Guide - How to use the Standalone Snapshots application

Hello,

In this post I will cover the different ways a user has to collect snapshots using the Standalone Snapshots application.

Installation:
To install the application, browse to this address and click install - Install Standalone Application

There are 3 ways to collect snapshots (1) via the Cnario Player Runtime API (2) via the Cnario Server REST API (3) via the Cnario Server REST API using the Cnario Player devices.

Using the Cnario Server REST API:
1. Set the snapshot collection settings (size + interval)
2. Set the "Communication mode" to be "Use Server REST API" (and make sure that the "Use devices via server" is unchecked)
3. Enter the Server API address (it should be something like this http://<serverIP>:81/CnarioWebAPI)
4. Enter your Cnario Username and P%##word
4.1 Make sure to choose the correct Cnario Server, default is 3.9 and up (latest)
5. Click "Login to server"
6. If successful, you will see a list of all the "channels" from the database
7. Check the checkbox for each player you'd like to collect snapshots for
8. Click "Start collecting"
9. The application will "move" to the "Snapshots" tab and will start collecting snapshots, keep in mind that the first snapshot will come in after the interval is p%##ed

Using the Cnario Server REST API leveraging the Cnario Player devices:
1. Follow the same steps as you would for "Using the Cnario Server REST API" above
2. Make sure that all of your channel names are configured in this structure '<channelName> - <noneLoadableDeviceName>", meaning, that after the ' - ' you have the full nonLoadableDevice name of your channel, if you are not sure what it is, please reach out via the forums (as an FYI, the default behavior of the Cnario Messenger application is to structure the channel names in this mode).
If your channel names structure is not setup this way, this method will not work for collecting snapshots.

Using the Player Runtime API:
1. Set the snapshot collection settings (size + interval)
2. Set the "Communication mode" to be "Use Player Runtime API"
3. You need to enter all the players you'd like to collect snapshots from, to do that, follow these steps:
 3.1 In the "Player API" field enter the player's API address (it should be something like this http://<playerIP>:8080/Cnario/REST)
 3.2 In the "None loadable device name" field, enter the Cnario Display Device none loadable device name (You can get that from the Universal Player interface -> Display Devices tab -> Select the display device -> scroll down to see the NonLoadableDeviceName entry)
 3.3 Click "Add Player
 3.4 Repeat steps 3.1-3.3 for each player you'd like to collect snapshots from
4. Click "Start collecting"
5. The application will "move" to the "Snapshots" tab and will start collecting snapshots, keep in mind that the first snapshot will come in after the interval is p%##ed

In order to remove players from the list, simply check the checkbox of each player you'd like to remove and click the "Remove Player" button

While in snapshot collection

• You can "pause" and "continue" collection from within the "Snapshots" tab
• You can stop collection by clicking the "Stop collecting" button in the "Snapshots Settings" tab
• If errors occur, or if you'd like to review the logs, click on the "Open log" button in the "Snapshots Settings" tab
• Below each snapshot you will see text that lists the name of the player and the time the last snapshot was collected
• If a snapshot did not update from the previous collection the text color will change to red and the text will list how many time a query was made but the snapshot did not update (this can indicate that the player stopped playing or that someone change the interval to '0' or to a number higher than the application's interval). If using the "Player Runtime API" method or the "Device via Server" method, the application will automatically try to re-set the interval and all snapshots settings after 30 failed attempts
• If using the "Server REST API", the access token requires updating, this duration is dictated by the Cnario Server, the Standalone Snapshots application will automatically try to refresh the token based on that duration
• It is important to remember the snapshots are always a "best effort" function, which means that sometimes a snapshot is skipped if the player is busy with other tasks, as such, the application will behave in the same manner, if a collection has failed, it will appear in the logs, however, no visual notification will be shown to the user (besides the refresh date and time will not update under the snapshot itself)