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Introduction

Exporters in HNode provide a flexible interface for serializing channel data to various output formats and destinations. The exporter system allows you to send DMX channel data to MIDI devices, files, or other external systems.

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IExporter Interface

All exporters implement the IExporter interface, which extends IUserInterface<IExporter> and IConstructable. This interface defines the core lifecycle methods for processing channel data:

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Core Methods

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SerializeChannel
void
Serializes a single channel from a raw byte representation.Parameters:
  • channelValue (byte): The DMX value for the channel (0-255)
  • channel (int): The channel number
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InitFrame
void
Called at the start of each frame to reset any state.Parameters:
  • channelValues (ref List<byte>): Reference to the list of all channel values
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CompleteFrame
void
Called after all channels have been serialized for the current frame. Can be used to generate CRC blocks, perform batch operations, or finalize the frame output.Parameters:
  • channelValues (ref List<byte>): Reference to the list of all channel values

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Lifecycle Methods

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Construct
void
Called when the exporter is initialized. Use this to set up connections, open files, or initialize resources.
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Deconstruct
void
Called when the exporter is being destroyed. Clean up resources, close connections, and dispose of objects here.

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Available Exporters

HNode includes several built-in exporters:

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MIDIDMX

Exports DMX channel data to VRChat worlds via MIDI using the MIDIDMX protocol. Supports up to 16,384 channels across 8 banks. View MIDIDMX Documentation →

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TextFileExporter

Exports channel data to text files for debugging, analysis, or archival purposes. Can filter to only export non-zero channels. View TextFileExporter Documentation →

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TimeCodeExporter

Receives MIDI timecode and broadcasts it via UDP to synchronize external systems with time-based automation. View TimeCodeExporter Documentation →

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Using Exporters in YAML

Exporters are configured in your HNode YAML configuration files: 
exporters:
  - type: MIDIDMX
    midiDevice: "loopMIDI Port"
    channelsPerUpdate: 100
    idleScanChannels: 10
  
  - type: TextFileExporter
    onlyNonZeroChannels: true

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Frame Processing Flow

  1. InitFrame - Called at the start of the frame
  2. SerializeChannel - Called for each channel (may not be used by all exporters)
  3. CompleteFrame - Called after all channels are processed
This architecture allows exporters to process data per-channel or in batch at the end of each frame.

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