In my post on XMLSerialization I mentioned that I was working on an app to enable control of MCE remotely over a TCP socket. I call this app MCE Controller and it’s basically done. Here’s what it does:
- Runs as a taskbar icon and allows you to view a log of what it’s doing by double clicking on the icon.
- Supports 45 commands. These include all MCE keyboard shortcuts (equivalent to all of the remote control buttons) as well as commands for starting MCE and ensuring that it is maximized.
- Commands are extensible. You can edit an XML file that MCEController loads to add or change commands. This will be useful for future versions of MCE that have new functionality as well as for controlling other apps (e.g. I have a scenario where I want to change screen resolution via PowerStrip. I can easily add a set of commands that let me do this remotely).
What it doesn’t do (yet) is support the MCE State Aggregation Service which will allow me to send current MCE state to the remote contolling system (Crestron in my case).
If you are interested in this app let me know. I’ll be posting a beta of it soon.
A question that I’m noodling over is whether I should persue generalizing this app. I have basically the beginnings of a alternative to Girder. I like Girder. It’s very flexible and has tons of community support. However I think the implementation stinks. It’s ugly, hard to use, and it’s extensibility is just weird.
Do you use Girder? Do you like it? Would you think there’s an opportunity to improve on it with a new/different app?
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Hi
Do you know (if its even possible) how to get MCE to speak to girder? i.e. when mce wants to change channel it sends infra red signals via the ir blaster… how can I get those messages into girder so that I can use my own redret ir controller rather than the microsoft one (I use girder a lot and easily configured it to control MCE, I just can’t get the MCE messages into girder)
Thanks