Foxtel Channel Launcher

Version 1.28

A favourites-driven channel launcher for IR-controlled Foxtel iQ boxes. Provides a Web Object UI with categorised channel grid and per-instance favourites. Each driver instance controls one Foxtel box, so add the driver once per physical box.

Setup

1. Add IR commands

In Integration Designer, add the Foxtel iQ device from the IR library. Drag the digit buttons (0-9) and the SELECT/OK button onto a workspace so they have device IDs. Create one macro per button - each macro should be a single IR step that fires that one digit. Eleven macros total: Digit 0 through Digit 9 plus SELECT.

If using IR control: Foxtel iQ3 and iQ4 boxes use a 36 kHz IR carrier rather than the standard 38 kHz. RTI's built-in Foxtel device profile handles this. If digits are being dropped, confirm the IR emitter is in line-of-sight of the Foxtel box and that the carrier frequency matches. If using IP control or RS232, this is not relevant.

2. Configure the driver

- Box Index: unique number for this box (1-8). Each driver instance needs a different value.

- Box Name: friendly label shown in the Web UI (Lounge, Bedroom, etc.).

- Digit 0...9 macros, SELECT macro: pick the macros you created in step 1.

- Inter-Digit Delay: milliseconds between digit IR commands. Default 350ms works for most boxes. Increase to 500 if digits are dropped.

- Channel Scheme: Residential for home Foxtel, Commercial for Foxtel Business (pubs, clubs, hotels). The two schemes have different channel numbers.

- Channel Data URL: optional - leave blank to use the channel list bundled with the driver. Set to a URL of your own hosted channels.json if you want to push updates without re-installing.

- Web Server Port: 0 = auto (8090 + Box Index). Set explicitly only if you have a port conflict.

3. Set Visible Categories

In the Visible Categories config section, tick the channel categories this household actually watches. Hidden categories' channels do not appear anywhere in the UI, not even in the All tab.

- Show Favorites Tab - show the starred channels tab. Default on.

- Show All Tab - show the All Channels catch-all tab. Default on.

- Show Sport, Movies, News, Entertainment - default on.

- Show Lifestyle, Documentary, Kids, Music - default on.

4. Choose a Theme

In the Appearance config section, pick a colour theme: Dark (default), Light, Charcoal, Foxtel Red, Navy, or Custom. The Custom theme uses the six hex code settings below the theme picker.

5. Add a Web Object to your interface

On the panel where you want the channel grid, add a Web Object and point its URL at the driver's web server. The URL appears in the driver's "Web URL" system variable after the driver loads:

http://<processor-ip>:8091/

Replace 8091 with whatever port the driver is using (Box Index 1 = 8091, Box Index 2 = 8092, etc.).

Browse Menu (Hardware Remotes)

For hardware remotes that cannot show the Web Object (T-class, ISR, or any list-only panel), the driver also drives an on-screen channel list. It mirrors the Web Object: a Home menu of Favourites, All Channels and each enabled category, drilling into a tunable channel list with logos.

Wiring - a single drag:

1. Drop the Browse tag onto a list widget. This auto-binds the list display (BrowseList) AND the selection handler (Browse Select) in one step - tapping a row tunes the channel or opens a sub-list.

2. Drop the Browse Back tag onto a back button.

3. Drop the Browse Home tag onto a home/menu button.

Bind a label to the Browse Menu Title system variable (sysvar BrowseTitle) to show the current list name.

Row logos are fetched by the panel over HTTP from this driver's own web server. If a panel cannot render the logo images, set Show Browse Menu Logos to false in the Web Interface config for text-only rows. The Browse Menu and the Web Object can both be used in the same project.

Layer / Pop-up Workflow

The driver exposes a boolean system variable called Show Foxtel Layer (sysvar HideFoxtelLayer). Bind a panel layer's Visibility condition to this variable, then use the driver's Open/Close/Toggle Layer functions to control it from buttons or macros.

Recommended setup:

1. On the panel layer containing your Web Object, set the layer's Visibility Condition to Show Foxtel Layer == true.

2. Wire a button on the main page to call the driver function Open Layer (or Toggle Layer).

3. The Close button on the Web Object itself calls back to the driver and sets the variable to false, hiding the layer.

For panels where you prefer to test for false (Visibility Condition can only test for true on some panel types), the driver also exposes Show Foxtel Layer (Inverted) (sysvar HideFoxtelLayer) which is the boolean negation.

The driver also fires LAYER_OPENED and LAYER_CLOSED events if you want to trigger other actions when the layer toggles.

Using It

Tap a channel tile to tune. The driver fires the digit macros in sequence (350ms apart by default), then SELECT 500ms after the last digit.

Tap the star on any tile to add or remove it from Favourites. Favourites for this box are persisted across processor reboots.

The Favourites tab is the default tab if you already have favourites. On a fresh install with no favourites, the grid opens to All Channels and shows a hint to tap a star.

Multiple Boxes - Favourite Sharing

Each driver instance keeps its own favourites list, so a lounge box and a bedroom box do not share favourites. If you want one house-wide list, get in touch and we will look at it.

Triggering from Macros

The driver exposes these functions you can call from Integration Designer macros:

Channel Tuning

- Tune Channel (string) - tune to a channel number e.g. "503"

- Tune Channel (Integer) - same, for integer parameters

- Tune Favorite (integer 1-N) - tune to the Nth favourite

- Cancel Tune - stop an in-progress digit sequence

- Tune Channel (pick from list) - choose the channel from a drop-down of every channel this driver knows

- Tune Channel by Name (string) - tune by name, e.g. ESPN

- Set Channel Display (string) - update the now-tuned display only, sends no IR

- Set Channel Display (pick from list) - same, chosen from a drop-down

Favorites

- Add Favorite, Remove Favorite, Clear All Favorites

UI Layer

- Open Layer, Close Layer, Toggle Layer

Diagnostics

- Print Status - dump status to TraceView for diagnostics

- Reload Channel Data - refresh the channel list (use after changing Channel Scheme)

Commercial / Foxtel Business

The bundled commercial channel list is a sport-focused starter set. Commercial Foxtel packages vary substantially by venue type (pub, club, gym, hotel) and contract. Before deploying in a commercial venue, verify the channel numbers against the actual Foxtel Business package, and either edit channels-commercial.json before packaging or set Channel Scheme to Custom and point Channel Data URL at your own hosted JSON.

Multiple Boxes

For each additional Foxtel box, add another instance of this driver and give it a unique Box Index. Each instance has its own digit-macro pickers (different IR codes if the boxes are in different rooms with different IR emitters), its own Web Object URL, and its own ShowFoxtelLayer variable.

Custom Channel Icons

You can give any channel your own icon - one you have added yourself, or a built-in channel whose logo you want to replace.

1. Open Driver Properties and find Custom Channel Icons.

2. In a free slot, enter the Channel Number, optionally a Channel Name, and browse to a PNG File.

3. Right-click the driver and choose Load Custom Icons.

4. Download to the processor.

Step 3 is essential. It reads the PNG files into the project. If you download without it, no icons are sent. Run it again any time you change a file.

Use a small PNG, about 120x60 and under 20 KB - anything larger is refused with a message. Leave the name blank on a built-in channel to keep its existing name and just swap the logo. A channel with no icon shows its channel number instead.

The icons are stored in the project, so they survive a driver update and use no storage on the processor.

Now Tuned Display

The driver can show the channel you last picked - its logo, number and name - in a second Web Object. Point it at:

http://<processor-ip>:8091/now

That is Box Index 1; the port is 8090 plus the Box Index, so box 2 is 8092. The exact address is published in the Now Tuned URL system variable (sysvar NowURL) once the driver starts.

The layout matches a channel tile: number small in the top left, logo in the middle, name underneath. A channel with no icon shows its number large instead. Two options can be added to the address:

/now?text=0 logo only, no number or name

/now?bg=transparent no background fill, for overlaying on artwork

What updates it

This driver is one-way - it tunes by firing your digit macros and reads nothing back from the box. The display therefore follows a channel picked in the driver: from the Web Object grid, the Browse Menu, a favourite, or a Tune Channel macro. Changing channel on the box's own remote will not update it, because the driver has no way of knowing it happened.

If your buttons already tune the box by some other means, add a Set Channel Display step to the same macro - it updates the display and sends nothing.

The last channel is remembered across a processor reboot.

Troubleshooting

Digits dropped - increase Inter-Digit Delay to 500ms. Confirm the IR emitter is in line-of-sight and rated for 36 kHz.

Web UI shows "Failed to load channels" - the processor cannot reach itself on the configured port. Use Print Status from a macro to confirm the driver bound to the port. If "Port in use" appears in Driver Status, change Web Server Port in config.

Web Object on the panel is blank - check the panel can reach the processor's IP on the configured port. The processor IP appears in the driver's Web URL system variable.

Channel numbers wrong - confirm Channel Scheme is set correctly (Residential vs Commercial / Foxtel Business). channel numbering changes occasionally - if the bundled list is stale, set Channel Scheme to Custom and host your own JSON.

Layer wont close - confirm the layer's Visibility Condition is bound to this driver instance's ShowFoxtelLayer variable, not another instance's. The Close button in the Web UI sets the variable on the instance whose web server is being viewed.

Support

david@smarthomeprogramming.com.au