Specifications

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Pre-setting Path Statements
Sometimes it’s useful to pre-set a series of commands (without executing them), and then issue
a switching command to execute all of the pre-set commands. The MultiTasker system allows
for this kind of control by offering the
[...P] and [SW] commands.
Example: The following illustration uses all of the commands discussed thus far in per-
forming simultaneous audio and video switching. Switching will occur between two
RGBHV sources, connected to five MT104-100 6-in 1-out switching cards, with each card
used for one of the R, G, B, H, and V channels of the computer inputs. All audio will be
switched using one MT109-100 unbalanced input audio switching card. To accomplish
this switching we will first group the video cards into one group — the “RGBHV” group,
then pre-set a series of commands to be executed all at once, in the order in which they
were pre-set. First, we create the RGBHV group and turn off all inputs to the video group
and audio card:
[WRC1C2C3C4C5G1U0] groups the five MT104-100s in slots 1 through 5 into Group #1
[OFFG1U0] turns off all inputs to the RGBHV group
[OFFC6U0] turns off all inputs to the audio card in slot 6
Now we are ready to select input #3 on both the audio and video cards simultaneously.
[ON3G1U0P] prepares to turn on input3 of the RGBHV group, but does not execute
the command
[ON3C6U0P] prepares to turn on input3 of the audio card in slot 6, but does not execute
the command
[SW] - Switches to input 3 of both the video group and audio card simultaneously
Getting Feedback from MultiTasker
The MultiTasker system is designed to provide feedback, should such a need arise. For instance,
to find out which cards are members of a group, issue the command
[RDGkUi].
Example:
To read member data for group 3 of unit 2, send the command
[RDG3U2]. The system
will return feedback as
C6C7C8C9C10 G3U2
where the members in the group are identified as card #6 through card #10, and the
group and unit number are returned as well.
Most of the aforementioned commands can also have the
[...F] command added at the end of the
command string for feedback on the execution of a command. The return string will be either
OK or ERxx, where xx corresponds to an error code specific to the type of card receiving the
command. See that card’s user’s guide for a detailed explanation of a specific error code.
Another common command used for feedback is the Card status command:
[CnUi] returns status from card
Example:
To find out the status of the card in slot 2 of unit 3, send the command
[C2U3]; the
MultiTasker will return:
ON456 C2 where
ON456 = inputs (or outputs, depending on card type) 4, 5, and 6 are on
C2 = Card ID # 2 (slot 2)
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