Remote PowerPoint Yuan (Eric) He and Kenneth A. Bishop The University of Kansas A research project by The Access Grid Group at KU Chemical Engineering: Karen D. Camarda, Yuan (Eric) He, Kenneth A. Bishop and Kyle V. Camarda

Plan for This Seminar  A brief review of RPPT  An introduction to features  Advanced topics such as animated slideshows, auto-detection of slide orientation, trouble-shooting, etc.  Questions, Answers, and Comments  Multi-site tests on the client, the master and the server

Distributed PowerPoint (DPPT)  The first remote presentation tool for AG  Lightweight and reliable  Easy to learn and widely used  Things that might be improved  User Interface  Level of control of the slideshow features  Simplification of the operation  Fault-tolerant design

Remote PowerPoint (RPPT)  A set of Windows applications with GUI  Single point control of a presentation session using the master  Minimize the operations needed for setting up a client. The client can be operated in an ‘unattended mode’ during a session.  Improved slideshow features include screen area setup, laser pointer, animations, presenter’s identity, etc.

Remote PowerPoint (cont’d)  RPPT allows distributed presentations in a true group communication mode:  Masters from different sites may connect to a RPPT server in sequence, to allow clients to watch presentations from different speakers without changing settings.  Clients may switch among different servers to view different presentations being given at the same time.

Remote PowerPoint (RPPT) Master 1 Client 1Client 2Client 3Client n Master 2 Master 3 Server 1 Server 2

Download and Setup RPPT  URL for downloading RPPT:  Setup  Create C:\AG\RPPT  Save the ‘rppt.zip’ into this folder and Unzip all files  Create shortcuts for the server (rpptserver.exe), the master (rpptmaster.exe) and the client (rpptclient.exe) on the desktop  If you are using a NT 4 system, choose rpptmaster_nt.exe and rpptclient_nt.exe instead

The RPPT Server  A presentation session is started from an RPPT server  Socket port number can be changed at runtime. A number that is > is suggested To reset the server To start writing a log file

The RPPT Master  A presentation session is controlled by a master, via a presentation list  A presentation list may include both URLs begin with ‘ and local file paths  A presentation list can be created and saved before a session starts The Presentation List

The RPPT Master (cont’d)  Setup the screen area for slideshow by pressing the ‘Drag& Define’ button and dragging the mouse  Enable/disable the remote laser pointer  Set presenter’s name  Connect to the server  Only one master may have the control of a session at one time  Start presentation The Connection Icon NEW!

The RPPT Master (cont’d)  The screen at the presentation mode hides all configuration details  Use the connection icon to check status  Start new talks using the presentation list  This list will have also been distributed to the connected clients  Press the ‘Setup >>’ button to show setup options if the master needs to be reconfigured Double-click on a name to start a new slideshow

The RPPT Client  Please start the client  The client’s screen is similar to that of the master  Setup the screen area for slideshow by pressing the ‘Drag& Define’ button and dragging the mouse  Use the input-line or press the ‘Locate the directory…’ button to enter the path of the directory where the downloaded slides are stored.* * The last step is not necessary if all the presentations are on the web (begin with ‘

The RPPT Client (Cont’d)  The server has been started on my machine  Please type in lasker.engr.ku.edu as the server’s address and use as the port no., then press ‘Connect’ button  Pay attention to the connection icon while I’m starting the master  Use ‘Block Messages from the server’ to pause watching the presentation, or when errors occur The Connection Icon NEW!

The RPPT Client (Cont’d)  By pressing the ‘Setup complete…’ button, the client is switched to the presentation mode  If the master has connected and started a presentation, the presenter’s name, the session presentation list, the running presentation and its current slide number will appear on the screen  Go back to setup mode only when you need to re-setup the PowerPoint slideshow window, or to listen to a different presenter

Animations  Support Animation Effects when a MOUSE is used  Support Embedded Movie and Sound when they are set to auto-start or timer-triggered mode  Slides with embedded movie or sound must be used as a local file  In order to correct the stored path to the linked object in downloaded slides, you must run a slideshow WITHOUT using RPPT before the meeting, and save the slides

Troubleshooting  A RPPT client stops flipping slides  Check the directory of downloaded PPTs  See if the server’s messages are blocked  Re-drag the display area  See if the server or master is connected  May need to restart the client, the master or the server  PowerPoint is not started by RPPT  Unblock the server’s message  Try to restart the master or the client

Troubleshooting (cont’d)  Animation doesn’t work  Are you using a mouse?  Have you downloaded all the movies/sound files that come along with the slides?  Have you run a slideshow after downloading and SAVED it?  Do you have the appropriated CODEC installed?  Remote Laser Pointer doesn’t work  Try doing a “drag and define” using the master  If it still doesn’t work, restart the master

Best Practices  Create and save a presentation list before a conference  Using web-based slides whenever possible  Movies can be played back only by locally saved slides  Before using RPPT, don’t forget to run a slideshow for the movie-embedded slides and save the slides afterwards  Do slideshow setups before connecting to the server  Block server messages during client setup  Disable auto-reconnecting by pressing the ‘Disconnect’ button if it has been trying for a quit a while  Check the status of the server once a while  Check our website for the latest version

Acknowledgements  The Future’s Lab at ANL (Robert Olson, Mary Fritsch, Lisa Childers, etc)  AG administration (Jennifer Teig von Hoffman)  AG community (Marty Hoag, etc)  Friends at KU Chemical Engineering Department and KU Academic Computer Center

Questions, Answers, and Comments

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Exercises  Basics of using the client  Screen setup  Connect to a server  The program list and the local PPT directory  Laser pointer  Display different types of slides  Portrait vs. Landscape  Animations  slideshow animations and movies