by stevenhanna6 on Fri Apr 01, 2005 6:40 pm #
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How to setup client/server in xlobby for thin clients.
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<h2>Overview</h2>
<p></p>A Pocket PC (PPC) and a PC client are the exact same, they behave the same way. The only difference is the start screen. For our purposes we will call the xlobby2sd.exe client a "thin client" meaning everything is stored on the server side, do not confuse the thin client with the fat client which is much more powerful and must be run on a PC.
<p></p>When we talk about client server in xlobby we are really talking about independent client server. This is a rather unique feature that cannot be achieved using a remote desktop program like vnc for example. What the feature allows you to do is have multiple clients logged on to the server, but all doing independent things. One client could be looking at movies and the other could be playing music. The number of clients one can have connected to the server at anyone time is only limited by your computer resources. But its probably a safe bet that most people could run 10 clients at once.
<p></p>Now some people get confused thinking that xlobby will actually playback movies or music through the client. It will not do this (use xlobby byitself to do this). The client is basicly a remote control for the server, exactly like a remote desktop but with the independent capabilities I described earlier.
<p></p><h2>Installation</h2>
<p></p>Ok, you only need 2 files for this client program to work.
<p></p>xlobby2sd.exe<br>
servers.txt
<p></p>You dont need anything else, make sure those 2 files are in the same folder.
<p></p>2 easy steps to running the client.
<p></p>1. Make sure xlobby is running in server mode on your server machine.<br>
2. Start xlobby2sd.exe<br>
<p></p><em><strong>Pocket PC</strong></em><br>
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE .NET COMPACT FRAMEWORK INSTALLED ON YOUR Pocket PC
<p></p>.net compact framework <br>
<a class='urllink' href='http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=359ea6da-fc5d-41cc-ac04-7bb50a134556&displaylang=en'>http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=359ea6da-fc5d-41cc-ac04-7bb50a134556&displaylang=en</a>
<p></p><em><strong>Normal PC</strong></em><br>
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE .NET FRAMEWORK INSTALLED. You need this to run the xlobby client program. It's the same you had to install to get xlobby server working.
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<p></p><h2>"servers.txt" file variables</h2>
<p></p><h3>server:</h3>
<p></p>IP or servername to the computer running xlobby in server mode
<p></p><h3>screen:</h3>
<p></p>the first screen you wish the client to show on startup
<p></p><h3>resolution:</h3>
<p></p>the resolution you wish to use, should be set to "auto" unless speed becomes an issue. If your having speed issues try setting a lower resolution while keeping the aspect ratio the same. So if your client is running at 800x600 you could try 640x480 or 320x240 because they all have the same aspect ratio.
<p></p><h3>quality:</h3>
<p></p>This should be set to 100%, unless your having speed issues. Again simple lower the value to lower the quality, this will increase the speed but lower the picture quality.
<p></p><h3>zone: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>This is an optional setting to set the current audio zone on startup in a multizone environment, you can use the actual zone name or use a number starting from 1.
<p></p><h3>navigationpad: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>Basicly only used for pocket pc clients, it allows them to send button presses from the navigation pad as hard buttons.
<p></p><h3>bindbuttons: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>Pocket pc clients only. This will cause all hardbuttons on the pocket pc to be binded. You can unbind individual ones with the option below.
<p></p><h3>unbindbuttons: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>Again only used for pocket pc clients. Instead of binding xlobby to all the hardbuttons on the pocket pc, you can define which buttons you want to unbind. This is done by specifying the the button code, you can get a button code on the xlobby server through the eventmanager in the hardbuttons trigger section.
<p></p><h3>refresh: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>Number in milliseconds between refreshes, I wouldn't use anything less than 1000 (1000 = 1second), simply add "refresh:1000" to try this refresh option.
<p></p><h3>border: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>If you want to show a border around the client application. Use "border:true" if you want to.
<p></p><h3>mimic: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>If you want mimic mode activated on startup. Use "mimic:true" if you want to. By default it is off.
<p></p><h3>width: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>This will allow you to set the width of the client instead of its default fullscreen. For example "width:300".
<p></p><h3>height: (optional)</h3>
<p></p>This will allow you to set the height of the client instead of its default fullscreen. For example "height:300".
<p></p><h3>Example</h3>
<p></p>If you wanted to connect to a server at IP 192.168.1.100, have the startup screen "menu",a resolution of "640x480", and a quality of "95%" you would put the following in your servers.txt file. I have also added the optional zone setting to start controlling audio zone 2.
<p></p>server:192.168.1.100 <br />screen:menu <br />resolution:640x480 <br />quality:95% <br />zone:2
<p></p>And if you want to use the default settings you should do something like this
<p></p>server:192.168.1.100 <br />screen:menu <br />resolution:auto <br />quality:100%
<p></p>Advanced Pocket pc example, using the navigation pad and unbinding specific buttons.
<p></p>server:192.168.1.100 <br />screen:ppcmenu <br />resolution:auto <br />quality:100% <br />navigationpad:true <br />unbindbuttons:340,300
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