HTTP Gateway to Quantel World

About

HttQ application allows 3rd party applications access GenQ internal storage. Since application is running on GenQ box client machine does not need to install any software. It should have a modern web browser with enabled JavaScript support.

Licensing

Please do not install application until valid license has been obtained.

Run ipconfig/all command and send its output to info@pixelnation.com to get the license.

Get Licensing Info

please follow the instructions to get the IPCONFIG info

1. Go to Start->Run and type cmd /K %SystemRoot%\system32\ipconfig.exe /all
   
2. Window with network configuration will appear
   
3. Select all the text in the window (use scroll bar to scroll up and down)
   t
4. Copy the text into the clipboard
   
   
5. Paste this text into the text area after checking out the shopping cart. You should get the license within 24 hours after providing "IPCONFIG/ALL" information during process of purchasing of HttQ. Note that demo version is also has to be purchased but you WILL NOT be charged for it.
   

Installation

HttQ could be installed on the host computer either via Setup.exe installation program or manually.

It is recommended to use Setup.exe program.

Setup

Make sure you have license string for the target system provided by Pixel Nation. You should get the license within 24 hours after providing "IPCONFIG/ALL" information during process of purchasing of HttQ. Note that demo version is also has to be purchased but you will not be charged for it.

1. Log in to the http://www.pixelnation.com/nr/login.html
2. Go to Downloads page
3. Download Setup.exe installer.
4. Double click on Setup.exe and follow the installation wizard. If the system does not have Java Runtime Environment 5.0 installed you will be prompted to install it. After installation of JRE installation of HttQ will resume.
5. Click Next on the welcome screen
   
6. Select I Agree with the License Agreement
   
7. Copy and paste license string provided by Pixel Nation
   
8. Finish the installation.
   
   

Manual Advanced Installation and Configuration Instructions

Running HttQ

HttQ can be started three different ways.

1. On User Login - when user logs into the system HttQ is started automatically. (RECOMMENDED DEFAULT)
2. Manually - click on Start->Programs->HttQ->HttQ.
3. NT Service -HttQ service will be started automatically when computer starts See about limitations of this method here.

Operation

Browse Dylan Content

Open web browser and in the address bar specify address of the Quantel device you are trying to access. For example http://192.168.1.15:8080/index.html.

Main page will be displayed with content of the Dylan drive. Clip names are selectable and when clip is selected by clicking (once) on it preview image of the clip will be generated and displayed in the preview area. It is possible step through the clip frame by frame or specify exact timecode of the frame in the time code field.

When main page is opened it automatically displays full content of Dylan drive. Directory listing could be very long. and take a long time to render. HttQ application allows to display filtered content. Filter field is available in the upper right corner. Mask format contains alphanumeric characters plus wildcard (asterisk). Following examples will explain how to use filter.

Empty filter or *

• Abcde
• ccir601
• car
• car and bike

Filter cc*

• ccir601

Filter c*r

• car

Filter c*r*

• ccir601
• car
• car and bike

Import Clip

In order to import clip into Quantel's Dylan drive "Import" dialog must be invoked by clicking on "Import" button located in the lower left corner of the main screen. Import dialog will appear and user will have to select destination folder and clip desired. In order to import clip in proper format appropriate fields must be populated. At very minimum frame rate and scan type must be specified.

Most of the fields in this dialog are self explanatory.

HttQ allows scheduling of Import/Export operations. Near the Import button resides text field which allows to specify time of scheduled operation. On mouse click inside this field Date/Time dialog will appear.

It is possible to specify individual frames and frame ranges out of one clip. Frames field accepts comma separated frames and frame ranges. For instance if it is required to import only frames 500 through 650, 700 through 800 and individual frames 250, 690, Frames field must be populated as following: 500-650,700-800,250,690. Note that order in which frames are specified will be kept in the imported clip.

HttQ allows to do bulk imports by selecting directory containing clips. In such case HttQ will visit this directory and all its subdirectories and import all the clips it can find. In case of bulk imports HttQ allows to specify tape name automatically based on the Folder or Clip name.

Export Clip

In order to export clip it must be selected in the Dylan browser of the main window first and then information about the clip will be displayed and "Export" button will appear beside "Import" button. By clicking on "Export" button Export dialog will appear. User must select target directory where the clip should be exported. User can specify optional parameters such as:

• Output clip name
• Output format (see documentation on QXML)
• Output width of the frame (height will be calculated automatically to keep aspect ratio)
• Start time code
• Length of the clip

Advanced Configuration

Disabling access to specific drives

In some instances it is necessary to block access to certain drives on the host machine. In that case deployment.properties file must be edited. Locate line starting with excludedRoots and add or remove drive letters to be excluded from browsing. See example below.

excludedRoots=A:\\ B:\\ C:\\

HttQ file browser does not allow to browse Network Neighborhood of the host computer. If it is necessary to enable access to a network share without mapping a network drive then includedRoots property must be populated with proper share names. For instance in the following example network shares \\Cube\deepfreeze and \\Raven\repository will be available to HttQ clients for import and export operations.

includedRoots=\\\\Cube\\deepfreeze \\\\Raven\\repository

Hiding Projects

HttQ allows to hide clips that belong to specific projects. Locate line excludedProjects in deployment.properties configuration file and locate line excludedProjects=. Populate this line with the proper pattern.

excludedProjects=. private Star

In the example above projects that starts with .(dot), private and Star and their content will be invisible to HttQ.

Issues and Limitations

Currently HttQ is thoroughly tested with Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox browsers. Other (less standard compliant) browsers might render user interface incorrectly.

HttQ uses QXML as communication layer with GenerationQ application. All QXML limitations applicable to HttQ service as well. Following practices might create problems with HttQ operation:

• HttQ will not be able to export clips that have duplicate names. Only the first available clip could be exported. All consecutive clips with the same name will be ignored.
• HttQ will fail in exporting clips containing asterisk (*) in the clip name. QXML will have problem importing and exporting clips with such name since asterisk is a wild card character in most operation systems and will be interpreted as such.
• HttQ will fail in exporting and previewing clips containing quote ( ") character in the clip name. Windows will think that quote character is enclosing a command or command parameter and remove it from the command string.
• HttQ will fail to list clips containing TAB character in the clip name. Output of XMLDir command is tab delimited and adding one more tab into the clip or any other field name might break the logic used to parse the output of XMLDir
• HttQ will fail to list clips containing CR and/or LF characters in the clip name. Usually user can not type those characters but they might appear in the clip name if name was pasted from the clipboard and pasted string contained illegal characters. Those characters are invisible in the clip browser in GenerationQ application.
• HttQ will not be able to preview export and import clips with dash (-) as first character in the clip name. QXML will consider such clip name as invalid command switch and fail.

We would recommend avoiding mentioned above in your practice. On our side we will make everything possible to eliminate loss of functionality if such cases will occur.

SGI Irix™ and HttQ

HttQ is designed to enable access to Generation Q application from any platform. HttQ employs number of latest technologies available in modern browsers only. It is recommended to use Mozilla Firefox browser to access HttQ server. Unfortunately Irix™ comes with very old version of Netscape Communicator that does not support technologies used in HttQ. Luckily it is possible to install latest version of Firefox for Irix™ from NekoWare FTP site. Following packages are required:

• expat
• firefox-1.0.7 or firefox-1.5
• gettext
• glib
• gtk+
• libiconv

Batch mode

One big advantage of QXML is that it is command line and it is possible to make batch scripts that will use those commands. Unfortunately we do not live in perfect world and some of us like or forced to use operation systems other then Windows. But it is impossible to run QXML applications on platform other then Windows.

HttQ server can help in this situation. Since all communications are based on standard HTTP protocol it is possible to issue specific HTTP requests from the script that runs on non-Windows platform to do QXML operations remotely.

Feedback

If you have any issues with HttQ installation, configuration or operations please provide extensive description of the problem and attach log files available in the C:\HttQ\logs directory.

We will appreciate if you will provide us with ideas on how to improve our applications and/or service.

Pixel Nation Inc.