The V-Control user interface provides quick access to all configured devices, tasks and Events. All the three programming modes, as there are Cuelists, Scripts and Timelines, are accessible within one user interface.

The selected kind of Task (Cuelist, Script or Timestrip) is determined by the tab bar in the lower half of the application window.

All three programming modes can be used together and mixed within one project.

These lines are used to change the position and size of the GUI elements. Click and drag the lines to change the GUI.

A list of all available configured devices.

Each device can have a set of variables. Variables are used to represent the state of the device. They are usually filled automatically from the device itself. If a variable change, this can trigger an action.

The command list contains all the available commands. If a command is selected it can show parameters for the command.

Most devices and commands need parameters. A parameter can specify a device property (e.g. a bus address or name) or a command parameter such as Input Channel to change the input of a device. In V-Control, each command can have up to 6 parameter, two device parameters and four command parameters.

Here are all programmed events located. If a device variable change (that can be a new Timecode position during playback of a video player, an input change of a projector or a system time change) this event can be linked to a task. Each event that you want to handle is listed here.

In complex project the eventlist can be quite long. To help finding events for debugging there is a search field. If text entered here matches any of a row content, then only these rows are diplayed. Hit the [ESC] key or delete all text in the search field to have the unfilterd list back.

Task is a generic name for V-Control scripts. A task represents a program or subroutine. They contain the instructions for the attached devices (e.g. play a movie) and the program flow. V-Control knows three different types of tasks, Cuelists, Scripts and Timelines. To access the tasks, select one of the tabs at the bottom

These tasks are very easy to use but have some limitations. Every program step is written in a table, and the table is executed from top to bottom. Branching is possible if calling other tasks from that list (CallAsThread, CallAsFunction). Also (nested) repeats are possible. Conditional branching is available in Scripts only. The biggest advantage of cuelists is that you can program very fast and you can't make as many mistakes as in scripts.

Scripts are real (and for the chosen platform native compiled) basic programs. In V-Control, the basic language is enhanced by commands giving access to the device drivers and channels.

The screenshot below shows the Script GUI.

Timelines are used for a timeline like programming. The Timeline is displayed as a table. Each entry starts with a time that represents the start condition of that cue. To allow multiple commands to be executed at the same time, two or more rows can have the same time as start condition.

Opens a Project

Saves a Project. The saving process is running on it's own thread in the background. It is not possible to terminate V-Control while a saving process is running.

Saves a Project with an incrementing number. If the project name is “myProject.vc4”, then pressing this button saves “myProject_001.vc4”. Pushing the button a second time saves “myProject_002.vc4” and so on. Attention: Save Inc. overwrites existing files without asking. To avoid this, make sure that you always open the project with the largest number after V-Control is launched.

Saves a Project under a new name

This button toggles. If unpressed, V-Control does not send or receive any commands. If pressed, V-Control will perform all events and commands.

Runs a selected task. F5 key does the same (only available in Run mode).

Stops the selected task. F6 key does the same (only available in Run mode). Note: This Action stops the selected task, but if the task is re-executed by an event, then it runs again.

Stops all running tasks. F7 key does the same (only available in Run mode). Note: This Action stops all tasks, but if a task is re-executed by an event, then it runs again.

Opens the device setup page. Here a device driver can be selected from the device database. This dialog also configures the channel that is used for device communication.

Opens the Device Editor

Creates a new task. The type of task (Cuelist, Script or Timestrip) is determined by the task tab that is visible at that moment.

Opens a playlist to drive a show.

To receive button presses from external GUI's running on a tablet or PC, and to update GUI elements such as labels, buttons etc. V-Control uses Join Numbers to identify these widgets. In complex project there can be hundreds of widgets, and some widgets can have multiple join numbers. This list can help to keep the overview of all those numbers.

V-Control scripts are compiled once automatically on their first start. This button does the same for all scripts before they run the first time.