When I left off I was trying to achieve data persistence on a BrightSign  (model XT1144) using the typical APIs that one would expect to be available in an HTML application. To summarize the results, I found that using typical methods of checking localStorage and indexedDB show as being available; but indexedDB isn’t actually available; and localStorage appears to work, but doesn’t survive a device reset.

The next method to try is NodeJS.  The BrightSign devices support NodeJS, but the entry point is different than a standard entry point of a NodeJS project. A typical NodeJS project will have its entry point defined in a JavaScript file. For BrightSign, the entry point is an HTML file. NodeJS is disabled on the BrightSign by default. There is nothing in BrightAuthor that will enable it. There is a file written to the memory card (that one might otherwise ignore when using BrightAuthor) that must be manually modified. For your future deployments using BrightAuthor, take note that you will want to have the file modification described in this article saved to a back-up device so that it can be restored if a mistake is made.

The file, AUTORUN.BRS, is the first point of execution on the memory card. You can look at the usual function of this file as being like a boot loader; it will get your BrightSign project loaded and transfer execution to it. For BrightSign projects that use an HTML window the HTML window is actually created by the execution of this file. I am not going to cover the BrightScript language. For those that were ever familiar with the language, it looks very much like a variant of the B.A.S.I.C. language. When an HTML window is being created it is done with a call to the CreateObject method with “roHtmlWidget” as the first parameter to the function. The second parameter to this call is a “rectangle” object that indicates the coordinates at which the HTML window will be created. The third (optional) parameter is the one that is of interest. The third parameter is an object that defines options that can be applied to the HTML window.  The options that we want to specify are those that enable NodeJS, set a storage quota, and define the root of the file system that we will be accessing.

The exact layout of your Autorun.js may differ, but in the one that I am currently working with, I have modified the “config” object by adding the necessary parameters. It is possible that in your AutoRun.brs that the third parameter is not being passed at all. If this is the case, you can create your own “config” object to be passed as a third parameter. The additions I have made are in bold in the following.

is = {
    port: 3999
}    
security = {
        websecurity: false,
        camera_enabled: true
}
    
config = {
    nodejs_enabled: true,
    inspector_server: is,
    brightsign_js_objects_enabled: true,
    javascript_enabled: true,
    mouse_enabled: true,
    port: m.msgPort,
    storage_path: "SD:"
    storage_quota: 1073741824            
    security_params: {
        websecurity: false,
        camera_enabled: true
    },
    url: nodeUrl$
}
    
htmlWidget = CreateObject("roHtmlWidget", rect, config)

Once node is enabled the JavaScript for your page will run with the capabilities that you would generally expect to have in a NodeJS project. For my scenario, this means that I now have acces to the FS object for reading and writing to the file system.

fs = require('fs');
var writer = fs.createWriteStream('/storage/sd/myFile.mp4',{defaultEncoding:'utf16le'});
writer.write("Hello World!\r\n");
writer.end()

I put this code in an HTML page and ran it on a BrightSign. After inspecting the SD card after the device booted up and was on for a few moments I saw that my file was still there (Success!).  Now I have a direction in which to move for file persistence.

One of the nice things about using the ServiceWorker object for caching files is that you can treat a file as either successfully cached or failed. When using a file system writer there are other states that I will have to consider. A file could have partially downloaded, but not finished (due to a power outage; network outage; timeout; or someone pressing the reset button; etc.). I’m inclined to be pessimistic when it comes to guaging the reliability of external factors to a system. I find it necessary to plan with the anticipation of them failing.

With that pessimism in mind, there are a couple of approaches that I can immediately think to apply to downloading and caching files.  One is to download files with a temporary name and change the name of the file from its temporary to permanent name only after the download is successful. The other (which is a variation of that solution) is to download the file structure to a temporary location. Once all of the files are downloaded, I could move the folder to its final place (or simply change the path at which the HTML project looks to load its files). Both methods could work.

I am going to try some variations of the solutions I have in mind and will write back with the results of one of the solutions.

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