Rane HAL1x Design Guide - Page 154

HAL SYSTEM DESIGN GUIDE What differences are there between the date and time when using Halogen versus the date and time when Connected live to a HAL device? When you are Disconnected (offline) using Halogen, the Event Manager always uses your computer's date and time. This allows testing events in every way by either manually triggering events, or by changing your computer's time and observing that events trigger as expected - even while offline. When you are Connected with a live HAL device, the Event Manager in Halogen uses the HAL's internal date and time which can be set in a few ways. See the next couple questions for more details. Can the HAL's date, time & time zone be different than my computer's date, time & time zone? Yes. They can be different. This difference is needed when you bring your computer to the job site and it is in a different time zone than your office is - you jet setter, you. As an example, lets say your office is on the east coast, but the HAL install you are working on is destined for the west. To set things up properly, first connect to the HAL at the office, then using the Adjust HAL Date/Time dialog set the time zone for your office location. While in this dialog, choose between setting the HAL time manually, Sync to your local PC time every time you connect or apply, or Sync to an NTP server to automatically keep the HAL date & time current. Once the HAL configuration is complete and you are satisfied all is working properly, re-open the Adjust HAL Date/Time dialog and set the time zone for your west coast location. The HAL is now ready to ship. NOTE: Remember, even if date & time is set to sync on connect/apply, or via NTP server, time zone adjustment is still a manual step and must be done each time the HAL is installed in a new time zone. How do I set the HAL's date and time or clock? There are three ways to set a HAL's time, all of which require a live HAL connection to configure: 1. Manually enter a date and time for the HAL. 2. Synchronize the HAL's clock to your computer's clock. This is the default action that happens each and every time you Connect/Apply. 3. Synchronize to an NTP (Network Time Protocol) server. The server can be on the local network, or the Internet as long as the HAL's Ethernet settings are set to appropriate IP, DNS and Gateway settings. WARNING! All three options for setting the HAL clock are for date and time only. Time Zone is never automatically set. By default every HAL ships with the Time Zone set to Unspecified (UTC) or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC/GMT). Setting the HAL Time Zone is a manual adjustment that must be done on initial HAL configuration or any time HAL is installed in a new time zone. What controls can I link to events? What are the differences between the three types of events? What event type should I use and why? There are three types of events: toggle, command and 2-position selector events. Toggle events link to any toggle. Command events link to any command. And selector events link to any 2-position selector. In addition to linking directly between the above control types anywhere in Halogen, events may be linked to toggle presets, command presets and 2-position selector presets. Linking to presets allows an event activation to set values for any number of blocks and controls. See "About Control Links" on page 106 and "About Presets" on page 136. To get your "how to use events" juices flowing: 150