Dummy Responders

The Dummy Responders are built in to OLA. They simulate RDM Devices and are useful for testing RDM-over-IP protocols like ArtNet and the upcoming E1.33 (RDMNet). We also use them internally for testing things like the web interface and the RDM tests.

The Dummy Responders are associated with the Dummy Plugin. They can be activated by patching the Dummy Output Port to a universe. The UIDs and number of each type of responders can be configured in the ola-dummy.conf file.

You can see output from some PIDs in the more verbose logging modes, but generally they behave as if you’ve got a real fixture in a room somewhere that you can’t see at all, so for example changing a device label will stick correctly, but you can’t go and look to see that a display has inverted correctly. Also note that any changes won’t persist across restarts of OLA (just like if you hired a lighting rig in for two weekends).

The data returned is a mix of real values, such as the machine’s load average, and made up items, often designed to be in spec, but edge cases (such as the sensor only device and the beta particle counting sensor).

We generally add a new responder for each new standard or extension to the standard, for example one is in the processes of being implemented for E1.37-2 IPv4 & DNS Configuration Messages.

Model ID	Model Description	Description
1	Dummy Model	The original dummy device with a range of basic PIDs and presentation of some real data
4	OLA Dimmer	A device which simulates a simple dimmer
5	OLA Moving Light	A device which simulates a moving light.
6	OLA Ack Timer Responder	A device which replies to certain SET commands with ACK TIMER
7	OLA Sensor Device	A device with a DMX footprint of 0 but with multiple sensors.
8	OLA E1.37-1 Dimmer	A device which implements the PIDs from E1.37-1.
9	OLA Network Device	A device which implements the PIDs from E1.37-2 (currently get only)