T
To
ogggglle
e C
Co
om
mm
maan
nd
dss ccrre
eaatte
e ““P
Po
oiin
ntt &
& P
Prraayy”” M
Maaccrro
oss
Imagine a system with three components (a TV, a VCR and a surround sound Receiver). Each has a toggle type
POWER command on the original remote control. You program a macro with the three power commands on the
MAIN Power ON button and tell your client to turn on their system with this button. Here’s what will happen:
The client will pick out a videotape and insert it in the VCR (the VCR will now automatically turn on).The client sits
down, picks up their MX remote control and presses the MAIN Power On button.The three toggle type power com-
mands are issued. So, since the TV and the Receiver were Off, they turn on, however the VCR was already on from
inserting the tape, so it turns off. The client is puzzled that they don’t see a picture, so they press the MAIN Power
On button again.The three toggle type power commands are issued again.This time the TV and the Receiver turn off
and the VCR turns on.The client begins to get frustrated...
T
TIIP
P -- F
Fo
orr ssyysstte
em
mss w
wiitth
h llo
ottss o
off tto
ogggglle
e P
Po
ow
we
err cco
od
de
ess,, ccrre
eaatte
e aa ““P
Po
ow
we
err”” h
he
ellp
p lliisstt..
You cannot successfully train a family to use a Point & Pray macro. It is too inconsistent. You are
better off creating a help list device named “POWER.” On the Power Page 1, create shortcut
buttons to all of the components toggle power commands.Train the customer to turn on the system
by pressing the Power button on MAIN, then turning anything that they need on one at a time. Once
the system is on, they press MAIN and decide what they want to watch or listen to.
PPrrooffeessssiioon
na
all IIn
nsstta
alllla
attiioon
nss R
Reeq
qu
uiirree ““B
Bu
ulllleett--PPrrooooff”” ((R
Reelliia
ab
bllee)) M
Ma
accrrooss oorr a
a h
heellp
p lliisstt.. T
Th
hee u
ussee ooff PPooiin
ntt &
& PPrra
ayy m
ma
accrrooss w
wiillll
ccrreea
attee sseerrvviiccee cca
allllss a
an
nd
d a
a lloott ooff b
ba
ad
d w
wiillll.. N
Neevveerr lleea
avvee a
a ccu
ussttoom
meerr w
wiitth
h a
a rreem
moottee p
prrooggrra
am
mm
meed
d ttoo ““m
ma
ayyb
bee”” w
woorrk
k......
F
Fiin
nd
diin
ngg W
Wo
orrk
kaarro
ou
un
nd
dss ffo
orr T
To
ogggglle
e C
Co
om
mm
maan
nd
dss iin
n M
Maaccrro
oss
By creatively experimenting you may find that you can workaround the lack of discrete codes.This takes time and
there is no guarantee that you will find a workaround for any given component. Here are some common examples:
D
DV
VD
D aan
nd
d V
VC
CR
R P
Po
ow
we
err W
Wo
orrk
kaarro
ou
un
nd
d
Most DVD players will turn on when off when they receive a Play command.Thus you can workaround like this:
DVD ON = 1) Play
2) DVD Stop
T
TV
V ssccrro
olllliin
ngg ““IIN
NP
PU
UT
T””
W
Wo
orrk
kaarro
ou
un
nd
dss
Many televisions respond to a channel up or a channel number command by changing to the Antenna input regardless
of what input was last selected.This creates an “anchor” action that puts the television in a known input.Thus you
can create a workaround as follows:
EXAMPLE - CH Up takes TV to the ANT A input (and the TV has 5 inputs -Ant A, Ant B, EXT1, EXT2 and EXT3)
TV to EXT3 = 1) Ch Up (takes TV to ANT A regardless of what input was last selected)
2) Input (takes TV to next input - ANT B)
3) Input (takes TV to next input - EXT 1)
4) Input (takes TV to next input - EXT 2)
5) Input (takes TV to desired input - EXT 3)
3
32
2
S
Stte
ep
p b
byy S
Stte
ep
p T
Tu
utto
orriiaall
U
S
I
N
G
M
X
E
D
I
T
O
R
T
O
P
R
O
G
R
A
M
DVD OFF= 1) DVD Play
2) Delay (amount of delay varies with brand and model, typically 1
or 2 seconds)
3) DVD Power
