WATCHOUT USER'S GUIDE

Feedback

The WATCHOUT cluster conductor sends feedback messages to the controller. Note that the controller must be prepared to receive such messages at any time – not only as a direct response to particular commands.

Most commands execute silently, unless an error occurs. Use the command ID tagging feature to force commands to be positively acknowledged, if desired (see “Command ID Tagging”). When using command ID tagging, any feedback message sent as a direct response to a command will be tagged by that command ID, and will be sent to the sender of that command.

Any spontaneous feedback message (that is, not directly associated with a particular command) will be sent to the most recently connected or authenticated controller.

Ready
Sent once when becomes ready after being busy (as indicated by one or more Busy messages). Also sent as response to the “ping” command.

Ready "2.0" "WATCHPOINT" "Windows" true

Feedback Parameter	Description
<string>	The version of the program.
<string>	The name of the program.
<string>	The name of the computer/OS.
<bool>	License key is up to date.
<string>	Address of originator (empty or omitted if origin is the conductor).

Busy
Sent once or repeatedly while busy doing lengthy tasks, such as downloading or caching files.

Busy "Transferring" "Media/Wilfred.jpg" 76

Note that either or both string parameters may be empty, in which case the controller should retain the previous values for these parameters and just update the progress value.

Parameter	Description
<string>	What is being done (for instance, “Transferring”). May be empty string.
<string>	The subject of the above action (for instance, a file name). May be empty.
<uint>	Percentage done so far, 0...100
[<string>]	Address of originator (empty or omitted if originating from the conductor).

Error
Sent when any error occurs, either as a direct result of a command, or for any other reason.

Parameter	Description
<uint>	Error kind: 1 Operating system error (for instance, a Win32 HRESULT ). 2 QuickTime error (Mac OSErr style). 3 Rendering API error (that is, DirectX). 4 Network errors (that is, WinSock). 5 File server error (for example, file not found during download). 6 Syntax/parser error (for instance, when loading a specification file). 7 General runtime error – described by string. 8 Authentication error.
<int> or <string>	Error number or description string. May be zero.
<string>	Excuse or explanation, may be empty string.
[<string>]	Address of originator (empty or omitted if originating from the conductor).

Operating System Error. Indicates a generic operating system error from the host’s OS. Under Windows, this is a HRESULT that indicates failure, with the error code included as the second parameter (possibly decoded into an error message string). The third parameter may provide additional information.

QuickTime Error. Similar to the Operating System Error, but originating from QuickTime. This is treated separately from the OS errors since the QT errors use MacOS style error codes even under Windows. This kind of error typically originates from still image files, or from video files as they are opened or played. The third parameter generally contains the name of the offending media file.

Rendering API Error. Error occurred specifically related to rendering. This is similar to other operating system errors, except that you also know that it occurred while rendering. Sometimes, rendering errors occur due to display card driver issues, video memory or other hardware resource limitations.

Network Error. Error occurred specifically related to network communication. This is similar to other operating system errors, except that you also know that it occurred specifically while using the network. Sometimes, network errors are caused by network interface hardware or driver issues, the computer’s network configuration, or problems on the network itself (for instance, a bad cable/hub or incorrectly configured router).

File Server Error. Error occurred when attempting to get a file from the media file server. The error number is the same as those listed for the first Reply parameter in the File Transfer group. The Excuse string is typically the name of the required file.

Syntax/Parser Error. Indicates an error that occurred when reading structured data (such as a show specification file). Error code and excuse vary with the nature of the error.

General Runtime Error. Other errors, not covered by any of the above cases. Always described further by a string as the second parameter, as well as further information in the third parameter (optional).

Authentication Error. The second parameter gives further details:

Value	Description
1	You have no authority.
2	Your authority is insufficient for this command.
3	In use by another Programmer.
4	Authentication challenge/response sequence failed.
5	Invalid authentication level.
6	Authentication level not allowed for port.
7	Command not allowed in read-only mode.

The third parameter may provide additional context information. For instance, in the case of being in use by another controller, it may provide information to identify that controller – such as its address.

Warning
Sent when a non-critical error occurs.

Warning "Low Memory: Primary Video 1960 KB"

Feedback Parameter	Description
<string>	The warning message, as a quoted string.
[<string>]	Address of originator (empty or omitted if the conductor is the origin).

Information
Sent to convey some general information.

Feedback Parameter	Description
<string>	The information message, as a quoted string.
[<string>]	Address of originator (empty or omitted if the conductor is the origin ).

Reply
A Reply feedback message is sent as a direct response to a query command (getStatus, for instance). Use a command ID to positively associate the reply with the command.

The format of the reply parameter(s) depends on the command that caused the reply to be sent.

Quit
Sent when the application is about to quit (either due to a keyboard or other command). This message has no parameters.

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