User guide

Composer Pro User Guide
Copyright © 2011 Control4. All Rights Reserved.
Saved: 4/14/2011 4:10:00 PM
200-00005 Composer Pro
User Guide Part 2
Page 8 of 179
5.2.1 Why Create a Device Driver?
A hardware driver is a small piece of software that allows a computer program to communicate with a
specific device in the Control4
®
system. Every device in the Control4 system requires a driver, and
that driver must be added to the project tree in Composer Pro. Some devices do not have existing
drivers in the Composer Pro driver database, or the drivers there cannot control a device. In that case,
a new device driver needs to be created.
Example: A computer may use a printer driver to send a print order to a printer. Every controllable
device uses codes that represent commands on that device. To control the device, you must capture
or enter these codes in the driver.
Example: An IR-controlled CD player’s commands are Play, Stop, Pause, etc. Using the Driver
Wizard and Controller hardware along with the manufacturer’s remote control supplied with the
equipment, you can capture these codes and build a working driver using the codes. Serial-based
devices are also supported; you can enter the serial codes to the Driver Wizard manually.
Tip: Each driver consists of a collection of files. One of those files is a configuration file, which is an
XML file referred to as a Config Data file or.c4i file. This file provides specific IR, serial, or connection
codes that are pertinent to supporting a device model on the Control4 system. In the default
Composer Pro installation, these files are located on your PC at: c:\program
files\control4\Composerxxx\drivers\virtual.
5.2.2 Overview of Creating Device Drivers
These sections provide steps and guidelines for creating Control4® device drivers:
“Why Create a Device Driver?”
“Guidelines for Creating Device Drivers”
“Guidelines for Defining Power Management”
“Using the Driver Wizard”
“Limitations to the Device Driver Wizard”
“Creating IR-Controlled Drivers”
“Creating a Serial-Controlled Device Driver”
“Using a New Device Driver in an Existing Project”
5.2.3 Guidelines for Creating Device Drivers
The most important information you need to know before you begin to create your own Control4
®
device driver is to understand how your devices work. After that, you can use the Driver Wizard and/or
the DriverWorks SDK to create your own drivers. Contact Control4 Technical Support for details.
IMPORTANT: Before you begin, check the manufacturer's documentation to learn about the codes or
customized macros required to support your device, and understand the inputs and outputs that your
device supports and other details about the device as needed.