ArtBus computer interfaces for art, design, and multimedia

Here are the commands shared by all ArtBus bugs, regardless of a bug's specific purpose in life.

 g and h

You can stop a bug from executing  incoming commands with the pause, "h", command. If a fresh command comes in while the bug is paused, the bug stores the command and waits for the go, "g", command.

Let's say you had six hacked mp3 players that you wanted to cue and then play simultaneously. Let's also say that it takes a few tenths of a second to cue each player from the ArtBus master.

Here's how. Give all the players the same group address, for instance, "Y" ("Z" is the default group address). Send the control commands to each player to cue it, and then send the "h" command, and then  send the command that will start the playing. It's paused now, so it won't start yet. Do this for all the players. Now you start them all at once by sending the go "g" command to the group address, !Yg;

w

w is spare for future use. it does nothing.

x

This is a troubleshooting and diagnostic command meant to be run in a terminal window. You can see if a bug is responsive by sending it the ping "x" command. For example, to see if bug "D" is listening, send !Dx; If it's there and listening, it will return its address and its error status.

y

y is spare for future use. it does nothing.

z

Command "z" reboots a bug. This is a troubleshooting and diagnostic command meant to be run in a terminal window. If a bug shows a red error light, it's best to reboot it by power cycling, pressing the reset button, or command "z". To reboot bug number "C", send !Cz;. To reboot all the bugs in group "Z", send !Zz;