UCI Controller

1. Select User Control Interfaces from the left-side pane.
2. Click and select New User Control Interface.
3. Select the new UCI (for example, "Interface 1").
4. In the right-side pane, under Properties, configure the UCI as desired. See User Control Interface Properties.
5. In the middle pane, select Page 1.
6. In the right-side pane, under Properties, configure the UCI page, including its Title. See Page Properties.
7. Add control elements to the UCI page to build your UCI. See Adding Controls to a UCI Page.
8. To add more pages, see Working with Pages
9. To configure layering within a page, see Working with Layers.

Think of Layers as stacked, transparent sheets of glass on which you can create images. You can see through the transparent areas of a layer to the layers below. You can work on each layer independently, experimenting to create the effect you want.

Adding a Layer to a Page

Adding layers to your UCI allows you to separate items on your UCI page. When you create a page in the UCI, it will always have at least one layer by default.

You can add a layer to a single page, or create a shared layer that can be used across multiple pages.

1. Select a page name.
2. Click > Add Layer to add a layer to the selected page.
3. Add content to the layer – copy and paste or drag and drop items onto the selected layer.

Adding Shared Layers

You can create shared layers to easily share content between multiple pages. You add content to a shared layer the same as any other layer.

1. Click > Add Shared Layer. The new shared layer is added at the Page level of the UI elements list.
2. Add content to the layer – copy and paste or drag and drop items onto the selected layer.
3. In the UI elements list, drag the shared layer name under the desired page names.

Viewing, Ordering, and Deleting Layers

• To view the layers within a UCI page, click the drop-down arrow next to the page name.
• Click or to move a layer. Content on higher layers displays on top of the content on lower layers.
• Click to delete the selected layers. You can delete a layer from the left pane regardless of its visibility or lock state.

Hiding and Locking Layers and Layer Elements

• Click to hide or show a layer or an element within a layer. The icon indicates the layer or element is visible.
  Notes

  • When a layer is hidden you cannot select any content on that layer.
  • You can delete the layer and the content on the layer is also deleted.
• Click to lock or unlock a layer or a layer element. The icon indicates the layer is locked.
  Notes

  • You cannot add, delete, or move any content on a locked layer.
  • You can delete the layer when it is locked or unlocked.
• You can script actions of the layers. For more information, see Uci.

Link Controls

Link a UCI control to a component control in your design, and then easily re-link (or un-link) the control later if the UCI's use case changes. You can thus build an entire UCI and link its controls to components without ever having to wire anything in the design itself. There are two methods to link controls.

Using Link Icon

1. With your UCI selected, click the Layers tab.

2. For the control you wish to link, click the Link icon. For example, here is a UCI control configured as a toggle:

   

3. Select the component and control from that component to link to the UCI control. For example, here we have linked the toggle control to the Mute button of a Gain component:

   

Tip: If you later wish to link the UCI control to another component control, just click the Link icon again and select a different control for linking.

Using Drag and Drop

1. In the schematic window, click and hold the desired component control you wish to link.

2. Drag the control to the UCI tab/window.

3. While hovering over the button/shape in the UCI, press and hold Ctrl on the keyboard.

4. Release the mouse/trackpad while still holding Ctrl and a prompt will appear. Select from the following:

   • Link Control - Links the control to the current control design

   • Transfer Control Style - Links and overwrites with the original component control graphic

Tip: If you later wish to link the UCI control to another component control, just repeat the drag and drop process while selecting a different control for linking.

Adding Controls from the Toolbox

1. Select a UCI name from the User Control Interfaces section of the left-side pane.

2. Click the Toolbox tab. You'll see a list of control types:

   

   Note: The functionality of the Graphic Tools section differs from that of the Graphic Tools in the Schematic Elements tab. Graphic Tools within the UCI Tool box can be dragged out like other controls, initially appearing at a default size which you can adjust after placing them in the UCI. In contrast, the Graphic Tools in the Schematic Elements tab enable you to draw around items in the schematic.

3. Drag a control type into the UCI Layout Tab.

4. In the right-side Properties pane, assign a unique Control Name that can optionally be referenced in a UCI Script.

5. Configure the rest of the control's properties as you would with any other control.

6. Add more controls as desired.

Deleting Controls from the Toolbox

1. Select a UCI name from the User Control Interfaces section of the left-side pan.

2. Find the control that was dragged into the UCI Layout Tab.

3. Click on the control and press the delete key.

The Variables tab allows you to set certain Variables that you can later reference in your UCI Script. This feature allows you to modify the UCI script as changes are made to the Variables tab.

Note: UCI Variables can run .Value and .EventHandler.

Tip: You must be in Emulate mode or Running the design on a Core for the feature to be interactive.

Adding Variables

1. Select a UCI name from the User Control Interfaces section of the left-side pane.
2. Select the Variables Tab.
3. Click to add a Variable to the selected page.
4. Choose what type of Variable you wish to use. You can select String, Number, Boolean, Color.
   • String: Insert your text field.
   • Number: Insert any number. You can use the up / down arrows to select a number, or manually type in a number.
   • Boolean: Check-box field to allow for a Boolean.
   • Color: Pops up with the Color Picker box to choose a color.

Updating Variables

1. Select a UCI name from the User Control Interfaces section of the left-side pane.
2. Select the Variables Tab.
3. Choose what type of Variable you wish to update.
4. Make the necessary changes, (i.e., changing the color, or updating the string, etc.).

Note: You must click away from the Variable that you updated in order for the changes to take effect. For instance, if you have a Variable Name as "Room123", and change it to "Room456", you must click out of the Variable box in which you typed. Enter/Return keys do not force the change.

Deleting Variables

1. Select a UCI name from the User Control Interfaces section of the left-side pane.
2. Select the Variables Tab.
3. Click to delete the selected Variables.

Access Variables Globally

You can access variables globally, either from another UCI or a regular Text controller script.

Copy

-- get room_name variable of some UCI
room_name = Uci.GetVariable("Interface 1", "room_name")

-- change it to something else
Uci.SetVariable("Interface 1", "room_name", "Updated room name")

Importing and Exporting UCI Variables

Visit the Import and Export UCI Variables topic to learn how to import and export UCI Variables.

Using UCI Variables with CSS Integration

Using UCI Variables with CSS Integration makes customizing a UCI even easier by pulling in predefined colors, icons, etc. from a CSS Style (to learn more about CSS Styles, see the UCI Styles topic).

Note: Examples 1 and 2 are best when you already have the source classes defined in your style sheet. Example 3 is best when you need to assign icons using source Variables.

Tip: When using a UCI variable to override CSS Content, add quotes around the text if it contains spaces or other special character.

Example 1: Changing Color

Note: Only use CSSColor Variables for CSS. CSS expects RGBA, whereas Designer colors are ARGB.

In the following video, the root style.css file contains root background, primary, secondary colors, and button radius size.

After choosing the Style sheet, those root preferences automatically import. However, we can easily change that information.

Example 2: Changing Icons

The root file also contains predefined button icons for Mac, DVR, and PC.

Using this predefined information, the example below quickly and effortlessly imports the same icons once the variable name matches.

The EventHandler on the UCI Script assigns the specific button to what the Variable Value is set to.

Example 3: Changing Icons Using Source Variable

The CSS Style sheet contains source_Variable to easily assign icons.

With the source_Variable defined, another portion of the UCI script details what icon will be placed into that variable.

Scripting with UCI Variables

In the following examples, we are using a small UCI equipped with Volume Up, Volume Down, and Mute buttons as well as a Gain meter. Additionally, we have two Variables:

• RoomName is defined by the string: Example Room
• GainBlock is defined by the string: Example Gain

Example 1: Gain Functionality

Copy

function GetLevel() -- get current gain level
  Controls.Vol_Lvl.Position = MyGain["gain"].Position
end

function SetVolUp(state) -- press/release gain stepper increase
  if MyGain["stepper.increase"]~= nil then 
    MyGain["stepper.increase"].Boolean = state
  else
    print ("Gain isn't linked.")
  end
end

function SetVolDn(state) -- press/release gain stepper decrease
  if MyGain["stepper.decrease"]~= nil then 
    MyGain["stepper.decrease"].Boolean = state
  else
    print ("Gain isn't linked.")
  end
end

function GetMute() -- get current mute state
  Controls.Vol_Mute.Boolean = MyGain["mute"].Boolean
end

function SetMute() -- set gain mute state to UCI mute state
  if MyGain["mute"]~= nil then 
    MyGain["mute"].Boolean = Controls.Vol_Mute.Boolean
  else
    print ("Mute isn't linked.")
  end
end

function SetGainBlock()
  local compName = Uci.Variables["GainBlock"].String -- get component name from UCI variable
  MyGain = Component.New(compName)          -- link to gain block

  if MyGain["gain"] ~= nil then             --check that this component has a gain control
    MyGain["gain"].EventHandler = GetLevel  -- subscribe for level FB
    GetLevel()                              -- get current level FB
  end
  if MyGain["mute"] ~= nil then             --check that this component has a gain control
    MyGain["mute"].EventHandler = GetMute   -- subscribe for mute FB
    GetMute()                               -- get current mute FB
  end                                       
end

Controls.Vol_Mute.EventHandler = SetMute

Controls.VolUp.EventHandler = function(ctl)
  SetVolUp(ctl.Boolean)
end

Controls.VolDn.EventHandler = function(ctl)
  SetVolDn(ctl.Boolean)
end

Uci.Variables["GainBlock"].EventHandler = SetGainBlock -- update gain block connection if variables changes

SetGainBlock() -- set gain on initial script start

Example 2: String Functionality

Copy

function SetRoomName()
  Controls.Btn_RoomName.Legend = Uci.Variables["RoomName"].String
end

Uci.Variables["RoomName"].EventHandler = SetRoomName -- update room name if variables changes

SetRoomName() -- set room name on initial script start

The UCI Script tab contains a familiar interface for authoring Lua code specific to the selected UCI. This makes it easy to duplicate a UCI and update the new one (i.e., modify the script) with different parameters. One use case, for example, is having multiple UCIs with differing Layer and Shared Layer visibility settings.

Note: A Q-SYS Scripting Engine feature license is not required for building and running scripts contained within the UCI Script tab. Some Lua methods are not supported – see Unsupported Lua methods for details.

Note: When referencing the Uci Lua methods in your UCI script, it will not work if you define the UCI_Name variable because the script is local to the UCI and its name.

Examples

Setting UCI Layer visibility

Note: When using the UCI.SetLayerVisibility within a UCI script, you must drop the argument of UCI_Name.

Here is a simple UCI script that sets layer visibility.

Copy

timer0 = Timer.New()
 
 
timer0.EventHandler = function()
  Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 1', false, 'fade')
  Timer.CallAfter(function()
      Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 1', true, 'fade')
    Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 2', false, 'left')
 
    Timer.CallAfter(function()
        Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 2', true, 'left')
    Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 3', false, 'right')
 
      Timer.CallAfter(function()
          Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 3', true, 'right')
    Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 4', false, 'top')
 
        Timer.CallAfter(function()
            Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 4', true, 'top')
    Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 5', false, 'bottom')
 
          Timer.CallAfter(function()
              Uci.SetLayerVisibility('Page 1', 'Layer 5', true, '')
 
          end,1)
        end,2)
      end,2)
    end,2)
  end,2)
end
 
 
timer0:Start(10)

Setting UCI Shared Layer visibility

This line instructs the a Shared Layer in a UCI to become hidden with a fade transition.

Copy

Uci.SetSharedLayerVisibility('Shared Layer 1', false, 'fade')

Unsupported Lua methods

Some Lua methods are not supported in UCI scripts, including methods from the following libraries. If you use these methods in the UCI Script tab, you will see this error in the Debug Output window: "This feature is unavailable in UCI Controller."

Note: These Lua methods are not supported in the UCI Scripts tab even if a Q-SYS Scripting Engine feature license is installed on the Q-SYS Core processor.

You can optionally expose control pins for each control that you have added to the UCI from the Toolbox, and then wire those control pins as you would with other components. Use the UCI Controller component to view and wire Toolbox control pins.

1. In your UCI, select a Toolbox control and configure the Control Pin property. You choose to expose Input, Output, Both, or no (None) control pins.

   

2. From the User Control Interfaces left-side menu, drag the UCI Controller component for your UCI into the schematic.

   

3. Wire the control pins as you would with other components.

Standard Control Pins

The UCI Controller component includes the same standard script control pins as other scripting components, selectable from the Control Pins section of the right-side pane.

Import and export UCIs to facilitate easy sharing between system designers. You can also download and import UCIs from Asset Manager.

Note: To learn more about import / exporting, please visit Import and Export UCIs.