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How to show images and/or play audio on the display wall
  1. the following image and sound files can be used:
    1. image files
      1. JPEG format
      2. dimensions: roughly 3850 (width) by 1470 (height)
      3. "baseline (standard)" - Photoshop save option
      4. for more detailed information on image files, read the Display Wall Toolkit
    2. sound files
      1. Goldwave .wav files
      2. sound files must be converted to ".wav" format before use, the procedure is explained below
      3. for more detailed information on sound files, read the Sound Server FAQ
  2. place the file or files on the display wall server from a remote location
  3. Send files to your course Blackboard account Digital Drop Box and then later open IE on the CS DWall console machine, open your Blackboard account to Digital Drop Box and right click on images.  Use the "Save Target As.." command and locate your folder on the Console machine to save to document.  
  4.  
  5. Or
    1. you must have a CS account (an account can be obtained by emailing a request to csstaff@cs.princeton.edu)
    2. use a SSH program to ftp to gimel.princeton.edu
    3. go to the directory: /wallfs/DisplayWall/
    4. you will need a password in order to upload files to this directory.
the uploaded files can be used in the following two ways:
  1. an individual file can be shown or played by issuing a command in the terminal window
  2. a group of files can be shown and/or played in a defined sequence by creating a script file
Method 1 (individual files, single commands)
  1. for images
    1. at the main display wall computer, find the DOS prompt, or command line terminal window
    2. your image should be in JPEG format (described above)
    3. go to the \DisplayWall\bin directory
    4. now enter the following commands (pressing return after each, items in <> are variables that you must assign values to):
      1. qv
      2. stv
      3. showimg <filename with directory location> 0 <x> <y> 0
        1. (enter the file name and the x and y coordinates of the image)
        2. (the x and y coordinates will almost always be 0 0, making the final segment of the string 0 0 0 0)
        3. (values other than 00 for x and y will shift the image on the screen in the given direction)
    5. the file should display
  2. for sounds
  3. Use Goldwave program or
    1. at the main display wall computer, find the DOS prompt, or command line terminal window
    2. your sound file should be in .au format (described above)
    3. go to the \DisplayWall\bin directory
    4. now enter the following commands (pressing return after each, items in <> are variables that you must assign values to):
      1. snd2nds <filename> <filename>.wav
        1. (this converts the file to the .wav format)
      2. playsound <filename>.wav <volume> <duration>
        1. (volume is a value between 0.0 and 2.0, with 1.0 being the default, and 0.0 being silence)
        2. (duration is a value in milliseconds and tells the program how much of the sound to play, putting no value for the duration plays the entire sound by default)
    5. the sound should play
Method 2 (group of files, writing a script)
  1. decide which files you will be using in the script, upload these files to your directory, as described above
  2. download the sample script template file:
    1. click on the link below (script.mms)
    2. go to the File menu and choose Save As...
    3. save the file as text
    4. the link: script.mms
  3. edit the sample script
    1. open the script file in a text editor
    2. read the comments and make adjustments accordingly
    3. save the script file when done
    4. upload the script file to the displaywall server, most scripts are kept in the \DisplayWall\bin directory
  4. at the main display wall computer, find the DOS prompt, or command line terminal window
    1. go to the \DisplayWall\bin directory
    2. if you will be using sound files in the au format enter the following command for each sound file:
      1. snd2nds <filename> <filename>.wav
        1. (this converts the file to the .wav format)
    3. at the command line enter the following commands:
      1. qv
      2. stv
      3. mmshell -s <script name>.mms
  5. the script should play
last updated 6/5/1999
send revisions to dkb@cs.princeton.edu
 

last edited 04/28/2008