Variables

Owned by BrightSign TechDocs
Last updated: Sept 23, 2024
5 min read

Use this tab to configure the device web page, enable Media Counters, and create User Variables.

Device Web Page Display

The device web page allows you to view and edit User Variables over your local network. In order to display a standard or custom device web page, you must first enable the Local Web Server during player setup.

  • No device web page: Choose this option if you would like to enable the Local Web Server but do not want the User Variables webpage to be accessible.

  • Standard device web page: Choose this option to enable the default device web page, which lists all User Variables and their default/current values on a sparsely formatted page.

  • Custom device web page: Choose this option to use a device web page with custom appearance, formatting, and functionality. See Creating a Custom Device Web Page for more information.

  • Alphabetize variable names: Check this box to list variables on the Device Web Page alphabetically, rather than by order of creation.

Important

If you plan to use the device webpage, ensure that your User Variables do not have names containing an ampersand ("&") character. If any User Variable name uses an ampersand character, the User Variables Webpage will fail to display any variables.

User Variables

User Variables are customizable values that can be used in commands, Live Text and User Variable states, and Conditional Targets. When used in Live Text and User Variable states, User Variables display the current value of the variable. The value can also be changed during a presentation using the Set Variable or Reset Variable commands.

  • Automatically create media counter variables: Check this box to create Media Counters for all media files in the presentation. Media Counters record how many times a file has played in a presentation. They can be displayed in Live Text or extracted from the BrightSign player via USB. For details on retrieving Media Counters via USB, see the Using Advanced Tools page.

  • Reset variables to their default value on presentation start: Check this box to reset all User Variables to their default values whenever the presentation begins. If this box is unchecked, User Variable values will be preserved on the SD card after the device reboots, the presentation is switched, etc.

  • Update frequency for networked variables: Use the dropdown list to determine how often networked User Variables should be refreshed by Data Feeds that are assigned to the presentation.

Adding User Variables 

Click Add Variable to add a new User Variable to your presentation. Then, specify the following:

  • Name: Enter a unique name for the User Variable. Variable names must not contain an ampersand ("&") character, otherwise the User Variables webpage will not display any variables.

  • Default Value: Specify an initial value for the User Variable. Whenever a User Variable is reset (via the Reset Variable command), it will return to this default value.

Note

Setting a new Default Value and republishing the presentation will not set the value of that variable to the new default value. Instead, the variable will retain whatever value it had before the publish operation. To set variables to their new default values, you will need to check the Reset variables to their default value on presentation start box before publishing the presentation. To set a single variable to its new default value, use the Reset Variable command.

  • Access: Select Shared to make the User Variable accessible to other presentations scheduled on the player. If two presentations use a variable with the same name, the value of the variable with the Shared attribute will be used for the variable with the Private attribute.

  • Type: Select a User Variable type: 

    • Local: Local variables can be changed with the Set Variable/Reset Variable commands or via the Local Web Server. They can also be set with properly formatted serial, UDP, and Plugin Message commands.

    • Networked: Networked variables are set and modified using Data Feeds (RSS, Live Data, or Dynamic Playlists). To create a networked User Variable, you must first specify the Data Feed it will be linked to. Select the desired Data Feed from the dropdown list and click Validate to ensure the link is operational and has correct RSS formatting.

    • SystemVariable: System variables are not determined by the user, but by independent system parameters, such as firmware/autorun version number, IP address, RF channel count, and various types of EDID (extended display identification data) information received from the display over HDMI®. 

To delete a User Variable, click the X beside the appropriate variable. You can also use the Delete Unused User Variables button to delete all user variables that are not currently in use by Live Text states, commands, events, conditional targets, etc.

Integrating User Variables with Commands

User Variables can be used to dynamically set the parameters of many commands: Set Volume, Increment Volume, Decrement Volume, Send UDP, Serial-send string (EOL), Serial-send string (no EOL), Serial-send byte, Serial-send bytes (comma separated), Synchronize, Send Zone Message, Link Zones, GPIO On, GPIO Off, GPIO Set State, BrightControl – Send Ascii String, BrightControl – Philips Set Volume, and Pause.

For example, if you add a Set Volume command to your presentation and use a static value like 50, the volume will always be set to 50 when the command occurs. If you use a User Variable instead, the volume will be set to the current value of the variable, which could be any value based on Set Variable commands and any number of other factors.

To utilize a User Variable in a command, first add the command (see the Commands page for details). Then, in the Parameters field, enter the name of the variable between two sets of dollar signs (e.g. “$$variable1$$”). BrightAuthor will not recognize the variable without these dollar signs.