How the new Flash Interface Works

[Anonymous]

#40171

Let me clarify what is the most important aspect of the new Flash interface.

When you point your browser to http://www.compacta.org, (or http://www.EZSrve.com in the future)there is only one page that loads which contains the Adobe Flash file containing the ENTIRE application. As Lee pointed out, Compacta.org is just one of our servers hosting the application at this point. But it simply serves the one page containing the application (index.html which wraps the Adobe Flash .swf application file).
Then the magic happens: The Flash player plug-in on a browser is just a virtual machine that acts as a complete computing platform. Once the player gets the application, it connects to your EZSrve via its IP socket (8002 by default), and proceeds to exchange messages with the Flash player via the XML API. This truly makes for a balanced division of labor. The Flash player does what it does best, rendering objects on the screen, and providing the rich user interaction. ESZrve does all the heavy duty stuff, sending commands to devices, maintaining timers, keeping track of actions, etc. The data structures that make all this possible are all human readable: Devices.xml, Actions.xml, Areas.xml, etc. The exchanges from the Flash Player (the Client) and the EZSrve (the Server) are all done at the xml level. Another major advantage is responsiveness. Instead of the clunky page request/update mecahnism of current web pages, one gets real-time interaction with the server sending data when needed, without having to wait fo a request from the client. This is why the display of device status happens so quickly.

There will be a version of the application available at a nominal charge for those that do not want to depend on an external server to do the initial loading. This will be the same application, built to run on the Adobe AIR runtime environment. The advantages of hosting the application should be obvious, but a most notable one will be the ability to provide upgrades transparently to EZSrve users.

[Anonymous]

#42832

So to simplify it… I’ll go to the above URL which will have the actual flash utility, then it gets pointed to my EZserv at home, and then runs the interface over the web?

When will this be live?

(I haven’t updated to anything 2.0 because I haven’t seen a clear definition of the state of everything, and how it will run. I was under the initial impression that everything – the flash/web interfaces and the background firmware were all going to be loaded and run directly on the EZserv.)

[Anonymous]

#42833

OK, so I have not been clear.

THE APPLICATION DOES NOT RUN OVER THE WEB. When you open your browser to the page where the application resides, the ENTIRE application is loaded in your web browser, in the local machine that is running the browser. From here on you can actually disconnect from the Internet because everything the application uses is inside the local machine running the browser. Then the connection is made to the EZSrve, using the url provided. All subsequent interaction is between the browser and the EZSrve. The EZSrve can be anywhere! all one needs is its url: either in the local network (with an IP such as 192.168.1.103) or anywhere in the web (in which case you need to have accessible via a static IP or dynamic DNS service)

As far as being live, we are live now. There will be another version running tonight and a few different ones for the next few days as we finalize the many details and clean up the navigation. But the advantage to you all is that the data in your EZSrve is not changed, and there will be no reason to change its firmware. Once released, the only change will be the domain name used.

[Anonymous]

#42834

One more item of clarification:

You now have a choice of several GUIs: a) the built-in one that you have been using until now that uses the internal EZSrve web server (accessible with http://ezsrve_url), b) the new Flash interface that will be hosted (not run) on an external server, and c) third-party interfaces for mobile phones such as the XMLRemote and Micasa (plus several others in development).

Think of it this way: A built-in interface available with current web technologies using the common http:// mechanism, and more advanced client interfaces using the xml API and the socket server that has always been available in the EZSrve. In other words: USER FLEXIBILITY!!

[Anonymous]

#42835

I tried pointing my Firefox browser at http://www.compacta.org. I get a pretty teal screen that says “Initializing” with a progress bar that never moves much past the “g” above it. I’m guessing that means it’s not working. Am I doing something wrong?

[Anonymous]

#42836

FireFox 3.0.8 does work when connected to http://www.compacta.org/?url=192.168.x.yyy, my EZSrve. I had to do one refresh after the Flash application was loaded the first time but after that it came up on my EZSrve okay after that. I tried FireFox 3.0.8 and IE 8 in “Compatibility View” mode using the EZSrve on compacta and see the same thing you are. I think the EZSrve on that machine is not responding. Simplehome indicated an update was going to happen so that may be in progress. Except for the need to do the refresh once it looks like the Flex client will run on FireFox 3.0.8 when EZSrve is working.

[Anonymous]

#42837

After I thought about it more, I came to the conclusion that you clarified – you’re only loading the flash utility from the internet site, then pointing it at the EZserv, whether your browser is local or over the internet.

I take it the EZServ’s web server itself can’t run the flash utility, or even host it? If not, will there be any HTTP mechanism or link included in the native HTTP interface to go get the application over the internet and then redirect the browser automatically?

If I remember to, I’ll upgrade to 2.0 tonight and see how it goes. I’m looking forward to greater functionality and ease of use from the EZServ product.

[Anonymous]

#42838

So I’m unable to get the flash interface to work on Firefox (v 3.011) or in IE8 (with or without compatibility mode). I’ve reloaded the pages multiple times, but always end up with the half initialized status bar and hangs.

For a test, I tried to load the ezserve demo page http://www.compacta.org/?url=ezsrve.com but that also hangs in the same place. This is making me think something on my system is messed up. I’ve been able to load the demo in the past, I don’t know what would be different now.

Any guesses?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

#42839

Are you pointing to your EZSrve running V2 when connecting to http://www.compacta.org? This works for me using IE8 in either view mode (with 1 refresh to get to initial login screen) and also FireFox 3.0.8 without a refresh. If you are connecting to compacta.org without an override to your EZSrve, I don’t think the EZSrve on that end is working for the moment.

[Anonymous]

#42840

Yes, I’m trying to connect to http://www.compacta.org/?url=198.168.1.110# — my local ezserve address. I only tried the demo site as a test. I upgraded to v2 this weekend. Just tried again with both IE8 and firefox and got the same result.

[Anonymous]

#42841

You know, when you type things out, it’s easier to see where one screws up.

when I point to 192.168.1.110 it works fine. Sorry for the distraction.

[Anonymous]

#42842

FrayAdjacent, I don’t think there is enough memory in the EZSrve to hold the base EZSrve function, the HTML based GUI, the XML files, and the Adobe Flash based Flex client.

dgreenb, I can’t count the number of times I have finger checked my IP address. A few weeks ago my V2 EZSrve IP address changed and if it were not for the browser putting up the prototypes as I start to type I would really be in trouble. Glad to hear you got it up. Remember the Flex client just started the Beta so note anything that does not look right.

[Anonymous]

#42843

Got 2.0 installed, after it went wonky. Everything was wiped out, but no worries, only had a few devices and a couple timers. I can log into the device on the local network or over the intranets just fine. I’ll probably rebuild the device list while I’m at the office now.

I can’t get the flash site to work. Safari on Mac, Firefox on Mac, Firefox on Windows, IE7 on Windows, IE8 on Windows… the furthest it gets is the screen with the ‘initializing’ bar about 2/5 of the way through. Refreshing on any of the browsers doesn’t advance anything.

[Anonymous]

#42844

Are you pointing to your local EZSrve or using the default EZsrve on the SHN server when trying out the Flex client?

[Anonymous]

#42845

http://compacta.org/#66.68.xx.xx where 66.68.xx.xx is my public IP address. The IP address works fine for logging directly into the EZserve over the internets.

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