We're thinking of building a Debian-based web-server that offers up a "remote control" interface for a smart classroom in a university. We want a web interface so it'll be universal (particularly working with mobile devices such as smartphones, iPads, etc.). This web interface would allow the the teacher to control the various multimedia devices in the room (projector, volume on the sound system, doc-cam, DVD player, etc) just by bringing up the web site on his Android phone, etc, and clicking hyperlink-type buttons. In this way he can power up the projector, tell the projector to show the signal from the laptop port in the podium or to switch to the image from the document camera, crank up the sound system volume, dim the room lights, etc.
In order to do this, we have to convert the web clicks into infrared signals going to the various IR-enabled devices, essentially replacing the remote controls that came with the devices.
Global Cache (http://www.globalcache.com/products/itach/models2/) has devices that, as I understand it, will send out the various IR signals to the various devices, based on ASCII commands sent to it via a wireless connection.
My problem is how to convert a click on a web page into the proper code to be sent over the wireless network to the Global Cache device. I don't have the Global Cache yet to play with, but I'm trying to get a feel for how to do things before we start spending money. The API documentation from their web site indicates it's a matter of just sending the correct ASCII sequence out the web server's TCP socket on Port 4998.
Here's a snippet from their documentation that might help set some background:
Commands are initiated by short ASCII string representing the command type. Typically, physical address and data information will follow. The structures of iTach commands are described in the following sections. Text enclosed in brackets (<text>) must be substituted by its ASCII definition. Multiple ASCII choices are divided by separator ( | ) characters.Note: Commands are case sensitive. Example: The network settings are queried with the get_NET command: get_NET,<connectoraddress>↵ where; <connectoraddress> is 0:1 (network module address) The command ASCII string sent to the iTach is: get_NET,0:1↵ Note: get_NET command is documented fully in section 5.1 below.
Can anyone provide me a snippet of HTML (and/or related, such as php, etc) code for sending an ASCII string (such as the above "net_NET,0:1 <CR>") to TCP socket Port 4998?
Better yet, can anyone also provide me a means of testing if I'm sending to that port without yet having the hardware in-hand? Like, if I manage to send data to port 4998, how do I know I sent it and what it looks like on the other side?
And is this called "raw socket programming", or what? If I knew what terms to google for, I might not need to bother y'all any more.
Thanks! -- Kent West<*)))>< http://kentwest.blogspot.com Praise Yah! \o/