Server will be integrated.

If IDS Server is licensed with a hardware USB dongle, the necessary drivers are installed auto-
matically by the DISplay Studio setup. To avoid conflicts, please do not insert the dongle until
the installation has finished and the computer has been rebooted.

The Installation Process

The first step is to install DISplay Studio on your hard disk drive:

1 Put the DISplay Studio Installation Disc in your CD-ROM drive.

2 If the setup does not start automatically, browse to your CD-ROM drive and double-click
setup.exe.
3 Before the DISplay Studio installation starts, the system will be automatically check for known
files and folders. The System Check dialog is displayed.

15 Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation

4 The Welcome dialog is displayed. Click Next to continue.

5 Read the License Agreement and check I accept the terms of the license agreement. Click Next
to continue.

Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation 16

6 Enter your user and company name. Select Typical if you want to install IDS Server as a regular
application, Page Editor and API Editor. Select Custom if you want full control: select the fea-
tures (IDS Server, IDS Server UI, Page Editor, API Editor, XML Plugin, Additional tools) you want
to install, set the installation path, etc. Click Next to continue.

For Typical installations, the default installation path is C:\Program Files\DISplay Studio.
If you did not select a custom installation you can skip the next section and proceed with The
Installation Process: Final Steps on page 22.
If you are installing a client PC, you need to select Custom because you only need IDS Server
UI and not IDS Server.

17 Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation

7 If you have selected Custom in step 6, you can now select the features you want to install. After
you have made your choice, click Next to continue.

If you did not select IDS Server in the features list, you may skip the next section and pro-
ceed with The Installation Process: Final Steps on page 22.

The Installation Process: IDS Server

So far, so good. Now that you have selected what you want to install, it is now time to decide how
and where you want to install IDS Server.

Simple Installation

A simple installation can also be called a local installation because IDS Server will behave just like
any other program that has been locally installed on your PC.

It is the easiest way of installing IDS Server because it does not require advanced network integra-
tion. If you want to control your DISplayers from a single computer, this is the way to go.

Advantages:

ƒ Easy setup.
ƒ No problems with rights and permissions (mapped drives, DSN, etc.).

Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation 18

Disadvantages:

ƒ IDS Server is not active when your PC is logged off.

ƒ You cannot control IDS Server remotely.

Installing IDS Server

8a Select the first option, Install as a regular application, and click Next to continue.

Advanced Installation

An advanced installation is also called a network installation. In this case, IDS Server is split into 2
programs:

ƒ IDS Server: The logic that handles all tasks and communications.
ƒ IDS Server UI: The GUI (Graphical User Interface) used to log on to the IDS Server.

Because of this, it is possible to dedicate one computer (the server) to execute server tasks, run-
ning IDS Server, while other computers (the clients) can log on to this server with IDS Server UI.

Advantages:

ƒ Multiple users can manage IDS Server from different locations at the same time.
ƒ The server PC can be stored in a safe location.
ƒ The security module offers different levels of user access rights.

Disadvantages:

ƒ Setup requires more IT knowledge.

ƒ The speed of the UI depends on the speed of the network it is installed on.

19 Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation

Installing IDS Server
8b Select the third option, Install as a service, and click Next to continue.

The main advantage of using a service is that a service is always active, even if no user is logged
on.

Either way you install IDS Server (regular or as a service), there is no need to install the client appli-
cation (IDS Server UI) separately. The UI is always installed automatically, because you cannot con-
figure your server without it.

Installing IDS Server UI

If you have an active server up and running in your network, you only need to install IDS Server UI
on your workstations. You can install this application on as many computers you like because IDS
Server UI is free of license (as are Page Editor and API Editor).

8c Select the second option, Install as a client application, and click Next to continue.

Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation 20

9 If you want to install IDS Server in a specific folder, use the Browse button to select the path.
Otherwise, the default path will be used (C:\Program Files\DISplay Studio).
Select the shortcuts you want and click Next to continue.

10 If you have chosen to install IDS Server as a service, you can specify the account you want to
use to run the service with. Enter a username, password and domain and click Next to con-
tinue. If Use the default account is checked, the service will run as the local system account.

21 Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation

The Installation Process: Final Steps

11 Check the summary. If everything is OK, click Next to start the installation.

12 During installation, the progress and status will be displayed. This process takes about 1 min-
ute to complete.

Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation 22

13 Click Next to continue.

14 After the setup has finished, you will get a request to reboot the computer. Click Yes to reboot.

The Installation Process: Licensing IDS Server

The number of DISplayers IDS Server can control depends on its license (See License on page 29
for more information). IDS Server can be licensed by means of a USB dongle or by using a soft-
ware key.

By default the startup type of IDS Server service is Automatic. This means that if you select
IDS Server to run as a service, Windows will load the service even before a user has logged
on. At this point, IDS Server is not yet licensed. This means the service won’t be able to start.
Therefore you will have to start the service manually after you have licensed IDS Server.

23 Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation

USB Dongle

Insert the USB dongle after Windows has fully booted. The setup has preinstalled the necessary
drivers and Windows will install the USB dongle as soon as it is plugged in.

Software Key

Software keys are used for installations where USB dongles cannot be used. The reason for this
can be physically (e.g. no free USB ports left) or softwarematically (e.g. IDS Server is running in a
virtual environment).

To obtain a software key, the SuperPro Field Exchange Utility is used. It can be found in the root of
your IDS Server installation folder and is called FieldExUtil.exe.

After double-clicking the executable, the program will start.

Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation 24

1 Select the Software Key tab.

2 Get the Locking Code and e-mail the generated code to [email protected]

If you have never used a software license key before, click Get Locking Code. Otherwise, if you
already have a license key and you want to perform an upgrade, select Use Existing and than
click Get Locking Code.

25 Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation

3 You will receive an activation code as soon as possible.Paste the code in the lower text field
and click Update License. Now (re)start IDS Server (service) to apply the new license.

Chapter 2 DISplay Studio Installation 26

The User Interface
3
Starting IDS Server UI
IDS Server can be installed either as a simple stand-alone application or as an advanced integrat-
ed network solution. An advanced installation offers extra options and features. All of these are
described in the Advanced chapters.

Most options, however, are equal for all types of installation. If you are using the stand-alone ap-
plication, you can continue reading this chapter. In case of an advanced setup, you may want to
read Advanced: Connection Manager on page 131 first, before continue reading this chapter.

Whether you use a simple or an advanced installation, as a user you will always use IDS Server UI
to control and manage your IDS Server.

To Start IDS Server UI

Click Start › All Programs › DISplay Studio › IDS Server UI.

Click the IDS Server UI icon on your desktop or in your Quick Launch toolbar if you have
selected these during installation.

If you have an active firewall (like the Windows default firewall) it is possible that you will get
a request to allow/deny connections from/to IDS Server. Make sure you allow all connections.
To configure a firewall manually, make sure TCP port 6001 and UDP ports 5001 and 5002 are
open.

27
Getting Familiar with the Work Area
IDS Server UI is sober yet functional. It has 5 main areas:

1 Menu & Toolbar: Located at the top, the menu bar allows access to practically all features of IDS
Server UI whereas the Toolbar offers a quick way of handling frequently used actions.
2 IDS Tree: The area in the upper left corner gives a clear overview of your IDS Networks, DIS-
players and groups.
3 Local file explorer: The area in the lower left corner lets you select a project and browse its
Pages, Fonts, Images, Audio/Video, Media, Bluepull and Binaries folders.
4 Scheduler/Remote file explorer: In the upper right corner either the Scheduler or the DISplayer
file explorer is shown. If IDS Tree object is selected, its scheduler is shown.
When a DISplayer is connected, and you click on the + icon in front of its name, this area
becomes the DISplayer’s file explorer.
5 Logs: The lower right corner gives you an overview of log files that provide useful information.

Chapter 3 Getting Familiar with the Work Area 28

The size of these areas can be adjusted. Simply press and hold the left mouse button on a border
between areas and drag-and-drop the border to the desired position.

Before we see each area in detail, you need to know that IDS Server uses context menus
extensively. This provides a method for quick access to useful commands and properties
related to the object you are working with. Simply right-click the object and select the proper
action.

License

In the title bar of IDS Server UI, next to the name of the program, you see the version number as
well as the type of license IDS Server is using. The license determines how many active connec-
tions IDS Server can manage. This number is stored in the USB dongle that came with your soft-
ware installation package.

This is a list of available license types:

License type Maximum number of active connections

Single DISplayer 1

Limited 3

Standard 10

Small Business 20

Small Business Plus 35

Medium Business 50

Medium Business Plus 75

Large Business 100

Enterprise 300

If your current license is no longer sufficient for your IDS network, please contact your local dealer
to upgrade the license.

If no security dongle is found or no software key has been entered, IDS Server will operate in
demo mode. The software is fully functional but is restricted as follows:

ƒ IDS Server terminates after one hour but you can restart the server an unlimited number of
times.
ƒ IDS Server cannot run as a service.
ƒ A nag text appears on top of all content displayed on the monitor.

29 Chapter 3 Getting Familiar with the Work Area

Menu & Toolbar

Menu Bar

A lot of actions can be performed by using the context menus and the toolbar. Some settings,
however, can be set exclusively in the menu bar. Only these are described below.

File Menu

Connection Manager
The Connection Manager is only available for users working with a client-server setup. If you are
using IDS Server in stand-alone mode, you do not need this option. For more information, go to
Advanced: Connection Manager on page 131.

Update IDS Server

This feature can be used to update the build number of your IDS Server by means of an IDS Serv-
er UI. This method is only recommended if you want to update but you do not have (file) access to
the server PC.

When you select this feature, a browse dialog will open. Simply browse to the update package
(provided by you dealer), select all files you want to update and click Open to start the update.

Security Manager
The Security Manager is only available for users working with a client-server setup. If you are us-
ing IDS Server in stand-alone mode, you do not need this option. For more information about, go
to Advanced: Security Manager on page 141.

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 30

Connected Users
If you are working with a client-server setup and you are an administrator (see Advanced: Security
Manager on page 141 for more information), you can use this feature to see who else is connect-
ed to IDS Server. You can also select users and disconnect them from the server.

Work Offline
When you work offline, IDS Server UI will stop all IDS Networks and objects in the IDS Tree get a
different icon, indicating that you are working offline.

Edit Menu

The edit menu contains options that are accessible/inaccessible depending on the current select-
ed object, e.g. if you select an IDS Network, you can only use New › DISplayer, Copy and Properties.

New
The new menu offers 4 options:

1 IDS Network: Create a new IDS Network.

2 Group: Create a new group.
3 DISplayer: Add a new DISplayer manually.
4 Monitor/Panel: Add a new monitor or LED panel to be controlled. By default, this option is not
available. See Advanced on page 52 for more information.

Copy
Copies the selected object. (Same as ctrl-c)

31 Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar

Paste
Pastes the previously copied object. (Same as ctrl-v)

Delete
Deletes the selected object. (Same as Del)

Properties
Opens the properties dialog of the selected object.

Commands Menu

The commands menu contains options that are accessible/inaccessible depending on the current
selected object, e.g. if you select My Computer in the IDS Tree, you can only use Execute Script File.

Send Test Page

Send a test page to the selected DISplayer. This page (TestPage.gt) is created by the DISplay Stu-
dio installer and is located in the Pages folder (by default C:\program files\DISplay Studio\Pages).

Power On
Send the power on command to the selected DISplayer so it activates the output signal.

Power Off
Send the power off command to the selected DISplayer so it deactivates the output signal.

Reboot
Send the reboot command to the selected DISplayer.

The GT2 software running on the DISplayer has been designed for stability and uninter-
rupted usage. Therefore, it does not need a reboot every once in a while like an ordinary PC
would. However, some actions require a reboot, e.g. a GT2 software update.

Send File
Opens a file explorer dialog you can use to browse to and select a file you want to send to the se-
lected DISplayer.

Send API Command

This advanced feature lets you send separate API command to the selected DISplayer. For normal
usage this option is not used. For more information on API commands, please refer to the API Ref-
erence Guide.

Send User Command

You can create your own set of API commands to be executed sequentially. To learn more about
user commands, please read User Commands on page 153.

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 32

DISplayer Info/Setup
This feature lets you alter settings and get the status of the selected DISplayer from within your
IDS Server UI. See DISplayer Setup in IDS Server on page 127 for more information.

DISplayer Info/Setup in Browser

As an alternative to the remote configuration, you can also use a web browser to setup a DISplay-
er. See DISplayer Setup in Browser on page 129 for more information.

Start IDS Network(s)

Lets you start the selected IDS Network or all IDS Networks if you select IDS Networks in the IDS
Tree.

Stop IDS Network(s)

Lets you stop the selected IDS Network or all IDS Networks if you select IDS Networks in the IDS
Tree.

Quick Text
Allows you to add a maximum of 3 lines of text on the bottom of the monitor attached to the se-
lected DISplayer.

Simply enter the text you want to display, select a font size and click OK. The background and
foreground color are always blue and yellow.

Clear Quick Text

Removes any previously set quick text.

Execute Script File

Please read Script Files on page 156 for more information.

33 Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar

Schedule Menu

The schedule menu contains options that are accessible/inaccessible depending on the current se-
lected object, e.g. if you select My Computer in the IDS Tree, you can only select the Export Sched-
uler.

This section lists all options and describes them briefly. If you want to know all about scheduling,
please read chapter Scheduler on page 95.

Test Page
Schedule sending a test page to the selected DISplayer. This page (TestPage.gt) is created by the
DISplay Studio installer and is located in the Pages folder (by default C:\program files\DISplay Stu-
dio\Pages).

Power On
Schedule sending the power on command to the selected DISplayer so it activates the output sig-
nal.

Power Off
Schedule sending the power off command to the selected DISplayer so it activates the output sig-
nal.

Reboot
Schedule sending the reboot command to the selected DISplayer.

Send File
Schedule sending a file to the selected DISplayer.

Show Page/Carousel
Schedule showing a page or carousel on the monitor connected to the selected DISplayer.

Delete File
Schedule deleting a file on the selected DISplayer.

Retrieve File
Schedule downloading a file from the selected DISplayer to IDS Server.

Export Scheduler
The Export Scheduler offers a functionality similar to the backup scheduler (Backup Scheduler on
page 65). However, in this case, the scheduled events are not sent to the DISplayer by means of a

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 34

network, but are stored on a data carrier, e.g. a USB stick, a CD-ROM, etc. You can then connect
this medium to a USB port on the DISplayer to upload the scheduler and the data files.

Select an output folder (if it does not exist it will be created automatically) and the period for
which the necessary files need to be created. If you have exported to this folder before, you can
check the Clear folder first option to remove the files from a previous export.

After IDS Server UI has finished exporting, all there is left to do is to copy the entire contents of
the output folder into the root folder of a data carrier.

The time it takes to export, and the combined size of the exported files, depends on the
number of DISplayers, the number of schedules, the number of days to be exported and the
size of the files used in the schedules.

View Menu

See Toolbar on page 41 for more information.

Options Menu

Confirmations
Some user actions require a confirmation before actually being executed. For instance, when re-
moving a DISplayer or sending a file. To prevent mishaps, IDS Server asks for confirmation when a
critical command is about to be executed.

These constant confirmation requests might become annoying. Therefore it is possible to prevent
the program from popping up these alert boxes.

35 Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar

Click Options › Confirmations to open the confirmation dialog box.

By default, all options are checked.

Notifications
IDS Server can display a notification when an important event occurs (e.g. a DISplayer unexpected-
ly disconnects due to network failure). These notifications do not appear in the log window. In
stead they are shown in pop-up windows.

Click Options › Notifications to open the notifications dialog.

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 36

By default, all options are unchecked.

Some events do not occur on the server PC but are restricted to a DISplayer. For these events, no-
tification options can be set in Reply from DISplayer.

If you want to be informed of these event, check Show reply, click Details, check the events you
want to be informed of and click OK.

User Commands
This is an advanced feature. Please read User Commands on page 153 for more information about
user commands.

Monitor Script File

This is an advanced feature. Please read Script Files on page 156 for more information about script
files.

Screendump View Properties

When you are working in IDS Server UI, you may not always be able to see what a DISplayer is
playing. In this case you can take a screendump (a still image) of the DISplayer. This can be done

37 Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar

manually (See Screendump on page 69) as well as automatically. The screendump view properties
dialog allows you to enable and setup this automated way of retrieving screendumps.

After enabling this feature, you can set a screendump retrieval interval from 1 to 60 minutes and a
minimum screendump size from 100 to 750 pixels.

You can also specify the folder in which screendumps are stored. If you check the Keep History op-
tion, IDS Server will store the screendumps per DISplayer and per day.

When enabled, a third tab is added to the scheduler/remote file explorer, called Screendumps. If
you select a DISplayer in the IDS Tree and click this tab, you will see the most recent screendump.

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 38

If, on the other hand, you select an IDS Network/group, you will see an icon overview of the
screendumps for all its DISplayers. The minimum size of the icons is the value you set for the Mini-
mum screendump size.

Whenever you right-click on a screendump, you get 2 options:

1 Force screendump update: Retrieve a new screendump instantly.

2 Open in External Viewer: Open the image in your default image viewing application.

The more DISplayers and the higher the retrieval frequence, the bigger the data load on your
network. That’s why this option is disabled by default. The size of the screendumps only
affects memory usage of the client PC.

Only Show Logs of Selection (enabled)

When enabled you only see the logs that belong to the object you have selected in the IDS Tree.
Thus, if you select a single DISplayer, you only see its log information, but if you select an IDS Net-
work or a group, you see the logs for all DISplayers they contain.

Generate Site Survey

A site survey is a generated report that contains detailed information about your IDS network. You
will need this report to acquire activation codes for extra DISplayer features such as the playback
of Macromedia® Flash™ files. You can also send this report to your local support team to help
them troubleshoot site-specific problems.

A typical site survey contains information about the operating system, application versions, net-
work configuration and some hardware settings. A site survey is not stored in one file, but spread
across a set of files (one file for general information and one file for each IDS Network). These files
are stored in the installation root, under the folder SiteSurvey (by default C:\Program Files\DISplay
Studio\SiteSurvey).

39 Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar

Activate Extra DISplayer Features
Some versions of DISplayer have features that need to be unlocked before they can be used.

To acquire an activation file:

1 Generate a site survey.

2 Send the site survey together with the reference number to [email protected].
3 You will receive an activation file.
To activate additional device features:

1 Click Options › Activate Extra DISplayer Features from the menu.

2 Click Activation file, browse for the activation file and click Open.
3 Check the summary to ensure that all DISplayer features have been activated.

During the activation procedure, the summary may list the following messages:

ƒ Failed (Invalid API version): The GT2 version on the DISplayer does not support the activation of
additional features (e.g. because it is an older version in which the feature you want to activate
did not yet exist). To delete these messages from the list, click Clean-Up.
ƒ Pending (Device not connected): Unable to activate because the DISplayer is currently discon-
nected. Activation starts as soon as the DISplayer is connected. In the IDS Tree, an asteriks is
added to the DISplayer’s icon, indicating that activation is pending.
ƒ Pending (Device not found): Unable to activate because the DISplayer does not exist in the IDS
tree. Activation starts as soon as the DISplayer is re-added.

Languages Menu

Allows you to set the language of IDS Server UI. Available languages are:

ƒ English (default)
ƒ Spanish

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 40

ƒ French
ƒ Dutch
ƒ Italian

When you select a new language, it is applied instantly and it will be the default language the next
time you start IDS Server UI.

Help Menu

Release Notes
This opens your default web browser and opens the release notes page on the dZine website. You
need a working Internet connection for this to work.

About IDS Server UI

Shows the version, build number and license information of your IDS Server UI.

Toolbar

The icons in the toolbar provide shortcuts for commonly used commands. There has 5 sections:

1 Commands Toolbar: Send a test page, power on/off, or restart a DISplayer.

2 IDS Network Toolbar: Start/Stop an IDS Network.
3 Schedule Toolbar: Identical to the Commands Toolbar, but the commands are scheduled.
4 Scheduler Toolbar: Resume/Suspend the scheduler.
5 Settings Toolbar: Remotely configure the selected DISplayer.

You can hide/show each one of these sections in the View menu. By default all sections are visible.

41 Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar

Chapter 3 Menu & Toolbar 42
IDS Tree
4
Layout
As the IDS Tree is a very important part of IDS Server, it offers a flexible, Explorer-like interface to
help you get full control of your IDS environment. Every line indicates an IDS object (see Objects
on page 45) and every column a specific type of information.

43
Columns

By default only the Name, Status and Software Version columns are shown. If you want to see more
columns, simply right-click on the IDS Tree column header. This pops up the Select column dialog.

Select/Deselect the columns you want to add/remove and click OK to apply.

In the screenshot, IP Address and Display have been added. It is not possible to remove the Name
header.

Sorting

You can change the alphabetical order of the columns by left-clicking the appropriate IDS Tree
column header, e.g. left-click the Name column header if you want to order the names of the IDS
Tree objects alphabetically.

It is also possible to change the order of the columns. To do this, drag-and-drop a column header
to the left/right. A coloured line will indicate the new position of the column.

Chapter 4 Layout 44
Objects
Throughout the entire program, IDS Server maintains a strict hierarchy. In order to fully under-
stand IDS Networks, Groups and DISplayers, it is important to grasp the concept of this level struc-
ture, visualized by the IDS Tree.

There are 4 types of objects in the IDS Tree:

1 My Computer
2 IDS Network (Broadcom and Intel in the screenshot)
3 DISplayer (DISplayer 1, DISplayer 9 and Unknown in the screenshot)
4 Group (Group 1 and Group 2 in the screenshot)

Each type has its own set of properties an possibilities.

This hierarchy is very important. It allows to quickly perform an action on multiple objects, e.g. you
can reboot all DISplayers of a group by selecting the group and clicking the reboot button in the
Commands Toolbar.

The more DISplayers you need to manage, the more useful the hierarchy becomes. This way of
working is especially handy when you create schedules. See Scheduler on page 95 for more infor-
mation.

45 Chapter 4 Objects
My Computer

Introduction

My Computer is the top-level object. It is different from the other objects in a couple of ways:

ƒ It is unique, there cannot be more than 1 My Computer.

ƒ It has no scheduler. If you select My Computer the scheduler is greyed out.
ƒ You cannot send files to it. It represents the physical server PC and not a client device.

Properties

To open the properties dialog, simply double-click the My Computer object.

1 Right-click the My Computer object and select Properties in the context menu.
2 Select the My Computer object and use Edit › Properties.
3 Select the My Computer object and press enter on the keyboard.

Chapter 4 My Computer 46
General Settings

Retry to execute failed schedules every (5 sec)

If the scheduler is enabled and if the execution of a scheduled event fails, IDS Server will retry to
execute that event every number of seconds defined here.

Initialization file (InitFile.gt)

Every time a DISplayer connects to the server, an initialization file is sent. This file executes some
basic commands. The default file is InitFile.gt and is stored in the Pages directory of the DISplay
Studio folder (by default C:\Program Files\DISplay Studio\Pages). If you are an advanced user, you
can modify InitFile.gt or create your own initialization file.

Use the name stored on the Displayer as default (Checked)

The name of a DISplayer in the IDS Tree can be synchronized with the system name of the DIS-
player. Check this option if you want to enable this feature for all newly added DISplayers in the
IDS Tree.

You can also enable/disable this feature on the DISplayer level. Read DISplayer on page 67 for
more information.

47 Chapter 4 My Computer
Show extra IDS Network/Group information (Unchecked)
Enabling this will allow you to see how many DISplayers are connected/disconnected and pow-
ered on/off by hovering above an IDS Network or a group and shows the number of DISplayers
per IDS Network between brackets.

Show ‘Disconnected DISplayers’ group (Unchecked)

This option is particularly useful if you manage a lot of screens. Checking this option will create a
new group object in your IDS Tree, called Disconnected DISplayers that lists all DISplayers that are
currently not connected to your server.

Folders

During installation of the server software, default folders for Pages, Fonts, Images, Audio/Video,
Media, Bluepull and Binaries are created.

The default folder location for each file type, used by the Default project, can be changed here.
Read Local File Explorer on page 85 for more information on Projects.

Logs refers to the folder where Structured Loggings from the DISplayer are retrieved daily (if this
option is enabled). See Logs on page 123.

Chapter 4 My Computer 48
Logs

Server, Scheduler and Reply logs (10000 notifications)

The server stores all server and user actions in three separate logs: the Server, Scheduler and Reply
logs. By default, the server holds 10.000 log entries for each log. Decrease this value when memo-
ry problems arise or if you have a slow connection between IDS Server and IDS UI.

Only show logs of selection (Checked)

Check this option if you only want to see the logs of the object selected in the IDS Tree.

Save logs (Unchecked)

The server stores all server and user actions in RAM (memory). However, it is also possible to save
all server and user actions to a file. Check this option and enter a location where you want to store
the log file. The 3 log files are stored in this single file. You also check Use a new file each day to
create daily log files.

Use structured logging (Unchecked)

Check this option if you want to save extra log information. Structured log files have a different
layout and are saved daily.

49 Chapter 4 My Computer
Log to the database (Unchecked)
Check this option if you want to save a duplicate of the log information in the database (IdsS-
ched.mdb). Note that this is not advised when using an MS Access database.

Show synchronization details in the logs (Unchecked)

Information related to Server-DISplayer synchronization can also be shown in the logs. See Ad-
vanced: Synchronisation on page 151 for more information.

Database

Database clean up interval in days (7 days)

This option allows to define a cleanup interval to prevent database oversizing. Enter the number of
days before the next cleanup.

Temporarily keep information about finished schedules (Unchecked)

Check this action if you want to store information of finished schedules.

Chapter 4 My Computer 50
Number of days to keep history
Enter the number of days to store information of finished schedules.

Clean database Now

Allows to force an instant database cleanup. A small box with a progress bar shows the cleanup
progress.

DISplayer Status Monitoring

The temporary status information (Memory status, temperature, etc.) of the DISplayer(s) can be
stored in the database (IdsSched.mdb). This option is disabled by default.

Check this option, enter the number of days to keep the DISplayer status information and enter
the update interval in minutes.

51 Chapter 4 My Computer
Advanced

Always merge schedules if possible (Unchecked)

When checked, overlapping schedules will be merged to play as one big schedule if their main
event is showing a carousel. See Merging Schedules on page 113 for more information.

Support for multiple serial panels (Unchecked)

By default, a DISplayer is used in combination with a single output device, in most cases a moni-
tor. Starting with GT2 version 4.7, you can also define serial panels for a DISplayer. Checking this
option enables the Add Panel feature in the DISplayer’s context menu. See New Panel on page 71
for more information.

If you are using a version older than GT2 version 4.7, this feature will remain unavailable,
even after the Support for multiple serial panels feature has been activated.

Use IFT (Unchecked)

Intelligent File Transfer is a feature that can drastically limit the amount of data transferred from
IDS Server to the DISplayers. This makes IFT especially practical in a setup where bandwidth and/or

Chapter 4 My Computer 52
upload/download can be an issue, e.g. when you make a connection to your DISplayers over the
Internet.

An example: Let’s say you have 100 MB of content and you use an Internet connection to connect
to 10 DISplayers that reside in the same network. Without IFT, you would have an upload of 10 x
100 MB = 1 GB. If you activate the File Server feature on 1 of the DISplayers, you only have an up-
load of 100 MB. That DISplayer will then distribute the content locally to all other DISplayers in the
network. You not only use less upload but the DISplayers will also get their content much quicker.

For this system to work, you need to setup at least 1 DISplayer to act as a File Server. Secondly, the
files you want to distribute using IFT need to be present on the File Server before they can be dis-
tributed.

Also note that IFT will only work when sending (manually or scheduled) content files (images, vide-
os, etc.) to the DISplayers. It will not work for pages and carousels.

Local log synchronization (Unchecked)

This refers to the Server-DISplayer synchronization mechanism. See Advanced: Synchronisation on
page 151 for more information.

53 Chapter 4 My Computer
IDS Network

Introduction

An IDS Network is a portal to a specific network. It controls the physical communication with the
DISplayers on the network. For the Information Display System to work, at least one IDS Network
is required (and in most cases this will be sufficient).

You can create multiple IDS Networks (although this is rarely done) that use the same NIC.
They must use different port settings. If not, this will result in an Acceptor socket error. See
TCP/IP on page 58 for more information on port settings.

Each IDS Network on your IDS Server can manage a maximum of up to 450 connected DIS-
players.

States

An IDS Network can have several states. An icon in front of the IDS Network helps you to quickly
identify which state it is in.

Started: The IDS Network is active and can connect with DISplayers.

Stopped: The IDS Network is inactive. DISplayers are disconnected.

Working Offline: Results in a similar state as stopped. DISplayers are disconnected.

Actions

Create/Add an IDS Network

Automatic Mode
When you start your server for the first time, you will notice that IDS Server has already created 1
or more IDS Networks automatically. IDS Server creates 1 IDS Network per NIC (Network Interface
Card) it detects in the computer and gives it the name of the adapter.

These auto-generated IDS Networks are properly configured according to dZine’s default settings.
This means that in most cases, no extra configuration is required for IDS Server to be able to com-
municate with your DISplayers, unless the default ports (TCP 6001, UDP 5001/5002) are blocked,
e.g. by a firewall, vlan, etc.

IDS Server will always generate default IDS Network(s) if none are found during startup.

Chapter 4 IDS Network 54

Manual Mode
If you want to add an IDS Network manually (for example after you have changed or added a NIC),
execute these steps:

1 Right-click the IDS Networks object in the IDS Tree and choose New IDS Network in the context
menu.
2 Set all necessary properties. (See Properties on page 55)
3 Click OK to save and close. Your new IDS Network will be created.

Start/Stop an IDS Network

Right-click the IDS Network in the IDS Tree (or click the IDS Networks object if you want to start/
stop all IDS Networks at once) and select Start (IDS Networks)/Stop (IDS Networks) from the con-
text menu.

Delete an IDS Network

Select the IDS Network in the IDS Tree you want to remove and press the delete key on your key-
board. If the IDS Network is running, you will need to stop it first.

If you use the default confirmation options (see Confirmations on page 35), following dialog will
pop up.

Click Yes to delete and No to cancel.

Properties

To open the properties dialog, simply double-click the IDS Network object.

1 Right-click the IDS Network object and select Properties in the context menu.
2 Select the IDS Network object and use Edit › Properties.

55 Chapter 4 IDS Network

General Settings

Name
To identify an IDS Network in the IDS Tree, a name must be specified. Enter a rational name by
which the IDS Network can easily be identified. The name does not have to be unique. Nonethe-
less, it is advised to use unique names to keep the IDS Tree organized.

IP address
By default, the IP address of the server PC is detected automatically. If you want to enter an IP ad-
dress manually, you need to uncheck the Auto detect IP address option.

Allow any DISplayer to connect to this IDS Network (Checked)

This feature will enable the IDS Network to make a connection with DISplayers which are not al-
ready in its IDS tree. Moreover the IDS Network will scan the network at regular intervals for new
DISplayers. If you uncheck this option, you will need to add DISplayers manually at all times. See
Create/Add a DISplayer on page 68.

Chapter 4 IDS Network 56

Allow multiple connections with same IP address (Checked)
In some setups, e.g. Internet, one or more DISplayers reside behind a router. If this option is ena-
bled, the IDS Network will establish a connection using the WAN IP address of the router. Instead
of using a DISplayer’s IP address, the IDS Network will now use its MAC address as an identifier.

Start automatically when IDS Server starts (Checked)

If you do not want an IDS Network to start automatically when IDS Server is started, uncheck this
option.

Auto detect address (Checked)

This option interacts with IP address on this tab and with Controller and Subnet mask in the TCP/IP
tab. If this feature is activated, you can select a network controller and the IP address and subnet
mask are detected automatically. When unchecked, you will need to enter those values manually.

Use time synchronization (Checked)

Some pages contain a current time object or a current date object. Furthermore, also synchronized
carousels need DISplayers to be synchronized. To keep time synchronized over all DISplayers, an
IDS Network can send time synchronization messages. Checking this option will activate the syn-
chronization mechanism. If you uncheck this, the time and date of your DISplayers may vary from
the time and date of the server PC.

When sending the time synchronization messages, they are sent as directed UDP messages. This
means the message contains the IP address of the destination device.

Broadcast time synchronization messages (Checked)

When checked, in addition to directed UDP messages, time synchronization messages are also
sent to the DISplayers using the broadcast address.

Interval (300 sec)

Synchronization messages are sent at a specific interval. You can set the interval time, ranging
from 30 to 3600 seconds.

Use IDS keep-alive time-out (Checked - 600 sec)

An IDS keep-alive mechanism periodically probes the other end of a connection. This mechanism
verifies whether or not the other end of the connection is still responsive. If IDS Server does not
receive a response within the keep-alive interval, it will mark a DISplayer as disconnected in the
IDS Tree.

It is imperative that the value entered here and the value on the DISplayer match. The fac-
tory default value programmed in the DISplayers is also 600 seconds. Do not change these
values unless it is absolutely necessary.

Default use as Timesync master (Unchecked)

This feature is used when several DISplayers are behind a router that blocks all UDP messages.
When this feature is enabled, IDS Server will send the current time with an API command through

57 Chapter 4 IDS Network

an active TCP/IP connection (this means a connection between IDS Server en DISplayer must al-
ready be established). Whatever the network configuration may be, when a connection between
IDS server and DISplayer can be set up, the current time and date can be passed through to the
DISplayer this way. The DISplayer from its side will act as a time synchronization master for other
DISplayers on the same subnetwork, by broadcasting timesync messages over UDP.

As UDP messages are blocked when making connection over the Internet, this is often the only
method to synchronize the time on the DISplayer with the one on the server PC.

TCP/IP

UDP-port (Server: 5001, Client: 5002)

UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is a connectionless protocol that, like TCP, runs on top of IP net-
works. It's used primarily for broadcasting messages over a network. Here, it is also used to initi-
ate a connection between the IDS Network and the DISplayer(s). The UDP Client port is the port on
which the DISplayers must listen to receive those UDP messages. The UDP Server port is the port
the IDS Network must listen to. These settings must match the settings on the DISplayer(s).

Chapter 4 IDS Network 58

TCP-port (6001)
TCP (Transfer Control Protocol) is one of the main protocols in TCP/IP networks. Whereas the IP
protocol only deals with packets, TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange
streams of data. Each data package is numbered and when receiving it, an acknowledgement is
sent so that the sender of the data package knows the package has arrived. The TCP port is the
port the IDS Network is listening on when a DISplayer tries to set up a TCP connection. Make sure
this port matches the TCP port used in the DISplayer settings.

Server initiates the connection with the DISplayer(s) (Checked)

When the IDS Network is initiator, it tries to setup a connection with a DISplayer proactively by
sending connection requests. If unchecked, the IDS Network waits for connection requests from
the DISplayer, thus the connection establishment will be slower.

Controller
If multiple network adapters are available, select the controller from the list you want to assign to
the IDS Network. This setting is only available if Auto-detect IP address on the General tab is
checked and if the server PC has multiple network controllers.

Subnet mask
If Autodetect IP address in the General tab is checked, the subnet mask of the selected network
controller is detected automatically. If not, it will need to be set manually.

Connect through all available network controllers (Unchecked)

If the server PC has multiple network interface cards, the IDS Network can use all of them simul-
taniously. Although in some cases this might prove useful, it is better to set up a separate IDS Net-
work for each NIC.

59 Chapter 4 IDS Network

Auto Send/Clean

Automatically send used files when sending a page/carousel (Checked)

Pages/Carousel are composed of several objects like fonts, images, etc. When sending a page or
carousel, these files must also be sent to the DISplayer. To prevent having to send all these files
manually, you can set them to be sent automatically.

Chapter 4 IDS Network 60

Click Settings to configure the send parameters.

Only send files smaller than (10 MB) (Unchecked)

To prevent network overload it is possible to limit the size of the files to be sent automatically. By
default, all files, except for video and audio, are sent automatically.

Automatically clean sent files (Checked)

Files residing on a DISplayer which are no longer needed are erased automatically to prevent run-
ning out of disk space.

Click Settings to open the dialog box.

The number of days to keep unused files can be set for all files at once or for each file type sepa-
rately. In the latter case, fill in the number of days to keep each file type. Because of their size, au-
dio and video files are stored 60 days by default.

61 Chapter 4 IDS Network

 An example for which it can be handy to keep files stored for a number of days:
Your DISplayer is connected over the Internet and you have just sent its content. This content
contains a large flash file, let’s say 50 MB. Let’s also assume you want this file to be played on
Mondays and Wednesdays. On Tuesdays this flash file is not played.
Every Tuesday, IDS Server will upload the files played on Tuesdays and will remove all files
that are no longer used. This means that the flash file will be deleted and IDS Server will have
to resend the flash file every Wednesday. Because Internet bandwidth is limited and upload
speeds might be slow, you might want to keep the flash file stored on the DISplayer for a cou-
ple of days, e.g. 7, so IDS Server only has to send it once.

Bandwidth Throttling

Bandwidth throttling allows to limit an IDS Server’s impact on the network. To activate, check Ena-
ble bandwidth throttling. Next, drag-and-drop to select the period for which you want to set a
speed limit. Each line in the raster represents a day, each square an hour.

Chapter 4 IDS Network 62

As you drag-and-drop, selected squares will turn pink. Next, select the restriction you want to ap-
ply. There are 5 options:

1 No connections allowed: There is no network activity.

2 User defined 1: Set a value between 32 Kb/s and 16 Mb/s.
3 User defined 2: Set a value between 32 Kb/s and 16 Mb/s.
4 User defined 3: Set a value between 32 Kb/s and 16 Mb/s.
5 Use full bandwidth (default): The IDS Network uses all available bandwidth.

Advanced

Only connect when necessary (Unchecked)

It is not always necessary for the IDS Network to be connected to all DISplayers at all times, espe-
cially when there are many DISplayers in the IDS Tree. Maintaining a connection to all of them can
cause a lot of network load. With this option checked, the IDS Network will only allow those DIS-
players to make connection that have scheduled tasks or in case synchronization is needed.

63 Chapter 4 IDS Network

This option is not selectable if Allow multiple connections with same IP address on the General tab
is checked. The reason for this is that the IDS Network needs te be able to initiate the connection.

Don’t limit the number of simultaneous connections (default)

The IDS Network will establish new connections whenever necessary. For low bandwidth networks
and/or a large number of DISplayers in the IDS Tree it is adviced to set a limit as described below.

Allowed simultaneous connections

When selected, you can set the maximum number of simultaneous connections. Once this maxi-
mum has been reached, the IDS Network will no longer establish new connections. After a task has
finished, its connection is closed which again allows for new connections to be established.

Response time-out (60000 millisec)

The response time-out is a mechanism that verifies whether or not a DISplayer is still active. For
some API-commands sent to the DISplayer, the IDS Network waits for a reply. If that reply is not
received within the period of time defined here, the command is considered to be lost and the IDS
Network moves on to the next task.

Local and Remote Sync

The local and remote sync settings are used for data synchronization and allow to set the synchro-
nization mechanism (source, destination, etc.). This will be treated in a separate chapter since it is
only relevant for very specific applications, e.g. mobile applications that do not have a constant
connection with the server.

Chapter 4 IDS Network 64

Backup Scheduler

As for a DISplayer, you can set the scheduler data to be backupped at regular intervals. See Back-
up Scheduler on page 76. Instead of activating this feature for every DISplayer separately it is done
on an IDS Network level, i.e. for every DISplayer linked to that IDS Network.

65 Chapter 4 IDS Network

Security

This tab displays the security levels set in the Security Manager. It is only available if security has
been activated. Read Advanced: Security Manager on page 141 for more information.

Chapter 4 IDS Network 66

DISplayer

Introduction

A DISplayer is a physical output device and can be connected to a monitor, a projector, a LED pan-
el, a multi-display device, etc. On top of this dedicated machine runs a software (called GT2) to in-
terpret the commands coming from IDS Server.

States

A DISplayer can have several states. An icon in front of the DISplayer’s name in the IDS Tree helps
you to quickly know which state it is in.

Operational and powered on: The monitor attached to the DISplayer is powered on (actually
the DISplayer activates the output signal on its DVI port) and the DISplayer is connected to
the IDS Network. File transfer is possible and sent pages are displayed immediately.

Operational and powered off: The DISplayer is active, thus file transfer is possible. But sent
pages will not be displayed because the attached monitor is powered off (the DISplayer
deactivates the signal on its DVI port).

Not connected: For some reason the DISplayer cannot connect to the IDS Network. Possible
causes could be network failure, blocked packets by a firewall, DISplayer hardware failure, etc.

Preconnection phase: A connection between the IDS Network and a DISplayer is being estab-
lished. During this phase, the IDS Network gets necessary information from the DISplayer,
like status, MAC address, etc.

Out of order: Periodically, a DISplayer may be down for e.g. maintenance. Therefore, it can be
set out of order. This means that the Virtual Server will not try to connect to the DISplayer
and attempts of the DISplayer to make connection to the Server will be ignored. However,
the DISplayer remains visible in the IDS-tree.

Actions

Some actions can be performed by means of the menu bar (see Commands Menu on page 32) and
the commands toolbar (see Toolbar on page 41). Other actions are described in this section.

67 Chapter 4 DISplayer
Create/Add a DISplayer

A DISplayer always belongs to one specific IDS Network, but can be part of multiple groups.
See Group on page 79 for more information.

Automatic Mode
In most cases, you will not need to add DISplayers to your IDS Network. Because dZine products
are pre-configured to communicate with each other, the DISplayers and the IDS Networks will find
each other automatically. Just start your IDS Network(s) and wait a couple of minutes. All DISplay-
ers will be listed in their proper IDS Network.

Manual Mode
Sometimes, however, the auto connect feature will not work, e.g. because of a firewall, specific
network settings, etc. In this case, you will need to add a DISplayer to an IDS Network manually (or
use the advanced Server Connect feature on the DISplayer).

1 Right-click the IDS Network in the IDS Tree to which you want to add a DISplayer.
2 Select New DISplayer from the context menu.
3 Enter the IP address and optionally set all necessary properties. (See Properties on page 71)
4 Click OK to save and close. The DISplayer is added to the IDS Network.

Connect/Disconnect a DISplayer

Right-click the DISplayer in the IDS Tree (or click its IDS Network object if you want to connect/dis-
connect all DISplayers at once) and select Force Connection/Force Disconnection from the context
menu.

Delete a DISplayer

Select the DISplayer in the IDS Tree you want to remove and press the delete key on your key-
board. If the DISplayer is connected, you will need to disconnect it first.

If you use the default confirmation options (see Confirmations on page 35), following dialog will
pop up.

Click Yes to delete and No to cancel.

Chapter 4 DISplayer 68
The context menu

The right-click menu of a DISplayer contains a lot of practical actions. Some of them cannot be
found anywhere else in IDS Server UI.

Force Connection
Rather than waiting for the autoconnect feature (see Automatic Mode on page 68) to kick in, you
can also force a connection to a DISplayer. This will result in an instant connection.

Force Disconnection
This results in an immediate disconnection of the DISplayer.

Stop Sending
Although IDS Server can send a single file to multiple DISplayers at the same time, sending a se-
ries of files to a single DISplayer happens in a sequential way. This means that you will not be able
to send a new file to a DISplayer until it has finished sending the previous one. You can use this
option to stop sending a file instantly, e.g. if IDS Server is sending a large video file, but you want
to send something else in stead first.

Out of Order
See Out of order (Unchecked) on page 73 for more information. This feature can also be used in
combination with a multi-selection of DISplayers. To multi-select, press-and-hold the control key
on your keyboard and click on each DISplayer you want to add to the selection.

Reboot
Some actions, like a DISplayer software upgrade, are only applied after a reboot. This command
will reboot the DISplayer instantly.

Screendump
A screendump is a still picture of the content currently displayed by the DISplayer. This feature is
very useful if you want to verify whether the output of the DISplayer actually corresponds with the
page you have created in Page Editor but the DISplayer is physically out of reach.

When you take a screendump, you will see a downloading progress bar. After the file has been ful-
ly downloaded, IDS Server will open the file with your default image viewing application.

You can also configure IDS Server to take screenshots in an automated way at regular intervals.
See Screendump View Properties on page 37 for more information.

DISplayer Info/Setup
This feature lets you alter settings and get the status of a selected DISplayer from within your IDS
Server UI. See DISplayer Setup in IDS Server on page 127 for more information.

Enable Scheduler
Activates the scheduler for the selected DISplayer.

69 Chapter 4 DISplayer
Disable Scheduler
Deactivates the scheduler for the selected DISplayer. To show you that the scheduler is disabled,
the gutter of the scheduler is coloured red.

Extra
The extra section offers a set of tools to prevent the monitor attached to the DISplayer from burn-
ing-in and the recording feature:

1 Inverted Image: Whatever is displayed on the screen (even video clips), is real-time inverted.
This prevents the burn-in effect. It is a good thing to periodically set the inverted image on all
DISplayers in the network (e.g. at night).
2 Screen Saver Lines: Coloured lines move over a black background across the entire surface of
the monitor.
3 Screen Saver Image: Allows you to select any image from your hard disk drive. This image will
moves over a black background across the entire surface of the monitor.
4 Start Recording: Start recording. A recording is a file that contains all actions that you perform
on a DISplayer. When you select Start Recording, a Save As dialog is shown. Enter a file name
(.gtr) and select where you want to store the recording. Recordings are extremely useful if you
want to perform the same series of actions multiple times.

A recording file not only stores a sequence of actions but also contains all files used during
the recording session. This means that if you send a 100 MB large movie to the DISplayer, the
size of the gtr file will increase by 100 MB.
Recording files can also be useful if you have a problem. Because they contain all necessary
info, they can be used by dZine’s support department to replicate your actions.

5 Stop Recording: Stops recording.

Add to Group
This option adds the selected DISplayer (or a multi-selection of DISplayers) to a group. You can
only use this option after you have created at least one group. If the selected DISplayer has al-
ready been assigned to a group, this group will be greyed out.

Copy
This option copies the selected DISplayer and can only be used in combination with the Paste op-
tion described below.

Paste
You can copy any file, from any location on you hard disk drive and paste it on a DISplayer. The re-
sult of this action is that the file will be send to the DISplayer. You do not need to specify a target
folder as the DISplayer knows which file types need to go in which folders.

If you have copied a DISplayer, you can use the Paste option to add it to a group. Simply right-
click on the group you want to add the DISplayer to and select Paste from the context menu.

Chapter 4 DISplayer 70
Delete
Removes the selected DISplayer (or a multi-selection of DISplayers) from the IDS Network.

New Panel

This advanced option is only available if the DISplayer’s GT2 version is at least 4.7 and the
Support for serial panels feature has been enabled. See Advanced on page 52 for more infor-
mation.

For the moment, only the possibility to add LED panels is integrated. LED panels are serial control-
led output devices. This dialog allows you to set all parameters.

Properties
Opens the properties dialog of the selected DISplayer.

Properties

To open the properties dialog, simply double-click the DISplayer object.

1 Right-click the DISplayer object and select Properties in the context menu.
2 Select the DISplayer object and use Edit › Properties.

71 Chapter 4 DISplayer
General

Name
A DISplayer needs a name to identify its presence in the IDS Tree. Use a clear name that describes
the function/location of the DISplayer. This edit box interacts with Use the name stored on the DIS-
player, described below.

Although using identical names for multiple DISplayers is allowed, it is not recommended.

IP address
The IP address of a DISplayer must be entered manually and must be exactly the same as the one
entered on the DISplayer. If not, connection setup won’t succeed. If necessary, contact your local
network administrator for more information. You can only modify the IP address of a DISplayer
that is not connected. If it is, the IP address will be greyed out.

MAC address
Unlike an IP address, a MAC address is fixed, unchangeable for a device. It identifies a certain de-
vice unambiguously. Where in certain cases, like making connection to devices behind a router,

Chapter 4 DISplayer 72
the IP address doesn’t identify a device completely, the MAC address does. Every time a DISplayer
makes connection, its MAC address is read.

Out of order (Unchecked)

When a DISplayer is set out of order it is unable to connect to its IDS Network. You can use this
option for example if you want to indicate that a DISplayer is not in use, e.g. for maintenance. In
the IDS Tree, a yellow icon appears next to the display. See States on page 67 for more informa-
tion.

Use the name stored on the display (Checked)

Just like a computer a DISplayer has it’s own name which is stored in its configuration files. Check-
ing this option will synchronize the name you see in IDS Server and the system name of the DIS-
player stored on the DISplayer itself.

If you uncheck this feature, you can always enter a name manually, even if the DISplayer is not
connected. In this case the name used in IDS Server can be different from the one that is set on
the DISplayer. This is not recommended.

Use as timesync master (Unchecked)

This feature is used when several DISplayers are behind a router that blocks all UDP messages.
When this feature is enabled, IDS Server will send the current time with an API command through
an active TCP/IP connection (this means a connection between IDS Server en DISplayer must al-
ready be established). Whatever the network configuration may be, when a connection between
IDS server and DISplayer can be set up, the current time and date can be passed through to the
DISplayer this way. The DISplayer from his side will act as a time synchronization master for other
DISplayers on the same subnetwork, by broadcasting timesync messages over UDP.

As UDP messages are blocked when making connection over the Internet, this is often the only
method to synchronize the DISplayer with the server.

Use IDS keep-alive time-out (Checked - 600 sec)

An IDS keep-alive mechanism periodically probes the other end of a connection, even when there
is no data to be sent. Such a mechanism is invoked to verify if the other end of the connection is
still responsive. The interval is the maximum time (in seconds) the connection may be idle without
being detected. The default value is 600 seconds.

It is imperative that the value entered here and the value on the DISplayer match. The fac-
tory default value programmed in the DISplayers is also 600 seconds. You should not change
these values unless it is absolutely necessary.

Language for dates (English)

Some information pages contain date objects. The language of these dates can be set for each
DISplayer separately. Currently, seven languages are supported: English, French, German, Dutch,
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.

73 Chapter 4 DISplayer
Comments

This tab allows to add comments for a particular DISplayer. This can be additional information
about the DISplayer status, e.g. why it has been set out of order, contact information in case sup-
port is needed, etc.

Chapter 4 DISplayer 74
Status

This tab is only visible when a DISplayer is connected because it retrieves information from the
DISplayer. It shows the hardware and software versions as well as information about the storage.
This may be important when troubleshooting the DISplayer.

75 Chapter 4 DISplayer
Backup Scheduler

In case of network failure, the DISplayer will be disconnected from the server and will thus not get
schedule information (the necessary files will not be sent). The Backup Scheduler allows to send a
copy of the scheduler and all the required data (necessary fonts, images, etc.) to the DISplayer.
This data is then stored locally on the DISplayer. The result is more or less the same as the Export
Offline feature (see Export Scheduler on page 34), except that in this case the transport medium is
the network and not a portable carrier.

Enable Backup Scheduler (Unchecked)

When checking this option, the backup scheduler parameters become editable.

Number of days
Fill in the number of days you want to backup. This is in fact the number of days contained in the
schedule that is sent to the DISplayer.

Recurrence of sending backup Schedules

In the same way one can set the recurrence of the backup sending (at which interval time the
schedules need to be transferred to the DISplayer).

Chapter 4 DISplayer 76
You can modify the recurrence by clicking the Details button. This shows the exact same dialog
used when creating schedules. See Scope on page 107 for more information.

Because all files necessary for the DISplayer to work stand-alone are transferred at once, the
size of the data to be sent can be very large (especially when a lot of video objects are used).
This can slow down the network.

Be careful when using this feature in combination with pages that contain database-driven
objects. If the connection to IDS Server is lost, the DISplayer will show outdated data or no
data at all.

Security

This tab displays the security levels set in the Security Manager. This read-only information is only
available if security has been activated. Read Advanced: Security Manager on page 141 for more in-
formation.

77 Chapter 4 DISplayer
Presend

The Presend tab allows you to send files, present in the schedule, to a DISplayer. Like this, the IDS
Server gives greater flexibility for offline scheduling and security of file availability upon playback
by the DISplayer.

Enable (Unchecked)
When checking this option, the presend parameters become editable.

Number of days
Fill in the number of days you want the presend option to cover. This is in fact the number of days
contained in the schedule of which the used contentfiles have to be sent to the DISplayer.

Recurrence of presending Schedules related files

Set the recurrence of the presending schedules related files. In other words: at which interval time
the files need to be sent to the DISplayer.

Chapter 4 DISplayer 78
Group

Introduction

A group is a collection of one or more DISplayers, taken from one or multiple IDS Networks.
Groups can be used to centralize DISplayers according to their location in the field. However, the
DISplayers keep the properties of the IDS Network they are bound to.

Although groups are not necessary they do make IDS Server easier to work with, especially if you
have to manage a large number of DISplayers. Groups are logical, not physical, elements of the
IDS Tree which means you can add, modify and remove them as you wish without jeopardizing the
structure of your IDS Network. You can create as many groups as you want. You can even create a
group in a group.

To avoid the inconvenience of repeating the same action to send the same commands or pages to
different DISplayers they can be put together in a group. When sending (or scheduling) a page to
that group it will automatically be sent to all members of the group.

Groups are also handy when working in a client-server setup with security enabled. Read Ad-
vanced: Security Manager on page 141 for more information.

A couple of situations in which groups come in handy:

ƒ To group DISplayers according to their location.

ƒ If you have monitors in your network that have a different aspect ratio, you can make a group
for the 4/3 and one for the 16/9 monitors.
ƒ For security reasons you may not want to give the users any rights on your IDS Network. In this
case you can give users rights on specific groups.

Actions

Create/Add a Group

1 Right-click the Groups object or a group (if you want to create a subgroup) in the IDS Tree.
2 Select New Group from the context menu.
3 Set all necessary properties. (See Properties on page 80)
4 Click OK to save and close. Your new group will be added.

Add DISplayers To a Group

Select the DISplayer and drag-and-drop it from its IDS Network onto the desired group.

In case you have a lot of DISplayers, it might be easier to use the DISplayer’s context menu. See
Add to Group for more information.

If you want to add multiple DISplayers to a group you can combine previous actions with the mul-
ti-select feature.

79 Chapter 4 Group
Add all DISplayers
There is a quick way to add all DISplayers from an IDS Network to a group at once. Simply drag-
and-drop the IDS Network to which the DISplayers belong onto the desired group.

Remove DISplayers From a Group

(Multi-)Select the DISplayer object(s) in the group and press the delete key on your keyboard or
select Delete in the context menu.

If you use the default confirmation options (see Confirmations on page 35), following dialog will
pop up.

Click Yes to delete and No to cancel.

Delete a Group

Select the group in the IDS Tree you want to remove and press the delete key on your keyboard.

If you use the default confirmation options (see Confirmations on page 35), following dialog will
pop up.

Click Yes to delete and No to cancel.

Properties

To open the properties dialog, simply double-click the group object.

1 Right-click the group object and select Properties in the context menu.
2 Select the group object and use Edit › Properties.

Chapter 4 Group 80
General

Name
A group needs a name to identify its presence in the IDS Tree. Use a clear name that describes the
function/location of the group.

81 Chapter 4 Group
Backup Scheduler

As for a DISplayer, you can set the scheduler data to be backupped. See Backup Scheduler on
page 76. Instead of activating this feature for every DISplayer separately it is done on a group lev-
el, i.e. for every DISplayer linked to that group.

Chapter 4 Group 82
Local and Remote Sync

These options have the same functionality as described in Local and Remote Sync on page 64 but
apply to this group only.

83 Chapter 4 Group
Security

This tab displays the security levels set in the Security Manager. This information is only available if
security has been activated. Read Advanced: Security Manager on page 141 for more information.

Chapter 4 Group 84
Local File Explorer
5
Terminology
Upload - Download

In terms of the Internet, upload and download are common knowledge. They have a similar mean-
ing when it comes to file management. Uploading a file means sending a file from the server PC to
one or more DISplayers. Downloading a file means retrieving a file from a DISplayer to the server
PC.

If you are working in a client-server setup, you can also exchange files between IDS Server and IDS
UI. In this case, uploading signifies the file transfer from IDS UI to IDS Server, and downloading
vice versa.

Local - Remote

All file transfer actions are committed from the server PC. Therefore, the server PC is the local host.
A DISplayer is a remote host. Files stored on the server PC are listed in the Local File Explorer. Files
stored on a DISplayer are listed in the Remote File Explorer. See Remote File Explorer on page 117
for more information.

Local IDS Server - Remote IDS Server

Being logged on to a remote IDS Server implies that the Local File Explorer is actually a view on the
local hard disk of the remote server PC. This means that when a file is retrieved, it will be stored on
the server PC and not on the PC the user is working on. If the user wants to view that file he will
need to do another file transfer (download) from the server PC to his own PC.

Of course, this will not be necessary when IDS Server and IDS UI are on the same computer. In this
case the Local File Explorer is a view on the local hard disk of the user’s PC.

85
Parsing - Sending

From IDS Server’s point of view, there are two different types of files:

1 Parseable: Files containing API code, e.g. a page (.gtp), a carousel (.gtc), etc.
2 Non-parseable: All other files, e.g. images, videos, etc.

When a page is parsed, IDS Server interprets and executes the API code. When a file is sent it is
just an ordinary data transfer.

Pages and carousels can both be parsed or sent. When a page/carousel is sent it will simply
be copied into the \GT\Pages folders of the DISplayer. This means that the content that is
currently displayed will not be changed.
If, on the other hand, the file is parsed, the DISplayer will execute the file’s API commands. To
know how to send/parse a file, see Actions on page 92 for more information.

Chapter 5 Terminology 86
File Management

The content to be shown on a monitor connected to your DISplayer is drawn up in pages created
by Page Editor. A page consists of different types of objects. Each type is stored in a different fold-
er. In IDS Server those folders are represented by the different tabs in the Local File Explorer win-
dow: Pages, Fonts, Images, Media, Audio/Video, Bluepull and Binaries.

In order for the system to work properly, all files need to be stored in their respective folder. For
example: an image file stored in the fonts folder cannot be used by IDS Server. Another thing is
that you may not create subfolders within these folders. All files need to reside in the root folder. If
you use Page Editor to create your content, this will not be a problem as it uses the same folder
structure and knows which files belong in which folders. More information about files, folders and
Projects can be found in the Page Editor manual.

The table below gives a survey of the different types of files that are stored in those folders.

Folder Name Tab Name File Types

Pages Pages Graphic Terminal Pages (.gtp)

Graphic Terminal Carousels (.gtc)

System Graphic Terminal Files (.gt)

Graphic Terminal Binary Files (.gt2)

RX Files (.rx)

Fonts Fonts GEM Fonts (.gft)

True Type Fonts (.ttf)

Open Type Fonts (.otf)

Gifs Images (Animated) Graphic Interchange Format (.gif)

Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg)

Portable Network Graphics (.png)

Windows Bitmap (.bmp)

87 Chapter 5 File Management

 Folder Name Tab Name File Types

Tagged Image File (.tif)

Moving Picture Expert Group (.mpg, .mp2, .m1v, .m2v,

Mpegs Audio/Video
.mp2, .mp3), Waveform Audio Format (.wav)

Video Object (.vob)

Audio Video Interleaved (.avi) (LeadTools)

Media Media Shockwave Flash (.swf) (version 7 and older)

Flash Video (.flv)

Microsoft PowerPoint (.ppt, .pps) (iSpring)

Bluepull Bluepull

Binaries Binaries All other file types (.rtb, .ini, .log, etc.)

The folder structure corresponds with the folders in the \Storage\GT\ folder on the DISplayer.
When sending a file to the DISplayer, the GT2 software (the software running on the DISplayer) will
automatically know where to put it.

Similarly, when parsing a page, all files except video clips (this can however be set in the Auto
Send/Clean settings of the IDS Network. See Auto Send/Clean on page 60 for more information.)
are automatically transferred to the correct folder on the DISplayer.

A DISplayer can only work with file extensions smaller or equal to 3, e.g. .rx, .jpg, etc. This
means that .jpeg and .mpeg are not allowed.

Chapter 5 File Management 88

Layout
The Local File Explorer consists out of 2 sections: the Projects and the File Explorer.

Projects

A project is a collection of files that belong together. When you start IDS Server UI for the first
time, you will work with the Default project.

The Default project is always present and cannot be removed. It is linked to specific folders on the
server PC’s hard disk drive. See Folders on page 48 for more information.

Projects can contain the following folders:

ƒ Pages
ƒ Images
ƒ Videos
ƒ Media
ƒ Bluepull

These folders correspond to the tabs of the Local File Explorer.

Just like groups, you are not obligated to use multiple projects, but they can make life a little easi-
er by keeping your files organized. If, for example, you have 3 groups, and each one of them plays
a completely different set of pages and carousels, you could work with 1 project but by saving all
files for all groups in the same project, it will be harder to find the file you want to use.

You can only use and select projects in IDS Server UI. To select another project:

1 Left-click the project that is currently active. A list containing all your projects will popup.
2 Select the desired project. Its files will be loaded in the different tabs.

89 Chapter 5 Layout
If you want to create, modify and delete them, please read the Page Editor manual.

File Explorer

The File Explorer offers an Explorer-like interface. This means you can copy and paste files, (multi-)
select files, delete files, etc. just like you would in Windows Explorer.

You can also order columns by clicking on the column headers and choose how to view the con-
tents of each tab separately. To do this, select the tab for which you want to change the view,
right-click an empty area (not a file!) and select View in the context menu. There are 4 views availa-
ble:

1 Large Icons
2 Small Icons
3 List (this is the default setting for all tabs)
4 Details

Context Menu

Depending on the installation type you selected during the setup, the Local File Explorer has differ-
ent context menus:

Stand-alone (simple installation)

In a stand-alone environment, the Local File Explorer is a view on the local hard disk of the user’s
PC. In this case, there are no limitations, thus the context menu offers the same functionality as the
Windows Explorer context menu. In other words: all options are available.

Client-Server (advanced installation)

Things are different in a client-server setup. In this case, the Local File Explorer of IDS Server UI on
a client PC is actually a view on the local hard disk of the remote server PC. The result of this is that
the context menu is limited to a number of fixed actions.

For example: you will not be able to open/edit a file because the file you see in the Local File Ex-
plorer does not reside on your PC but on the server PC.

Chapter 5 Layout 90
The context menu of a file has a couple of options:

1 Send now: Send a file instantly to the selected IDS Tree object (IDS Network, DISplayer, group).
2 Schedule: Schedule a file for the selected IDS Tree object.
3 Copy: Copy the selected file(s).
4 Delete: Delete the selected file(s).
5 Save As: Save the selected file(s) on your computer. This is the only way to download a file from
IDS Server onto your local PC by means of IDS Server.

The default context menu (right-click in an empty area) features these options:

1 Paste: Paste a previously copied file. In this way you can copy a file that resides on your local PC
to the server PC.
2 View: See File Explorer on page 90 for more information.

You can also drag-and-drop files from Windows Explorer into the File Explorer. If IDS Server
and IDS Server UI reside on the same computer, you can even drag-and-drop files from Win-
dows Explorer directly onto an IDS Tree object. In this case, the files will first be copied into
their proper folders of the project and are then sent to the DISplayer automatically.

91 Chapter 5 Layout
Actions
Instantly Parse/Send Files

One of the most important objectives of IDS Server is sending content to your DISplayer(s). When-
ever you send a page/carousel to a DISplayer, you expect more than just a simple file copy from
the server’s to the DISplayer’s hard disk drive: you want the page/carousel to be displayed as well.

A page/carousel not only consists out of objects (images, text, etc.) but also contains information
(e.g. the page resolution, duration of a page in a carousel, etc.) and actions (e.g. image transition
effects, appear delay, etc.).

As you can read in Parsing - Sending on page 86, parsing and sending are 2 very different things.
So how does IDS Server know which action you want to perform?

Parse a Page/Carousel
To parse, simply drag-and-drop a page/carousel from the Local File Explorer to the desired IDS
Tree object.

1 Select the target IDS Tree object, right-click the page/carousel and select Send Now in the
context menu.
2 Right-click the page/carousel and select Copy in the context menu. Next, right-click the
target IDS Tree object and select Paste in the context menu.

Send a Page/Carousel
Since sending a page/carousel is less common practice, there is no quick way to do this. You need
to drag-and-drop the page/carousel from the Local File Explorer to the proper folder in the Re-
mote File Explorer. See Remote File Explorer on page 117 for more information.

Send Other Files

Only objects that reside in the Pages tab of the File Explorer are parseable. This means that no
matter how you send other types of files to a DISplayer, they will always be sent and not parsed.
The easiest and fastest way to send files to a DISplayer is the drag-and-drop technique.

Schedule Files

Instead of manually parsing/sending a file, you can also schedule this action at predefined inter-
vals. This saves you a lot of time.

Chapter 5 Actions 92
Instead of drag-and-dropping a file to an IDS object to parse/send it instantly, you need to drag-
and-drop it onto the Scheduler in the top-right corner of IDS Server UI. This opens the Create/
Modify Schedule dialog.

As always, there are also other ways to schedule a file/action. For information on how to setup a
schedule in detail, please read Remote File Explorer on page 117.

File Transfer between IDS UI and IDS Server

In case IDS UI is running on another PC than IDS Server, you can also use the Local File Explorer to
transfer between the server PC (running IDS Server) and the client PC (running IDS UI). This can be
practical in case you do not have rights to copy files by means of Windows Explorer because of
network restrictions.

File Upload
Uploading a file means sending a file from the client PC onto the server PC. All actions are per-
formed on the client PC:

1 Right-click the file(s) you want to upload andselect Copy in the context menu.
2 In IDS UI, select the tab in the Local File Explorer to which you want to send the file(s).
3 Right-click somewhere in an empty space in the File Explorer and select Paste in the context
menu.

You can also drag-and-drop a file from any location on the client PC into the File Explorer of
IDS UI to start uploading a file.

These techniques can also be used when IDS UI and UDS Server are running on the same
machine. In this case there is no file upload but a simple file copy to a project folder on the
same computer.

93 Chapter 5 Actions
File Download
Downloading a files means sending a file from the server PC onto the client PC. Again, all actions
are performed on the client PC:

1 In IDS UI, select the tab in the Local File Explorer from which you want to download the file(s).
2 (Multi-select and) Right-click the file(s) to download and select Save as in the context menu.
3 A Save as dialog opens. Select a folder and a name and click Save. In case of a multi-select, this
dialog will be presented for each file.

Chapter 5 Actions 94
Scheduler
6
Layout
Although sending content manually can prove to be useful, it wouldn’t be practical at all if you had
to send all content manually, every day/night, for all your DISplayers. Fortunately, all actions that
can be performed manually can be automated.

Automation is key when working with digital signage. And that’s where the Scheduler comes in.
This indispensable tool helps you to create a content distribution schedule.

The Scheduler is located in the upper right-hand area and has 2 different views:

1 Calendar
2 List

A third view, the Screendump View, can be activated but because this view has nothing to do
with the Scheduler, it is not explained in this chapter. All information can be found on
page 37.

You can switch views by selecting the appropriate tab located on the left-hand side of the Schedul-
er.

95
Calendar View

The Calendar View offers an intuitive, Outlook-like interface.

By default, the Calendar View features a 7 day overview and 2 month calendars on the right-hand
side. Its default look-and-feel is fully customizable. See Properties on page 99 for more informa-
tion.

List View

The List View shows all scheduled events in one list. This eases the survey when many events are
scheduled.

Navigating the Calendar

The first day of the calendar is automatically set to the current day. Depending on your monitor’s
resolution you may or may not have a 100% view on the calendar. To solve this, you can make the
calendar area larger and/or you can use the scrollbar on the right-hand side.

Chapter 6 Layout 96
The current date is marked bold. The blue line in the timeline indicates the current time.

On the right-hand side you see the Sidebar.

Today
Click on Today to jump back to the current day. By using the arrows on the left and right you can
make the calendar change its view by 1 day.

Number of days
Set how many days you want to see in the calendar. There are 3 options:

1 1 day
2 5 days
3 1 week

Timescale
Set how detailed you want the timeline to be. There are 4 options:

1 10 minutes
2 15 minutes
3 30 minutes
4 60 minutes

97 Chapter 6 Layout
When setting a smaller number of minutes, the calendar will be more detailed but will also take up
more space and vice versa.

Mini calendars

The mini calendars give all kinds of useful information.

ƒ The current date is indicated by a red border line.

ƒ The days visible in the calendar view have a grey background. This means that in this example
the calendar will show 5 days from the 10th till the 14th of September.
ƒ Holidays are marked blue and bold.
ƒ Days on which there is at least 1 schedule are marked black and bold.

Besides providing information, the mini calendars can also be used for navigation. The first mini
calendar has arrows next to its month. Clicking left/right will jump to the previous/next set of
months.

Another way to jump to a specific month is by pressing and holding the left mouse key on the
month name of one of the mini calendars. This will bring up the month selection list.

While still holding down the left mouse key, move the mouse up/down to scroll through previous/
upcoming months.

Chapter 6 Layout 98
Properties
Properties can only be set when working in the Calendar View. To open the properties dialog,
right-click an empty space in the calendar and select Properties in the context menu.

General Properties

Calendar background color (White)

You can choose between 8 different background color schemes for the calendar.

Show schedule details in tooltip (Checked)

When enabled, you can hover over any schedule to get detailed information.

Show sidebar (Checked)

If you do not want to use/see the Sidebar, this option lets you disable it to free up space for the
calendar (see Navigating the Calendar on page 96 for more information).

There is a quick way to enable/disable the Sidebar. Simply right-click on the calendar and
select Show Sidebar in the context menu.

Number of months (2)

Select how many mini calendars you want to see in the Sidebar.

99 Chapter 6 Properties
Week Settings

Show weekends in calendar (Checked)

Disable this to exclude all days from the calendar that are not checked in the Work Week Settings
dialog explained below.

Only show working hours in calendar (Unchecked)

In some cases, files or events should only be scheduled during the working hours of your busi-
ness. In the calendar, these working hours are marked in a slightly lighter color. Enabling this fea-
ture does not imply that no events can be scheduled outside the scope of the working hours, it
only narrows the view of the calendar to match them.

In the list you can see which days and hours are set as week days and working hours. You can
modify this by clicking the Settings button.

Chapter 6 Properties 100

Settings
Clicking the Settings button opens the Work Week Settings dialog.

By default, only Saturday and Sunday are unchecked, indicating that these are not work days. You
can modify this dialog to match your needs. Just bear in mind that these settings do not limit the
possibilities of the Scheduler. They only affect how the calendar is visualized.

Holidays

During the holidays you may want to use a different schedule. In this dialog you can define peri-
ods of time that will be known to the system as holidays. These holidays can have an influence on

101 Chapter 6 Properties

schedules. See Scope on page 107 for more information. Holidays are marked blue and bold in the
sidebar’s mini calendars.

Show holidays in calendar (Checked)

When disabled, holidays will be visually (not functionally) excluded from the calendar.

In the list you can see which days/periods have been defined as holidays. By default this list is
empty. To define holidays, click the Settings button.

Settings
Clicking the Settings button opens the Holiday Settings dialog.

To add a single day or a period to the holidays list, select the proper action and click Add. To re-
move, select an item in the holidays list and click Remove.

Chapter 6 Properties 102

Schedules

What are Schedules

Schedules are actions or events you want IDS Server to execute automatically, e.g. you want a DIS-
player to reboot at 8 o’clock in the morning, you want to show a carousel from 10 till 12 o’clock
each Wednesday, etc.

Properties

Each schedule has the same basic layout.

As you see in the screenshot, a schedule contains two sections: Perform and Scope, respectively
defining what will happen and when it will happen.

Perform

A schedule always needs to have a main event. In most cases this event will already have the cor-
rect action because of the way the new schedule was created, e.g. if you drag-and-drop a page file
onto the Scheduler, the main event will be set to Show Page/Carousel. See Create a Schedule on
page 109 for more information.

You can always change the main event by selecting another item from the drop-down list. By de-
fault, 7 actions are available:

1 Show Page/Carousel
2 Send File
3 Retrieve File
4 Delete File
5 Power On

103 Chapter 6 Schedules

6 Power Off
7 Reboot

Next to the main event, there are also Before and After events, respectively executed at the start
and stop time of a schedule. These actions are not mandatory and are therefore set to Do nothing
by default.

Before can only be set to Do nothing and Power on. After can be set to Do nothing, Reboot, Power
off and Power on.

The default actions can also be expanded with customized user commands. To learn more about
user commands, please read Advanced: Scripts & Commands on page 153.

Some actions can be programmed in detail by clicking the Details button. The Event Details dia-
log options change according to the selected action. Below an overview of all dialogs:

Do nothing, Power on, Power off, Reboot

These actions all share the same Event Details dialog.

There is only 1 option: Always use this event. If you check this, the selected action will become the
default action for all future schedules. In this way you can change the default action for Before and
After events.

Chapter 6 Schedules 104

Show Page/Carousel

In this case, the Always use this event option is not available.

In stead, you can set 3 other options:

1 Project: Select the project in which the page/carousel resides. For more info about projects,
please check the Page Editor manual.
2 File: Once a project has been selected, you can select the page/carousel you want to display.
3 Add to active carousel: If you selected a carousel in the File option, this feature will become
available. If checked, the carousel will be merged with other carousels for the time their sched-
ules overlap. See Merging Schedules on page 113 for more information.

Send File

To send a file, click the browse button, select the proper file and click Open. In the Destination file
text box you need to enter the target location and file name. This means that the name of the file
after the file transfer can be different than the original file name.

You can, for example, enter C:\Program Files\Images\picture.jpg in the File text box and enter
\GT\Gifs\image.jpg in the Destination file text box. By doing this you activate a file transfer and a
file rename, all at once.

105 Chapter 6 Schedules

The Destination file structure needs to look like this: \location\file. Some valid examples:

ƒ \GT\Gifs\image.jpg to copy the file into the Gifs folder on the DISplayer.
ƒ \sample.abc to copy the file into the root folder of the DISplayer.

Do not forget to always add the file name or the file transfer will fail to execute. You can transfer
files to any location on the DISplayer you like, but keep in mind that it’s best to use the folders ac-
cording to their function. Thus, images go into \GT\Gifs, videos go into \GT\Mpegs, etc.

You can also leave the Destination file text box empty. In this case, the DISplayer’s software
will choose the appropriate target folder automatically. The file name will remain unchanged.

Retrieve File

A similar procedure as for sending a file is used for retrieving a file. In this case a file is download-
ed from a DISplayer onto the server PC. The Source file text box requires the location and file
name, like the Destination file structure used when sending a file. Next, click the browse button,
select the proper destination folder and file name and click Open.

Chapter 6 Schedules 106

Delete file

To delete a file, simply write the location and file name in the File text box.

Scope

A schedule also has a beginning and an end. For simple schedules, you can select the scope direct-
ly from the Create/Modify Schedule dialog.

107 Chapter 6 Schedules

If you want more control over the scope of the schedule, click the Details button. This opens a
new dialog that helps you setup an advanced scope.

This dialog features 2 tabs: Pattern and Survey.

In the Pattern tab, you can select when and how many times a schedule will be executed.

On the bottom right-hand side you find the Holidays section. There are 3 options:

1 Have no influence: Holidays have no impact on the schedule. No days will be added nor
removed. This is the default setting.
2 Add to schedule: Holidays are automatically added to the recurrence pattern.
3 Remove from schedule: Holidays are removed from the recurrence pattern.

The Set this pattern as default lets you store a certain pattern as the default one. Whenever you
make a new schedule, you can use the Apply default pattern on the Create/Modify Schedule dia-
log to give a new schedule the same recurrence pattern.

Chapter 6 Schedules 108

There is also a second tab: Survey.

Days on which the schedule is executed are marked bold. Left-clicking on a day adds (or removes
in case it was bold) that day to the schedule. You can only add/remove days within the scope of
the schedule, i.e. between the start and stop date.

The Reset button removes all changes you have made and restores the original pattern of the
schedule.

Actions

Create a Schedule

There are numerous ways to create a schedule and the best way to create a schedule often de-
pends on its main event.

No matter how you create a schedule or what the properties of that schedule will be, the first
thing to do is always selecting the IDS Tree object for which you want to create the schedule. Al-
though the procedure to create a new schedule is the same for all objects, we’ll only talk about
creating schedules for a single DISplayer in this section. For more information about scheduling for
other IDS Tree objects, see Level Scheduling on page 111.

109 Chapter 6 Schedules

Schedule a File
There are multiple ways to schedule a file. The easiest way is by using the drag-and-drop feature.
Simply drag-and-drop any file from the Local File Explorer onto the Scheduler. This will automati-
cally open the Create/Modify Schedule dialog. Depending on the file type, the Scheduler will know
whether you want to send or parse a file. See Parsing - Sending on page 86 for more information.
Pages and carousels will always be parsed whereas all other file types will be sent.

All there’s left to do now is setup the Scope part of the schedule as described in Scope on page 107
and clicking OK to save the schedule.

Right-click on a file in the Local File Explorer and select Schedule in the context menu.

Schedule a Command/Action
Some schedules do not involve files. Instead they execute a command or perform an action, e.g.
reboot the DISplayer, power off the monitor, etc.

In this case, you cannot use the drag-and-drop feature because there simply isn’t any file to drag-
and-drop. There are 2 approaches to create such a schedule:

1 Right-click the Calendar and select New Schedule in the context menu.
2 Use one of the buttons in the Schedule Toolbar.

Either way will present the Create/Modify Schedule dialog. If you use the second option, the main
event will already be the action you want to perform because each button corresponds to one par-
ticular action. The 3 most commonly used actions have a dedicated button:

1 Power on
2 Power off
3 Reboot

If you use the first option, you always have to set the main event manually, because the default
Event will be Show Page/Carousel.

Chapter 6 Schedules 110

Either way, you can always select another Event afterwards from the drop down list.

In the screenshot you can see that next to the default commands, there are also 2 extra user com-
mands. User commands are automatically added to the list upon creation. See Advanced: Scripts &
Commands on page 153 for more information.

As with scheduling a file, you can also add a Before and After event, although this is not common
practice.

A DISplayer does not have to be connected in order to be able to create a schedule. It is not
even necessary for the IDS Network to be active. Schedules are performed as soon as this is
possible. In other words: as soon as there is a connection between IDS Server and the DIS-
player.

Modify a Schedule

You can double-click a schedule to bring up the Create/Modify Schedule dialog. Make all neces-
sary changes and click OK to confirm.

1 Right-click the schedule and select Properties in the context menu.

2 Select the schedule and select Properties in the Edit menu.

Level Scheduling

When a schedule has been created for a particular DISplayer, it will not be visible in the Scheduler
of any other IDS Tree object.

Rather than creating schedules for a single DISplayer, you can also create them on a higher IDS
Tree level, i.e. a group, all groups and an IDS Network.

111 Chapter 6 Schedules

Particularly for groups this is a very handy feature because a single schedule created on a group is
replicated automatically onto all objects in that group.

If you select an object, that belongs to a higher object, in the IDS Tree, IDS Server UI indicates
schedules that have been created on a higher level by changing the gutter color to grey. In the
screenshot above, the schedule has been created for group Entrance, thus when the DISplayer En-
trance Left is selected, the schedule gutter is grey.

But there’s more to the grey gutter than indicating that the schedule has been created on a high-
er level. Such schedules are not editable. If you try to drag-and-drop the schedule to another loca-
tion on the calendar, it will not work. You can only modify and delete schedules on the level they
were originally created.

Copying a Schedule

If you have created a schedule, you can easily copy it to other IDS Tree objects. Copying sched-
ules can only be done from the list view. Select a schedule and drag-and-drop it onto another IDS
Tree object.

Unlinking a Schedule

As you know by now, you can create schedules that expand over multiple days. These are called
linked schedules and are easily distinguishable in the calendar by their shared gutter color. Linked
schedules come in handy if you want to schedule the same event for a period of time, e.g. you
want to show carousel x.gtc from 8 till 10 o’clock for the next 5 days.

If you make a change to a linked schedule, e.g. you drag-and-drop the end time to another hour,
all end hours for all days that are part of this schedule will move along.

Although this is very practical, you may also want to modify a particular day without modifying the
rest of the linked schedule. This is where the Unlink option comes in.

If you right-click on the day for which you want to modify the schedule, you can select Unlink in
the context menu.

Chapter 6 Schedules 112

If you do this, the gutter color for that day will change, indicating that it has become a new sched-
ule that is no longer connected to the original schedule.

It is much easier and faster to create a general schedule for multiple days and unlink the few
days that are different than it is to create a separate schedule for each day.

Overlapping Schedules

The Scheduler allows to schedule multiple events during the same period of time. Because IDS
Server has an order in which events are executed, this does not pose a problem.

To be able to predict in which order events are executed, you need to understand two rules:

1 Top to bottom: Schedules are executed sequentially, depending on their start time. In the
screenshot above, carousel 1.gtc will be executed at 10:00. At 10:30 1.gtc will be replaced by
another carousel: 2.gtc. 2.gtc, in its turn, is replaced by 3.gtc at 11:00. This means a newer (later
in time) schedule always gets the upper hand. So far so good, but what happens at 12:00? In
this case the second rule, described below, applies.
2 Right to left: You will notice that a newly added schedule is always added to the right of an
existing schedule (in case their execution times overlap). In the example, 1.gtc was the first
event to be scheduled and 3.gtc was the last one. At 12:00, 3.gtc has finished and because 2.gtc
was scheduled after 1.gtc, it is now first in line to continue its schedule. Thus, at 12:00, 3.gtc will
be replaced by 2.gtc. Similarly, at 12:30, 2.gtc will be replaced by 1.gtc. The more to the right,
the higher the schedule’s priority.

These rules also apply if the overlapping schedules were created on a different IDS Tree
objects.
If you create two (or more) schedules to start at the same time, the second rule applies,
which means that only the most recently added schedule will be executed.

Merging Schedules

As described above, there is always 1 schedule to get the upper hand in case of overlapping
schedules. There is, however, an other option: if the main event of overlapping schedules is play-
ing a carousel, you can also merge schedules in stead of executing them sequentially. In this way
you use the content of multiple carousels as one big carousel. This feature only works for carou-

113 Chapter 6 Schedules

sels because these are the only objects that can contain multiple pages. You could never add a
page to another page.

In the screenshot 2.gtc does not replace 1.gtc. The + sign in the upper right-hand corner of the
2.gtc icon indicates that 2.gtc will be added to 1.gtc. This means that from 16:00 till 18:00, the con-
tent from 1.gtc and 2.gtc will both be played.

To setup a schedule to merge, you need to activate the Add to active carousel feature in the Event
Details dialog of the main event as described in Show Page/Carousel on page 105.

If you want schedules to merge whenever possible, you can also enable the By default add a new
carousel to the active carousel feature as described in Advanced on page 52.

Finally, there is one more thing you can do with merged schedules: you can change the order in
which they are played. As you see in the screenshot, it is also possible to merge more than 2
schedules.

Right-click on one of the schedules and select Show Merged Schedules or use the keyboard short-
cut CTRL-D. This links all merged schedules by means of a blue bar.

Chapter 6 Schedules 114

You can then left-click on a bar to bring up the Change Sequence dialog.

Select the carousel and use the Up and Down buttons to change its position. Click OK to confirm.

Delete a Schedule

To delete a schedule, left-click the schedule and press the delete key. If the schedule contained
multiple days, it will be treated as one and will be deleted for all days.

If you have a schedule that contains multiple days and you want more control, you can also right-
click a schedule and select Delete in the context menu.

This opens a new menu that offers 3 ways to delete the schedule:

1 This Item: Only deletes the part of the schedule for the day on which you right-clicked.
2 All Similar Items: Deletes the entire schedule, for all days.
3 All Items: Not only deletes the schedule on which you right-clicked, but deletes all schedules
for the selected IDS Tree object.

Resume/Suspend the Scheduler

If you do not want the Scheduler to be active, you can suspend it. This can be done for different
IDS Tree objects, e.g. if you suspend the Scheduler when a group is selected, the Scheduler for all
DISplayers in that group will be suspended as well.

115 Chapter 6 Schedules

By default, the Scheduler is active for all IDS Tree objects. To suspend, select the proper IDS Tree
object and left-click the Suspend Scheduler button from the Scheduler Toolbar.

The Suspend Scheduler button is only available when the Scheduler for the selected IDS Tree ob-
ject is active and vice versa.

IDS Server UI indicates a suspended Scheduler by changing the gutter color to red.

To resume the Scheduler, left-click the Resume Scheduler button.

Chapter 6 Schedules 116

Remote File Explorer
7
Layout
In previous chapters, you have learned how to send files from the server PC to your DISplayers,
both manually and scheduled. This means that a DISplayer is able to receive and store files. By de-
fault, a DISplayer is equipped with a Compact Flash (CF) card and a hard disk drive.

Compact Flash cards offer great stability and durability. The CF card contains the DISplayer’s con-
figuration/system files and stores files that take up little disk space, like images, fonts, pages, etc.

Hard disk drives, on the other hand, offer large disk space and are mostly used to store big (flash)
movie files.

Being able to store files offers some interesting benefits:

ƒ Content does not need to be streamed.

ƒ As a direct result of the above, a DISplayer can play stand-alone. If a connection with the server
is lost, a DISplayer can continue to play the current content.
ƒ You can save on bandwidth as files are only sent when needed, i.e. if not already present on the
DISplayer’s storage unit.

In IDS Server UI, however, you will never see 2 different storage devices per DISplayer. Remember
that, when sending files to a DISplayer, you could either drag-and-drop a files onto the IDS Tree
object or you could schedule the file to be copied into a specific folder. Either way, you never had
to select a storage device.

Other than on your computer where you may have a multiple drives (C:, D:, etc.) and you can store
files wherever you want, IDS Server UI does not show drive letters and the physical storage units
are not visible. Instead, all physical storage units are represented as a single unit, called Storage.

117
Actions
Navigating

If you click on the + icon in front of a DISplayer in the IDS Tree, the Storage item will be shown.

As soon as you select the Storage object, the Scheduler will change into the Remote File Explorer.

This view shows all files and folders that reside on the DISplayer, no matter on which hardware de-
vice (compact flash card or hard disk drive) they are stored. When a file is sent to a DISplayer, the
GT2 software will decide where to store the file depending on its type and size. For example, an
image is always stored on the CF card, unless there is no more disk space left. In that case, the im-
age will be stored on the hard disk drive.

By clicking on the Storage object, the IDS Tree will show the folders that reside in the root of the
DISplayer.:

There are 3 default folders:

1 DOS: DOS programs and system files.

2 GT: GT2 program files and folders.
3 TLS: Contains additional tools that can be used to perform tasks on a DISplayer while working
in DOS mode.

Chapter 7 Actions 118

In general, you should only upload/download files to/from the GT folder. Besides the GT2 pro-
gram files, this folder also contains all user files. In fact, its folder structure is a copy of the one
used in your projects.

Click on the + in front of the folder name or double-click the folder in the Remote File Explorer
window to see its content.

As you see, browsing a DISplayer is pretty much the same as browsing your local hard disk drive
with Windows Explorer.

Sending File to Specific Folder

Whenever you send a file to a DISplayer by drag-and-dropping the file from the Local File Explorer
onto the target IDS Tree object, it will either be parsed (if the file was a page/carousel) or copied
(all other files) into the proper DISplayer folder, as explained in Parsing - Sending on page 86.

This means that it is not necessary to browse the DISplayer first and copy the file into a specific
folder afterwards. When you drag-and-drop a file onto the name of a DISplayer in the IDS Tree,
you let the GT2 software decide where to put the file. By looking at the extension of a file, the GT2
will know which file belongs to which folder, e.g. .mpg in mpegs, .flv in media, etc.

When you send a file to a DISplayer with an non-standard extension, e.g. .xml, the GT2 will
always copy the file into the \GT folder. As for IDS Server, unknown file types are stored in
the Binaries tab of the Local File Explorer.

Most of the time, this automatic copy mode will do just fine, however, sometimes you want to
copy a file into a specific folder. Two examples:

1 You have sent a page on which there is a flash file. This flash file loads information that origi-
nates from an .xml file and this .xml file needs to be located in the same folder as the flash file.
Because .xml is an unknown file type, you cannot simply drag-and-drop the file onto the DIS-
player object in the IDS Tree. You will have to browse to the \GT\Media folder on the DISplayer
first and drag-and-drop the .xml file onto that folder.
2 Some special pages, e.g. startup.gt2, init.gt2, etc. are parsed when they are sent. As a result of
this, the GT2 will not copy these pages into the \GT\Pages folder as you might suspect but will
store them directly in its volatile memory, as is the case with all pages/carousels. The thing is
that these special pages need to be stored on a non-volatile (CF or HDD) unit, because if not,
they will be lost whenever the DISplayer is rebooted or the content is cleared. Therefore, you

119 Chapter 7 Actions

 need to browse the DISplayer and drag-and-drop them into the \GT\Pages folder. By doing
this, rather than being parsed, pages/carousels can be sent and stored on the DISplayer.

The drag-and-drop technique is a very quick way of sending files to a DISplayer. Simply drag-and-
drop any file from within the Local File Explorer, or even from within Windows Explorer, into the
target destination folder on the DISplayer.

Right-click on a file (in IDS Server or anywhere on your computer) and select Copy in the con-
text menu. Next, browse to the folder, right-click on it and select Paste in the context menu.

In case you want to send multiple files, you can use the multi-select feature in combination with all
send techniques.

Delete File/Folder

Deleting files/folders is easy and works in a similar way as in Windows Explorer. Browse the DIS-
player, select the object you want to delete and use the delete key on your keyboard. Depending
on your notification settings, you will get a confirmation dialog.

Right-click the file/folder you want to delete and select Delete in the context menu.

The Remote File Explorer gives full control over the DISplayer’s files and folders. This means
you can also delete crucial system files. If you do so, the DISplayer will no longer be able to
boot properly and the file system will have to be reprogrammed on the DISplayer’s boot
device.
To avoid this, make sure to only delete files from within a subfolder of the GT folder because
these folders never contain crucial system files.

In case you want to delete multiple files, you can use the multi-select feature in combination with
all delete techniques.

Chapter 7 Actions 120

Rename File/Folder

Just like deleting, renaming a file/folder is done in a similar way as in Windows Explorer. You can
select a file, wait a second and left-click it again to be able to change its name.

1 Select the file/folder and tap the F2 key on your keyboard.

2 Right-click the file/folder and select Rename in the context menu.

Create Folder

Also creating a folder is similar to Windows Explorer. Browse to the location on the DISplayer you
want want to create a folder. Right-click on an empty space in the Remote File Explorer and select
New Folder in the context menu. Enter the name for the new folder and click OK.

Download File

Downloading files is the exact opposite of uploading files: you want to copy a file from a DISplay-
er onto the server PC. Just browse the DISplayer and drag-and-drop the file from within the Re-
mote File Explorer into the proper tab of the Local File Explorer.

Right-click the file you want to download and select Save As in the context menu. You will
get a Save As dialog. By default, the folder on your computer to which the file will be copied
will be set to the proper folder of the currently selected project. By looking at the file exten-
sion, the GT2 will know to which local folder the file belongs. Thus, in most cases, you can
click Save without making changes. If you want to store the file in another location, you can
use this dialog to browse to any location on your computer.

In case you want to download multiple files, you can use the multi-select feature in combination
with all download techniques.

Multiple configuration or other files can be downloaded more easily by means of the auto-zip
function, which will allow you to retrieve multiple files in one zip.

121 Chapter 7 Actions

Chapter 7 Actions 122
Logs
8
Layout
In the bottom right-hand corner of IDS Server UI you will find the logging area. All actions and
events are stored into three separate logs:

1 Server Log
2 Scheduler Log
3 Reply Log

This tool proves to be indispensable when it comes to troubleshooting and error solving.

123
Server Log

The server log keeps valuable data about all actions executed by the server. It can help to answer
questions like “Did the IDS Network start correctly?”, “When was that video clip sent?” or “When
did that DISplayer disconnect?”

Scheduler Log

The Scheduler log stores information about scheduled files and events. After analyzing, it may help
to troubleshoot scheduler issues and ensure that files or events were sent correctly.

Reply Log

The reply log holds data that is sent from a DISplayer to an IDS Network. This is probably the most
valuable log (it’s also the biggest!), because DISplayers return actual error messages. If, for exam-
ple, a page won’t display, the reply log will most likely have recorded an error message which will
help you on your way to find a solution for the problem.

Chapter 8 Layout 124

Actions
Context Menu

The logging area provides 4 context menu actions. To use them, select the log you want to use,
right-click somewhere in the logging area and select the proper action in the context menu.

Clear
Removes all logged items from the selected log.

Print
Select a printer to print the selected log.

Save
Save the selected log for later analysis.

Only show error logs

By default all actions are logged and shown. If you only want to see the logs that represent an er-
ror, select this option. Remember, only the view changes, so if you want to see all logs again, sim-
ply repeat this action.

Only Show Logs of Selection

By default, IDS Server UI will only show the logs of the object selected in the IDS Tree (Only show
Logs of Selection on page 49). You can also multi-select objects by holdin the control key on your
keyboard to merge their logs in the viewing pane. If you want to see all logs for all objects, simply
select My Computer or IDS Networks in the IDS Tree.

Properties

All properties are described in Logs on page 49.

125 Chapter 8 Actions

Chapter 8 Actions 126
Advanced: DISplayer Setup
9
DISplayer Setup in IDS Server
As soon as IDS Server has established a connection with a DISplayer, you can modify the DISplay-
er’s configuration remotely. To do this, select a DISplayer in the IDS Tree and click on the DISplay-
er Info/Setup button in the toolbar.

This opens the DISplayer Info/Setup dialog.

1 Right-click on a DISplayer in the IDS Tree and select DISplayer Info/Setup in the context
menu.
2 Select a DISplayer in the IDS Tree and select DISplayer Info/Setup in the Commands menu.

Select the options you want to see/edit and click OK.

127
As an example, here’s a screenshot of the System option.

Chapter 9 DISplayer Setup in IDS Server 128

DISplayer Setup in Browser
As an alternative to IDS Server’s built-in remote configuration, you can also use any browser to
setup and monitor a DISplayer. To do this, select a DISplayer in the IDS Tree and select DISplayer
Info/Setup in Browser in the Commands menu.

The DISplayer must run GT2 version 4.4 or newer to be able to use the web configuration and
its HTTP server must be enabled (by default it is disabled). If you do not know how to do this,
please read the GT2 manual or contact your local administrator.

When you select this option, your default web browser will launch and guide you to the DISplayer
menu login screen.

It is possible to browse to a DISplayer directly from within your browser by entering

http://x.x.x.x/config.htm in the address bar. (replace x.x.x.x by the IP address of your DIS-
player)

129 Chapter 9 DISplayer Setup in Browser

If you enter the correct administrator password (which you can set in the GT2 menu) and press the
login button, you will be redirected to the configuration page.

If you enter an incorrect password or no password at all, you will be redirected to a status page
that provides you with read-only information about the DISplayer.

Chapter 9 DISplayer Setup in Browser 130

Advanced: Connection Manager
10
Introduction
As explained in Installing DISplay Studio on page 11, IDS Server’s user interface can be separated
from the core server program to improve integration in a Windows network environment.

Selecting this type of installation results in two program units:

1 IDS Server: The classic IDS Server but without the user interface. It handles requests like
upcoming schedules, connections, loggings, etc. If the server is installed as a service it is active
at all times.
2 IDS Server UI: The user interface that enables users to change IDS Server’s settings and behav-
iour remotely.

Under normal circumstances, IDS Server is running 24/7. If this would not be the case, there would
be no connection nor communication between IDS Server and its DISplayers.

IDS Server UI, on the other hand, is only used when needed. You use this program whenever you
want to modify a setting, change a schedule, add/remove a DISplayer, etc. After you have made
the changes, you can close IDS Server UI.

All of this means there has to be a way to make a connection between IDS Server and IDS Server
UI. This is where the Connection Manager comes in.

Although the Connection Manager is part of IDS Server UI, this chapter also covers the IDS
Server settings because these have an impact on how the Connection Manager needs to be
configured.

131
IDS Server

Properties

Although IDS Server has so many tasks to fulfill, the program itself contains almost no direct prop-
erties. Besides the arrow icon in the Windows System Tray, there is no visual representation wheth-
er or not IDS Server is running.

The only graphical user interface IDS Server offers, is its Settings dialog which you can reveal by
right-clicking the arrow icon and selecting Settings in the context menu.

Info

This tab gives some basic information about IDS Server.

Chapter 10 IDS Server 132

IPC

Port 1 (initialization) (1381)

This port listens for incoming IDS Server UI connections. Make sure this port is not blocked on
your network. IDS Server uses this port to verify the software version of IDS Server UI. If its version
is different, IDS Server will push an update to the client (IDS Server UI) to make them match.

The automatic IDS Server UI update, initiated by IDS Server, is available in DISplay Studio 4.7
and higher. If you have an older version (4.6.0 or 4.6.1) you will have to update IDS Server UI
manually or by means of the installer.

If you decide to change this value, you will also have to change it in the Connection Manager dia-
log. See Connection on page 135 for more information.

Port 2 (communication) (1380)

All other communication is done using this port. It is automatically activated by the initialization
port. Make sure it is not blocked on your network.

In general, there is no need to change any of these values but if you decide to do so, you
need to restart IDS Server (service) to apply the changes.

133 Chapter 10 IDS Server

Actions

Start/Stop IDS Server

Service
In Windows, click Start › Run, type services.msc in the text box and click OK. Browse the list and
look for the idsServer service. Right-click on it and select the proper action in the context menu.

Program
To start, click Start › All Programs › DISplay Studio › IDS Server or double-click the IDS Server icon
on your desktop.

To stop, right-click the arrow icon in the Windows System Tray and select Exit in the context menu.

IDS Server as Service/Program

If you have installed IDS Server as an application but you want to modify this so it runs as a serv-
ice, you can go to Add/Remove Programs in Windows to rerun the setup and select another instal-
lation type.

There is a quicker way to do this. Open a DOS box and browse to the IDS Server installation fold-
er. Type idsServer /register to register IDS Server as a service.

If you have an IDS Server service but you want a program, you can use the /unregister parameter
instead.

Chapter 10 IDS Server 134

IDS Server UI

Properties

To open the Network Manager, click File › Connection Manager.

Connection

Profile drop-down list (Default)

You can use the Connection Manager to connect to multiple IDS Servers in your network. As ex-
plained in Save a Connection on page 138, you can save connection settings into a profile. The de-
fault profile is called [Default] and cannot be removed.

Connection (My Computer)

You can reach an IDS Server in a couple of ways:

1 My Computer: By default, IDS Server UI will make a local connection, i.e. a connection to an IDS
Server that resides on the same computer from which the connection is started.
2 IP address: If IDS Server is installed on another computer in the network, you can enter its IP
address here.

135 Chapter 10 IDS Server UI

3 DNS: As an alternative to the IP address, a DNS name can be used to reach IDS Server.

Authentication (Always Ask)

This section interacts with IDS Server’s security module, explained in Advanced: Security Manager
on page 141. If security is not enabled, this section is disregarded. There are 2 options:

1 Always ask: A login dialog to request user, password and domain is always shown.
2 Use following settings: If you do not want to enter the user credentials upon every connection,
you may store these parameters in the connection profile.

Save and Exit

Saves the current profile and closes the Connection Manager.

Connect
Saves the current profile, closes the Connection Manager and starts a connection based on the
profile’s settings.

Chapter 10 IDS Server UI 136

Advanced

Auto-connect (Unchecked)
Normally, when IDS Server UI is started, the Connection Manager pops up automatically. After you
have selected the proper profile, you click Connect to start the connection. If you do not want to
see the Connection Manager every time you start IDS Server UI, but rather auto-start a certain pro-
file, you can select a profile and check this option.

Auto-disconnect (Checked, 15 minutes)

IDS Server UI can close an active connection after a certain time of non activity. This is especially
practical if IDS Server UI is running on a public computer and you want to prevent unauthorized
access. If you forget to logout manually (as explained in Close a Connection on page 139), the
auto-disconnect feature will do it for you.

137 Chapter 10 IDS Server UI

Actions

Connect to IDS Server

Connecting to an IDS Server is easy. Open the Connection Manager, set the proper connection set-
tings and click Connect. As soon as you do, you will see the Connection Progress dialog.

During the connection progress, following actions are performed:

1 Getting security settings

2 Getting IDS Tree information
3 Getting IDS Tree details
4 Getting logs
5 Getting schedules info
6 Downloading projects list
7 Getting files info

Once finished, IDS Server UI can be used to modify the IDS Server settings.

You can only connect to 1 IDS Server at a time. This means that if you open the Connection Man-
ager and connect to another IDS Server while still connected, you will get the following message:

Click Yes to close the old and start the new connection or click No if you do not want to start the
new connection.

Save a Connection

If you want to create a new connection profile, you start off just like you would when connecting
to an IDS Server, i.e. open the Connection Manager and set the proper connection settings.

Chapter 10 IDS Server UI 138

The next step is to enter a profile name. You do this by left-clicking on the profile drop-down list
and entering a name for your profile.

You can either save this new profile by clicking Save and Exit, or you can save the profile and start
it immediately by clicking Connect.

Close a Connection

There are a couple of ways to close an active connection:

1 Right-click the My Computer object in the IDS Tree and select Disconnect in the context menu.

2 Close IDS Server UI, this closes an active connection as well as the whole program.
3 Make another connection. IDS Server UI can only be connected to 1 IDS Server at a time. So if
you are connected, and you start a new connection, the original connection is closed automati-
cally.

Modify the Environment

As explained in previous chapters, you can customize the way IDS Server UI looks. You can alter
colours, set the columns of the IDS Tree, resize areas, and much more. These changes are purely

139 Chapter 10 IDS Server UI

aestethic modifications and are therefor saved for each IDS Server UI. This means that every user
can set IDS Server UI to his liking.

Some modifications are not saved per IDS Server UI but are saved in IDS Server, e.g. adding/
removing a DISplayer, creating a schedule, deleting a file, etc. All of these have an impact on
how the system works and not how the system looks.
If multiple users are connected to the same IDS Server and someone makes such a modifica-
tion, the results of this action is visible to all users.

Disconnect a Connected User

It is not possible to have simultaneous connections to multiple IDS Servers within 1 IDS Server UI.
The other way around, however, is not a problem: IDS Server can have multiple active connections
with multiple IDS Server UIs in your network.

In other words: users can work together on a single IDS Server. What they can do, depends on
their security level. See Advanced: Security Manager on page 141 for more information.

If you are an IDS Server administrator, you can see a list of all connected users. Click File › Connect-
ed Users to open the Connections dialog.

You can disconnect a single, multiple or all users by clicking the appropriate button.

Chapter 10 IDS Server UI 140

Advanced: Security Manager
11
Introduction
The Security Manager is only available in case you chose one of the advanced installation options
for IDS Server as explained in Advanced Installation on page 19. When installed as a regular appli-
cation, the Security Manager is not available.

By default, the Security Manager is disabled, which means that all users can log into IDS Server UI
without having to enter a user name and password. In some setups, this may be the desired con-
figuration, but sometimes you, as an administrator, want to have more control.

By enabling the Security Manager, you can limit a user’s possibilities in IDS Server UI by means of
Windows user accounts. By doing so you can:

1 Select which users can access IDS Server UI.

2 Set what a user can and cannot do.

To make things easy, IDS Server reuses existing Windows user accounts. This means that a user
can log into IDS Server UI by using his Windows user and password. The number of users that is
available to IDS Server depends on the environment of the server PC:

1 If you have a single computer setup (running both server and UI on 1 PC), the Security Man-
ager will allow you to add and manage all local system accounts.
2 If you are working in a domain, using a server PC running IDS Server and other client PC’s run-
ning IDS Server UI, you will be able to add and manage local users as well as domain users.

To enable the Security Manager is a 3 step process:

1 Step 1: Enable the Security Manager.

2 Step 2: Create an administrator account.
3 Step 3: Add other user accounts.

141
These steps are explained in detail throughout this chapter.

To guarantee optimal security, the first user to logon during the installation and to set the
security settings should be the local (IDS Server) administrator. Keep the administrator pass-
word secret and never allow other users to logon using this account.

Chapter 11 Introduction 142

Step 1: Enable the Security Manager
Choose File › Security Manager to open the Security Manager dialog box.

As you can see, at this point, Everyone has the administrator level.

143 Chapter 11 Step 1: Enable the Security Manager

Check Security Enabled to enable the Security Manager. A message box is displayed.

Click Yes to enable security. As soon as you do so, another message is displayed, telling you that
the connection is lost.

At this point IDS Server UI is disconnected from IDS Server and all its areas are empty. This is in-
tended behaviour, as IDS Server UI has now activated its security mode. From this moment on, IDS
Server UI can only be used after a valid user has logged in.

Chapter 11 Step 1: Enable the Security Manager 144

Step 2: Create an Administrator Account
Add an Administrator Account

Before you can return to the Security Manager to continue its setup, you need to reconnect to IDS
Server. To do this, select File › Connection Manager and press Connect without making any chang-
es in this dialog.

This opens the Login dialog. Because Everyone is an administrator, you can enter any valid user ac-
count and password. A domain name is only required if the PC you are working on resides in mul-
tiple domains. If this is not the case, leave the text field empty.

Enter a user name and password and click OK to connect to IDS Server. The Connection Progress
dialog is shown.

IDS Server UI shows the logged in user in its Server Log area in this format:

“date time : IDS UI connection from ‘user@PC’ accepted”

145 Chapter 11 Step 2: Create an Administrator Account

Now that you have logged in succesfully, you can return to the Security Manager to continue its
setup. Choose File › Security Manager. You will see that Security Enabled is checked and the dialog
box is fully editable.

The Security Manager has 2 main areas:

1 The User/Groups area showing the existing users and groups.

2 The Security Settings for Users/Groups area showing the rights of the selected user/group.

The aim of this step is to make sure that at least 1 user has administrative rights. This means that
the Everyone group needs to be removed and the administrator account needs to be added.

Because you are logged in as a member of the Everyone group, you cannot simply select this
group, nor can you use the Remove user/group button to remove it. There is a good reason for
this: if you could do this, you would remove yourself (as a part of the group) from IDS Server’s se-
curity list. As a result, there would be nobody left with access rights, thus, nobody would be able
to connect to IDS Server and/or make modifications to the system.

Chapter 11 Step 2: Create an Administrator Account 146

In order to be able to remove the Everyone group, you have to add your own user account first. To
do this, click Add user/group. The Add user/group dialog is shown. Enter the user name you want
to add and click Find. In this example, the user is called Jochen.

An IDS Server administrator account does not have to be a Windows administrator account.
You can assign any Windows you like.

If you do not know the name of the account you want to add, you can also click Browse. This
brings up a list of all users available to the system. Just browse to the desired account and click
OK.

147 Chapter 11 Step 2: Create an Administrator Account

The first user/group you add automatically gets an administrator level.

Click OK to save the changes and close the Security Manager.

Remove the Everyone group

At this point you have made yourself an IDS Server administrator. However, Everyone still has ad-
ministrator rights as well. In order to change this, you need to remove the Everyone group. If you
do not remove this group, all previous actions were useless because in the end, the results are still
the same: everyone is an IDS Server administrator, which is not a good idea.

Open the Security Manager. As you see, the Everyone group cannot be deleted. The reason for this
is that the newly added account is still part of this group and as explained before, you cannot de-
lete something which you are part of.

To remove the Everyone group, you need to log into IDS Server once more. Click File › Connection
Manager and click Connect without making any changes. Enter your user name and password and
click OK. Open the Security Manager.

Select the Everyone group and click Remove user/group. Everyone is removed and the only ac-
count left in the list is the one you added.

At this point you have full administrative rights and you are the only one who can access IDS Serv-
er.

Chapter 11 Step 2: Create an Administrator Account 148

Step 3: Add Other User Accounts
Now that you are administrator, you can add other users to IDS Server. Open the Security Manag-
er and click Add user/group. Enter the name of the account you want to add or use Browse to
look for the account in a list. Click OK to add the account to IDS Server’s security list.

Once listed, you can select the new account to modify its security level. Each account has a De-
fault Level. Select the Default Level in the list and select which security level you want this account
to have.

IDS Server offers 5 security levels.

Level Rights

Administrator Full control.

Full rights Like administrator but cannot use the Security

Manager. In other words: cannot add/remove
accounts.

Limited rights Like full rights but cannot make changes (modify,
add, delete, etc.) to objects in the IDS Tree.

Ready only This account can only see what’s happening in

IDS Server UI but cannot do anything. Used for
monitoring.

Hidden The object is not visible for this account.

You can change the security level for different IDS Tree objects:

1 Scheduler
2 IDS Networks
3 Groups
4 Projects

149 Chapter 11 Step 3: Add Other User Accounts

An example:

In this way, you can make numerous combinations that provides full user management and securi-
ty control over IDS Server.

Chapter 11 Step 3: Add Other User Accounts 150

Advanced: Synchronisation
12
Introduction
Most digital signage setups rely on a permanent connection between IDS Server and its DISplay-
ers. You can send new content any time you like because the system is operational 24/7.

But what if your DISplayers are located in an environment that has limited connectivity? An exam-
ple of this would be a bus. Whenever the bus is in the depot, it can make a wireless connection to
IDS Server, but as soon as it rides off, the connection is closed and the bus is on its own.

In such a setup, synchronisation is used. This complex structure provides numerous mechanisms
for DISplayers to be able to work stand-alone for a longer period of time. Because of its possibili-
ties, it takes more time to setup. Configuration files need to be generated that exceed the scope of
this manual.

If you have a setup that involves mobile DISplayers, please contact your dealer for help and infor-
mation.

151
Chapter 12 Introduction 152
Advanced: Scripts & Commands
13
User Commands

Introduction

The number of tasks that can be performed on a DISplayer are numerous. Too much to put into a
user interface. That’s why IDS Server UI, by default, only offers a set of actions that are frequently
used, like power on/off, reboot, etc.

These actions are never far away and can be executed by pressing a single button or can be
scheduled to be executed at a later time.

But what if you want to perform an action that does not exist? That’s where user commands come
in. They offer a way of creating your own actions.

153
Actions

Create User Command

To create a user command, click Options › User Commands. This opens the Add/Remove User Com-
mands dialog.

To create a new user command, click New.

Enter a comprehensive name and type the API you want to associate with this command. For a list
of API commands, please refer to the API Reference Guide. You can enter as many API lines as you
want. They will be executed sequentially when your user command is executed.

Chapter 13 User Commands 154

Edit User Command

Open the User Commands dialog, select the user command you want to modify and click Edit.

Remove User Command

Open the User Commands dialog, select the user command you want to remove and click Re-
move.

Execute User Command Manually

To execute a user command, select an IDS Tree object. Then go to Commands › Send User Com-
mand. You will see a list of all user commands you have created. Select the one you want to exe-
cute and it will be performed immediately.

Schedule User Command

The great thing about user commands is that you can also use them in schedules, just like you
would schedule any other task. You can use them in the Before, Main and After event. See Create a
Schedule on page 109 for detailed information.

155 Chapter 13 User Commands

Script Files

Introduction

Script files are API files that contain instructions that need to be executed by IDS Server and not by
a DISplayer. The advantage of a script file is that it can be executed without manually performing
an action in IDS Server UI. By continuously monitoring a script file, IDS Server can react to certain
external events, e.g. a page request coming from a DISplayer.

Actions

Activate Script File

Before you can activate a script file, you need to create one first. To do this, please refer to the
Server Scripting API Guide.

Next, go to Options › Monitor Script File to open the Monitor Script File dialog.

Check Monitor this script file and use the Browse button to search for the script file.

As IDS Server monitors the file, it will only read and execute the file’s instructions after the file’s
time/date has been changed. Therefor, if you want the script to become effective immediately, you
need to open the script file and save it to change the time/date stamp.

If you want to execute another script file if the first script file was not changed, you can enable the
Execute following script file if no changes are detected option and set an interval.

By entering the same script file for both options, you ensure that the script is executed at a
regular interval.

Chapter 13 Script Files 156