pwrite.exe and pdelete.exe By Wrybread wrybread@gmail.com http://wrybread.com/utilities This program is email-ware. If you find it useful, email me, it's satisfying for both of us. July 2005 Controls Prolite PL sign Model # on mine is: PL-M2014R V6, but should work with other versions You need a cable to connect the sign to the computer. It's just a slightly modified serial cable, you can buy one from prolite or (highly recommended) build one super quickly using these plans: http://wls.wwco.com/ledsigns/prolite/ProliteCable.html And a quick note on the syntax for writing to the sign from the Windows commandline: ECHO ^^ whatever message > COM1 Note that I'm escaping out the brackets with a carrot. That's the trick. And obviously adjust that last parameter to the appropriate com port. The below utilities just somewhat automate the process. ------------------------------------------------ PWRITE.EXE USEAGE AND NOTES: Execution looks like this: pwrite.exe "your silly message" [page] [port] [sign#] For example: pwrite.exe "your silly message" A COM1 1 The above command will write "your silly message" to page A of a prolite sign connected to COM1. The sign # is always 1 unless you have multiple signs connected. I only have one sign so I havn't been able to test that parameter. Note that [sign#] must be a single digit. Currently the script will only work with up to 9 signs. If you need the ability to control more, email me and I'll add that functionality. Note also that there's an ini file (pwrite.ini) which pwrite.exe creates the first time you execute it if it doesn't already exist. It looks like this: [Settings] color= transition= port=com1 page=A sign=1 Those are the defaults. If you want to change anything, you can also change them there and avoid typing them at the commandline. But note that whatever you type at the commandline overwrites the settings in pwrite.ini. So for example, given the above ini file, I could type the following: pwrite "hello world" And it'll write "hello world" in color, using transition , to comport1, page A, to sign 1. If you specify any page, port, or sign#, it overwrites the defaults in pwrite.ini. If you want to change the default color or transition, do it directly in the pwrite.ini. Note that you can embed formatting in your message. So the following: pwrite.exe "I really like orange" will write the line "I really like orange" in orange. You can also include transitions, graphics, etc. For formatting options, see the following excellent page: http://wls.wwco.com/ledsigns/prolite/ProliteProtocol.html Another good way of finding out formatting options is to download the TriColorII software from Prolite's website (there's a link from the above site), then set it to an incorrect com port so it returns an error every time. Just move the error message aside and look at the command it's sending to the sign, and that's the syntax. Known issues: - can only have up to 9 signs - I'm sure there's a bunch of unknowns. Feel free to email me with problems. ------------------------------------------------ PDELETE.EXE USEAGE AND NOTES: Here's the format of the command: pdelete.exe [page] [port] [sign#] So for example: pdelete.exe A com1 1 The above line will delete page A on a sign connected to com1, and it's sign #1. The defaults are com1 and sign 1. Note that there's an ini file, pdelete.ini, and it's created the first time the script is executed if it's not already there. You can set your port and sign# there as well. Note that sign# must be a single digit (for now this script will only work with up to 9 signs). And note that port must be the full port name, e.g., "com1". Known issues: - a coulpe of times, I've deleted all the pages, which puts the sign into demo mode. Then I've written back to the sign and the text didn't show up until I switched the sign off and on. Maybe I'm missing some syntax? Or maybe it's a bug in the sign? Email me if you get this issue and/or have a theory about what happened. ALSO (PLEASE READ THIS): - Personally I don't want the transitions, I want the text to appear immediately. The code for that is , but on sign it always shows the date before any text when I use that mode. For example if I enter: write.exe "howdy", the sign outputs "01 JAN 1998 howdy". What the???? If you have a theory, please email me (wrybread@gmail.com).