Topic: Detecting the type of device across DASH, Insignia, Chumbys, etc?

So ... (congrats, to Chumby BTW) we now have SONY Dash, 2 Chumby's (the original, and the extra crispy one), and two Insignia infocast devices (small and larger footprint) all running the Chumby Platform ... my question ... how does one correctly identify the device a widget is running on?

As a developer, I'd like to know if a widget is running on x, y, or z, so I can swap out UI's catering to a device and/or platform ...

fscommand2( "GetDevices" ... ) returns "Chumby" for GetDevice, and "Linux" for GetPlatform command.

Now, I know Chumby doesn't really recommend fscommand2's for detection, but I fail to see chumby specific variables that directly contain the device name (e.g. "DASH", "Infocast") ... is there someplace this info exists? I've checked most of the chumby vars, but didn't see anything ...

I have found _root._chumby_widget_instance_href which contains "http://dash" and "http://insignia", etc ... which can be a workaround for pulling the device a widget may be running under (with a custom parsing function) and accessing screen size dimensions.

... I'd prefer a simpler way ... like a chumby variable, maybe called "device" which returns the device that a widget may be running under (e.g. device = "DASH", manufacturer = "Sony", platform ="Linux" ) ... I don't think this exists, but if it does, please let me know.

Given that Chumby (& partners?) may be moving FL4, I think it's best to add chumby vars for this info. Right?

Thanks.

www.scottjanousek.com/blog | scottjanousek.mobi
Adobe Flash Lite Certified Training Instructor | Adobe Community Expert - Mobile & Devices
Coauthor, Foundation Flash Applications for Mobile Devices - www.flashmobilebook.com
O_o ... Enjoy your chumby!

Re: Detecting the type of device across DASH, Insignia, Chumbys, etc?

You should be able to derive it from _root._chumby_hardware_version.

Here's a list of devices in the wild:

1.0 Foo prototypes (obsolete)
2.0 Katamari prototypes (obsolete) = Foo+accelerometer
3.6, 3.7, 3.8  - Chumby Classic (3.8 has auto-power on and variable screen brightness)
8.0 - Windows screen saver
9.7 - Insignia Infocast 8"
10.6, 10.8 - chumby one
10.7 - Insignia Infocast 3.5
10.9 - chumby hacker module beta
11.0 - Sony dash HID-C10

There are another half dozen or so new devices (some all new, some revs of existing ones) in development so there will be more shortly. If a widget happened to be collecting them, it's likely they would also be seeing 4.0, 9.9, 9.10, and 9.11 popping up every now and then, as well as a few devices currently *pretending* they're 10.6s.

I can probably add a variable for a user-facing device name, but I can really only do it for chumby devices, not OEM versions, since we don't necessarily control the software development.  Sony, for instance, has taken over full control of their Control Panel.

Re: Detecting the type of device across DASH, Insignia, Chumbys, etc?

Ah, makes sense.

I had been looking at firmware and software version vars, but hadn't really explored across all the devices.

Thanks Duane.

www.scottjanousek.com/blog | scottjanousek.mobi
Adobe Flash Lite Certified Training Instructor | Adobe Community Expert - Mobile & Devices
Coauthor, Foundation Flash Applications for Mobile Devices - www.flashmobilebook.com
O_o ... Enjoy your chumby!