Integrator C Series API

Do's and don'ts

This section contains some words of advice when programming with the TANDBERG C-series API.

DON'T use experimental commands in a production environment

In the API you will come across commands that are placed under Experimental nodes.

xcommand Experimental
xstatus Experimental
xconfiguration Experimental

These are actually sneak previews of new functionalities, and they're called experimental for a reason. So a word of warning: such commands will NOT be backwards compatible and the structure WILL CHANGE

Have a look at them if you like but don't use them in production. It may be that in future versions these experimental commands will be hidden or even removed completely.

AVOID remote control emulation integrations

The use of xCommand Key Press and xCommad Key Click commands is highly discouraged. The commands are still available in the API, but we prefer that on uses direct commands, as this ensures backwards compatibility in your integrations. Program against the codec, not the on-screen-display.

DO use complete commands

When programming, always use xconfiguration Video instead of xconf vid. It's great for playing around with the API on the command line, but not for programming. The reason for this is that you might end up with ambiguous code when additional commands are added to the API.

DON'T subscribe to unnecessary feedback

May congest the control application. Don't use it if you don't mean it. And again, although the amount of feedback may look OK in the current version, the amount of feedback may grow in future releases.

DO present one screen to the end user

Avoid having the user looking at two menus, one on the control panel and one on the video screen. Don't make the control panel just a substitute for the remote control. Avoid IR/Key command integrations to get the system to do what you want via our menu (three key ups, one left and key down). The on-screen-display in the codec is using the exact same API as you have access to.