The command line

Everything you did in the browser is also a command. The command line adds a few things the browser doesn’t: you can check a saved reading of a desk with no desk attached, replay one in Watch, keep a record of a desk before and after a change, and script any of it.

This page runs one show from files to desk on your own WING, then shows some useful things to try. It uses your copy of the Demo show, and your desk’s address saved in Set up Atoo; the examples use 192.0.2.16, so type your own if you didn’t save it.

Part 1: one show, from files to desk

1. Make a copy of the Demo show

If you haven’t already:

atoo init --demo
cd ~/Documents/Atoo

2. Check the plan

atoo verify --show demo-show

0 error(s), 0 warning(s), 4 note(s)

  [info] plan: 12 channel(s) carry a preset's values, written at the processing stage and read back like every other write: ...  (preset.expanded)
  [info] plan: 3 bus(ses) carry a bus preset's processing, written at the processing stage and read back like every other write: ...  (preset.bus-expanded)
  [info] plan: 1 FX insert(s) are loaded and switched on, each read back: Vox Verb: V-REV on FX5 (saved bypassed, switched on)  (fx.inserts)
  [info] channels[Music]: aux 1 'Music' is not on the input list; built because instructions.md says 'Walk-in music ("Music") on Aux 1, stereo, source LCL 3-4. Fader at -20dB', on LCL 3-4 as it states  (reconcile.from-instructions)

APPLICABLE: notes only -- choices made where the conventions were silent.

The last line is the verdict. Only BLOCKED: do not apply. stops an apply (Reading findings).

3. Build it again (needs a model)

atoo build --show demo-show

A build takes a few minutes and shows its progress as it goes. It takes the desk model from the show’s own plan; add --console-model wing-full or wing-rack to build for a different WING.

4. Read your desk

These two write nothing, so they are safe on a desk that is running a show.

a2 ping
atoo audit --dump-state my-desk.state.json

ping confirms the desk answers. audit reads the whole desk, checks it against the built-in rules, and saves what it read to my-desk.state.json. Check each finding against the desk.

5. Preview, then write

Only on a desk that is not running a show, with its own show saved first. A full apply resets the desk, then writes the plan (What a full apply changes).

atoo apply --show demo-show

This writes nothing: it reads the desk, shows what would change, and ends with Nothing was written -- this was a preview. Re-run with --confirm to apply. Then:

atoo apply --show demo-show --confirm

Every value is read back afterwards. The line that starts APPLIED: counts what was written, and a MISMATCH line names anything that didn’t land (Applying a plan).

6. Watch it

atoo watch --show demo-show --count 3

Three readings, two seconds apart. Leave out --count to watch until you press Ctrl-C.

7. Undo, and put the desk back

atoo undo --show demo-show
atoo undo --show demo-show --confirm

The first previews the undo; the second does it. Then load the show you saved on the desk.

Part 2: useful things

Check a desk with no desk attached. audit reads a saved reading as well as a live desk. atoo init gives you one to try:

atoo audit --state audit-demo/audit_demo_state.json

Audit findings: 7 warning, 3 info.

[WARNING] C001 Phantom Power On Unpatched Socket
  48V is on for LCL 9 but nothing is patched to it -- no channel, no aux and no user patch.

[WARNING] CH002 DCA Fader Low With Active Members
  DCA 1 "Drums" is at the floor (-20dB or lower) but controls 2 active member(s): CH 1 "Kick", CH 2 "Snare".
  ...

Replay a change in Watch. Give Watch two saved readings, and it reports what changed between them, as it would live:

atoo watch --state-sequence audit-demo/audit_demo_state_before.json,audit-demo/audit_demo_state.json

[...] change detected:
  NEW     [WARNING] C001 Phantom Power On Unpatched Socket: 48V is on for LCL 9 but nothing is patched to it -- no channel, no aux and no user patch.
  NEW     [WARNING] CH002 DCA Fader Low With Active Members: DCA 1 "Drums" is at the floor (-20dB or lower) but controls 2 active member(s): CH 1 "Kick", CH 2 "Snare".
  ...

Keep a record of a change. Save a reading before and after you write to a desk, and you can see exactly what changed, or send both with a report:

atoo audit --dump-state before.state.json
atoo audit --dump-state after.state.json

Preview a typed change. atoo patch does what Patch does in the browser. Without --confirm it only previews:

atoo patch --show demo-show "trumpet, sax and trombone on LCL 21-23, Band DCA"

Capture a desk you didn’t build:

atoo capture --console 192.0.2.16

See what your builds keep asking. atoo lessons reads a show’s builds and lists what the model kept having to guess, so you can add it to your conventions:

atoo lessons --show demo-show

Every command explains itself. atoo <command> --help lists its options. The Command reference has every command and flag, and the Rules reference every rule audit and watch can report.

Exit codes. 0 is clean, 1 means it couldn’t run, and 2 means it ran and found problems; audit and watch report findings with 1 (Exit codes).

Where next

I want to…	Page
write the input list for my own show	Writing an input list
write down how I set up a desk	Writing conventions
understand what apply guarantees	Applying a plan
keep one show’s files together	Show bundles
check a desk that is already set up	Checking a desk
report something that went wrong	Reporting a problem
work out why something failed	Troubleshooting