I have a question about the new feature added on Pathfinder 5.0RC
What is the intended purpose for this feature?
The manual alludes to it:
It allows the Pathfinder Administrator to add Multicast channel numbers to the Axia gpio router. These
additional ports in the router can then be used to directly detect and trigger console control commands without
needing a physical gpio device assigned to that channel number.
Can somebody elaborate about what kind of problem this solves, or give me some examples...?
The request for the feature is somewhat old and has been available secretly for some time. To those projects, they desire overly complex workflows and try to use products in ways outside of the design specification. The Multicast GPIO function helps to this end. For example, the CR logic function of the Element is where you assign a channel number to that logic. You follow by assigning that same number to a GPIO port and now the port follows the logic of CR logic. Some facilities or integrators have decided they need this logic state as part of some stack event. A method to use this logic is to use the GPO states of the port assigned to the same channel -OR- use the Multicast GPIO tool to monitor the channel (not monitoring a physical port at all).
In some cases people have had to use a physical GPIO port to wire one logic GPO to another GPI to get achieve a function. The Multicast GPIO could possible achieve this all virtually instead.
The problem it solves is for those that wish to get access to logic states without assigning a physical port to that logic and to only use the logic within Pathfinder. Its not been widely used and thus has been secretly available for some time. Its demand has increases in the last 6-8 months and thus we decided to make it official.
