Application Notes - Remote Control from External Applications

The Basics: Create Your Own Application

It's possible to control devices in your own applications by simply passing the commands through IRCommand2's COM interface. With IRCommand2 version 3.82 it's now even easier to do and requires a minimum of coding.

A simple example of the coding required in VB Script to, for example, turn on the TV might look something like the following:

Set IRC = CreateObject("IRCommand2.App") ' Opens interface
Rslt = IRC.ClickButton("TV", "Power") ' "TV"=device panel label, "Power"=button label
Set IRC = Nothing ' Closes interface

Using the new ClickNumber function it's also very easy to set the TV channel:

Set IRC = CreateObject("IRCommand2.App")
Rslt = IRC.ClickNumber("TV", "Channel", "214")
Set IRC = Nothing

In the above example, "TV" is the device panel label, "Channel" is the numeric pad group label, and "214" is the channel to set. The simple examples above use only string literals, but the function parameters can be variables set from any source of data supported by the script language.

Sample #1: Controlling a DVD/CD jukebox from MS-Office

A download is available that provides an example of how to control a DVD/CD jukebox from Excel or Word. In Excel a MacroButton is used to issue the commands. In Word, a Field is used. If your DVD or CD collection is kept in either Excel or Word then you can use the corresponding document in the download to automate control of your player. Requires MS-Office 2003 or later and a registered copy of IRCommand2 (Lite or Full).

Sample #2: Controlling DVD/CD jukeboxs from 3rd party applications

A download is available containing scripts that can enable many 3rd party applications, such as movie or music collection management applications, to control DVD/CD jukeboxes. The only requirement is that the application support execution of an external link.

Link support often does not allow passing parameters and in this application we need to specify a player name and disc number. To get around this limitation a script is provided that will generate a unique link for each player/disc combination. These links can then be used to play the corresponding disc on a specific player. Instructions for setup and use are included in the download package.

The scripts have been tested successfully with Movie Collector™  using its Link feature and Sony 400 disc DVD jukeboxes (special thanks to Juan S. for testing this setup).

More to come...