Remote%20PowerPoint

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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

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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

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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

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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, presenters
  identity, etc.

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Remote PowerPoint (contd)

• 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.

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

• URL for downloading RPPT
• http//plainsman.engr.ku.edu/AG/rppt/rppt.zip
• 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

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The RPPT Server

• A presentation session is started from an RPPT
  server
• Socket port number can be changed at runtime. A
  number that is gt 15000 is suggested

To reset the server
To start writing a log file
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The RPPT Master

• A presentation session is controlled by a master,
  via a presentation list
• A presentation list may include both URLs begin
  with http// and local file paths
• A presentation list can be created and saved
  before a session starts

The Presentation List
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The RPPT Master (contd)
The Connection Icon

• Setup the screen area for slideshow by pressing
  the Drag Define button and dragging the mouse
• Enable/disable the remote laser pointer
• Set presenters name
• Connect to the server
• Only one master may have the control of a session
  at one time
• Start presentation

NEW!
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The RPPT Master (contd)

• 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 gtgt button to show setup options
  if the master needs to be reconfigured

Double-click on a name to start a new slideshow
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The RPPT Client

• Please start the client
• The clients 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
  http//)

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The RPPT Client (Contd)
The Connection Icon

• The server has been started on my machine
• Please type in lasker.engr.ku.edu as the servers
  address and use 15000 as the port no., then press
  Connect button
• Pay attention to the connection icon while Im
  starting the master
• Use Block Messages from the server to pause
  watching the presentation, or when errors occur

NEW!
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The RPPT Client (Contd)

• By pressing the Setup complete button, the
  client is switched to the presentation mode
• If the master has connected and started a
  presentation, the presenters 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

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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

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Troubleshooting

• A RPPT client stops flipping slides
• Check the directory of downloaded PPTs
• See if the servers 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 servers message
• Try to restart the master or the client

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Troubleshooting (contd)

• Animation doesnt 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 doesnt work
• Try doing a drag and define using the master
• If it still doesnt work, restart the master

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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, dont 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

http//plainsman.engr.ku.edu/AG/rppt/download.html

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Acknowledgements

• The Futures 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

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Questions, Answers,and Comments
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Please Evaluate This Seminar

• The URL for the seminars evaluation form is at
  http//scv.bu.edu/accessgrid/seminars/eval.html

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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