33
specification indicates that “video.mpg” will start playing at 4:00 PM every Wednesday
in January, 2008. The playlist “breakfast.bsp” will start playing at 7:00 AM during
January, 2008. Finally, “demo.csv” will be launched everyday in January, 2008, at 2:00
PM.
Note that blank lines can be added (as above) to autoschedule.txt files to improve
readability. Additionally, “REM” lines can be added to annotate these files.
Scripts
BrightSign can be used without any knowledge of scripts to accomplish common goals
such as playing looping video or playing a slideshow (see the prior section in this manual
“Playing Media”). It’s easy to control your digital signs or kiosks with a USB keyboard
or remote using a simple script. In addition, using CSV files you can create more
sophisticated signs. But by adding scripts, you can create the most interactive digital
signs or kiosks. For a fee, Roku can help you write scripts. Contact
brightsignsales@rokulabs.com for more information.
A script is a simple program that controls behaviors, like video playback, based on events
such as button presses. Scripts are also commonly used on PCs and Web Sites. For
example, Microsoft Office “macros” are often Basic Scripts. Adobe Flash apps often rely
on ActionScripts for their logic, and web pages are often driven by scripts written in
PHP, Perl, or JavaScript. If you don’t have scripting skills in-house, IT and Web
developers can be contracted to write scripts for you. Roku can also be contracted to
develop custom scripts and applications (contact brightsignsales@rokulabs.com).
BrightSign has a built in scripting language (called BrightScript), similar in many ways to
the Basic found in Microsoft Office, or Windows XP “Windows Script Hosting”
VBScript.
Scripts can be as simple as one or two lines, and as complicated as thousands of lines.

Hello world

Here is how to create your first, very simple script
1. Using a text editor create a file called “hello.bas” with this line:
print “hello world”
2. Save “hello.bas” into the root directory of a CF card
3. Insert the CF card into BrightSign
4. Connect the serial port of BrightSign to you PC using a null modem cable, and
run hyperterminal (see the “Shell” section of this manual for more details).
5. Power up BrightSign.
6. Wait for it to boot, and for the “Roku>” shell prompt to appear
7. type: script /hello.bas
8. You should see “hello world” on your terminal window.