•VERTEX is able to control a Microsoft Powerpoint application remotely over network
•A background service is able to start Microsoft Powerpoint, load a .pptx-file, jump to a slide or set a presentation into full screen
•The background service can be controlled by a PPT Remote Device that is part of the VERTEX device library
Use Cases
•You need to integrate Powerpoint with its full functionality into your project and not even import and read Powerpoint files
•Use VERTEX as master control system to remote start and control a PC with Powerpoint in your installation
•Capture the output of a Powerpoint PC as Live Input into VERTEX and control slide changes from your VERTEX timeline
•Read out notes of a Powerpoint file and display this notes as text on another screen - e.g. backstage
What you need
•a PC with Microsoft Powerpoint installed and Microsoft Windows as operating system
•a PC with VERTEX installed
•a network connection between both PCs (Wireless LAN or cabled LAN)
VERTEX and Powerpoint on the same PC
For Tests or even smaller projects with only one PC, you are even able to remote control a Microsoft Powerpoint application on the same PC on which VERTEX is running. Just use your local IP address as IP address of the PPT Remote Device
Setup
1. Prepare Powerpoint PC
•Install Vertex on the PC where Microsoft Powerpoint already is installed.
•Check your Network settings, prefer a static IP address to avoid address changes after a reboot
VERTEX Trial Version is enough
You don't need any Vertex license on the Powerpoint PC. The Vertex Trial version is enough.
The Vertex installer will install a Windows background service to remote control Microsoft Powerpoint on this PC.
•Reboot the PC after installation
•Open Windows Task Manager and Check if VertexServicePptRemote.exe is running into background
•You don't have to start the main Vertex application on this computer. To remote control Powerpoint it is only necessary that all VERTEX background services are running.
2. Prepare your VERTEX Project
•Search for the "Ppt Remote" device into the Library Editor
•Open the context menu by a right click
•Add this device to your project
•Select the device into Project Explorer
•First configure the Network Adapter of the Ppt Remote Device in the Inspector
•Use the reconnect button and test the connection
•Now the Device should be ready to work with
Examples
Launch a specific Powerpoint file and go into presentation mode
Device1.Launch C:\Users\User1\Desktop\test.pptx
Quit whole Microsoft Powerpoint application
Device1.Quit
End presentation mode of Powerpoint but keep Powerpoint application running
Device1.EndPresentation
Go to Slide 2
Device1.GotoSlide 2
Example for a more complex start script
•Reset Connection (to be sure that connection is ready and working) and wait 1 second
•Set Volume of Powerpoint PC to 0 and wait 1 second
•Launch test.pptx file from Desktop of User1 and wait 3 seconds
•Go to next slide
Device1.ResetConnection
wait 1
Device1.SetVolume 0
wait 1
Device1.Launch C:\Users\User1\Desktop\test.pptx
Wait 3
Device1.NextSlide
Show Notes from Powerpoint file as text content in VERTEX
•The current powerpoint notes should be displayed as text content into VERTEX
•For our usecase, the text content into VERTEX should only be changed when the notes of the pptx are changed
•The Ppt Remote Device offers 2 options: "Slide Change Script" and "Notes Changed Script". For our usecase, add the following code snippet as Notes Changed Script
Content1.Settings.Text.Value = Device1.Settings.CurrentNotes.Value
