Q-SYS UCI Viewer

The User Control Interface (UCI) Viewer is a stand-alone, Windows based application used to discover and run Q-SYS UCIs over a local area network.

For information about designing UCIs, refer to the Q-SYS Designer online help.

Installation

The Q-SYS UCI Viewer for Windows is available on the QSC web site (http://qsc.com) as part of the Q-SYS Software download. You can save the downloaded .exe file and copy it to as many Windows devices as necessary, then run/install it on each device. It is highly recommended that you download and install the same version UCI Viewer as your Q-SYS Designer. The number, for example "3.3.xxx", in the file name indicates the version.

  1. On the Windows PC that is going to run the UCI Viewer, locate the download file, for example (Q-SYS_Uci_Viewer_Installer_2.0.286.exe), and double click the file.
  2. Or, download the file from the web site listed above. During the download process you are prompted to run or save the file. Select Run.
  3. Follow the instructions given during the installation process.

Run the UCI Viewer

  1. Ensure that the PC on which the UCI Viewer will run is connected to the same local area network as the Core.
  2. NOTE:  For remote access, refer to the section titled "Remote Access with Q-SYS UCI Viewer" below.

  3. Select Start > All Programs > Q-SYS UCI Viewer > Q-SYS UCI Viewer. The UCI Viewer interface displays.
  4. Select the UCI Viewer type (under the tool bar). You can select UCI Viewers to get a list of UCIs that are assigned to a UCI Viewer Status/Control component, or select one UCIs by name. Running a UCI using the UCI Viewer component displays the UCI status, and allows a certain amount of control of the UCI from Q-SYS Designer. Refer to the UCI Viewer Status/Control component topic for details.
  5. In the UCI Browser (left-side pane), is a list of all Available UCIs running in a design on any Core connected to the Q-LAN network. In addition, if you are Emulating a design with a UCI, and running the UCI Viewer on the same PC, the Emulated UCI is listed. The UCIs are sorted by design name, then UCI name.
  6. NOTE:   Hover over the Current Design name to see information about the Core running the design, or the PC Emulating the design.

  7. Select the desired UCI. The UCI displays as designed.

Auto Start

If you want a UCI to automatically run when Windows starts:

  1. Create a bookmark (see table below) for the UCI
  2. Create a Windows Shortcut to the bookmark
  3. Copy or Cut and Paste the shortcut into the Windows Startup directory (C:\Users\user_name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup - for Windows 7.)
  4. When Windows is restarted, the UCI automatically starts.

UCI Viewer Interface

Because the UCI Viewer runs on a Windows based PC, many of the Windows functions work with the UCI Viewer. You can use your mouse to make selections, or if a touchscreen is available, you can use that as well. The UCI Viewer supports multi-button press sliding. Press and hold a button, then slide your finger or mouse over other buttons to change their states to match the first button you pressed.

Controls

Control

Function

UCI Selection Panel

(show/hide)

Clicking this icon shows or hides the UCI Selection panel. The default is show.

Full Screen

Clicking this icon enters or exits the UCI Viewer full-screen mode.

  • The UCI Viewer full-screen mode is different from the Windows full-screen mode in that while in the UCI Viewer full-screen mode, the title bar is not shown. In Windows full-screen, the title bar and controls are shown.
  • When in full-screen mode, you can press the Esc button to exit the full-screen view.
  • If the UCI Selection Panel is visible in full-screen mode, you can hide or size it by grabbing the separator bar between the UCI and the UCI Browser and sliding it to the desired position. If you opened the UCI Viewer with a Bookmark, and the Bookmark file did not "Show the UCI Browser", you cannot open it in that bookmark mode.
  • If you opened the UCI Viewer with a Bookmark, and the Bookmark file did not "Show the Toolbar", you cannot open the Toolbar in that bookmark mode.

Touchscreen Control Mode

(on/off)

Click this button to change the UCI display to Touchscreen Control mode. In Touchscreen Control mode, hovering and text entry are disabled, the mouse cursor is not visible. When the UCI Viewer is in Touchscreen Control mode, the login screen is a pin-pad instead of a dialog box.

Touchscreen Control mode does not disable the mouse cursor over the toolbar, or the UCI Selection Panel.

Touchscreen Control Mode is persistent. If you enable Touchscreen Control mode, close the UCI Viewer then reopen it, Touchscreen Control Mode is still enabled. However, Bookmark settings take precedence.

You can save a UCI in Touchscreen Control mode as part of a Bookmark.

Bookmark

Clicking this icon saves information about the currently running UCI, and the desired view of the UCI Viewer.

  1. Click the Bookmark icon. The Save Bookmark dialog box displays
  2. Click the checkbox for one or more of the following options:
    • Show Full Screen - When you open the Bookmark file, the UCI is automatically displayed in full-screen mode.
    • Show Toolbar - the Toolbar is included in the display when the Bookmark file is opened.
    • Show UCI Browser - The UCI Browser (left-side pane) is included in the display when the Bookmark file is opened.
    • Touchscreen Control Mode - When the Bookmark file is opened, the UCI displays in Touchscreen Control Mode.
  3. File - The path and filename of the Bookmark file. The extension for the file is .quci.
    You can type the path and filename, or click the ellipsis button to navigate to a directory, then type the filename.
  4. Click Save to save the Bookmark file, or Cancel to exit without saving.
  5. After the file is saved, you can double click the Bookmark file and the UCI Viewer opens with the UCI, and view selections you defined.

UCI and Design Filter

Clicking this icon gives you two fields "UCI", and "Design", with which you can filter the list of UCIs or Designs.

Wildcard matching is case sensitive, and uses the following rules:

  • c - Any character represents itself apart from those mentioned below. Thus c matches the character c.
  • ? - Matches any single character.
  • * - Matches zero or more of any characters.

Toolbar (Hide)

Click the Toolbar button to hide the toolbar.

Right-click, or touch-and-hold (Win 7/8) a menu displays. Click or touch Toolbar to restore the Toolbar.

Help

Displays this help file.

Remote Access with Q-SYS UCI Viewer

You can configure your Windows PC to allow the UCI Viewer to discover and connect to a remotely located Core. The PC running the UCI Viewer must have network connectivity with the Core(s) to which you wish to gain remote access. This can be via VPN or some other method suggested by your friendly network administrator.

The UCI Viewer needs to be able to reach the following ports on the target Core:

In addition, the UCI Viewer must be able to exchange ICMP (ping) echo messages with the Core. There are separate firewall settings to enable or filter these messages. You can test network connectivity by pinging the Core(s) from your PC using the Windows command line interface (cmd.exe) and the Core's IP Address. The format is ping 123.45.6.789. If you get a good response, (for example: "Reply from 123.45.6.789: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=64) you have the proper connectivity.

IMPORTANT:   Do not use this method if your PC can already discover the UCI Viewers on the Core, that is, receive multicast packets from the Core in question.

NOTE:  If Q-SYS Designer resides on the same PC as the UCI Viewer, you can use Q-SYS Designer Preferences dialog to manage the hardlink.xml file.

  1. Close any open instances of the UCI Viewer.
  2. Use a text editor to create a file called hardlink.xml. The file should be in one of the following directories:
  3. The file should contain the following entries:
  4. NOTE:  The name of the file is "hardlink.xml" singular. The tag inside the file is <HardLinks> plural.

    <HardLinks>

    <IpAddress>nnn.nn.n.nn</IpAddress>

    <IpAddress>nnn.nn.n.nn</IpAddress>

    </HardLinks>

    Where nnn.nn.n.nn is the IP Address of the Core to which you wish to connect. You may include multiple IP Addresses.

  5. After creating the file with the IP Addresses you can open the UCI Viewer and select the UCI you want from the UCI Browser.
  6. The UCI displays in the UCI Viewer.

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