The Notification System on SGPro is an optional addon, but can be quite valuable if you don't sit outside to monitor the sequence and equipment responsible for its execution.  With it, you can register for all sorts of sequence driven events and receive them via email, SMS (text message) or GNS (Good Night System).  


In order to start configuring the way you receive notifications, open SGPro and click the "Tools->Notification" menu items.  Upon doing so, you will be greeted with a settings window like this:



On the left, you will see "Endpoints".  An Endpoint is meant to be the final destination of any notification.  In its current form, SGPro supports the GNS and Email endpoints (most cell carriers allow you to specify an email for SMS relay as well).


On the right side you will see a list of notification categories.  There are far too many notifications to list individually so we have divided all notifications in SGPro into six different categories:


  • Status:  These notifications are normal and pretty closely mimic the types of messages you would see in SGPro's own notification area (on the bottom left corner of the main window).  
  • Alerts:  These notifications mean that SGPro is waiting on you to do something and will not continue until you provide some sort of input.  Examples include pausing for manual focus, pause after meridian flip and use of the Manual Camera Rotator.
  • Warnings:  These notifications indicate something may be wrong, but that the sequence is still running.  An example of a warning would be failure to achieve an auto focus value the way we intend to (best fit line intersection).  Receiving a warning in this way, means that we defaulted capture of this value to an older method because the intended method did not function properly.  When you receive a warning, it is probably a good idea to go check on things.
  • Errors:  These notifications mean something bad has happened and the sequence has stopped.  An example of this would be failure to reacquire the target after a meridian flip. If you use recovery mode an error message will not be sent until recovery has also failed.
  • Timed Errors:  These notification errors are designed to alarm if certain events don't complete within a specified time period.  An example of this is with sequence image capture... if SGPro is not in possession of an image within exposure time plus three minutes, this type of error notification will be sent.  This can help to identify camera communication problems.
  • Heartbeat:  These notifications are for folks that want a great deal of visibility into the sequence.  Sometimes SGPro can go long periods of time without any notifications... especially when taking long duration images.  If you select this option, you will receive a notification once every 2 minutes indicating that SGPro is healthy.  Failure to receive this message might indicate that SGPro or the Operating system has failed in some way.



Endpoints


Each endpoint will require some amount of setup in order to be used.  You can access an Endpoint's setting by highlighting it and then clicking the "Settings" button at the bottom.


Good Night System Settings


To use GNS, you must complete set up on the iOS or Android application using your mobile device.  This endpoint also requires a GNS client for Windows.  There is no need to download or install this as it is distributed with SGPro 2.4 and higher.  Once you have downloaded the mobile application, go to the Windows Command Line (terminal) and type "ipconfig".  Find the IP address under the heading IPv4 Address and enter this into the GNS mobile app "Host" setting.  That should really be it... the rest of the settings are probably OK.



By default, the GNS endpoint will only sound an alarm on error messages (those that stop an event).  If you would like the GNS alarm to sound when SGPro issues a warning notification (something might be wrong), make sure this option is checked.


Email Settings



There are three different email endpoints.  Each is identical to the next in terms of functionality, but you may wish to have different sets of filters for different addresses (for instance, you may want all events to go to your email account, but only warnings and errors to go to your SMS account).  


Use this settings dialog to prepare for email and text based notifications.  This is a one time setup used across all sequences.


Section 1 - Outgoing Email Information:  


This area contains information about the address the notifications are going TO.  Enter the address you wish to receive your notifications at... you can enter multiple addresses if you'd like (one at a time though).  The example above shows one normal email address and one Verizon based SMS email.  Checking the "Send notifications immediately" button will send an email every time a notification is registered in SGPro.  While sometimes useful, this may result in a lot of emails and, depending on your provider, you might be flagged as a spammer and shut down.  Clearing this option will allow SGPro to aggregate notifications and send them out in 5 minute increments.


Section 2 - Email Account Type


If you have access to a standard SMTP server from your Internet or Email Provider, then you will choose SMTP.  If you have a Gmail account you'd like to use, then select "Google Gmail" instead.


Note: Google no longer allows access to its SMTP servers and Gmail users must select the "Google Gmail" option in all case.


Section 3 - SMTP Server Settings:  


When you select the "SMTP" option (in step 2), section 3 will appear as shown above.


This area contains information that SGPro uses to send your notifications out.  Normally it is permissible to use the same account you used in the Outgoing Email Information section.  SGPro does its best to auto enter data for many ISPs (bases on the domain of the SMTP user field).  If we know what it is, we will auto-populate the fields, if not, they will remain blank and you will need to find them.


  • SMTP User:  The account you will use to log into the SMTP server (mail server)
  • SMTP Password:  The password for the SMTP user account
  • SMTP Server:  The address of the SMTP server
  • SMTP Port:  The port used by the SMTP server
  • Use SSL:  Check this is your SMTP server requires SSL communication (most do)


When done, click the "Add" button and then click the "Test" button to ensure the settings are correct.  You should receive a test email from the SMTP user (be sure to check your SPAM folder if SGPro indicates success but you still don't see a message).


In order to update these settings, highlight the address you want to change, make changes in the fields provided and then click the "Update" button.


Section 3 - SMTP Server Settings:  



When you select the "Google Gmail" option (in step 2), section 3 will appear as shown above.


To begin linking your Gmail account, click on the "Sign in with Google" button.  This will launch your default browser and requires a connection to the Internet.  Follow the steps to securely connect Gmail to the Email Notification channel.


Text File Settings


There are three different text file endpoints.  Each is identical to the next in terms of functionality, but you may wish to have different sets of filters for different files (for instance, you may want all events to go to one file, but only warnings and errors to go to another).  



  • Text File Path:  The absolute path of the file to use (write to).  It must be either a txt or csv file.
  • Create a new text file every time a sequence runs:  This will create a new (unique file) based on the file name you supplied.  A new file will be created every time a new sequence is started.
  • Truncate (erase) file contents every time a sequence runs: Use this option to truncate the contents of the file every time you start a sequence.
  • Write out a CSV file:  Use this option if you prefer to view these files as a spreadsheet (better filtering, etc).