KLT ArtNet Controller

Minimal adapter controlling Schauf KLT displays via ArtNet.

Configuration

The configuration file is a simple text file arranged in [sections]. Each section configures different parts of the controller.

For an example configuration, see example.conf

The display section

This section configures how the controller talks to the display.

The following options are required in this section:

• lines <number of lines>: The number of text lines the display supports. Passed through to the display directly, not used within the controller.
• destination <type> <target>: Connection to the display. type can be either network (target then being <ip> <port>) or device (target being a device node such as /dev/ttyUSB0).

The following options can optionally be specified in this section:

• address <id>: Line-protocol display address. 0 is broadcast to all connected displays (default).
• width <characters>: The line width (in characters) of the display. This parameter is used to automatically pad lines in configured messages. When controlling single-line displays, this parameter is irrelevant.

The artnet section

This section configures how the controller receives ArtNet control data.

The following options are required in this section:

• listen <host> <port>: Address and port to listen on for ArtNet data.

The following options can optionally be specified in this section:

• net <net>: ArtNet universe high byte (network).
• universe <uni>: ArtNet universe low byte (universe index).
• address <addr>: ArtNet address of the message index channel (zero-indexed).

message sections

Each message to be displayed is configured using a [message <from>-<to>] section. Messages are activated when the first ArtNet channel hits a value between from and to. The parameter to (and the dash separating them) can optionally be omitted.

Messages are configured verbatim line-by-line. If the display parameter width is set, lines are automatically padded to this width using space characters. For single-line displays, this can be ignored. If width is not configured (or configured as 0), newlines in the message will be ignored and padding must be performed manually (using spaces in the configuration).

Messages are split into pages by inserting blank lines. The display will automatically switch between pages in an interval configured using ArtNet channel 2 using an effect configured by channel 3. For more information on these effects, see the display documentation.

Building

Run make in the project directory on a system with a working C compiler.

Usage

The controller binary requires the configuration file as first and only argument.

The controller uses data from three ArtNet channels and maps them as follows:

• Channel 1: Message index
• Channel 2: Message timeout / tempo (out of 9 different time settings)
• Channel 3: Transition function (out of 16 variants)

Data is only transmitted to the display when required, ie. when first receiving ArtNet input and subsequently when channel 1 hits a value that is mapped to a different message than the previous value.

This implies that changes to the tempo and transition function channels are only applied when a new message is transmitted to the display.