Sierra Video 503108 RS-232 - Manual (Page 6)

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Sierra Video Systems • P.O. Box 2462 • Grass Valley, CA 95945 • www.sierravideo.com
503108 RS-232 INTERFACE
In systems that do not support naming of levels,
the level names can be generated as fixed number
strings, e.g. “1”, “2”, etc.
For example, the command:
**L!!
might return the following string:
**L64, 32, 3, VIDEO~AudioL~AudioR~~
OK !!<CR>
indicating that the switcher has 64 outputs, 32
inputs, and 3 levels named “VIDEO”, “AudioL”,
“AudioR”.
“S”: Status Inquiry
The command “S” requests that status information
be returned to the host. The status information is
sent as a string of L x O substrings, where L =
number of levels and O = number of outputs.
Each level/output combination generates a single
substring of status. Thus, a 2-level 16 output
router would generate 2x16 = 32 substrings of
status command output. The length of each
substring depends on the size of the particular
switcher involved. Larger switchers use bigger
numbers for inputs, outputs, and levels.
The first substring of status is for level 1 output 2,
etc. (However, each substring contains the level
and output numbers, so the sequence in which the
data is sent is not important.) The first characters
of each substring are a space followed by “x”,
then the output number, a comma character, the
input number connected to the output (or 0 if no
connection exists), another comma, and finally the
level number at which the input-output pair is
connected.
For example, the command:
**S!!
might have the following two substrings at the
beginning of its response:
** x01, 23, 1 x02, 02, 1!!<CR>
This indicates that output 1 is connected to input
23 on level 1, and that output 2 is connected to
input 2 on level 1.
The number of digits used for each number is
generally the maximum number of digits ever
required for that particular switcher. Thus, a
switcher with between 10 and 99 inputs would use
two digits for the input number, and a switcher
with less than 10 inputs would use one digit for
the input number.
“C”: Clear Matrix
The command “C” requests that the switch matrix
be cleared so that all outputs are disconnected
from inputs (in switchers where this is possible)
or else all outputs at all levels have input #1 as
their source. This command can take several
seconds to execute (depending on the size of the
switch matrix). In order to help ensure that this
command isn't accidentally executed, it requires
four additional characters following the “C”
character, to spell out the word “CLEAR” in full.
For example, the command:
**CLEAR!!
would clear the matrix, and when finished, the
following response would be generated:
** OK !!<CR>
“U” Update Request
The command “U” turns on or off the automatic
sending of updates. The command letter must be
followed by either a “1” (on) or “0” (off) to
specify the new update state.
Updates are automatic messages sent to the host
whenever a matrix crosspoint is changed by
something other than a host command (e.g. by a
keypad or some other remote controlling device).