FPP Connect - Sparse file calculation question

[JonB256]

Love the ability of FPP Connect to create "sparse" FSEQ files for each receiving FPP controller.

But, have a question related to how it calculates. When FPP Connect reads the channel configuration (range of channels from low to high), does it look at ALL the entries in the Channel Output screen or just the ones that are marked as Enabled (big Active check box in FPP Version 5, anyway)??

The reason I ask is that if I have a controller being "worked on" and temporarily uncheck the Active box, will FPP Connect still include its data in the Sparse file or will it leave it out? i.e., Will I have to Resend any files once that controller is back online and their box is checked?

I have a RasPi 4 Remote with 11 outputs to devices (2 are E1.31, 9 are DDP). That is the one I am asking about, if I disable one or more of those 11 outputs temporarily to avoid sending data to a controller that is not online.

[dkulp]

It actually doesn't look at the controllers page at all.  It asks the FPP instance what range it needs and uses that.   Thus, if the FPP instance is not configured to output something, it won't get those channels.   If you push a configuration to FPP, it pushes the config first and then re-asks for the range. 

In any case, if you do something in FPP that would increase the range of what it needs to output, then you would need to re-upload.

[JonB256]

If I'm understanding, the FPP responds with the "first channel" and "highest channel" and the FSEQ is created based on that.

In my specific case, the outputs were in the middle so they wouldn't be a problem.

I'd only be concerned if I de-activate the Highest or Lowest channel outputs.

Thanks, Dan.  I absolutely love the Sparse/ZSTD option in FPP Connect.

[dkulp]

It's a bit more complicated than that as sparse files can have multiple ranges.   It's not a single first/last type thing.   Thus, it's still possible for channels in the middle to not be in the sparse file.   

[JonB256]

Ok, it was the possibility of "ranges" being left out of the sparse FSEQ that made me ask in the first place.
To be safe, I'll always rerun FPP Connect when I reactivate a channel output.