xSchedule Play multiple playlists

[myArsineFive]

I have a few Arduino LED controllers in various rooms of the house. They receive e.131 data from a virtual machine I have running at my house.  I am looking to utilize the xScheduler API so that I can run playlists on each of these LED controllers.  I notice when I make a call to play a playlist any currently executing playlist will stop.  This means I cannot independently execute a specific playlist on a specific controller.  Does anyone have any insight on how I could make this work? Can we not execute multiple playlists at once? 

The only alternative I can think of is to run multiple Virtual machines each with xLights / xSchedule running on them.  I can do this but hope there is something more simple. Thank you.

[keithsw1111]

Event playlists.

[myArsineFive]

Thanks I tried the following but it still has some issues:

• I setup 2 playlists. MyTestPlaylist has FSEQ TreeLightTest and MySecondTestPlaylist has FSEQ GirlsLightTest
• I ran /xScheduleCommand?Command=Run event playlist step&Parameters=MySecondTestPlaylist,GirlsLightTest -- this did nothing
• I ran /xScheduleCommand?Command=Play specified playlist&Parameters=MySecondTestPlaylist -- this did work; however, if another playlist is playing then it is immediately stopped when this one starts

Maybe I am not understanding exactly what you meant. I watched a (yours?) youtube video on Advanced xSchedule, which did have a small section on API but I am not 100% sure I understand what an event playlist is. Thank you for your time.

[keithsw1111]

If you look near the bottom of the api document there are a bunch of play event playlists apis. Event playlists all play at once and you can have as many of them as you like.

[myArsineFive]

Yep I found those items such as: "Run event playlist step" as noted in my previous post but possibly this was not what you are referring too.   I do get an "ok" response; however, the playlist step does not actually execute.  If I just run "Play selected playlist" it does execute so I know their is no problem with the functionality of the playlist.  I just cant seem to get the event step to execute.

I do note that if a playlist is already executing one of its steps, and I command a "Run event playlist step" it will then begin executing that step, though it cancels any existing step. Possibly my call is wrong or something? I really appreciate your help on this

[keithsw1111]

You need to put event playlists in separate playlists if you want to run them concurrently.

[myArsineFive]

Hi yes as noted in my second post I tried that as well. I think my primary issue here is that I cannot get a step within a playlist to play with the "Run event playlist step" command. I am getting the expected http response but it just doesn't seem to play. Whereas when using a standard command to "Play selected playlist" works fine, though only 1 can be executed at once.

[myArsineFive]

Maybe I dont understand what an event playlist is.  What I did was create a playlist, then add and FSEQ to said playlist.  I then try to, " "Run event playlist step" command using the playlistname and step name (associated with the FSEQ). Perhaps there is something called an event playlist that is different than just adding an FSEQ to a playlist?

[keithsw1111]

When using an event playlist it is essential you limit the channel ranges being output or choose the right blend style otherwise the event playlist will block underlying data.

If you look in the log file you will be able to see under the covers what is going on ... including when playlists start and stop.

[myArsineFive]

So I tried running the playlist from the API using "Play playlist step" and afterwards "Run event playlist step unique". They both should cause the 1-step playlist to play but only "Play playlist step" worked.  I checked the logs and the only difference I can see is after log entry: Web request handled Play Playlist has the line Starting light output  but the "Run event playlist step unique" option does not.  I'm stuck here without knowing how to move forward.  I think my issue is probably that I don't understand if event playlist is different then playlist. Or maybe I just don't know what I am doing.  I'll try to find something.

[myArsineFive]

Just a heads-up for anyone else that finds this post looking for the same functionality. I was unable to successfully use the Run Even Playlist command. Play playlist step does work; however, you can only play 1 of these at a time.  I am resorting to creating an additional VM with xSchedule running on it so that I can have multiple playlists executing at the same time. Good luck!

[keithsw1111]

Rubbish. You can play an unlimited number at a time if you don’t use the unique version of the command. Unique says only play one from the chosen playlist.

[myArsineFive]

Well "rubbish" or not, I was unable to run multiple playlists using the command: Play selected playlist.  The second command overwrites the first.

I was also unable to get the "Run event playlist" command to execute anything.  I appreciate your effort and just wanted to fill anyone else that was looking to do the same thing what my solution was. Multiple VMs.  Thanks again!