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3 Posts

1389

October 25th, 2022 01:00

DDM, get current active input and PBP configuration?

I would like to get the current state of the monitor in the command line. 

Currently I use the DDM (Dell Display Manager) v1 (ddm.exe) to set the active input and switch the PBP mode with a shortcut, so I can switch between my desktop and combined desktop + laptop on the screen.

From the documentation for the DDM, one is only able to set properties but not get properties. Does anyone know if there is another tool or some hidden features in DDM to achieve that?

Community Manager

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56.9K Posts

November 23rd, 2022 07:00

DDM 2.0 CLI (command line interface)

WriteActiveInput [DVI2/HDMI/DP2,etc] = switches active input
ReadActiveInput [DVI2/HDMI/DP2,etc] = switches active input
RestoreFactoryDefaults = restores factory defaults
AutoSetup = executes an autosetup (analog only)
ReadColorPreset = read the current color preset
WriteColorPreset = set the color preset
RestoreLevelDefaults = restores level defaults
RestoreColorDefaults = restores color defaults
WriteBrightnessLevel X = sets brightness to X% (0-100)
ReadBrightnessLevel X = sets brightness to X% (0-100)
WriteContrastLevel X = sets contrast to X% (0-100)
ReadContrastLevel X = sets contrast to X% (0-100)
WritePowerMode [on/off/standby] = sets the display power mode (standby should be used for central control.)
WriteOptimalResolution = switches to optimal resolution
WriteEALayout [X] = changes Easy Arrange grid type to X (0-48) where 0 is to turn off EA layout
Rescan = rescans display hardware
ReadControl X Y = sets hex control X to hex value Y
WriteControl X Y = sets hex control X to hex value Y
IncreaseControl X Y = increases the value of control X by Y
DecreaseControl X Y = decreases the value of control X by Y
WritePxP [Off/PiP/PBP Main Sub1] = Change PIP/PBP settings
WriteSubInput [DP1, DP2, HDM1... etc}] = Change the subinput
SwapVideo = Swaps the main (primary and sub inputs between 2 PCs
SwapUSB = swaps the usb inputs on the main and sub inputs (for 2 PBP mode only)
Zoom = switches between PxP and fullscreen mode
Exit = terminates the program

3 Posts

November 23rd, 2022 11:00

Thanks Chris, those commands are really helpful.

Unfortunately, when running the supposed "CLI" commands on the command line (powershell in windows terminal), I don't get any results on the command line. I would expect "ReadActiveInput" to return something like "DP1" or "HDMI".

I looked at the DLL files shipped with the DDM 2.0 and it looks like the CLI is actually a background process of the GUI app running in Windows. From my quick look I think the issue is that the output from the CLI is lost in the background task running it.

I got multiple questions about that:

  1. Could Dell make a proper CLI that runs standalone and only uses the Dell Monitor SDK to access and set those values without the graphical (GUI) application?
  2. When making this CLI, could you please use standard command line parameters used by basically the majority of software in this world now? Which is "-" or "--" for parameters and a "--help" parameter to get the information you posted above.
  3. With DDM 2.0 the readme.txt file is missing which contains the information you posted in this and other threads. It would be nice if this was added back to the installation directory.

Would it be okay if I use the "DellMonitorSDKDLL.dll" file to write my own CLI and put the source code on GitHub? Or is that against Dell's license?

3 Apprentice

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426 Posts

November 24th, 2022 03:00

With DDM 1.x, you can go to the installation folder and execute "ddmcmd.exe /GetActiveInput" from a console, which should returns something like: "GetActiveInput = Thunderbolt". There is, however, no easy way to get the current PIP/PBP mode.

3 Posts

November 24th, 2022 07:00

Didn't have any luck with that either. I tried it, but it doesn't give me the name of the input unfortunately.

 

.\ddmcmd.exe /GetActiveInput
GetActiveInput =

 

But I found a better solution to my problem. The aforementioned SDK is actually publicly available, including actual documentation https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-au/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=gx6gp

I will try to use this to build my own CLI and then hopefully publish it on GitHub. Once it is done I will post it here.

1 Message

December 29th, 2022 15:00

Have you made any progress on this?

January 4th, 2023 19:00

Have you managed to use the SDK to build your own tools? Is it publicly available?

Community Manager

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56.9K Posts

March 15th, 2023 12:00

This issue should be resolved in DDM 2.1 with the command ddm.exe /console start /readactiveinput

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