Connecting to a Master Controller via Network (TCP/IP)

1. Select Settings > Workspace Communications Settings to open the Workspace Communication Settings dialog (FIG. 202).

FIG. 202 Workspace Communication Settings dialog

1. Click System Settings to open the Communications Settings dialog (FIG. 203).

FIG. 203 Communications Settings dialog - Network tab

Editing a TCP/IP

Address section on page 123

for details. | | Edit: | Click to edit the selected address, in the TCP/IP Properties dialog. See the

Editing a TCP/IP Address section on

page 123

for details. | | Delete: | With an address selected in the List of Addresses table, click to remove it from the list. See the

Deleting a TCP/

IP Address section on page 123

for details. | | Delete All: | Click to clear the List of Addresses. | | Listen For Masters: | Click to listen for "blink" (UDP) messages from NetLinx Masters on the same subnet (in the Listen For Masters | | Import IP Address List File | Click to import a list of IP addresses in the form of either a .csv or .txt file. Refer to the

Importing an IP Address List File section on page 124

for details. | | Export IP Addresses | Click to export the list of IP addresses indicated in the Network tab in the form of either a .csv or .txt file. Refer to the

Exporting an IP Address List File section on page 126

for details. |

NOTE: The Communications Settings dialog can also be accessed by clicking in the Master Controller Connection Information area of the Status Bar.

1. Use the options in this dialog to configure TCP/IP communication settings with the target Master Controller. There are two ways to do this:

   • Manually entering the Master’s IP address information (see

     page 12

     0)

   • Listening for Master’s on the Network (see

     page 12

     1)

2. Once the communication settings have been set and the desired Master Controller is indicated in the Current Platform- Transport Selected field (FIG. 203), click OK to close the Communications Settings dialog and return to the Workspace Communication Settings dialog.

Note that the selected Master Controller connection is indicated in the Workspace Communication Settings dialog (FIG. 204).

FIG. 204 Workspace Communication Settings dialog with the selected Master Connection

1. Click OK to close the Workspace Communication Settings dialog.
2. In the Online Tree, right-click and select Refresh System from the context menu to attempt to establish the specified connection.
   • If the connection is successful, the connection information is indicated in the Status Bar and highlighted in green/yellow (FIG. 205).

FIG. 205 Status Bar indicating a Network connection to a Master Controller

• • If the connection fails, the Status Bar indicates no active connection (FIG. 206).

FIG. 206 Status Bar indicating NO Network connection to a Master Controller

The program will prompt you to revisit the current communication settings (FIG. 207).

FIG. 207 Connection Failed

If you receive this message, try the following:

• • Click Retry to attempt the connection again, using the same settings.
  • Click Change to re-visit the Workspace Communication Settings dialog to edit the current settings.
  • Click Cancel to close the dialog without establishing a connection.

Manually Entering the Master’s IP Address Information

NOTE: Click Settings > Workspace Communications Settings to open the Workspace Communication Settings dialog, and click the System Settings or Default Settings button to open the Communications Settings dialog.

1. In the Communications Settings dialog (Network tab), click New to open the New TCP/IP Setting dialog (FIG. 208).

FIG. 208 New TCP/IP Setting dialog (indicating sample IP information)

1. Enter the TCP/IP Address for the target Master Controller.
2. Enter a Description.

NOTE: The Port should always be set to 1319 (default setting). Do not change the Port assignment.

1. Leave the Automatically Ping the Master to ensure availability option selected.
2. Enter the User Name and Password required by the target Master (only if the Master is secured).
3. Click OK to close this dialog and return to the Communications Settings dialog. The new Master’s IP Address is indicated in the

List of Addresses.

1. Select the new Master connection in the List of Addresses. This populates the Current Master Connection field (FIG. 209).

FIG. 209 Communications Settings dialog indicating the selected Master connection

1. Click OK to close the Communications Settings dialog and return to the Workspace Communication Settings dialog, with the selected communication configuration displayed (FIG. 210).

FIG. 210 Workspace Communication Settings dialog indicating the selected Master connection

1. Click OK to close this dialog.
2. In the Online Tree, right-click and select Refresh System from the context menu to attempt to establish the specified connection.

Listening for Masters on the Network

NOTE: Click Settings > Workspace Communications Settings to open the Workspace Communication Settings dialog, and click the System Settings or Default Settings button to open the Communications Settings dialog.

1. In the Communications Settings dialog (Network tab), click Listen for Masters to open the Listen For Masters dialog (FIG. 211).

FIG. 211 Listen For Masters dialog

1. When this dialog is opened, the program automatically begins listening for "blink" (UDP) messages from NetLinx Masters on the same subnet. As Masters are discovered, they are added to the List of Active NetLinx Master Controllers.
2. When you see the IP Address for the target Master in the List of Active NetLinx Master Controllers, click Stop Listening. Note that this action enables the Select To Add button (FIG. 212).

FIG. 212 Listen For Masters dialog - Stop Listening

1. Select the IP Address of the target Master and click Select to Add (FIG. 213).

FIG. 213 Listen For Masters dialog - Master Selected

1. If the selected IP address is new, the New TCP/IP Setting dialog is presented, indicating the selected IP address. Fill in the

Description, User Name and Password fields as necessary (FIG. 214).

FIG. 214 New TCP/IP Setting dialog

1. Click OK to save changes, close this dialog and return to the Communications Settings dialog (Network tab). The new Master’s IP Address is now indicated in the List of Addresses.
2. With the newly added Master selected, click Select. This updates the Current Platform-Transport Selected window to indicate that the newly added and selected Master is now the current communication configuration (FIG. 215).

FIG. 215 Listen For Masters dialog (new Master selected)

1. Click OK to close the Communications Settings dialog, and return to the Workspace Communication Settings dialog, which now indicates the newly selected configuration (FIG. 216).

FIG. 216 Workspace Communication Settings dialog (new Master indicated as current Configuration)

1. Click OK to close this dialog.
2. Refresh the Online Tree (select Refresh System Online Tree from the Online Tree context menu) to connect to the Master.

Editing a TCP/IP Address

1. In the Communications Settings dialog, select an address in the List of Addresses, and click Edit to open the Edit TCP/IP Setting

dialog (FIG. 217).

FIG. 217 Edit TCP/IP Setting dialog

1. Edit the fields as desired and click OK to save your changes and close the dialog.

Deleting a TCP/IP Address

1. In the Communications Settings dialog, select an address in the List of Addresses, and click Delete.
2. The deleted address is removed from the List of Addresses. Click Delete All to clear the List of Addresses.

IP Address List Files

IP Address List Files provide the option of managing a list of IP Addresses as a separate file (CSV or TXT) that can be imported into NetLinx Studio, to quickly add target devices for file transfer operations. The Import IP Address List File and Export IP Addresses options are provided in the Communications Settings dialog - Network tab (FIG. 218):

FIG. 218 Communications Settings dialog

Importing an IP Address List File

1. In the Communications Settings dialog - Network tab, click on Import IP Address List File. This selection opens the Import IP Address List File dialog (FIG. 219):

Browse button

FIG. 219 Import IP Address List File dialog

1. Select an Import Option:
   • Remove ALL Network History prior to Import (default selection): Select this option to clear all entries from the IP address list (of the Communications Settings dialog - Network tab) before adding the contents of the imported IP Address List File. With this option selected, only the IP Addresses in the imported file will be indicated in the Network tab.
   • Add to Network History: Select this option to add the addresses in the IP Address List File to the existing list of IP addresses (in the Communications Settings dialog - Network tab).
2. Click the Browse button (see FIG. 219) to locate and select the desired .TXT or .CSV file (via the Open dialog). Alternatively, type the path and filename directly in the File Name to Import field.

NOTE: This f ile must contain one or more IP addresses formatted according to the rules described in the

IP Address Import File

Information section on page 125

. These rules are also indicated in the Import IP Address List File dialog.

1. Click Import Fie Layout to open the IP Address Import File Layout Information dialog (FIG. 220):

FIG. 220 IP Address Import File Layout dialog

This dialog describes the layout required by NetLinx Studio to utilize IP Address Import Files (see

IP Address Import File

Information on page 125

).

1. Click Import File to import the selected .TXT or .CSV file.
2. NetLinx Studio presents a dialog that summarizes the contents of the imported file (FIG. 221). Click OK to close this dialog.

FIG. 221 Import IP Address List File dialog

1. Click OK to close the Import IP Address List File dialog and return to the Communications Settings dialog. The contents of the imported file are indicated in the list of IP addresses in the Network tab.

IP Address Import File Information

Your IP Address data must be delimited by commas (",") or pipes ("|").

You can have either a "#" or ";" in column one of your text file to designate comment lines. They will be ignored during the import process.

The order of the data must be as follows:

IP Address,Description,Port,Ping Host Flag

• • If no Port is specified, then the default is 1319.
  • For the Ping Host Flag value, please specify either 1 for TRUE or 0 for FALSE. If no Ping Host Flag is specified, then the default is TRUE.

Example File 1:

;----------------------------------

; North Campus Meeting Rooms

;----------------------------------

10.24.94.24,First Floor-Ben Hogan Room,1319,1 10.24.94.37,Second Floor-Arnold Palmer Room,1319,1 10.24.94.44,Third Floor-Board Room,1319,1

Example File 2:

----------------------------------

South Campus Meeting Rooms

----------------------------------

10.24.94.24|First Floor-Ben Hogan Room|1319|1 10.24.94.37|Second Floor-Arnold Palmer Room|1319 10.24.94.33|Third Floor-Board Room|1319|1

Exporting an IP Address List File

1. In the Communications Settings dialog - Network tab, click on Export IP Address List File. This selection opens the Export IP Address List File dialog (FIG. 222):

Browse button

FIG. 222 Export IP Address List File dialog

1. In the File Name to Export field, enter a name for the exported file.
2. Optionally, enter any comments that might prove helpful in the Comments to Add to the File field.
3. Select either Comma or Pipe "|" as the delimiter to use in the exported file (default = Comma).
4. Click the Browse button to specify the target directory for the exported file, in the Save As dialog.
5. Also in the Save As dialog, select either TXT or CSV as the desired file type for the exported file (default = CSV File).
6. Click Save to close the Save As dialog and return to the Export IP Address List File dialog. Note that the file path, file name and file type for the exported file are indicated in the File Name to Export field.
7. Click Export File to export the List of IP Addresses File according to the options selected. Click Done to close the Export IP Address List File dialog without exporting the file.

NOTE: NetLinx Studio presents a dialog that summarizes the contents of the imported f ile (example shown in FIG. 221):

FIG. 223 Import IP Address List File dialog

Click OK to close this dialog.

Once the file has been exported, it is available to be imported via the Import IP Address List File option in the Communications Settings dialog (Network tab).