Randomize Not Working?

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clabedz
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Joined: Fri Jan 31, 2014 5:02 pm

Randomize Not Working?

Post by clabedz »

Hello. It looks like there was a ticket for this from back in September, but I do not see a resolution.

I am trying to randomize picture files from a directory that display with our logo. I do not want dynamic content, just show this page in the sequence and pull a different picture with each viewing.

Is there some trick to making this work? Please advise. Thank you.
David L
Noventri Digital Signage Expert
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Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:00 pm

Re: Randomize Not Working?

Post by David L »

Hi clabedz,

I'm sorry about the confusion regarding the "randomize" function. There is an explanation of that function in the "Design Tab" manual starting on page Page 29. (7.2.3 Image Tab) It also explains how you can achieve the desired result with creating content based on a time from a database image.

This is something you may want try, however it will be harder on the server causing a lot of content generation and continual writes to the player's thumb drive. It wouldn’t be recommended if your projects are complex or if you are running many players and want fast content updates, especially if the "random" image displays often.

I will ask one of the tech support personnel to chime in if there is a "trick" to accomplish your desired effect.

David
David L
Noventri Digital Signage Expert
Noventri Digital Signage Expert
Posts: 34
Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:00 pm

Re: Randomize Not Working?

Post by David L »

Oops, here is the link to the Manuals section.

http://www.noventri.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=79
Sergey K

Re: Randomize Not Working?

Post by Sergey K »

clabedz,

Generally, to Randomize your image region content, you would need to enable the "Use Dynamic Page Creation" checkbox when selecting a page. This will generate multiple pages from a single page, based on the number of images inside the referenced folder. You mentioned you are not looking to use Dynamic Content. Can you provide me with an example of how you would like your project to display? What kind of content/regions (ex. text, image, clock, database) are used on the pages?

These answers will help me offer you the best solution for your specific project.

Kind Regards,
Sergey
clabedz
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Re: Randomize Not Working?

Post by clabedz »

I had a longer response typed up, but when I submitted the post, the server timed out and I lost what was typed...

Oh well. To sum it up, I was able to use the information you provided to force the updates to the two pages we display for company info. We show manufacturing data/company info at 80%/20%, so I don't want to show all four locations in dynamic displays. I want to randomize the picture displayed with our team message and only show that on one slide once during the sequence every minute.

As a suggestion for enhancement in future versions, it would be nice to use the "randomize" checkbox to force the page to refresh prior to displaying. That would be much more useful than having to add an unnecessary database connection/object/overhead on the page that runs a "select getdate()" every minute just to force a picture to refresh. Seems kinda silly to me. Hopefully this doesn't cause problems with our production db.

I know my last message was maybe 4 paragraphs with more detail about what we are displaying, but I think this hits on the important points. Thanks again.
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