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Session

MA devices are connected in Sessions.

Controlling devices (grandMA3 onPC, grandMA3 replay unit, and grandMA3 consoles) are referred to as Stations.

Multiple sessions can exist in the same network and are identified by a session name and location.

MA devices recognized in the network can be seen in the network menu.

The menu can be accessed in multiple ways.

Open the Menu Using the Command Line

Type the following command in the command line input and execute it:

Open the Menu from the Menu Pop-up

This is a combination of keys and buttons. It executes the same command as above.

1. Press Menu.
2. Tap Network on the menu selection pop-up.

Open the Menu Using the Dedicated Button

The Command Line has a dedicated button for the network menu:

Tap this button to open the menu.

The title bar has the normal close button (). Next to this is a button that displays the current status for this device, a filter button, and a button that opens a My Interfaces pop-up where the network interfaces are listed and might be modified.

The possible filters are:

• All:
  This lists all stations.
• My Session:
  This only lists the stations that are in the same session as this station.
• Not My Session:
  This lists the stations that are not part of this station's session.
• Wrong Version:
  This lists stations that have a different software version number than this station.
• My Location:
  This lists the stations that have the same Location value. Read about the location setting below.

The tool buttons on the left side have three buttons: Stations, Keys, and Web Remote.

There are four buttons on the left side at the bottom: Invite Station, Dismiss stations, Join Session, and Leave Session.

There are input buttons that change the session settings for the station being operated.

This is a short explanation of each field:

• HostName:
  The name for this device. The name can be changed freely. It does not influence the session. It can be used to identify individual devices. It can only be edited when the station is not in a session.
• Session:
  The name of the session. There are three elements that need to match before devices can connect to each other in the session. The session name, the Location, and the Key. It can only be edited when the station is not in a session.
• Location:
  The session location. It can be anything it does not need to be the actual location for the session. It is used together with the session name to identify the session. It can only be edited when the station is not in a session.
• MA-Net Interface:
  Tapping the Interface field opens a small Select Interface pop-up. This lists the possible network interfaces including an Auto option (Read more about this option below). Read more about changing the IP addresses in Interfaces and IP.
• WorldServer:
  This input field is used to define what world server to contact. Read more about it in the World Server topic.
• Key:
  The key is a password for the session. Tapping this field opens a small Select Key pop-up that lists the possible keys - including the option to create a new one. Read more about key creation in Create a custom key.
• Master Priority:
  This field is used to set the priority for this device. Tapping this field opens the small Select MasterPriority pop-up. It can only be edited when the station is not in a session.
  There are several levels of priority: Never (not able to be master), Very Low, Low, Normal, and High. If stations have the same priority then the station with the lowest slot number becomes master. Slot numbers are automatically assigned depending on the order devices joined the session. The slot number is listed in the station table.

• Invite:
  This On/Off button toggles Invites. Disabling this prevents this station from being invited into a session. It is still possible to join a session from this station, but it is an action that needs to be performed locally at the station.
• Web Remote:
  This On/Off button toggles the Web Remote access. Turning this off prevents web remote connections.
• Remote HID:
  This On/Off button toggles Remote HID. Learn more about this in the Remote HID topic.
• RDM:
  This is a global RDM On/Off button. Learn more about RDM in the RDM section.
• Enable button ():
  This button enables or disables the network connections. A green icon means that the station is connected. When the network is Off, then the button shows a small text telling if a new session is created or an existing one is joined, if the network is turned On.

Auto Option in MA-Net Interface Select Interface Pop-up.

The dropdown for selecting the interface used for MA-Net in the network menu has an Auto option.

When the MA-Net interface is set to Auto, the grandMA3 software determines the interface to use by itself. In this case, the IP of the selected interface is set into angle brackets on the MA-Net Interface button, for example, <192.168.0.4>.

The automatically determined interface in Auto mode is specified by the order of the following rules:

1. When a Class C IP address (192.168.x.y) is found, the interface with this IP will be taken. No matter the link state of this interface. (With onPC on Mac the interface link state must be active.)
2. When no Class C IP is found, the software searches for a Class B IP (172.16.x.y). Only if the interface has an active link state.
3. If also no Class B IP address is available, a Class A IP in the range of 10 (10.x.y.z) will be searched. Only if the interface has an active link state.
4. If this also fails, a Class A IP in the range of 2 (2.x.y.z) will be searched. Only if the interface has an active link state.
5. If no Class A IP is available, the loopback interface will be used.

It is always possible to change the selected interface from Auto to the preferred interface.

On grandMA3 consoles, Processing Units, and xPort Nodes, the first interface will still be selected as the default interface after a Full Install.

Per default grandMA3 onPC on Windows and macOS will be set to Auto.

The Stations view of this menu displays all the MA devices organized in types. The devices with the green background are connected devices.

This is a short description of the columns:

• Lock:
  A Yes in this column indicates that the row is locked. The fields show "S" if they are unlocked.
• No:
  This is the row number. Notice that a row can be a child of a parent object. If there is a number in parentheses, then it is the number of children in the parent object.
• Name:
  This is the name of the device or device type.
• Type:
  This shows the type for each device. OnPCs might be listed as "Undefined".
• IP:
  This is the IP address for the MA-Net interface for the device.
• Session:
  This is the name of the session the device is a part of.
• Location:
  This is the location for the session. Both session name, location, and key have to match for devices to connect.
• Show File:
  This is the name of the active show file in the device.
• Status:
  This is the session status for the device.
• Prio:
  This is the priority for the station.
• Version Big:
  This is the software version for the device. The version "big" number indicates the version number that needs to match for stations and processing units to connect in a session.
• Version Small:
  This is the software number that needs to match for grandMA xPortNodes to be able to connect to a session.
• Enabled:
  This shows if the network connection is enabled.
• Online Time:
  This is the time the device has been online in the network.
• Session Index:
  Each session is automatically assigned a number. This is the session number for each device. There is a maximum of 32 sessions in the same network.
• Session Slot:
  Each station in a session has a unique slot ID. This is the ID number for each device.
• Remote IP:
  Some MA devices are connected to a station. For instance the grandMA3 extension. This field shows the IP address of the station these devices are connected to.
• Mask:
  This is the Sub-Net mask of the station.

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Sub topics

• Create a session
• Join a session
• Leave a session
• Invite to a session
• Dismiss from session
• Create a custom key

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