You can create your own custom web panels using Rascular’s Helm Designer software. The process is very simple. To get you started, here’s a very basic example:
Design your panel in Helm Designer
Here is the Helm panel we used when we were controlling RouteMaster from Helm directly. This time we’ll publish this panel to RouteMaster as a Web Panel.
First let’s check the settings
In Helm Designer select the Tools / Options… menu and make sure the Web Panels folder is set to the same path used by RouteMasters web server. Check the Configure Clients menu (Web Panels tab) to verify this.
Now Publish the panel
Select the File / Publish to… menu and give the Web Panel a name.
A folder called Demo Panel has been added in the RouteMaster web path
Each Web Panel you create has its own folder in the web panels path.
Now run RouteMaster
For the web server to be active RouteMaster must be open and in Run mode.
View web panels using the Web Panels menu
Or just type the IP address of RouteMaster in your browser (in this case 127.0.0.1 since we’re on the same PC) and you’ll see a page showing the available Web Panels. Click on Demo Panel to open it.
Switch crosspoints using your Web Panel
As you click the crosspoint buttons on your web panel you can see the input change in RouteMaster.
Helm controls that work with Web Panels
RouteMaster is a router control system so although you can publish any Helm panel as a Web Panel, RouteMaster only supports the Helm components and features that are involved in router control.
These components are currently supported.
- Text Labels
- Images
- Router Buses
- Output Selectors
- Level Selectors
- Input Group Selectors
- Output Group Selectors
All visual properties of these components are supported, including customizable images, fonts, colours and transparency.
Scripting – both Lua and standard Helm scripts is not allowed in Web Panels.