ezCart 2001 operation is faily intuitive.  The main display, shown here, can be modified to fit your preferences, including such things as display size, location of the display on the screen, and whether or not to display certain portions of the main display.

Before you use ezCart 2001

Before using ezCart 2001, you need to configure the software, setting a number of user preferences and telling ezCart 2001 how to connect to the host audio unit.  See the section on ezCart 2001 Preferences for more information.

Standard Mode Use

The default behavior of ezCart 2001 is that all buttons are "armed" and ready to play simply by clicking on the button.  The button's configuration dictates which play channel the cart (audio) associated with the button will be played on.  Once the buttons are set up with the carts you wish to use, it's a matter of simply clicking on the button to play the cart.

Touch Screen Mode Use

If you have enabled Touch Screen features, either via your user preferences or by selecting Session Options | TouchScreen Mode from the main menu, the behavior of ezCart 2001 changes.  Programmed buttons are no longer instantly played by clicking (or touching) them.  Instead, touching (or clicking) the button "selects" the content of the button.  Then, you can touch (or click) any one of the three queues to place that button's cart in the queue.  You can also touch (or click) any of the three playback decks, which causes the selected button's cart to be played immediately on the deck you've selected.

Using Transport Controls (Stop/Pause/Play)

ezCart 2001 allows you to Play, Stop or Pause carts using buttons similar in appearance to standard tape deck controls.

Stop Button

The [Stop] button is armed and available on any cart deck that has a cart (audio file) playing.  It does not matter whether you started the cart with ezCart 2001 or if it was started at the host audio unit.  Clicking on the [Stop] button will halt the play of the current cart on that channel.

Pause Button

The [Pause] button is armed and available on any cart deck that has a cart (audio file) playing.  It does not matter whether you started the cart with ezCart 2001 or if it was started at the host audio unit.  Clicking on the [Pause] button will suspend the play of the current cart on that channel.  Clicking on the [Pause] button again will resume the play of the current cart on that channel.

Play Button

The [Play] button is armed and can be used when a given cart deck's queue is not empty.  If there are, say, three items in a queue, clicking on the play button will cause first (top) item to play.  If a cart deck's queue has no items, the [Play] button is disabled.

Using Queues

ezCart 2001 features an individual "queue" (or stack of carts) for each playback channel.  The queues are simply a place you can place carts you may wish to play at a later time.

Adding Carts to a Queue

Carts can be placed in the queue by dragging them from the Cart Inventory List or dragging them from a button.  In Standard Mode, [Shift-Right-Click] on a button will start the drag operation.  In TouchScreen Mode, simply touch (or click) the button, then touch or click on the queue you wish to add the cart to.  The queue can be re-ordered by dragging the queue items within the list.  You can also drag an item in the queue to another queue.

Playing Carts in a Queue

When a given queue has carts in it, the corresponding cart deck's [Play] button is armed.  To play the cart at the top of the queue, click on the [Play] button.  The cart will be played on the host audio unit and will disappear from the queue.  You can also play a cart that's in a queue by dragging the cart to a cart deck and dropping it.  The cart will be played on the play channel (cart deck) you've dropped the cart on and the cart will be deleted from the source queue.

In either play scenario, only the cart selected for play will be played.  The queues are not activated, as they are on a DCS or Maestro unit.  They are are "one-shot" lists.  Each time you play a cart from the queue, only that cart will be played.  The rest of the list is not affected in any way.

Deleting Carts from a Queue

You can remove (delete) a cart from a queue by either dragging it to the trash can on the toolbar or [Right-Click] on the queue with an item selected.  A pop-up menu will appear.  Select Delete Cart from Queue.  The cart will be removed from the queue.

Playing or Queuing Non-Button Carts

You can play or place in a queue carts that have not been programmed on a button.  To do so, click on the [Inv] buttons on either side of the queues (if displayed), select View | Show Inventory from the main menu, or use the shortcut key [Ctrl-I].  The Cart Inventory List will be displayed.  You can select a cart from the list and either drag it to one of the queues or drag it to one of the cart decks. In the case of dragging the cart to a cart deck, it will be played immediately.

Navigating Button Pages

You can navigate through the 20 pages of buttons (20 buttons per page) by clicking on the tab (page) you wish to view.  Each page can be named (see the section on Naming Button Pages).  An alternative method of navigation is to use the Button Pages dialog.  You can activate this dialog by selecting View | Page Select Buttons on the main menu. This menu option toggles the Buttons Pages dialog on and off.

Programming a Button from the Main Display

You can program buttons any of three ways - drag and drop operations, selecting a single button to program, or launching the button configuration dialog.

Drag and Drop

The easiest method for programming a single button is to display the Cart Inventory List, then drag a selected cart to a button and drop it.  If the button already has a cart or function assigned, you'll be prompted to confirm the change.  Dropping a cart on a button does not change the button color or text color and assigns the "Default Channel" as the play back channel for the cart.  If you wish to program a single button and change the colors or playback channel, use either the single button method or Button Configuration Dialog.

Select a Single Button

To program a single button, including changing the button colors and/or the play back channel, [Right-Click] on the button you wish to change.  A pop-up menu appears.  Select Configure Button.  The Button Configuration Dialog will be displayed with the correct button selected.  Make any changes you wish to the button and click on the [Save] button to save the changes.

Button Configuration Dialog

You can access and change all buttons by selecting Edit | Button Setup from the main menu, or clicking on the [Buttons] button on the toolbar.  The Button Configuration Dialog will be displayed and you can change any or all buttons.

Erasing (Clearing) a Button

To erase or clear a button you no longer need, [Right-Click] on the button you wish to erase.  A pop-up menu appears.  Select Clear the Button.  The button contents will be cleared.  The button colors will be set to the default button color and text color you set in User Preferences.

Naming Button Pages

To name a button page, [Right-Click] on the page, then select the Page Name item from the pop-up menu.  The default naming of the pages is the numbers 1 through 20.  You do not have to name the pages, but naming them may be helpful in identifying the contents (types of carts, for instance) on a given button page.

 

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